HATUMA SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4314, 25 March 1901, Page 3

HATUMA SETTLEMENT.

OPEN IMG FOR SELECTION. FULL PARTICULARS. The Hatnma Settlement, tlie land comprising which was acquired by tho Government from Mr Purvis Russell under the Land for Settlements Act. will bo open for selection on Thursday, the 25th April. Fanners and graziers arc, by the opening up of this property, offered an opportunity to obtain beddings in one of the linest districts in the North Island. The land is situated fifty miles from Napier, on tho main trunk railway, between that town anil Wellington, and lies between the Oruawharo Estate (.Mr Sydney Johnston’s) and the Arlington Estate (Mr W. L. Newman’s). Tho township of Waipukuran adjoins Hatuina on the north-east, and tho township of Takapau i» distant about four miles from the western boundary of the settlement, while Waipawa is nine miles away. The main trunk railway runs through tho settlement for eight miles, and there is a railway .siding at the Hatnma township reserve. The altitude of tho country varies from 500 feet to 1900feet above sea-level. The total area to Ik; offered f.or selection is 25,737 acres, which has been subdivided into fiftyfour farms on lease in perpetuity, ami four small grazing runs. The size of the farms varies from 111 acres to 774 acres, aad the rent per aero per annum is variously 4s 4.(d, 5s lid, 5s 3d 5s 6d, 5s 7lil, 5s 10.\d, Cs, Cs lid, Os Od, Os 9d, Cs lOid. 7s, 7s 3d, 7.s 4.Jd, 7s Gd, 7s Od, 8s l.jd, and 8s 7.Jd. Tho small grazing rims range in area, from | 1134 acres to 1509 acres, and the rent i per acre per annum is variously 3s 4.1(1, I 4s !)il, 5s 3d, and 6s 4$ cl. The existing | fences have been utilised to the best advantage as boundaries of sections. j Tho quality of tho land in Hatuma i Settlement is described as good. The downs and flats are well adapted for general agriculture and dairy farming, the depth of the soil varying from six inches to twelve inches on a clay subsoil. The hilly portion is composed almost entirely of well-watered limestone ranges of good quality, and well suited for mixed farming. With the exception of a few patches of scrub, the country is all open, well grassed, with native and artificial grasses, a large portion being jdinighabh*, The north-western sections m e permanently watered by the Mali:-., akeko .Stream, and the south-eastern sections by tho Ngihape Stream. There are fjoo numerous small streams and springs m different ports of the settlement. The (.Innate is good, and there .is a fair average rainfall. A township reserve of 221 acres has In-cn set apart for future subdivision infd small lots. A school site of five acres, a cemetery reserve, ami various small reserves have bean laid off. The buildings and fencing are of a substantial character, and in a good .state of repair. All improvements other than le-d'dtugs with the land. When lla'nma was h (he hands of ■Mr Hit .-sell it carried 30.000 find B'o g re.it cattle, and it .is said to have yielded (luri-’* MiP last few years a net Rome of £ l;1"(i par tiMihn. The land How about t(J tie off-'rinl fol 1 fvt'kditlVi’i, is Von tad nf, £"6-13 par iiijimm (ekcUndv'e of till* vdia-e I'-serva of ii2l eiJrys rOt yuf offered for .»t‘toctihti)i width is h {joed deal less tlluil wliut Mr Ruts ell is mild to Imvo earned from the property. The average production of wool for the last three years was about .5235. owt, and Jho sheep have •'clipped- from Bib to iO Jlb each. The whole "fun is healthy sheep country. The rents of the laud to be offered for selection have been carefully ascertained by two competent valuers, who have determined the relative value of every section in the estate, so that each farm, according to its rent, is of relatively the same value as any other, and it therefore depends mainly upon the means and business training of the teloctor u.s to the kind of property which ho should apply for. Each section is of ( the same relative value. During the past eight years Mr Russell is said to have spout upon improvements on Hatuma £13,500. These improvements wore in the direction of 1 grass-seed sowing, draining, ploughing, i fencing and buildings. Most of the buildings have bhen separately valued, and their values have been reduced con- : siderably, ns it is conceded that there are on the homestead, for instance, more buildings than are required for tho working of a farm of 962 acres. The mansion house alone is said to have cost £2400, and it is now to be offered at a . rent based .on a capital value of £IOOO. Tho cottages on the testate are reduced somewhat in the same proportion Should the selector of tho homestead desire to ; sell and remove any of the houses which he does not require, ho may do so cn paving the purchase money _ practically to his own credit, and reducing his rent in consequence. That is to say, supposing ho wishes to sell the managers house' or tho gardener’s cottage, he could pay the £l5O or £IOO respectively which he received into the Land for Settlements Account, and his rent would be reduced accordingly. It is tho intention of the Government to construct a passable road; to every section within a reaspnnble time, but tho whole of the roads will not he gravelled or metalled. Tho country is dry and the ground generally hard, and only such portions of the roads as become soft during the winter will be covered with gravel or metaL One spring ou the estate is reserved, and a general power is to take water from any other springs, in order that, in a dry season, they may be made, if possible, available for any stock or any settler on the settlement. Successful applicants for sections and small grazing runs in the settlement will he given possession at ouch. The whole of the stock belonging to the estate nns to be removed before the 28th inst. A guide will ho at the Hatuma homestead after tho Ist. April to show intending selectors over the land.