WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1780, 18 April 1906, Page 72

WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND.

MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY.. ( DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. AGRICULTURE AND SAWMILLING. VI. The statement has been freely made, by those who have gone over the route of the Main Trunk railway, that the line will pay every mile of its way from the Wellington end; but there is a dubious reservation as to the Auckland portion. It is at Marton, in the centre of one of the best pastoral districts of New Zealand, that the Main Trunk line branches off from the New Plymouth railway into the heart of the inland. The country rises rapidly to the north, the railway itself climbing a thousand feet in the forty-five miles from ton to Ta.ihape. For about half this distance the country is open, with -some rich river flats, all on papa formation ; and is not appreciably different from Lower Rangitikei. Although after that it gets higher and more broken, it still keeps the reputation of being some of the best grazing country in the bland. Few’ districts, at any rate, have attracted such a steady stream of settlers as that along the railway in North Rangitikei.. PARADISE FOR THE PASTORAL.- ‘ IST.

The line follows up a western tributary of the Rangitikei, the Hautapu, whose perpendicular blue cliffs are invariably a beckoning sign to the pastoralist in search of good grazing country. On the high country to the west of Taihapo. between the Hautapu and the Turakina, is''Mr P. Studholnve s celebrated Ruamii run, one of the most successful of the larger cheep-stations in New Zealand. The land is leased from the natives. Eastward the Kawliatau winds down from the Ruaniline ranges through a v-alley which has been settled and re-settled. North ■ of this the main river drams the A warrut and Pukeokahu blocks, for which there was such a rush at last year’s ballot. The country is so high here that it cannot be regarded either afj good winter country or as suitable for dairying, but the name of the Rangit.ikei uplands stands very high in the market, and the selector believes he is not going far wrong in securing a piece of papa country, whether with or without hush. THE ROOF OF THE ISLAND.. North again of the Awanva and Pukeokahu' is the valley .of the Moawhango, the bulk of which is included in the boundaries of Mr R. T. Batley’s run. This also is very rich sheep country, and great numbers -of horses -are reared in the district. Higher up the valley, Mr Birch has l leased from the natives the Oruamatua block. Both these properties lie on the Inland Patea road from Taihapo to Napier, and may be regarded as the farthest afield in "this direction. In the neighbourhood of Taihapo the country is all more or less virgin, the bush generally being in the first stages of demolition. There are fourteen sawmills north, of Mangaweka. The route to the inland plains passes for a few miles through the Hautapu Gorge, and suddenly, before the Moawhango road branched off to the right, opens out into the extensive natural clearing of Te Horo. This beautiful stretch of rolling country, covered with a rich sward of grass and dotted with single trees, is almost all ploughable. There are a few steep faces, but the spurn are -all rounded off, and here and there is a small clump of natural cover. On the west the clearing touches the railway line at Mataroa, extending across it and up a small valley beyond. In the. centre lied the native pa of Opae, witli some signs of casual Maori farming; and a mile or two farther t on' is To Moo Haiv, where the coach road branches off to Moawhango. The whole of this parklike clearing *■ —one of the most beautiful rural spots in New Zealand —belongs to the natives. Part of it is let to Europeans, and the Maoris themselves are taking splendid crops of oats for winter feed off other, parts. The clearing extends right through to Turangarere, where the reappearance of bush accounts for the 'presence of a’sawmill. Turangarere may some day he a small agricultural township, but that is all. It is just on the verge of the belt of country that will stand small settlement, in short, it is on the fringe of the papa country. COLD AND HUNGRY.

After leaving Turangarere, the country opens out again. The hills are soft and rolling, but they are bills of a different character, brown and tussocky. As the road follows on towards Waiouru, through the Rokatapauma valloy, it is evident the country is becoming poorer. Where hundreds of awes would make a paying property in the papa country, now thousands would be necessary. Twenty’miles from Taihape the road enters the Murimutu plain, at Waiouru. Continuing in a northerly direction, it traverses the Rangipo desei t to Tokaanu, on the shores of- Lake... 1 aupo,

forty-four miles away. But the road to Auckland turns to the west and crossed the Murimutu plain from east to west as far as Karioi. Now, men from Lamb ton quay and Cathedral Square and other places have stood up in the House of Representatives and promised New Zealand a new lease of 1 ifo when the Murimutu block was opened. They must have mistaken the name. The Murimutu Plains aro 2600 ft in height, 10 miles long, as flat as a plate, oovered with light volcanic soil and tussock, exposed to the bitterest winds that Ruapehu can blow, and traversed by one or two rivers, notably the Wangaeliu, from which stock may not drink. It is healthy enough sheep country, but at the best would only carry a sheep to, say, four acres. Mr Duncan, who enjoys a lease of the plains, has fixed upon a merino and Jong wool cross as the only sheep to stand the climate, and his flock looks remarkably healthy, but it would be quite absurd tc discuss the possibility of settling this bleak plain any closer. Certainly the block extends up the lower slopes of Ruapehu, but this wou.vl be much better included in the State forest reserve than opened up to the very dubious future that would follow the clearing of the bush. Murimutu cannot be regarded as in any respect a likely locality for settlement, and nobody should be encouraged to think it can. FAR HILLS ANI) GREEN. But Karioi promises to be something of a centre, apart from the barren news of its immediate surroundings. The Murimutu Plain is shut in on the south and west, by a steep ridge of lid’s, which marks the northern edge ot the papa country. Beyond tins ledge, in the basins of the Wangaeliu and Mangawhero thero are large areas of native land stretching from the Wangaeliu west to the Wanganui, and north to the Manganui-a-te-ao, which have a great mana amongst those who have been moving about for months past, spying out the land. Down here arc the Ohotu block, close to tho Wanganui river, Rangiwaea. Tauakira, Kahaka.ha, Taonui, and other blocks, all lying in the papa belt. The Kaitoke Valley, in the Rangiwaea block, close to the gap in the hills by which the Wangaeliu river escapes from the plains, already contains the homes of a number of Europeans and Maori settle s, and 5000 sheep. On the north-western edge of the plain itself, as the railway route approaches the bush at Waiono pa (where the station will bo) there are native cultivations stretching along the fc-ot of the hills, and several good crops of oats are being harvested ior winter feed. INTO THE FOREST. After crossing tho Murimutu the line plunges into a forest which extends from Ruapehu in the east to the Wanganui river: and from Murimutu, iu the south, to Taumarunui, with only the Waimarino Plains breaking the continuity. The hulk of the forest between Ruapehu and Tongariro on one side and the railway route is State forest reserve, and the remainder east of the railway is held by natives. Needless to say, the latter is being actively exploited by millers. There is already a sawmill in operation at Raetihi, and another at Mangaiburoa, oil tho Pipiriki road. Areas are being secured by firms throughout this forest. One Dannevirke company has just secured 3700 acres of native bush near Ohakune, on which it intends to erect one of the most up-to-date mills in the colony, harnessing the Mangawhero river to generate electrical energy. The railway will travel for twenty miles through what is practically virgin bush before emerging on the Waimarino Plains at Ngatokorua. The Waimarino is even more beggarly than the Murimutu. It is pumice pure and simple, with scarcely enough feed to carry a “grasshopper to ten acres,” except for one or two greenish eminences with patches of bush that are occupied by Maoris pas. The railway will traverse this plain for. five miles, then re-entering the bush. The forest continues more or less thick and close to the line right down to Taumarunui, which is over thirty miles from Waimarino, and then the country opens out and becomes a howling waste of fern and scrub. A NATIONAL QUESTION. It is impossible after the experience of a few decades to close our eyes to the fact that the pumice country ns unfit for permanent settlement, and has now, in the native hush, the best crop it can ever be expected to carry until the national wealth of New Zealand will permit of liberal and scientific manuring. The Waimarino block of 300,000 acres, tho Kaiticke, Oio, and Rotaruke blocks, have been gone through from end to end by persons looking for land. In almost every case, except in part of the Kaitieke block, they have been left severely alone, simply because there is little hope of doing anything with the land when once it is cleared. Here and there, notably about Raetihi, the soil is a little better, and some progress has been made with grassing and stocking the country. There are patches right through which are thus capable of improvement, but the general conclusion must be 'that while there! is other land to he had it is not worth while struggling with a patch of oumice.

The country is only being hold up by the bush. If it was once cleared, a few good Wairarapa gales would sweep it clean of soil, and leave it a desert, which would eventually go back to .scrub or fern. PR OTECTXO N Mi V INST CTTJT N G OUT. It Is urgently desirable, therefore, that the Government should seize the opportunity, before the mills devastate this beautiful forest, of framing seme such regulations as arc in vogue for tho conservation or oyster beds. Ir tho bush is once cut out, the country will bo no much the poorer. The climate will ho considerably altered, and there will bo a poor hope ol ever again growing an equally valuable crop on tho land. If this in to be avoided, steps should be taken now to restrict the milling to certain belts, and to save the young trees from unnecessary destruction, so that the forest, although cut out as far as big timber is concerned, may still continue to grow timber for the" future, besides maintaining desirable climatic conditions. New Zealand forests have generally been cutout. on the assumption that the country would be good for grazing cr agriculture after clearing, but such a hope cannot, reasonably be entertained regarding the pumice belt. A STATE SAWMILL. On tho fringe of the hush at the Auckland end, in the vicinity of T.iumarunui, thirteen sawmills have been erected during the last- year or two, or are in course of erection. Not the least interesting of these is the State sawmill at Kakahi. This is now thoroughly equipped, and is turning out about 10,000 ft of sawn timber a day. A light railway runs into the bush at the back of the mill, and there is also a steamhailing engine for bringing out the logs. There are fifty hands at the mill and in the bush, huts being erected for their accommodation close to the mill. The log-yard is now being enlarged to hold four or five hundred This is the second State sawmill in New Zealand, the first having been started at Goal Creek, Westland, in connection with tho State ooal-mine and the township of Runanga. _ The idea originated some years ago with the retiring Sur-veyor-General, Mr J. W. A. Marc bant, but was not carried out at the time. The mill at Kakahi, which was designed by the Resident Engineer. Mr Louch, cuts all the timber for • the railway works and for some public buildings. It will probably supply timber also for the erection of workmen’s homes.

There is a mill at Piriaka belonging to tho Piriaka Timber Company, and two are being erected at Manunui, near laumarunui, one by Ellis and Burnand. and tho other by Moore Bros, lhe Puketapu Timber Company (a Wellington company) has a large mill at Matapuna, with a steel tramway several miles long, and a short distance away is a small mill belonging to Andrews and Greening. A DESOL ATE RAC I\ YAR D. * it would be difficult to find in New Zealand, or anywhere else, a more wretched stretch of country traversed by a railway than that between Taumarunui and Te Awamutu. Througiout the whole distance of seventy-five miles there are scarcely a dozen head of ■Uncle of anv kind. Only here and there do the distant wooded hills approach the line. Elsewhere the vista is a dreary succession of fern and sciubcoycrock hills, with an occasional patch of' vaupo swamp. For the whole distance the lino runs through the King Country, and the laud athough it ha passed through the Court is m tiie hands of the natives and '.kely to be « cattle in its" present condition, and the raupo »«glt be made to grow flax, but for settlement, as we hopefully understand it, it is, to say the least, forbidding. ■ . The Maoris may some day aspire to work it for themselves. At present ti y give the impression o*f being the least intelligent, the poorest, and most degraded in New Zealand. The native title hangs like a pall over country that

! would bo bad enough, in all conscience,

as a freehold, but is unspeakable as a leasehold from Maori landlords. THE “ TAXHOA ” ROAI).

There is a melancholy history about the road which has been threatening since the early eighties to connect Wellington and Auckland. The engineer, Rochfert, who ent the track through from Marton to Te Awamutu, had a scheme for connecting Ohakune and Taumarunui by a road, and got sanction for tho work. Accordingly, he had a suspens’en bridge erected over the Mlaungaturuturu. -a road bridge over the Manganui-a-te-ao, and another over the Makatote. About £16,000 ivas expended but still, the road was not opened no.

When our commissioner went through a fortnight ago lie found that the suspension bridge had long since been washed away, and the Maungaturuturu was crossed as in th'c days of old. At tho Manganui-a-te-ao was the fragile structure of twenty years ago, half rotten and unpointed, with only a steep bridle track leading down to it. Gangs wore actually at work opening out the road to allow veil Ties to cross a bridge that had been closed to them for twenty years. Some miles further on the roadline became a bad track, which skirted the edge of a beautiful river gorge, when suddenly there appeared among all the charms of virgin forest a huge wooden mad bridge 400 ft long. It, too, though tottering with the rottenness of twenty years, had never been crossed by a wheel. Strangely enough, though this bridge was erected by a Conservative Government, the cost of it ha« been exaggerated by a Conservative paper in the north to £35,000. The actual cost, according to a return laid on tho table of tho House in 1888, was £2952, and the “ approaches ” cost another £1093, making £4Ol-5. Now the bridge is being replaced by a- humble little public works road bridge above the viaduct, and will shortly be demolished. Do mortuis.

The following appointments to the Commission of the Peace have been made by the “Government: —Henry F. Allen, George H. Baylis, John Coogan, James Reid (Island Bay), and Roland T. Robertson, all of Wellington: Francis W. Atkinson, Sentry Hill; George Buckrell, Whakamara; William Carthew and John G. Cobbe, Feilding; William H. Diddams, Greytown; Huntly J. H. Eliott. Lower Hutt; Alfred Falkner, Ka-ipororo; Perciyal C. Fenwick, Wanganui; Samuel Gibbons, Marton ; James Gibbs, Alton; John Gray, Mangapehi; Alexander S. Laird, Taumarunui : Stephen R. Lancaster and Samuel W. Luxford, Palmerston North; George L. Lay, Upper Hutt; James A. Macfarlano, Moawhango; Duncan Mackay, Dannevirke; Joseph Maudsley, Takapau; Edwin Moore. Mahoenui; Anthony Nathan. Taihape; Harry T. Palmer. Palmerston North; James H. Pauling, Masterton; George W. Ravenliill, Palmerston North; Frederick C. Remington, Marton; John Robertson, Kaponga; Charles C. Smith, Makotuku; David L. Smith, Palmerston North; Robert Smith. Pahiatua; William Swadling, Kaponga j Henry R. Waldegrave, Palmerston North; Sidney A. Ward, Stratford; Oswald S. Watkins, Lower Hutt; Walter K. Williams, Ohura. The Germans are the strongest voiced nation.