THE TOI-TOIS DISTRICT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1894, 9 March 1888, Page 10

THE TOI-TOIS DISTRICT.

Good Ridgo Land-A Backward SeasonFailure of tho Turnip Crop-Deferred-pay-ment Laiid-The Southernmost Town of New Zealand-Dog Island and Otara Light-house-Ocean View-A Butter Factory Wanted-Gold on the Beac&es.

Following the Mataura river still downward along its winding course till near its debouchement into tho sea, we come to Fortrose, the town of tho large farming district known as the Toi-Tois district. From Pine Hill to Fortrose tho main road passes through a long stretch of agricultural land, mostly broken ridges, but the soil is good, and grows oats and wheat well. The formation from Mataura to the sea is pretty much the same, consisting of a sharp warm soil resting upon sandstone of varying degrees of hardness. Over the whole of this wide area good farm land is encountered, in every way superior to the low-lying land stretching onward across the plain to Invercargill. These warm ridges suit the cultivation of grain crops very well, and in favourable seasons good crops are grown. This season the crops are short, but well filled in most cases, though some very poor crops are met in with, owing chiefly to the very cold and unseasonable summer. Grass has been cut up terribly with the cold winds, and turnips are airaost everywhere over the district a failure. Should tho autumn bo prolonged what turnips have weathered the storm may fill out into decent plants yet, but should winter set in early which is more probable, turnips will be scarce for winter feed. Though grain crops do well ou these ridges, they are more suitable for grazing, as clovers and English grasses take well, and yield abundant feed in all favourable seasons. It is rarely too dry in Southland for grass, although it may be too wet, which has been the caso this season, and as a natural sequence the feed has not been as abundant as usual ; still stock are everywhere in good condition, so that there cannot have been an actual dearth of feed. Very few crops of grass seed have been saved in good condition, and much of the grass cut for seed has been imperfectly cured for hay instead, so unfavourable has the season been. This is to be regretted, as a larger area is yearly being put down in grass, and tho purchase of seed forms a heavy tax on tho farmers. In tho neighbourhood of Fortrose there is a good area of farming land which has not been very long under cultivation. A lot of this land was thrown open under tho deferred-pay-ment system about seven years ago, since which time the broken ridges, fern and tussock clad, have been changed into pleasing farms, many of thorn carrying good crops of oats and wheat. Tho oats are either in the stook or will be soon, but the wheat will be late unless the frosts, which havo already commenced, ripen it prematurely. The climato is too uncertain for wheat growing, and suits oats better. For the latter nnd turnips and grass the climate is more adapted. As Fortrose is The Southernmost Town of New Zealand,

it can be understood that the district lies exposed to the full fury of southerly storms, which strike the land, after sweeping over the open sea, with all their force unabated, and as a long succession of strong southerly winds has prevailed, there need be no wonder that the crops find grass have suffered. Most of the deferredpayment land was taken up under the auction system, when the land fever ran high, and of course the land fell to the highest bidders at prices far in excess of its value. In the Ofcara district, near Fortrose, some sections went up to and over £8 per acre, while the actual value of the land at the present time is less than a third of the price paid for it. The outcome of this is that the poor farmers are worrying their lives out in the vain attempt to free their holdings, which they will sooner or later be compelled to surrender. The wisest course would be to surrender now, and get the land valued, when they could take it up again under the perpetual-lease system, with the option of bnjing out the freehold at any time. But some of them prefer to hug thoir chains for fear of losing their homes. Thero is little risk of that, however, as by applying immediately after surrendering tho preht'iit holders would come in as prior applicants, ami ho bucuro their holdings against all comers. fortrose is in n way a pretty kind of a place, situated close be&ido tho sea, and skirted by the Mataura river, which unfortunately widens out into an un&ightly lagoon, with low mud flats on either hand, and low sandhills on tho seaward side. The Titiroa stream empties into the Mataura near Fortrose, enclosing between it and the, main river a large stretch of forest land, which forms a pleasing background to the town. In the foreground the Toi-Tois Bay lies opened out, almost surrounded by Ruapuko, Stewart Island, and the Bluff. The view across the bay from the. pilot station is a very pretty one when the weather is clear and the sea calm. Stewart Island rises up high and distinct, with its broken bhores and rugged hilis clothed with forest, while nearer at hand ltuipuke studs the sea, making a pleasant setting of islets to the calm waters of the bay. Tncs Dog Island lighthouse stauds like a welcome sentinel overlooking the bay right across to the fatal Otara, where another welcome light gleams over the waters to guide our hardy mariners in the darkness of the uight. When the sky darkens with lowering storm clouds the bay io tossed into a seething maelstrom, and the islands disappear from view altogether. Then it is, when the darkness of night hides the landscape, that tho welcome lights shiue forth across tho wild waters. Small voxels enter the river at Fortrose, but th\- harbour is not a good one, as the bar changes often alter a storm. During tho wool and grain sunson the Kakauui makes frequent trips to Fortrose, but at other times there i.s not much shipping done. Half way between Fortrose and Otara. lies Mr Royso's beautiful