UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3673, 5 August 1924, Page 34

UNDER THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

NEW ZEALAND'S ORCHARDS In liis third article on life and work in New Zealand, the special commissioner of the London Daily Chronicle tells how thousands of acres of arid land are being irrigated for the establishment of a vast settlement of orchards and small farms. In the Otago Province, he says, the way is thus being prepared for British settlers to live under the happiest conditions in a summer climate which is claimed to mature fruit as no other climate will. Long days of sunshine in clear skies, followed by cool nights, are the rule. Cromwell is a homely little town (writes the Daily Chronicle’s commissioner) in the wonderful upland region of Otago province variously known as Otago Central, The Co” tral, and The Garden of Otago. This rigiofi lies to the north-west of Dunedin. and is famed for the picturesque ruggedness of its scenery, which recalls that of the Highlands of Scotland. Cromwell has been better days, and is to see better still. During the yeaDS of its earliest prosperity gold-seekers washed fortunes daily from the beds and banks of local rivers, which seemed to be Nature’s own sluice-boxes, rich in golden nuggets and dust washed down in the course of ages. But tile day came when the “rush” was over and the gold-seekers disappeared, leaving a desolation behind them. But prosperity is returning again to the homely little town. Like similar little towns in the same region, it no longer depends on the prospectors but looks to cultivators of the soil, who, through their industry and skill in cultivation, are to reap from the irrigated lands of Otago Central riches undreamed of by the early gold-seekers. Whatever the value of the gold the sluicers unearthed in Otago Central, New Zealand lost something more valuable still in what they washed away. Although Otago Central may be described as an arid region—its rainfall averages only 12 to 16 inches annually—it has within its boundaries an inexhaustible supply of water in its mountain torrents, creeks, and rivers. The leading or forcing of this water on to arid wastes is all that is required to transform what seems a desert into orchards. and farm lands, that will rival in productivity the most productive irrigated areas to be found elsewhere. There are hundreds of thousands of acres on the great inland terraces and plains of Otago Central only awaiting the blessing of irrigation to become, in the recent words of Mr H. W. Jones, ex-president of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce : A land of health and wealth, a land of sma'l holdings, of orchards and dairy iarms on the plains as well as sheep runs on the hills, a land of running water and of electric light and power, a land of production and prosperity, a land which pours its surplus wealth into the seaports, and receives in turn the manufactures of our cities, and the merchandise from overseas. . , , Much of the land can be irrigated by gravity. In the Lindis River Valley there is a settlement of farmers whose holdings are watered by this method. The mer is tapped some distance above the settlement, and the water led in a seven-mile-long race to the point of distribution Under irrigation, land that could bareiy provide feed for a few sheep is now supporting in comfort a whole colony ot farmers and their families. .i To provide a gravity flow .for- another and larger area, the Manuhenkia River has been tapped by the State Irrigation Department, and a stream of water diverted 111 %' * tunnel, cut through a mountain, to pass bv way of a ferro-concrete race, sonie miles in length, to the land awaiting irrigation. Over a quarter million acres in the Upper Clutha Valley will, no doubt come undea intensive cultivation by some thousands of settlers when the State hydro electric scheme provides power for the pumping plant rea I made the journey through the uplands to Cromwell in the company of Mr I . R. Sargood, the head of one of the largest businesses m New Zealand, who has done more than one man's share of work m connection with the development of Central Otago, not only tor the of the province, hut also for that of the whole dominion. . , . The greatest and most pressing need ot the dominion is more population. Without a large increase in their numbers, Aew Zealanders recognise that they cannot make the fullest possible use of their land, or develop its nautral resources as they snould he developed. Natural increase cannot supply all the additional population needed. It is, therefore necessary to look overseas and to en deavour to attract migrants, especially from the Old Country. One practical method of doing so was suggested to me after I had seen what Mr Sargood lias accomplished in building up a flourishing settlement, under irrigation, on what was formerly regarded as uneultivable land. The method suggested was briefly this: Lay out, on irrigated land of proved fertility, small farms on which houses can be quickly and cheaply built to meet the requirements of settlers. The farms should he of a size easily workable by a single mar, or by a married man with the assistance of Hi 3 family. It was his search for a practical method of attracting the most suitable migrants to New Zealand that led Mr. Sargood to become one of a band of pioneers in irrigation who, insjiired more by public spirit than by mere desire to make a profit, sought to help in showing the way in which “The Dry Belt of Otago” could, be developed with the aid of new population, engaged in intensive cultivation. The ideal of Mr Sargood and his associates in forming the Cromwell Development Com-

pany (Ltd.) in order to obtain control some thousands of acres of arid land m the neighbourhood of Cromwell, close to the Kawarau River, was: Th" establishment of a great orchard and small farm settlement upon modern lines, in which the element of co-operation v.ouid have foremost place and where British settlers could live under the happiest conditions, creating by their mdustcy prosperity for themselves and thereby increasing the wealth and furthering the advancement of the province. The land has been laid out in farms avwa'dn<> in size some 20 acres, an area which ib considered to be “as much as one man can handle successfully without additional help, or at best with very little outside as described to me by Mr Sargood, “consists of rich detritus washed down for centime! from the mountain ranges. It contains mineral salts in such abundance as to dispense with any necessity for orchardists to use fertilisers for many a long The land is adapted for growing apples, pears, neach.s, apricots, nectarines cheenes, plums, ’ starwberries, various small fruits, vevetibles, cereals, clovers, lucerne, seeds of aif kinds onions, tomates, peas, etc. Below’the level of this cultivated area run- the Kawarau River, the power oi which is being clevenly utilised to lift its own waters to a height of lWt, so that they may be used for irrigation purposes. To enable this to be done the Kawarau was dammed at a point four miles and ahal( from Cromwell Here, where the river lushes thiough a narrow gorge, two mammoth pillars of reinforced concrete were built up one on either bank. With the aid of charges of gelignite, both towers were thrown into the bed of the Kawarau, thus constituting a foundation barrage on which the dam was buiH. , , Turbines and pumps, operated by hydraulic power derived from the river, force the irrigelion water up to the farm level through 224Uft of 36in iron pipes. From the end of this rising main the water is led along a race one mile in length, and then reticulated in pipes and open ditches to all the farms of the eettlement.

Central Otago is a land of sunshine, and is claimed to possess a summer climate which matures and ripens fruit as no other climate will. Its summer weather is warm, but the heat is never excessive. The air is pure and dry. Long days of sunshine, with clear skies are followed by cool nights. Cromwell, which has a population of 700, is the present terminus of the railway line from Dunedin, 150 miles distant. It has a resident doctor and a hospital. It also possesses two banks and several hotels, places of worship, post and telegraph offices, State schools, a court house shops, garages a weekly newspaper, and kiuema. A coal mine near by supplies fuel at reasonable prices