LAND FOR DAIRYING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20516, 18 March 1930, Page 13

LAND FOR DAIRYING.

BLOCKS AT TE KAUWHATA.

CONVERSION OF PLANTATIONS. EXTENSIVE WORK INVOLVED. About 120 men, formerly unemployed, aro engaged at Te Kauwhata in the conversion of old plantation lands into aroas intended for dairying. Planned on a system of sectional contracts, the work is costing the country, through a grant administered by the Department of Agriculture, a sum varying up to, and in certain cases exceeding, £2O an acre. Ultimately, however, the average cost an acre will be reduced by virtue of an anestimated return on the sale of timber won during the process of clearing. The area is 1200 acres in extent and mostly comprises wattle plantations densely undergrown in many places with bracken, fern and blackberry. Established at the end of last century for the purposes of tannin production, the plantations gave a valuable return until the appearance of a fungus disease, some 16 years ago, spelt the end of their usefulness. Noxious weeds flourished as the disease took it 3 toll and the necessity of eradicating both is given as the reason for instituting the present operations.

Commencing last October the work was first carried on with Maori labour, the letting of the contracts to the unemployed generally being only a recent development. On the basis of present progress it will be 18 months or more before the whole area is cleared and brought into a semi-improved state, the ultimate aim being to grass the land and erect boundary fences round 140-acre blocks in readiness for the occupiers to subdivide it, put up the necessary buildings and plant, and stock it. Setting the Contracts. The various contracts for scrubbing, felling the timber, stumping and ploughing are set by Mr. B. E. Rodda, manager of the Government experimental station at Te Kauwhata, who is in charge of the work. Mr. Rodda claims a knowledge of the land in question extending over the whole life-time of the plantations, portions of which he planted, and he also has had a wide experience in clearing and bringing land into occupation. He assesses the cost of breaking in the Te Kauwhata blocks on the basis of a daily wage of 14s, and the men who undertake the work hav§ the responsibility of finalising it according to the terms laid down. A cheaper means of converting the land would have been to let the work in, say, two or three large blocks to regular contractors, but the provision of work for the unemployed was a principal factor in the Government's decision to have the operations carried out under Mr. Rodda's supervision. Costing as much as £2O an acre to clear and plough some portions of the area, and under £lO an acre to clear and plough others, the final over-all expense cannot yet be determined. The cost of grassing the land and of erecting ring fences, probably about £5 an acre, will be an additional charge, but against this must be placed the returns anticipated from the sale of various classes of timber won during the operations. Firewood in logs and in blocks, fencing posts and mine props form the chief items in this respect and already, with only a third of the area touched, many hundreds of tons of timber has been stacked, or is ready for carting in from outlying parts. Cost to the Occupier.

Obviously, however, the expense of bringing the land to a condition suitable for settlement is a very heavy one. But in spite of this there are various aspects to be considered which give promise, under certain conditions, of reasonably successful settlement. First and foremost there is the Question of the price at which the land will be made available for selection. If, as is stated, the present valuation of the area is nil, which means that only the cost of clearing will be placed upon it; for disposal, the prospects for the man with a certain amount of capital are hopeful. It will mean that he can safely proceed with essential improvements, such as subdivisions, buildings and the installation of a water supply without loading the land beyond an economic limit as represented by the average value of improved property in the locality. Immediately surrounding a Main Trunk township, and adequately served by good roadways, including the Great South Road itself, the area,' when opened for selection, will offer advantages which should greatly facilitate its settlement. As regards the land itself, most of it, having grown a leguminous species for well over a quarter of a century, should possess a good reserve of nitrogen, while the extensive burning of undergrowth and valueless timber which is proceeding will largely augment ithe supply of potash, supporting the theory that the now farms should grow very good grass for the first few years. Then, again, land in the locality responds most readily to phosphatic manuring, so a reasonable annual outlay in fertilisers should prove profitable. The rainfall is good, records kept at the Government station showing a yearly average of 45in. The Government area itself, which will be the geographical centre of the new settlement, provides an illustration of what can be achieved on the land under efficient management. Proiuction in the District.

When Mr. Rodda'took charge of the station six years ago an area of a little over 200 acres was carrying only 170 breeding ewes. An extra 50 acres of wattle land has since been brought in, making a total area under grass of about 260 acres, which now carries 700 breeding ewes and 30 head of cattle. The application of 3cwt of superphosphate or basic slag represents the annual top-dressing programme, the land responding especially well to the latter.

Other farms adjacent to the old wattle plantations are carrying as many as three and three and a-half sheepi to the acre, at an annual cost of approximately 10s an acre for top-dressing. Eight hundred and seventy breeding ewes, in addition to 40 head of cattle, on 270 acres, is the present capacity of one holding. The last lambing percentage in this instance was about 95, the pulpy kidney disease having taken a 5 per cent, toll, but the survivors have been got away early at the good export weight of from 361b to 36£lb. _ Dairying should prove an equally lucrative proposition on the hew 140-acre blocks, provided the occupiers can afford to run good quality stock, for this size is appropriate for the practice of intensive management once the pastures become firmly established. The intention to grass the land right away, without the benefit of previous cropping, suggests the need for a particularly thorough preparation to ensure permanent establishment. However, there are at least two farms in the immediate locality which boast of pastures established in this manner and with the exercise of care during the first year of use there is no reason why the new grass lands sliould not prove equally successful. A safer plan, perhaps, would be to run sheep on them for the first year in the interests ot securing a better sole and of ensuring them against premature depletion when dairying commences.