FARM AND STATION. THE LANDS REPORT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2528, 27 August 1902, Page 6

FARM AND STATION. THE LANDS REPORT.

The various systems of land tenure under which village settlements exist are referred to in the Lands Report. These are : Purchase for cash, deferred-payment, perpetual lease, and lease-in-perpetuity. Concerning these systems the following comment is made in the report •— " The first three result, sooner or later, in freedom from the control of the Crown, a privilege of doubtful value and effect as regards the ultimate interests of the villagers and their families and descendants ' Just how the Secretary of the Department arrives at that conclusion is not apparent, and we feel tolerably certain that were it a question of choic all the village settlers would secure the freehold of the lands they occupy at once. Consequently the remark that " for many years the lease-in-perpetuity has practically been the prevailing tenure " misses its point There are 183 of these settlements in the colony, and 1843 tenants occupy

35,174 acres. The figures show a fair amount of settlement, and no doubt the system has been a boon to a number of people of limited means who have a desire to become settlers. The difficulty of securing outside ernplojnnenfc is the initial drawback in many of these settlements, as at the outset the land can*not be made to support the families of the occupants. In the Nelson district the closing down of the Cardiff coal mine has resulted in the loss of employment by a number of the settlers in the Mokihinui settlement. The acquirement of the freehold, surrenders, and forfeitures have resulted in a marked falling off in both the number of village settlers and in the area occupied under the system. The falling off since last year has reduced the number of these settlers by 166, and the area by 7240 acres. As a matter of fact, there were more village settlers in 1895 than at the present time, so that the introduction of the lease-in-perpetuity has not resulted in the extension of the system its framers anticipated. During the year forest reservations, amounting to 195,587 acres have been made, bringing up the total area of Stats forests to over two and a-half million acres. The reports on the principal timber forests are instructive. Tho estimate of the kauri timber still available in tbe colony is not reassui'ing, and the position that the kauri forests are being rapidly depleted must be accepted as inevitable. Although the estimate, which is claimed to be fairly reliable, shows a greater quantity of this valuable timber than was supposed to exist, the assurance that at the present rate of cutting the kauri forests will last a quarter of a century is not quite comforting. It is pointed out, however, that there are vast quantities of black pine, red pine, and othsr valuable timbers in the Auckland and other forests not referred to in. the report. On the proposal to construct a light line of railway from Gisborne to- the Motu Forest, an estimate of the timber available was made, and something like 898,000,000 superficial feet found, chiefly red pine, but also including a large quantity of white pine. Westland sawmills are depleting the forests to the extent of over 14,000,000 ft per annum, but as there is nearly a million acrei of good forest land in that region, the supply is not likely to be exhausted for generations to come. But unless the ultimate denudation of the forest lands of the colony is to be provided against the necessary work of afforestation must be taken in hand vigorously. Experiments having in view the conversion of some of the pumice wastes of the North Inland into pasture lands having proved rcsultless, it is proposed to utilise this land for the growth of the most suitable and useful trees. Mr Marchant is led to that conclusion from the* fact that valuable totai'a, rnatai, and rimu forests alre idy exist on lands permeated by pumice. The proposal is one the Minister might well entertain, as the project is worthy a serious trial. If these lands can be successfully planted with timber ti^ees a considerable extension of the nurseries would be necessary. From Mr Matthews's report we learn that there were £early_ 6/iOOjOOO trees in

the four nurseries last year, of an estimated value of £10,000. During the year over a million and a-quarter of trees and shrubs were distributed for planting out, and altogether there are 853 acres of plantations, containing a million and a-half of trees. The Chief Forester notes that the question of supplying settlers with trees for shelter and plantations, either free of charge or at current rates, requires careful consideration. Hitherto numerous applications have been declined, as the Government was unwilling to enter into competition with private enterprise. But as tree-growing ought to be encouraged to the utmost, we take it that the Government should offer every inducement to country settlers, and especially to Crown tenants, to make plantations of useful timber trees. At the Whakarewarewa nursery no less than 50 species of eucalyptus are being experimented with to endeavour to ascertain which is the most suitable for the pumice elands. The sugar maple and another useful American timber tree are also being grown with the same object in view. A passing reference to the extension of the colony and the inclusion of the Cook, Hervey, and other Pacific islands is made in the report. The aggregate population of the Cook Group is set down at 6500, and the area at 150 squai"e miles. The Herveys have no population, and of the other outside islands now annexed to New Zealand, Niue, or Savage Island, has a population of 4500, and its area is 100 square miles. The remainder are atolls with populations ranging from 100 to 560 souls. There are some very fine photogravures bound in with the report, giving glimpses of some of the beauty spots for which New Zealand is famous. A picture of the tree under which the historic canoe Tainui is alleged by the Maoris to have landed after the long voyage from Hawaiki is a feature of interest. The tables appended to the report contain a mass of information of greater or les9 interest. The Survey Report, which is bound up in the same volume as the Lands Report, requires to be dealt with yet, and will form the subject of a future article.