NORTH OTAGO FARMERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22824, 7 March 1936, Page 8

NORTH OTAGO FARMERS

GOLD-MINING AND IRRIGATION AN INTERESTING DAY Altogether nearly 300 miles have beta covered so far by the North Otago farmers and their wives who av* at present touring the Central Otago districts. By Thursday night th* Alexandra and Clyde districts h*d been traversed, and a good deal of interesting and instructive ground had been covered in the limited time at tha disposal of the part}-. Gold-mining and irrigation were the two main schemes dealt with on Thursday, and the visitors were given much valuable information. Willing' guides in various districts have assisted greatly towards the enjoyment of the tour, and everything possible has been done for the visitors. .FALLS' DAM Leaving Ranfurly at an early hour the two buses and the private cars, which are conveying the tourists on the trip, traS r elled to.Falls' Dam, which is some distance off the main road and set in the middle of steep and rocky country. Here the visitors had their first glimpse of an. important section of the huge irrigation schema which is of immense value to tha resident* in this, .very dry country. On arriving at the dam used for the storage ef the water supplied by the Manuherfkia River, the party was met by. Mr Hols* (engineer-in-charge of the whole irrigation scheme), who proved an interesting guide. Mr Holse first explained tha formation of the dam which, he stated, was the first of .its kind in New Zealand, although there were similar ones in the United States of America and Italy. At the,top of the Mariiototo Valley there were two schemes of value to v irrigation. About 10 years ago the idea had been conceived of instituting a schema in which the water coming from the Manuherikia River would be utilised. There was a further scheme at Omakau. In.all 18,000 acres were covered by the irrigation scheme in the upper Manidtoto district, and £300,000 had been voted for the work. Of this, £285,000 had been spent, which left very little work yet'to be completed. •Explaining the construction of the dam Mr Holse said the spillway shaft was from 70 to 80 feet deep, and the storedup.:water rushed through a tunnel in the lock and came out into the river bed lower down. The high veins surrounding the top of the spillway were constructed in order to stop the water swirling at the top, and it could thus be discharged more rapidly. The dam was so designed, said Mr Holse, that it could be raised another sft feet, if a power scheme were at any time considered, the rower to be used further down the valley to pump the water to the higher levels. Mr A; W. Woodward (Oamaru) re-j turned thanks to Mr Holse foir his information and for conducting -the party over j the dam.;- • \.' ... If; j ■ RICH GOLD COUNTRY ',' famous gold-mining country which has j a remarkable history was then visited, the first stop being.made at the Kildare Company's claim, known as the old Surface Hill Claim. Mr W. J. Wade, who is' in charge, described how the claim was worked, and was accorded a hearty vote of thank. The company takes full advantage of the water power for sluicing purposes and for driving the spoil through pipes from" the bed below, which is some .400 or. 500 feet deep.. The water is taken to'; a high! point, thus i giving an' excellent ;pressure of water. There is a quantity of. water, and it is not necessary to have it stored up. Passing through the country the party was given an idea of the extent of the gold-mining industry in this part in years gone the land being a mass of old diggings which in. some cases are still being worked. Operations have been renewed from time to time in some reefs, but these have been found to be unpayable. The main lead has actually been lost, and it would incur great .expenditure to endeavour to locate it again. It is impossible to tell how rich this part of the country actually is. St. Bathans, at one time a scene of great activity, when thousands worked many acre* of land there by methods which are now out of date, was the stopping place for morning tea, which was provided by the St. Bathans and Lauder branches of the Farmers' Union and Women's Division.

Mr Charles (president of the Lauder branch of the Farmers' Union) and Mrs Jones (president of the Cambrian and St. Bathans Women's Division) extended a hearty welcome to the visitors, Mrs Marshall (Totara) suitably replying. A very interesting talk on gold-mining was given by Mr Neil Nicolson, who has been connected with the industry for practically the whole of his life, and who is perhaps more conversant with the digging* in this part than any other mali. Mr Nicolson said that the mining areas in St. Bathans had produced a very large amount of gold, and he considered that in all about £5.000,000 or £6,000,000 in gold had been taken from the diggings. The place had been worked for over 70 years, and had the distinction of having some of the deepest-worked plants in the world. Explaining some of the reefs, Mr Nicolson said that from seams of about three or four feet thick about half an ounce of gold had been obtained at time* Mr Nicolson was given three heany cheers at the conclusion of his talk After passing the junction of the Dunstan Creek and Manuherikia River, the members of the party left the main road to view),the intake of the Omakau irrigation scheme from the Manuherikia River. Here the tourists saw the Blackstone Hill Station, a large part of which has been broken up for closer settlement. . Members of the Omakau and Lauder branches of the Women's Division, and members of the Farmers' Union provided lunch for the visitors, the tables being attractively set out in the Omakau Hall. • Mrs Charles (representing the Omakau and Lauder Women's Division) accorded the. visiters a hearty welcome, and Mesdames Brown and Jones, presidents of the Omakau and Lauder branches respectively, also spoke. Members of the local Farmers' Union to speak were Messrs J. Morgan and R. Brown. Mrs J. F. Drake replied on behalf of the visitors, and Mr William Lee (Waikouaiti), also spoke. During lunch a song was rendered by Miss Burt, with Mrs Cleave as accompanist.

From Omakau onwards the party was given an excellent indication of the benefits derived from the Omakau irrigation scheme. On, entering Galloway the farmers visited Mr and Mrs M'Donnell's home, which is situated in a very fertile position, as shown by the fine\ displays of flowers and vegetables, which were attractively exhibited to give the visitors an. idea of what could be produced in this district. Mr M'Donnell displayed many varieties of beautiful flowers, and the vegetables were of good size, shape and quality, reflecting great credit on the grower. " It could easily he seen that irrigation plays a very important part in Mr M'Donnell's labours. Mrs.,,Rapson (Ngapara) thanked Mr M'Donnell for their hospitality. A further property in Galloway, that of Mr J. Muir, was- next visited, and here the visitors were entertained al afternoon tea by the Galloway Women's Division. The party was also met by representatives of both the Women's Division and the Farmers' Union of Alexandra. • The fertility of the country, due entirely to irrigation, was again very noticeable. It was stated that at one time; hefore the irrigation scheme had been initituted, th* land would carry

only one sheep to the acre, whereas today the 90 acres owned by Mr Muir could accommodate 80 dairy cattle, four horses and sheep. The speakers during the afternoon were Mr Iverson (president of the Lauder Farmers' Union), Mrs Atfield (president of the Galloway Women's Division), Mrs Timmings (president of the Alexandra Women's Division), Mrs Annan (president of the Clyde Women's Division), Mr L. Eyan and Mrs Crawford Anderson. The social and dance in the evening at the Alexandra Hall proved quite as enjoyable as those attended on the previous two nights.