THE WILDEN ESTATE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3961, 11 February 1930, Page 10

THE WILDEN ESTATE.

ACQUIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT

BALLOT TO BE HELD IN APRIL.

Messrs Dalgety and Co., Ltd., report having sold on behalf of Mr R. ActonAdams his well-known Wilden property, consisting of 15,174 acres freehold and 8890 acres leasehold to the Government for subdivision. Surveyors are now at work on the property which will be thrown open to ballot early in April. I here are few better known properties in Otago than Wilden which, under the capable superintendence of Mr ActonAdams and his manager, Mr G. R. Young, has attained fame for the quality of both the wool and the meat produced. At the price at which the Government has acquired the new settlement it should in every respect be successful, and many land seekers will be anxious to try their luck at the forthcoming ballot. Those who have the good fortune to secure sections, starting in as they will at a time when stocking up will be lower in cost than for a number of years, should with prudent management never look back. The ballot will be held before the clearing sale of stock and plant to enable tenants to have the opportunity of acquiring ewes and lambs from the carefully bred and closely selected flock which has made the name of Wilden famous not only in New Zealand but abroad. The property is at present carrying a stud Corriedale flock, and line bred Corriedales of an evenness and hardiness not found to the same extent in so large a flock elsewhere in Otago, and at the sale 18,000 grown sheep (mostly ewes, 9000 lambs, 350 cattle, 75 horses and a host of implements will be offered.

Wilden lies seven miles from Edievale and Heriot and contains thousands of acres which could not' be improved on in the most favoured plains in the island. Mr Acton-Adams has spared no expense in keeping the property up to the highest pitch, and no place that the Government has bought is in better heart or more attractive and promising for the purpose for which it has been acquired.

Regret must be felt that a husbandman who has shown such intense enthusiasm in breaking in virgin ground and bringing it to such a high state of fertility is being lost to the province. Mr Acton-Adams is turning his energies to making a large area in Western Australia carry more stock than any local inhabitant dreamed it possible to do, and this all the reports from Western Australia indicate he has already succeeded in demonstrating. He has acquired Puijui station, of 636.000 acres, about 100 miles from Kalgoorlie, and in the short time since he took it over has discovered and developed abundance of stock water in inanv parts, assuring the carrying of a large flock under the very worst conditions, to the astonishment of many who consider it practically the centre of a droughtstricken area. The success attained by the Wilden Corriedale flock speaks volumes for Mr Acton-Adams’s capabilities as a flock master. Large areas and the ability to stand the vicissitudes of markets are necessary adjuncts to developing flocks of higher standard, but it is to be hoped that on the smaller areas into which Wilden will be subdivided the new tenants will maintain the tradition and that the name of Wilden will still remain famous for its wool and its mutton as a standing memorial to the ability of its late owner, who has well and truly laid the foundation for tha settlement’s success. The commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr N. C. Kensington) has advised the member for Central Otago (Mr W. A. Bodkin) that arrangements have been made to have the work of surveying the subdivision expedited.

A statement issued by the Minister of Lands (Mr G. W. Forbes) confirms the information that the Government has acquired the Wilden Estate for close settlement. The proposed number of subdivisions is from 12 to 14. The land is first class grazing country, and a large proportion is suitable for cropping. Agriculture has been carried on to a height of 2000 feet above sea level. The Minister added that as the new settlement fills a much felt want for land of that class, it is likely to be sought after keenly by intending selectors. The purchase price of the property is not disclosed. The subdivision surveys would be sufficiently advanced to enable applications for selection to be received and a ballot held in the second week in April. In answer to a question, the Minister stated that the Government had now purchased under its closer settlement policy some 27 properties, aggregating 50.000 acres. These would provide 125 additional holdings, a number of which had already been selected.