RAISED FROM THE SEA

Taranaki Daily News, 13 December 1932, Page 3

RAISED FROM THE SEA

LARGE NAPIER AREA. NOW YIELDING GOOD CROPS. Napier, Dec. 10. Hopes for the successful cultivation of land on the Ahuriri lagoon which was raised above sea level by the earthquake on February 3 last year are encouraged by results which have been obtained from experimental plantings. An .area of some hundreds of. .acres, which was taken over a few months ago by private interests, has already yielded good crops, including splendid potatoes, some of which weighed as much as 20oz. The land on which these particular crops were grown was under three .or four feet of sea water less than two years ago, whereas since it became elevated by the earthquake it has been ploughed and barley has been sown, the barley being fed off with sheep and the ..ground afterwards being again ploughed and then planted with potatoes. Other patches which have been sown in grass seed by the Napier Harbour Board as experimental plots have also yielded good result’s. Excellent specimens, of famous Hawke’s Bay perennial ryegrass have been grown as well as cocksfoot and other grasses. The whole lagoon'comprises some 7000 acres, a portion .'of which is still under tidal water varying in depth from a few inches to two dr three feet. . ..

A comprehensive project for the drain-' age and washing of the entire area is now under consideration by the Harbour Board, which is negotiating with the Unemployment Board, the Public Works Department and the Department of Agriculture for the formulation of a scheme by which the land may be brought into productivity with the ultimate object of settling a large number of unemployed men and families. Detailed reports prepared by Mr. B. C. Aston, chief chemist to the Department, of Agriculture, give every encouragement to the proposal.