PASTORAL LANDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20057, 21 September 1920, Page 4

PASTORAL LANDS.

tHE SOUTHERN RUNS, report op iipjxt commission. ; [Fj.6si 6is Confess* imkr ] WELLINGTON, September’ 20. The rsport of the , Coanimoa ii Southern Pastoral Landj was tabled to- ■ mght. In regard to' of pit* loral inns, the'commission has come to tbs conclusion that ia many particulars the Acts need recohfelhietik, ,n in their pretent form they indirectly load to do--’ ; tone-ration Of "the pastures, to the dstHnient of both the State and the lessees. .••®y the following altsriticis TENURE, (a) That as twenty-one ydits, the longest tenure provided by the Act, is, ill cur opinroil and according to much i of the evidence given, too short to :n----dues a tenant to improve and develop the lands contained in his lease, or to give him satisfactory fePeUtity therein, , the term should be increased to thirtytVe years with i right of renewal, trot vided the land Comprised in the .lease tr liiehse is hot suitable fo- subdivision. If the land is Suitable for. subdivision, the outgoing lessee shall have a right to a nsw lease over the. subdivision he toilets (b) That when pastoral lands have teen Subdivided into areas that will only privide a. tufhdent living for the mainttnanoe of One, settler and his family, and all the conditions of the lease ItiVe l tek complied with, then after feevec, yeiri of the term, of the lease the lecSee may haVa the option of acquiring the fee simple, either for cash-or On de. ferfbd Payment. The value of such lands shall be the improved vulue determined by arbitration, fait in no ease o: a less value thin tie Value placed upon these subdivisions at vie vane o; them uitjocal fir leato(o) Wheh tuoh s l ukiViyiona as are mentioned in .reibmmendition (b) rirra ■ & pdrt of the lands Ut atide aamatioPal badowmeht, no right to enquire the fe«s simple shall be given or implied until an area of land equal in value it substituted, which may be either Crown land, freehold f land (urban or suburban), land Purchased for settlement purposes or Native land acquired by the Crown or obtained by exchange. (d) That all leases of pastoral lands shall hereafter be offered! for selection by ballot, subject to a condition that the lessee shall be required to reside : continuously on the run in the discre--1 tion 6f the Laud Board as provided Tor .in Section 161 (d) of the Lands Act, ' 1963. The object of this recommends--1 tion'is to put ,the residential obligations of a pastoral run on the same basis as a small gracing run. It'is hoped by this means to lead to better management of paetorU runs. ,(©) That in' dealing with’' pastoral leases or licensees it is necessary to de- : cide two years before the eSpiry whether the run is'suitable for 'Subdivision Or not. 'When the run is not suitable for subdivision, the Outgoing licensee or lessee shall be entitled to receive a renewal of hie lease or license in accordance with the provisions of the Act, j but the rental, terms and conditions of the lease shall be decided upon twelve ; months before the expiry. (f) In the case of 'subdivision mentioned in recommendation (e), the method of subdivision shall be decided upon two years before expiry, to en- , able the survey to be made so that trie outgoing lessee or licensee will he en- : , abled to exercise his right to select a Subdivision twelve months before • expiry in order to regulate the disposal of his surplus stock and give the incom- : -ing tenant an opportunity of acquiring ■ stock bred on the country. - ; - We have been led to make this recommendation through the well-known fact that sheep bred on a run thrive far* ■ bettot than; strange, sheep. (g) That as practically all the pastoral lands are _ now held under the existing tenures, ih. order to make our re- • commendation effective, it is very desirable that these conditions should apply to all renewals of leases or licenses 6J pastoral lands. (hj) In consideration of the period Of pastoral leases hating been extended to' thirty-fivo tears in the terms of our recommendation (a), we recommend that the conditions therein suggested apply to all renewals of present leases., OCCUPATION. *• , In regard to pastoral Crown lands, it is recommended that sales by auction be abolished, as it is found that when lands have been offered at public auctions the rents obtained are frequently excessive, and in consequence the tenant overstocks his. land in all endeavour to recoup himself for his outlay, which leads to the deterioration of the country. As the pretoiit system of examination by Laud" Boards is not quite satisfactory, it in suggested that a System 1 6f examination by competent boards should he held at stated times and certi- , ficatci-of competency issued to prospective applicants in regard to pastoral rubs. It ia recommended that tare runs should contain sufficient winter and •euliinlcr country to run a flock up do about five thousand sheep in country th.'jfc carries a snow risk, and up |to about two thousand where there’ia practically no snow risk. Where there is not sufficient winter country on ai , run for tho purpose of subdivision, lapd suitable for this plirposo should be ac- , quired within a. reasonable distance of the run in question.' No pastoral lands should be held by companies or by absentees.' Safeguards are suggested in regard to tranefer.CULTIVATION. Under: this heading it is recommended that in certain eases the tenant shall spell such area or areas as the board shall front time to time direct,; for &ucli periods as the beard deems necessary, the 1 rent on such spelled areas to be abated pro rata. It ia suggested that this provision' could be applied to the host advantage at the commencement of a lea to. This provision is to ho mandatory in new leases of pastoral lands, but optional in all leases or licenses of pastoral lands tiow i ' in existence. No restrictions should be placed on the Cultivation to be effected on pastoral lands, with Urn following exceptions The lessee shall, hot flake more than three crops from the Same land in succession, add Cither with, or immediately after a third crop of any kind he shall sow’ the land down with good permanent grasses and clovers! and allow the land to remain as pasture for at least three years from the harvesting of the last crop before being again cropped. , No clearing by felling and burning busli and scrub and sowing the same - iii gra-s is to lie effected except with consent of the Land Board. IMIMfOVEMEVLS. ; Under this heading it i s suggested that when it is seen that a tenant by the destruction of rabbits, light stocking and careful management is improv- , ing tlio condition and carrying capacity of the lands comprised in his IcasO, ; such improvements shall b 0 placed to his credit and' in no case ho a factor in ' .increasing!tho rent on a, renowab In the case of subdivision, tho ontgoiii" ' leskec shall receive tlio value of. this class Of improvement, which shall be paid for by tho incoming tenant. Whore a tenant is causing tho value of the land <0 be reduced by incompetent or careless management and overstocking, the Land Board may forfeit Ids lease Withqlit compensation beyond the value of the sufa' etantia! improvements, which shall be assessed at their value to ah incoming tenant. REQUISITES E'6r improvement. The commic-cion stales that the three requisites for improvement are;— Get. ting rid of rabbits, surface sowing ant! •; spelling. They found that trapping to -‘destroy rabbits is almost universally ■condemned, and they agree with this T - .

verdict. Thtey consider that the pest could be got under if heroic measures are adopted. . DETERIORATION AND DEPLETION., , Cider this heading the diversity of pastures is dealt with and the various grasses referred The causes of de-' terioration and ultimate depletion are : sutohed up as' follow :—l, Burning, es* peeially at the wrong seatott; 2, Overstocking; 3, Continuous grazing for seventy years without attempting at improvement; 4, The rabbit increase, the most cause of all; 5, The tenure arid conditions under which the land is held. , Tile commission states that, generally speaking, the summer Country of the South Island sheep runs is considerably, understocked- This applies With its 1 greatest force to the splendid .summer country of the mica-Schist mountains, where even in the most depleted part of Central Otago there are extensive pastures of tall blue tussock, a grass of fair palatability, even if not burnt. On the greywacke mountains of Canterbury and Marlborough the amount of sum- 1 mer feed is considerably less, owing to' the extensive areas occupied by shingle slips. This understocking of the high 'country is altogether duo to the much, smaller carrying capacity of the winter country. In order,'then, to increase, the carrying capacity of the runs as a‘ whole, the growing of much .-more win- ; ter feed than at present is essential. The restriction on growing crops should be modiiied to enable purchases Of seed to ho made from neighbouring stations.