KOHURATAHI DISTRICTS

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1935, Page 24 (Supplement)

KOHURATAHI DISTRICTS

RELIEF GIVEN SETTLERS COMPREHENSIVE ROADING PLAN. The traveller passing along the main highway from Stratford to Ohura is struck with the fertility of some of the land as he passes through the Kohuratahi district. To obtain a live idea of the fertility of the district, however, one has to leave the highway and take to the byways. It is certainly a detour that is well worth while, as it conveys an impression not only of the fertility of the country but also of the hard work of the pioneer settlers who, overcoming many hardships, including the lack of metalled roads, have transformed a large area of country from its virgin bush state into homesteads among smiling valleys and pleasant hills. After waiting 30 years the settlers now have all-the-year metalled access, thanks to the zeal of the Whangamomona County Council in co-operating with the Public Works Department in the employment of unemployed relief workers established in camps—the first to be established m Taranaki. As a result the settlers now enjoy visits daily from the cream waggon, which is able to make a round trip, while they also enjoy a thrice-weekly rural mail delivery. . . Turning down the Whitianga Road, which branches off to the right a little distance beyond Kohuratahi, one is at once struck with the fertility of the Whitianga Valley, which is very verdant, and it is no surprise to find that it has a considerable output of fat sheep. . A feature that appeals is the comparative absence of ragwort. That is started to be due to the use of sheep, for as a prominent settler of many years’ standing remarked, in the back country the only solution of the ragwort menace is sheep. Talk of spraying or of cutting is useless, he says. . Only those who have had to traverse the roads for so many years in their muddy state can appreciate the benefit of the metaL Thirty years ago when the settlers were anxious to take advantage of loan money with a view to obtaining metalled access it was not known that there were metal deposits available in the district. The first section of road was laid down with papa burnt in kilns, and ■while that proved very satisfactory, it was also very costly. Later metal was procured from the Waiwakaiho at New Plymouth or the Waingongoro River, the cost by the time it had been crushed, carted and railed amounting to the prohibitive figure of 30s a yard. Now that metal deposits have been found at the Kohuratahi Road quarry the cost of the metal has been reduced to between 5s and 6s a yard, which makes a great difference. About four miles down the Whitianga Road the Mauku Road to the left about 2J miles, traversing another closely settled valley. This road has also been metalled its full length. The country here looks very green, the only weeds noticeable being a little Californian thistle and some pennyroyal There are some splendid haystacks to be seen; whilst the stock, which includes some Hereford-Polled Angus cows for baby beef, is looking very well. About five miles from the main road the Whitianga Road | junctions with the Kohuratahi Road, which is metalled about li miles beyond the junction. Here the Public Works Department is to construct two new bridges, one of which is already in hand. The Kohuratahi Road has also been metalled back to the terminus of the previous metal. Though it has been a great year for the growth of bracken fern the hills along the Kohuratahi Road before the saddle is reached are clear of fem, as it is easier to control hills and papa country than the lighter land. From the top of the Kohuratahi Saddle the Putikituna Road branches off to the left. The metalling of four miles of this road, sufficient to give metalled access to every settler, is now practically completed. At times settlers are inclined to criticise the work of the Public Works Department, but in this district the settlers all recognise that they owe a debt of gratitude to the department for the metal given them during the past three years at very little cost to the settlers themselves, as in three years they have obtained over 15 miles of metal. They also speak very highly of the splendid work, general demeanour and behaviour of the men who have occupied the relief camps. They would not wish to meet a finer lot of men, who have left their, mark on the district in the shape of manv miles of well constructed roads.