LAND GOES BACK.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1924, Page 10

LAND GOES BACK.

TARANAKI DETERIORATION. SPECIAL COMMITTEE’S TOUR. AWAKINO AND URUTI. In continuance of its inquiries into the problem of deterioration of lands and the difficulties in the way of the profitable utilisation of Crown leaseholds in North Taranaki and South Auckland, the special Government committee, of which Mr. G. H. Bullard is rhairman. heard evidence from settlers last week at sittings held at Awakino and Uruti.

At Awakino evidence was given by J. McNeice, settler, of Manganui Read, who said he held S5O acres, L.1.P., 600 acres of which were in grass, the remainder being bush. His grass land was going back, and whereas it would formerly keep 1A sheep to the acre, it would now. he considered, only support one. He grazed 50 to 100 head of cattle and 600 sheep. He was chiefly troubled with water fern, which later was replaced by bracken, while ring or silver fern appeared to be going to be very troublesome. The difficulty in the district was that the burning seasons were bad, and it was very seldom that a hot and dry enough season to kill the fern was experienced. After burning he had sown cocksfoot, danthonia and clover. To clean, burn and sow similar land to his he estimated would cost about £2 an acre.

Asked if more cattle were kept whether the second growth would be suppressed. Mr. McNeice said the difficulty was in keeping the stock on the hills and watered. Much fencing would be required, and he doubted if the country was worth fencing out for cattle It was a very wet district, he said, and to keep down the spring growth many more cattle would be required than could be wintered, and to buy in the spring and sell in the autumn a loss of about £2 a head would have to be faced. Losses duo to accidents and other causces he put down at 10 to 15 per cent. He did not think that ring fern could be crushed out by cattle on the rougher country. Replying to the chairman. Mr. McNeice said he had never tried top-dressing, which would b» very expensive after paying for manure. cartage and sowing. G. H. Dixon, manager of a large holding close to Awakino of 9009 acres, 1000 acres of which has been felled, said one of the chief troubles had been the lack of good burns to start with. The coast land was easily handled and a good burn could always be obtained. It was with the inland country that the difficulty arose, and he instanced how blocks of 240. 329 and 129 acres of bush had been felled in three, successive years, but in no year had they been able to burn.

To be kept in hand the country needed constant attention, said Air. Dixon. He mentioned settlers, who wore good faimers, that had been working-at their holdings for 35 years, and were still working at them to get them in order. In his opinion the back country would bo better handled in bigger blocks, by men who had more capital behind them. English grasses, he said, would do well in that country so long as they were not stocked too heavily with sheep. Burning, he said, should not be done before March, and after burning he advocated a heavy sowing, stocked well in the spring, care being exercised not to overstock with sheep. Some of the country, he said, had gone back through being played out by men trying to breed sheep on land that was not suitable.

L. Jones, a Valley Road settler, advocated fencing as soon as clearing was effected, using his own success as an illustration. He held 450 acres, on which he had 700 sheep, half of which were breeding ewes and the others hoggets, besides 150 cattle, all of which he°wintered. His chief grasses were cocksfoot, rye, clover, dogstail and lotus major. He had difficulty in parts with fern, but only on the ridges. Clearings were fenced off’ as soon as fallen and stocked heavily with cattle. At first he had 250 head, but as the land improved he had been able to reduce. Though grazing Holsteins. he said Polled Angus or Herefords were the most suitable cattle for hill country. Mr. Jones pointed out. though, that his land was above the average, and he was assisted through having a dairy farm which he worked in conjunction. SITTING AT URUTI. Further evidence was taken at Uruti. The disabilities through lack of access which some settlers are suffering were ment : oned by T. Henry, who had a Crown lease of 909 acres in the Tangitu block, on the Ngatoto Road. Half of it was still in bush. He had taken up the land on o.r.p. tenure 21 years ago, a promise having been made by the then C< mmiss’ioner of Crown Lands at New Plymouth that a dray road would be made to the place within two years. Despite representations he and other settlers were there IS years t>n a six*fcot track over a rough saddle, and all efforts made to get a road were futile, as the Public Works Department would not put a road over the saddle. There were ten settlers on the block, and they endeavoured to do something for them-

selves. Tlie only concession that the Government could be influenced to give was that it would subsidise a loan of £1 for £1 and the result was that the settlers had to raise a loan of £2OOO. The road was completed two years ago, and the settlers had paid interest on the money for six years. The special rate was 1 5-8 d on the capital value. They now had two and a half miles of metal from the main road and eight miles of unmetalled road to travel. They had repeatedly approached the Government to make the road, but had always been refused until at last the subsidy was offered. C. H. Barnitt, who is the riding member on the Clifton County Council, said he knew what the settlers there were up against. There were a few left now, but there was likely to be fewer. The county council was in a difficult position, and could hardly maintain the present roads. Continuing, he said he had taken a section when the Moki block was cut up, and had spent about £5OO on it. He found the country too rough and threw it up. the Government allowing him £4 10s for improvements. There were originally 12 settlers, many married, on that block. Now’ there were only six settlers there and only cne married, while the country was going back, growing weeds and rubbish and breeding pigs. On the Rerekapa 'Road all the settlers had abandoned their holdings except one. He considered! the lAnd should bo pint into'■bigger .sec--a liims of 40.00 to 5900 acres. t J-. Murraji, a.. Mck.il sootier-, ref arrsjdl tom

destroyed 50 lambs out of 54 in one paddock. Another settler said he had shot 500 pigs last winter, while Mi. Murray said that since he had poisoned two good herds he was not so greatly troubled. His method w’as to cover a carcase with a pound of arsenic mixed with pollard. He considered the payment of the Government royalty assisted in their destruction. The question of finance was mentioned by A. R. Alpe, who said that one of the greatest difficulties that beset settlers was that money was too dear and could not be borrowed at a reasonable rate. The present method of three-monthly renewals of P.N.’s was very costly to farmers, and he felt that legislation should be made extending the period to at least six months. Ou these P.N.’s, he said, farmers were paying from something like 9 per cent, up to 12 per cent, for their money, and if they wanted to borrow they would have to pay 7 i or 8 per cent.- Farmers o i second and third-class land could not afford to do this, and consequently many of them were up against it. To carry on successfully they would want money at 6 per cent., and if the Government could borrow money and let them have it at a reasonable rate it would get its money back in the increased returns. “Dear money and lack of reading facilities are the main drawbacks at present,” said Mr. Alpe. The Uruti sitting was the last in Faranaki. The commrb't4« ’does not miaet again until after CQitistmna, .when it .is to sit in the Tamnarumri laad.. Wungtp* mil River distri’cts*.