COUNTRY EAST OF STRATFORD.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9027, 9 March 1891, Page 2

COUNTRY EAST OF STRATFORD.

In tho vicinity of the Mangaere Block, at a distance of some 18 miles from Stratford, a branch road will bo laid off throigh tho Mangaotuku Block, south of East Road. This road will open up portions of the Pohokuni Block, and a large block of native land at the head of tho Waitotara river, now under negotiation for purchase by the Government, and will ultimately terminate at Pipiriki, on the Wanganui river. Continuing along the East Road, after passing through the Pohokura, tho private block before referred to, and recently sold and being subdivided, we reach the point where the Junction Road from Inglewood, which leads across the Waitara river to Tarata, and after passing through the Ngatimaru country re-crosses the Waitara and joins tho Eust Road. This junction is about 29 miles from Stratford, and will, perhaps, for some years form the frontier line until the main road has been metalled I through the most difficult places, and thus make this back country more accessable. If fortune and the Government are favorable, it ought to be possible beforo the end of next summer to ride from Inglewood by the Junction Road through Tarata to the junction with the East Road at the Mahaku stream, and thence to Stratford by the East Road. The whole distance would be about 59 miles, viz., 30 miles along the Junction Road to the junction at Mahaku, and 29 miles from the junction to Stratford. When this can be done a ride through will give a better idea of the land of the interior than any description can possibly do. If a village site was laid off at or near the junction, in time an accommodation house would be established, affording a convenient halting place for persons who were on the lookout for homesteads, orforthoseoalyin search of the picturesque or who wi-hed to enjoy a summer's holiday by adding to their local knowledge of the district in which they live. We have now got beyond the bounds of acquired territory, the East Road passing through native lands, the title not having been extinguished, though, I believe, the Government is endeavouring in a mild way to purchase tho native right. At 73 miles from Stratford by this road, but only 50 as the crow flies, the junction of tho Mimi road is reached. The distance by tho Mimi Road from the gravelled main road on the coast is by the winding road 43 miles, in a direct line only 30. This junction is some 15 miles beyond the crossing of the Tangarakau River, wherj the coal indications first show out. Most of this land is broken; its value lies in its timber and coal, but some of the valleys in the vicinity, such as the Hono and other valleys, contain good agricultural land, but the bulk is pastoral land of fair quality. As I have specially dealt with the coal country, I shall not now specially refer to it, except to Bay that where the land is not fit for agriculture, it is fortunate that mineral wealth, only second in importance to agriculture, offers its ample compensation as a source of national wealth. Ihe land beyond the junction with the Mimi line is included in the general term of the King Country. Some of it, where tho pumice of the volcanic region of Ruapehu has covered the surface, is of little value; other portions, especially the limestone country of the Upper Mokau and kindred geological formation, contain land of firstclass quality, both for agricultural and pastoral purposes. These lands will bo more accessible from the Waikato side unless the Mokau route is made more practicable by way of roads opening up these lands, when the time for settlement has arrived. I have now given a general view of the lands to be opened up in the future in the Taranaki district, and in my next I will give a brief summary of the land, the mode oE opening it up for settlement, and what remains to be done in order that settlement may continue in a steady and progressive manner. Thomas Kelly.