BUSH SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5730, 27 October 1905, Page 6

BUSH SETTLEMENT.

HTE RESOURCES OF OHURA. FAT LAMBS -AND SCENERY. PAPA BURNING. No. V. It has boon said before that the VVliiingainoinona Saddle is comparable with the Otira. There are, of course, no snow-covered bills close in the hack- 1 ground, but the road winds lor four or live mi lbs up and down a beautiful ttoroe, with the moA luxui’iaut of natural bush standing up against its sides; while the brawling of a stream orer the rocks below mingles with the notes of innumerable birds. It was a .vise forethought tliat preserved four thousand acres of bush on either /side -if this road, for there is a greater aione.y value in the attractiveness of this spot as it stands than in the sheep that such steep spurs would carry after clearing. Xor can it ho said that even the trip from Springfield to Knmara offers anything more picturesquely beautiful than the view from the summit of this saddle, or from any peak in the district. Far away to tiie east, on the shores of k, sea of billowed forest, Tongariro ami N’gaurulme stand up like milk-white tusks piercing the sky, and the mother of all mountains, trinacrian Ruapehu, rests in a garden all her own, and deceives the watcher that the soft, floating cloudlets that rest on her head come from her own bosom ol discontent, and not from spotless Nganruhoc. Vet the riddle is not difficult, for a few seconds before tlic steam veil from Ngaurulice is visible in the air its shadow is stealing along the copious side of llnapehu. There is nothing anywhere to surpass the solitary* grandeur of these three mountains, with the glittering foil of Kgmont standing up to the sun in the west. Any of the creeks along which the pack-tracks cling tremblingly would form a beauty spot for tourists, while far past the L'learing, and well into the Oluira country, is something grander than all, the I’angarakau Gorge. Between the two, off the road to the west, is the natural bastion of Omapu, on the divide between the Waitara and the Wanganui, and within band's reach of the Confiscation Boundary. It is a double cone rising so that only one side is assailable. The area of the summit is about half an acre, and at the narrowest point are four’fosses varying up to 12ft i,n depth. Across the largest lies a tolar:;. log, placed there, tradition says, fully eighty years ago, when the Taranaki and Wanganui tribes bad trouble. It ),s quite sound to-day. Prom the summit of Omapu there is one of the most extensive and magnificent views in Now Zealand. Hundreds of feet below is the old Maori clearing Tahoraparoa that sustained the defenders of Omapu. It is characteristic —worked out by single cropping, and gone back to manuka scrub. From here northward, eastward, and westward the country is almost virgin, and little rougher than downs. TANGARAKAU COALFIELDS. The railway reserve goes past the foot of Omapu, and runs a few miles later into the Tangarakau coalfields, from which much is expected. There is so much light bush and scrub about fclio Oliura country that one can see, only a few years ahead, the end of the, fuel, both for household purposes and papa-burning; wherefore Whaiigainomona rolls its words comfortably when it mentions the Tangarakau fields, the lignite of which lias Voccived good reports. The scam, which is about fiftyseven miles from Stratford, stretches longitudinally for a distance of about forty miles from the Moki river eastward.

’ But the most valuable feature ot the Ohura country is tho papa formation. The blue clay that stands out so aggressively in a bold belt right across tho middle of this island is of incalculable value to th© country. It has already 'been shown that papa is a fertiliser. Within twelve months of thotop soil slipping away from these hillsides, and leaving the papa bare and flinty hard, the surface breaks up in the weather like slaked lime, and seeds of all kinds fairly revel in its richness. Tho Ohura country is almost all capable of carrying a couple of sheep to the acre throughout the year. And not only capable. It has done it. A patch was pointed out by Air A. McCutchan, off Marco's road. It was an education reserve of seventy acres; rough, as nigh as any of the surrounding country, and only recently grassed. It had all the usual characteristic land-slides and scrubby patches, and would never be selected as of exceptional value- The stock have not been moved from this section all tho winter, and they mustered as follows:—l47 sheep, 5 cows, und 4 horses. This may be taken as a fair —certainly not a selected—sample of the Ohura country. IDEAL WINTER COUNTRY.

It is out of comparison the best wintering country that has been opened for years. The altitude is lower than the Taranaki downs about Stratford and 'Kltha.ni. There are no cold sea breezes to pinch the stock up, the frosts are mild, and the pastures are all well sheltered.

Some clay, when there is access, the Ohura country will bo sending down thousands of fat lambs long before the rest of New Zealand has any ready. At present, even when tho roads are passable, sheep have to travel five days to reach the works at Waitara; and in that time they lose thrir bloom and 51b In weight. What is the good of fattening lambs for that treatment ? Ono settler, who could have sold his sheep in July, held them, and it was four and a half months before he could get them out to Stratford. When they did arrive ho got less for them than ho was offered in July. But, even in face of .such difficulties, tho Ohura country is bound to go'to sheep. There are more chances of sheep paying than of cattle. Besides, cattle arc too heavy for a country with a soft soil, they cut up half of the turf with their hoofs. Papa has also turned out to bo a splendid fertiliser for hothouse plants and horticulture generally. Those who understand its properties are looking forward to the time when it will bo carried on tho railways at low rates for fertilising some of the volcanic land of tho King" Country, just as limestone is earned at reduced rates for agricultural purposes. As a matter of fact, papa contains a proportion of lime, ranging about 30 per cent. 'Fruit trees thrive very well in papa soil, and all kinds of fruit, including grapes, ripen well in the Ohura country. Pears are particularly successful. Fruit trees are still, however, subject to some of the parasites and pests that seem to thrive whore native bush has grown.

RAPA FOR ROADS. It was about nine years ago that somebrdv found out papa would make good roads ms well as bad ones. The only difference was burning R before use. Mr Nathan, then in the Hoads Department at New Plymouth, and now in the ii -ad office, carried out the first* experiments; and they showed that the idea was a'good cue, though the method /as expensive.

The papa is quarried out of the cliff or roadside by blasting, and taken to spots that offer facilities for the construction of kilns. These are either built, up of mud or cut out of the clay banks. In fact, the experiment lias been tried, though not very successfully, of simply tunnelling in the solid papa rock and building the fires in the bulk. Within a mile or two of the Clearing at WTiangarnomoiia there arc dozens of old kilns that have served their purpose, and are ready for use again if necessary.

In the past timber lias boon plentiful enough, but now there is some uncertainty as to getting a supply, especially of tawa, which is the most suitable wood for (he purpose, close to the roads. When the files are started under the blue clay, white smoke issues from the roof of the kiln until the clay is thoroughly dried. II hen this stops, tiie kiln i« closed up and the burning continues. When finished, tiie papa com(*s out exactly the colour of rod bricks, except in the middle of the lumps, where the blue colour of the unhuriK’d clay r* ;*:**:(if tied. 'i iiese kernels, however, aio harder than the reddened papa, and are generally to be louiul sticking up when the road is worn down, a circumstance that seems to indicate that burning with the air excluded would be even more successful. PERFKCT ROADS.

Tho burnt papa is taken out of the kiln, broken up, and spread on the roads. It soon binds down into a perfect floor. Being smooth and non-ab-sorbent, it protects the clay bed from saturation, and the life of roads so formed is indefinite. Tho patch of burnt papa on the north side of the Whangamomona caddie was laid eight years ago, and it is quite good to-day. This is the experience everywhere. A papa road once laid down requires little or no maintenance, for years. PapaImrning has been carried out also in the Bpsh districts of Weber and Pongaroa. There the earliest experiments cost about a pound a yard, but those who were responsible were willing to admit that it could bo done cheaper. Recently a contract was carried cut in this district at 4s 3d a yard, and the same contractors have just undertaken a mile of papa formation on Marco's road, Whangamomona, at 6s 9d , a yard. This is boino; done for the Stratford County Council. There cannot be the slightest doubt in the minds of those who have seen tho results of the work at Whangamomona that papa is going to prove the salvation of tho district. There is abundance available on every roadside without carting, and even if fuel should run short, it would pay belter to burn papa than to use stone freighted from Mount Egmont. Some day, when a policy invades the Ohura district, there will not be anything but papa roads. Pungas, manuka fascines, and planks to hold the traffic up out of tho mud will be forgotten. . ;