THE WEST COAST.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 53, 8 April 1914, Page 11

THE WEST COAST.

FROM A FARMER'S VIEWPOINT.

In the course of a series of articles upon farming matters upon the West Coast, the writer gives a few impressions upon the country from a farmer's standpoint. / THE PAKIIII LANDS. An interesting problem to the agriculturist is the land surrounding Westport. There are thousands of acres hereabouts, and in fact right through the Coast which are wastes. Known as the "pakihis," they stretch in places for miles and miles, long tracts of land which in its present state is quite valueless. It produces nothing but a stunted manuka here and there, and the usual moss that one associates with untrained water-logged soils. "Pakilii" is a Maori word signifying an opening, or clearing, fx'ee from forest. The officers of the Agricultural Department have had various experiments in hand for several years, and it would seem from their investigations that the less refractory soils can be worked aftex 1 draining and remedying the deficiency in phosphoric acid. This is what the soil lacks, and lime will play a big part in the bringing - into use of this class of land. The rainfall of thisportion of the coast Tuns to over 100 inches per annum. The constant rain has produced a mechanical condition of the soil which is responsible for this sourness. A cement-like crust has formed under the sub-soil which is impervious to water. This "hard pan," as it would be termed in Amei'ica, varies in thickness from a few inches to a foot or more. To break that up is a necessary preliminary to any attempts at cxxltivation. Some time ago the Agricultural Department maTTe an experiment by blowing up the hard pan with explosives. This was with the more refractory soil, but' it proved rather costly. A fairly large area quite close to the town of Westport, on the road to, Charleston,' has been taken in hand, and it would seem from the experiments, so .far as they have gone, that considerable areas can be worked by means of draining, deep ploughing, and liming. The whole of this country rests upon a bed of shingle. It is thei'efore only necessary to work the land for the water to have free access to the shingle so that it will tie able to percolate through and leave the soil free to perform its natural functions. 1 FUTURE DAIRYING LAND.

If the experiments are successful, and I have no doubt that they will be, so far as the less refractory soils are concerned, the efforts of the Department will make possible the utilisation of several thousand acres which are to-day lying idle. When properly drained and sown down the land will be specially suitable for -dairying. So far as the more level land adjacent to the railway is concerned, it will be the chief branch of fanning followed. It will not be a country with large factories, but more of a home separator country after the system followed in the scattered parts of the North of Auckland. Scattered about chiefly close to the rivers there are Aarious areas of land of first-class quality. Two dairy factories are in operation, one at Birchon the railway line between Westport and Seddonville, and the other owned by a Chri-stchurch firm at Charleston, a village that presents rather a deserted appearance to-day, but once boasted a population of thirty thousand. That was in the "roaring 'sixties.'" . : SOME Gobi) QAULITY LAND.

Coming down' from Westport through the famed Buller: Gorge, there are several fine alluvial fiats which are mostly in a weir : improved state. The railway from Reefton to Westport in course of construction requires- some 15 or 16 miles between the railheads to complete. This will put the more important coal mines of the Coast in railway commiinic'atioh Avith the main South Island rai 1 way system with the opening of the .Q-tirsi tunnel. The railhead going nortlnvard from Beefton has now reached Inangahua Junction. •At-this, .place .there are some excellent flats, but the blackberry has been allowed to get hold of a great deal of it and it Avill require a good deal of perseverance and, expenditure to properly 'clear it. At Cromadum, some eight miles north of Reefton, there is a rather large butter factory with a fairly large supply- drawn from north and south. The industry is a growing one, and settlement ;is spreading. WHAT THE TUNNEL WILL DO.

The opening of the Otira tunnel will make a transformation-in all the country which the Coast railway system covers -more so will it benefit the farmer. The cool stores of Lyttelton will then be but a few hours off, and the difficulty of getting produce on the market in good condition Avill be got over. Much of the Coast butter has to go into local trade on account of the voyage up to Wellington. At the present,: time there are three cheese factories and three butter factories on the Coast from Keefton downwards, and it is to be expected that the number will increase within a year or so. AROUND TOTARA FLAT. When Ikainatua is reached, one comes upon a belt of country from three to five miles in width extending down to Ahaura, and part is across the Grey River. All this is good pastoral land, there being some very fine farms around Totara Flat. Some of the land is indifferently farmed, but rising land values will correct this. Here there are more sheep than on any other part of the Coast, but the country ismore suited to dairying. Across the Grey River from Ahaura there are some grand river flats, but the difficulty of fording this somewhat treacherous river is a bar to settlement. This is the more older settled portion of the Westland Province, and the settlers are for the most part independent. Prices of land are reasonable, but the opening of the Otira tunnel will advance them greatly.