OPENING UP NEW COUNTRY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 4068, 15 June 1882, Page 2

OPENING UP NEW COUNTRY.

The following report by the Ranger waa read at the meeting of the Land Board on Monday :—": — " As directed by the Board, I have the honor to report that at the present time there are over 11,000 acres of surveyed land open for sale in tho Taranaki District, all of it being land suitable for settlement, and a lar/re portion of: it being of -good quality. My reason for stating the above is, that I do not think it advisable to push on survey work and road work too far in advance of sales, e s I have found by experience that in bush districts, unless settlement quickly follows the opening up of the land, a great proportion of the expense of the road work 'is wasted. The roads grow up, and have to be re-cut ; tha watercourses choke, and there being no ene to clear them, the road gets damaged ; culverts and " bridges deteriorate more quickly through not being attended to. Nearly the' whole attention of would-be purchasers of land in the Taranaki, Provincial' District is now turned to the' coming a.ales in tho West' Coast Land District, near Parihaka, Opunake, and Waimate, when between forty thousand to fifty thousand acres will be offered for sale. . Until that has been.disposed of, I feel stire that but little inquiry will be made for land in the Taranaki Land District, especially if the land is situated far back from the main road or railway line. There are, however, three blocks of land in the Taranaki Land District which might, with advantage, be surveyed and opened up by roads, and which would probably eel Within a reasonable time if the roads were made pracLicable before sale. I mean the block known as the iron sand land, the unsurveyed portion of block 10, Huiroa, and the land lying between blocks G and 10, Huiroa, and the Waitara River. The iron sand block comprises 5000 acres of fair land, the front of it being only two miles from the railway line and a main metalled road. The land ean^be entered by fiveroads, viz., the Durham, Dudley, Lepper, Upland, and Egmont Roads, which have been felled and are passable, but require improving. Settlers are established on the land adjoining the block, which materially enhances the value of the land, and were it properly opened up I believe it would meet with a fair sale. The cost of improving the existing roads to give good access to the land would be about £200, and the cost of opening up the block would be about £1000, there being nearly ten miles of roads to fell and culvert. If desired, several hundred acre's could be added to the above block by laying off a row of sections on south side of the Durham Road to the same distance back «s the back of the block, without adding to the cost of road-making. The unsurveyed-.portions.of blocks 10 and 14, Huiroa, would enclose-over 5000 of very fair land, some of it being of superior quality. The advantages of opening this block would be to fill up a gap between two districts which are now steadily advancing, viz., the Midhirst' block and the land leading off from the Turiki Road. The block of land lying between blocks (> and 10, Huiroa, and the Waitara River will be much benefited by the expenditure now being incurred on the Tdnki Road, comprises many thousand acres of good land, and the opening up of this block to the Wairoa River would be a very useful preliminary to the exploration of the country on each side of the Waitara to its source. Assuming that 5000 acres of this block were opened up, this, with the other above-mentioned, would give about 26,000 acres of land for sp.\e, which would, I think, meet all requirements for the coming year. The cost of opening up the two blocks last mentioned would be difficult to estimate until the surveys are completed, as until then the number of miles of roads to be cleared cannot be arrived at, nor the expense of culverting or bridging estimated. The amount required, however, would certainly not exceed £2,000. On last year's estimates a sum of £2,000 was passed to open up roads east of Stratford and Mountain Road. Of that sum, about £1,700 is still unexpended, which will probably be re-voted this session, and which would go a long way towards opening up the lands I have indicated. Some years since I was one of a party sent by the Provincial Government of Taranaki to explore the country lying east of the Mountain Road. During our journey we crossed the Upper Waitara, and followed its banks many miles. What I then saw of the country leads me to attaoh great importance to the proper exploration of the Waitara River, from the end of the Tariki Road. Below that point the river has several rapids, rendering it unsafe for boating purposes. Above the point I indicate I feel confident it could be made a useful highway, by which to settle large areas of land abutting on the Waitara River. Tho exploration of. the river would serve a double object. It would at once decide as to the quantity of available land tor settlement along its banks, and as to whether the river could be used for water carriage ; and it would be the means of fixing the exact course of the fiver upon the map, and perhaps lead to the discovery of a good railway route to connect Taranaki with Auckland. Tlic exploration could be conducted easily and cheaply by using small flat-bottomed canvas canoes, each capable of holding two men and a month's supply of provisions. When loaded they would float in less than six inches of water. They could easily be lifted over logs or shallow places, and could be made strong and light and durable enough to last a season. One of the chief difficulties in exploring a bush country is the carriage of survey instruments and food and tents. The using the river and canoes would get over this difficulty, as in no ease would the explorers have to tcavel more than one or two days' journey away from the canoes in exploring the country each sido of the river. Should supplies run short, or a man get hurt, the means of returning quickly would be always open to them. With two such boats — that ia, with a surveyor and throe men — a very large amount of useful information could be obtained in one season ; and it is to lead the way to the acquirement of this knowledge that I consider the opening of the block next the Waitara River would be of very great importance to this district, as it would connect by a good road the railway line and Mountain Road and the Waitara River." The Legion of Honoh. — in addition to the award of the Gold Medal (L' Academic Nationale), and also the Silver Medal, awarded to John Brinsmead & Sons, of Wigmore-street. | London, for the superiority of the Piano exhibited by them last year at the Paris Exhibition, the founder of the firm has been created Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, this distinction being conferred on no other Rri'inh Pianoforte Mannfaetnrer. Kohu & Co. are selling their Stock of Jewelley at greatly reduced prices. Convince yourself, and call at tho New Zealand Clothing Factory. — Adv. tc — a