OUT OF THE BEATEN TRACK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 11 March 1908, Page 13

OUT OF THE BEATEN TRACK.

111.-OLD AND YOUNG IDENTITIES. | (By Our Special Reporter.) A good boundary fence makes a good neighbour, and the new settlement is fortunate in this respect", being porHon&r] off by hundreds of miles of cyclone and rab-bit-proof fencing, with never a gap or a slack wire. Fencing is like mowing with a scythe. Everyone thinks it easy till he tries. Moa Flat possesses specialists, and the visitor is fairly certain of meeting 1 Ned Hickey, the father of fencers. Ho i-s an old and valued identity, and experts can tell one of Hiekey's fences among a hundred. His operations, of course, extend over a large area, and he is to be met with anywhere at aJmost. any hour of the day or night. The luck of the road may cause a visitor to cross the Spylaw into Moa Flat at 3 o'clock in the mornings as *was the case I with the writer. The landscape sweeps away on either hand into the night in a succession of inky billows. You seem to be in the centre of a vast, moor, ionely and dark. The full figure of a horseman tops the skyline and descends towards you, as a deep voice says cheerily, " Good night." It ie Ned Hiekey returning from a distant contract. and reining in he discourses. On separating you have learned that there have been as radical changes in fencing as there have been in all else, inclusive of naral warfare and steam engines. Ned Hickey could probably produce a capital I manual on the art of fencing; but people with the knowledge have not the pen power, and often the people with the pen power have not got the knowledge. Mr Hicke,\ 's works are published in the great book of Nature, whose pages are the broad acres of pasture and corn land. Moa Flat may be said to abound in character studies, and Mr Robert Heath, all the way from Nottingham, England, is undoubtedly one of them. " Old Bob Heath," as he is affectionately termed, possesses strong muscles a-nd pronounced views. He arrived 33 years ago, and hie house, which is worth going a long way to see, was built from 'time to time with his own hands. As might be expected, the buildings are grouped on the pattern of an old farm in the Midlands. There ia the pond adjacent for watering horses ; the English country gate ; the white house, v ith its flower garden and shrubberies ; the cart "sheds of stone, with their long, sloping eaves ; and the old-fashioned farmyard opening into the paddocks in the rear. Inside, the dwelling is as picturesque as outside. The walls are adorned with old, old prints and engravings, almanacks, and animals (notably cats and swallows) cut out of black velvet. In the living room is a magnificent stag's head, which would possibly have taken the prize at the Exhibition had it been sent there The stag wa6 shot by one of Mr Heath's eons. However, it ie not here that you will find Mr Heath, but away in a distant paddock filling in the ruts on the roadline, and wherever you find him there is certain to '• be a bottle of his famous parsnip wine close by. Having gripped your hand, as in a vice, and apologised for the absence of a glass, he produces the bottle and invites you to drink. As you do so, he discants on the properties, medicinal and otherwise, of the beverage, which is c home brew. No one is allowed to pass through without sampling the parsnip wine, after which he ia handed over to Mrs Heath, who is ready for him with much tea and an endlees variety of cakes. Mr Heath has 235 acres of white crop alone, which this year looks abnormally good. It- has taken 15 cwt of binding' twine, and should run at least 90 bushels to the acre. AJ! this, he explains, owing to a railway that might be but is not, will have to be hauled all the wa.y to Edievale. Now, Mr Heath is explosive on the subject of railways. The settlers had a right to expect the Tapanui railway facilities to be extended to them. While the terminus remained at Heriot they realised, of course, that this was impossible owing to the expense entailed in tunnelling Dunrobin Hill. Now that the railway has been moved on to Edievale, it is thought tha-t it should be curved north so as t-o serve Moa Flat, between the Spylaw Burn and the descent to Ettrick. Dunrobin Hill ac an insurmountable obstacle has been left behind, but two of its spurs have to be negotiated before the line could be laid alonar the flat to the head of the j

Srna II property. This is not so difficult as it appears suycrficvully. Tlio^e spurs here and there narrow to mere lklges, and dip in- ' saxldlca at* points vvneic gorges lead up irom the railwa> line; on the ,olhev sido of the first rid'4o is another f gorge, which is in turn tru'.or*ed by£,JU further high but r.airow rid go bef<Fre." -wind.nu dowi at a fairly eas^ gradient- tothe Spyl.iv. A local jaihwiv ._ betfo\rs ih» e\tonsion >:; vpipd?l«<_tf»»-«OT 4 0i3 with one 6Di( cutting;, fiut_ it dvc.3 noi.s.e<jm apparent on riding .over the ground as to , how this can be. One long cutting and a short one rjvfll?* at_ .lea*t ttf?v*ieeessary ;_.b,ut after all this ifSpoj: J«i^jJ, an s "i^ t&ttsfc. Le remcmbcacdl-tiaF^lfe, <^fP ! *bi : iacTe ; (Dunioi.in) htis beenrifiTod&^'Jtflanked^ *>>' the extension :'-fo: '-fo Bdievaie. • .■*■ •c.^g-r^ 1 It ma> herebe stated "that tfee. proposed site far the suggested station ie somewhere near the mouth" of^the goigey^which^virti^ ally forms assort- of winding • pass" right \ through the estate' a£"(in places)' a&Ceasy 1 gradient. Bui to return to M* Heath, whose grain- j producing property is 10 miles from Edievale. f - ■■"''{ " Dunec'in," he exclaims aggrieve-dly ; | " we are Dunedin's best friends, and Dunedin returns evil for good. It is the -worst • enemy we have. Had it not been for , Dunedin we should not be hauling our produce 10, 15, and aye! 20 miles to the station." . . ? ■ ?~ '/.' " And what about Invereargill tapping | this country an beyond?" you ask. Mr Heath wrathfully says: "I've only sent one truck of oats to Invercaxgill during the last 33 years. - Ey£*y gpnn ;x>f wheat goes to Dunedin, every pcund of wool gees to Dunedin. every fat lamb goes to Dunedin. Inyercargill is 20 miles nearer, but Dunedin's our' market "and Dunedin's our town, and if Buriedin had rubbed, its eyes a bit it would have discovered that a long time ago. 'Twould serve Dunedin right if the folks round here clubbed together and boycotted Dunedin, and sent thoir goods the other way. Mr Health can talk most interestingly on the gradual growth of the lino from Waipahi, and of Vincent Pyke, and can recall the dim past when Lav/rence (some 30 miles away) was their neerest base .of supply. By this time you and he between you have finished the parsnip wine, so you are sent off to the homestead, while he continues " filling in the ruts." After a sojourn of 33 yeare hereabouts, j Mr Heath soon takes a trip Home to Not- | donald, a young man who has brought a ' good deal of serviceable knowledge from ; the Mull of Cantyre. Like the rest of the estate, this property is splendidly fenced, and also possesses a first-rate woolshed. A. good deal of bujlding is in progress, and the white and green crops are most successful. A fine view is obtained from the station house down the central ravine across Ettrick Domain to Teviot and the Lammerlaws. On the other side of the lavine, sloping to the eun and sheltered by the watershed from the winds of winter, lies the property of Mr Howell, managed by Mr M. M'Kenzie, of Invercargill. nere the qualities of the soil are everywhere apparent, and the property is rapidly developing under good management. On this land is the show waterfall, the beauty spot of the neighbourhood. The water supply is apparently inexhaustible, and is being used to the best advantage. The house, a wellbuilt modern edifice, is well supplied, and pipes are being laid to the stables. Everything on this property bears the stamp of solidarity, and has evidently been well thought out and carefully executed. Seventeen acres of splendid crop gladden the eye on the property of Mr William Xoel (the Grange Farm). This paddock was in the old Jea in 1906, and was in turnips last year. This crop should average 100 bushels to tbe acre, and is of uniform thickness throughout. It is all good milling oats, and so plentiful that in stooking two sheaves can be picked up all down the lines in one expansion. Green crop on the ridges is large, green, ] and fresh. No manure has been used as I yet. Pomona Farm, of 400 acres of ploughable land, is owned by Mr J. K. Brown, a | cheerful giant from Centra! Otago. His [ family includes the first and the last j babies born on the new settlement. This j land supports many sheep, cattle, and horses, and the crop will average about 80 bushels to the acre. Mr Brown finds grass come easily, and considers the sandy sub-soil a vast improvement on the shingle or clay elsewhere. He believes the land equal to a-ny in the Taieri, and states that he sent over 300 fat freezers away last year. Mr Brown paid £7 an acre for ( this land, which is the biggest price paid j yet in the settlement. j "Oft in the stilly night," Mr W. Paul's ' gramaphone may be heard distributing music over the sleepieg landscape. Mr Paul is the owner of Visionary and j Spider, and is said also to possess another i good racehorse which, though not at pre- , sent much before the public, is likely to j be soon in a marked degree. His 1100 ' acres carry splendid crops and much i sheep. As for the quality of his land, he ' says that after just ploughing once the | finest crop of cocksfoot he has ever since I came almost by itself. He hardly ever , sees a rabbit, but, like most people on his side of the Flat, the hares bother him. I " Keppoeh " its a property of upwards o£ j 8800 acres to the north of the central ridge of Moa Flat. It is owned by Mr Donald Macdonald (of The Macdonalds, of Keppoeh), and is managed by Mr J. C. Mactingham. The Grennau (Mr George M. I*ove) is a

shining example of what may be accomplished by a \ourig bachelor, who lives in a. whurc 12ft by 6ft and works 540 acres of land. The larm look* splendid. like the crop*> and sheep that Houri'li thernon. It is a wonder to many l'ov, Mr Love nj&narees io noik on his farm fionf <JH£--, liglrt till dark. cook, wash up, darn. hou<e--lvFcp": and sleep, all in the- 24- hours*™ In a P S«it'O!i k> .all Ihe ret, Mr Love find* fime to^be socretaiv of the local Farmers" Club. A nicp house is about to be erected. No less than 180 acres of verj thick cro>. j'j being reaped on Mr Brensell's farm, and that g(>ni;vl personality beam* a \\c\coino from -his seat on the binder. ArrOrtg other things, Jio is a prominent supporter o r the Moa Flat School, contributing, as he does, five out of the 12 schoiais. The picturesque old Moa Flat homestead is now occupied by Mr Carmichac?!. and close by is some splendid land, now be'ng drained, owned by C. and J. Smaill. of "t&te'f Peninsula. Among other names well known in Dunedin one finds that of Mr W. J. Tonkin and Mr B. Throp. Space does not admit of more mentions. The farms touched on have been selected at random, and the bame excellent conditions obtain ex'eryn here. The' vie'v^s of the settlers on railway motters aro as follow: — They want an extension of the Ediovale line so as to tap their district. They intesnd to agitate for it, and belie I . c they will get in in timp. They do not care whether the LawTCnce line goes through to "Roxburgh or pot. It .will do them no harm and'tio good.' ■ Oiily two or three seHlorb on the extreme north of the settlement can benefit by it. That portion of tlio estate , skirted . by it descends* fu&eipkouely-.-fbnd'L. they .'could get nothing down to it, and could pull nothing up. . The\y arfe "equally unconcerned as {to. the alter^ativc^ route, which>hat been decided against. .The settlei's " want the railway to the south , end of Moa Flat, and are indifferent as to whether it goes on or terminates there. Duiieclin is their " town " and their - market, and always will be, even were the ' distance dcaibled. ' All the produce hauled from Moa Flat to Edievale goes to Dunedin, and will continue to do so as long as Dunedin remains the best market. The Farmers' Club, of which Mr M. M'Kenzie is an able piesidont, docs not exhaust itself upon extraneous matters, but concentrates its energies on Moa Ffat. Content and a farmer are, as a rule, anything but synonymous terms, but Moa Flat is one of the few places in the world where the tn - o mean one* and the same thing. There is not a grumbler in the place. Even if the stranger can acquire no Moa Flat land, he finds no difficulty in getting his full share of the Mca Flat appetite. The' wight who on arrival tojs with an egg and a piece of toast will, after the third morning, bo found devouring a mass of porridge and cream, a few chops, Rome rashers, and scones and marmalade, washed down with a quantity of black tea. This keeps the wolf from the door till 11 o'clock, When he fortifies himseif with more. tea and cake. At noon he is quite ready for roast mutton and pudding of formidable tonnage. There is a mere bread and jam and cake tea at 4.30, and a meat tea at 6 or 7. The Moa Flat babies are dimpled and defiant, with fat legs and chubby arms, prophetic of thew and 6i'new r for the work that lie? before them. Every house has its gymnasium for the young kka, but they are not at all like those we are accustomed to. There are no Swedish or parallel bars, rings, Trapezes, ladders, or dumbbells, The exercises a.re tarried out in the yard, and the appliances are a stack of wood and an axe. , Labourers are wanted at the settlement, but it is stipulated that they must be of tho right sort. People a!wa\-> on the look out for something soft and easy aro invited to stop away. Men able and willing fco plough are sure of employment, as. are men unable to plough but willing to work at anything else. Rabbirers are wanted at 35s a week, tents and cooking utensils found. Their food will cost them 8s a week, and a very ordinary person should, after two or three months, be able to leave with a very respectable cheque. Those who go must be prepared for a little hardship, plenty of early rising, and an absolute dearth, of public house*.