THE DEMAND FOR BUSH LAND IN TARANAKI.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 6990, 13 February 1886, Page 2

THE DEMAND FOR BUSH LAND IN TARANAKI.

There is a most decided rush just now.for .bush land in Taranaki, and the Crown Lands Department find themselves hardly able to place blocks' in the market quickly enough" to meet' the demand. The -.Education Reserves Board are also feeling the effect of this awakening >to the value' of our bush lands, and are receiving, numerous" enquiries for leases. Jn fact, this body, which has hitherto been almost lost sight-of, is now. being made to realise that it has very responsible duties to perform, and. that public attention! is being turned towards its estate. That this should be the case' will hardly, be a surprise to people - 1 who ' have kept th'em&elves acquainted with the progress of jcolonisation in' other parts of the world: J Even In La Plata the price of land is rising very fast. " The popularidea is that Wge areas of land. ( a'ro to be obtained in.the Argentine Dominion merely for the asking, 'and the following extract from a letter by < M. Emile Dacreaux, in .a late number of the, , Revue des Deux Mondes, will .doubtless be interesting: — " j • > 1 This writers states^: — "Within an area of 10 to 15 mileß of Buenos Ayres theland is mostly'occupied by Basques, who furnish 1 the town with milk, vegetables, and fruit. This lands sells readily at irom £20 .to £30 per acre. The same description of land, extending 10 to 15.,, mi1e8 further into the country sells as high as £20 per acre. This is the region of f^armsj of which- the largest is no.t over. 1000 acres. : lOutside this is a zone 1 "ot large properties ■ valued up-tt>- £10 per acre. These properties are .usually let in lots of 500 acres,, vvh^ch it is stated will keep 15Q0 sheep, and the rent varies from 4s. ,to ss. per acre per, annum for. grazing.' The country over 50 < miles from . town, is entirely de-. voted to sheep breeding. Here, except oh the two railways on the "west and the southern, tho value 'of land, diminishes' greatly, and'a block of 6,700- acres is at times sold for little over i; In Santa Fe the land, though equally fertile, is sold at a much lower price. A concession, as a block of agricultural land is called, consisting of 62 acres, is sold at ab'opt 15s. por acre. During the last f§w years the value of land, particularly in (he districts likely to be occupied by fawners," has risen considerably, but compared with eqally good land- in other parts' of the world, the pride-is still very 10,w." Certainly our Tarahaki lands are encumbered with' forests^ but the day appears to be fast approaching when that will' be ' ti recomaiendntioninstead of 'a drawback. ..j -•— ' j . ! It will be seen by advertisement that the picture ' frames bE Mr. Ammunson, which took .prize at ,thoj Colonial Exhibition,- are to be disposed of by art union. ' ; The frames are at present on view at ■ Mrs. Bowen's establishment, Devon-street. ' ; . It will be seen by an advertisement that Messrs; Gold water Brothers- have commenced business ' in >: Currie-streot as wholesale grocers and -wine and spirit, merchants. They are also agents for a large number of wholesale houses. in other ■ parts of the world, ■ and by this means^are able to supply goods 'at a better advhntag'e> than by being simply buyers. The prelimin- ' ary advertisement else.whsre willj lidwev'er, ' showto what extent. -their., stock already' consists. i v JFisb, which have up to recently been very plentiful r offi -this coast, are again difficult to procure,' and the cause assi jned by, tho Europeans and Maoris is tfyat a' | remark'ab.ly .strong, and quite an unusual, set of the current is not running along the coast. A lino that ~a few daya ago could be kept at tho'bottom by an ounce weight is now dragged if weighted with" a pound. Sharks, 'however,' are not' scarce, "aud a' Maori boat went out on Friday and caught thirty-five of these rapacious creatures. A serious accident 'happened^ on the 'Devon Line, between the Heniii bridge and town, on r Thursday. _ A lady was driving into town in a buggy , when lier" trap collided with a' dray. It seems that there were tno horses in the dray, and as the' trap approached, the leader, was turned, to the side, but the shaft horse kept in the o£ the road, with the resujt that the end of: the shaft carried'away orio ,of the* front wheels oE tho trap;' The lady. occu-> paut was much alarmed, but' escaped with nothing more than a severe bruise. A remnant of the great r forests which onoe.cpvered the 'south of Sweden was recently du£ out oE a bog at Kinneved, consisting of a boat six feet in diameter, hollowed out of .a log. The troe from which it was obtained" must have been 20 feet in circumference. The wood, which was b.luo in color, was very hard, mil the boat so heavy that two bullocks could not movo it. Tho 'Melbourne correspondent of a contemporary relates the following : — Whal : tho newspapers call a 'strange" shooting case has occurred at Beaufort, in Victoria-; but they would not have been far wrong had they called it humorous! A lad thirteen years of age, named Ballaiitine. shot his stepfather, who was called Stewart-. The lad went about it in a fashion so cool as almost to be comical. Ho ijvent to v neighbor'and borrowed' the gun 1 , " for his 1 father ;" and ha asked to have one barrel loaded. The neighbor obliged him, and he went to look for his father, whom he found working in the garden. He laid the gun along the gate post to secure a good aicn, which ho obtained, .as the stepfather fell down with eighty pellets in his back and arm. The youngster then took tho gun back, and told tho neighbor that " his father thanked him for the loan •of it." The stepfather is not much the worse. V\ T o are told that ihe lad. ''appears', 1 to be nn incorrigible youth beyond the control of his parents, aud appearances certainly are not against this view of hifi character. jw^j