Bus a Locations.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1490, 22 January 1861, Page 5

Bus a Locations.

There are many reasons why a bush location for a settler of limited means is inure desiiable, th.tii one on opi*«> 1-md. First, where tSe bush is so situated and of such a nature, that eitijer by his own labour occasionally or by the labour of others, he may at one* and continually be securing a return by the sale of sawn timber, firewood," "po.us a ti d rails, shingles,. Scc^at thesame time Lhnt he, is' clearing and improving his land. Seoodly, the return -of cropk'- from Bash or Forest ground is quicker, and -more certain than that fr>m cither-fern or flax..,.sslv ! and the cost of the first outlay altogether I&ls . L'he first expense on a section of open land, foe* . cost of a team of bullocks» plough, dray, bar* rows, .See, is eitb«r saved, or the money, if laid out at once in breeding stock, would tell up favourably at the end of a few years on the side of bush land, in comparison with fern or flax locations. ■ ■ . •■,... All bitsh land is however not alike in quality although the difference is not so strongly marked as iv the case of open lands. The heavy bush is both more easily cleared and more profitably cropped than where it is of a lighter growth. A great prejudice has been raised against soil on which kauri is grown. Now, we have seeur as good crops growing underneath dead kauri* and around old kauri slumps, as iv any oihet parts of the same paddocks,; and are inclined to believe that the prejudice is, altogether unfounded, and that only were the original kauri Forests (probably more dense then than the genurality of kauri bush at piesent) have been naturally and totally destroyed, by fire* will these pernicious effects he found.' 1 ' Lands 0:1 which the principal growth • is Tawa and Puriri are however among; the more fertile. * On light bush, that is where the trees are " nowhere more than eight inches in diameter,, they should be cut down at a height. of about four feet from the ground. In four or five •years time, when the roots have somewhat rot* te:l, a pair of horses or bullocks tfith the appliances of blocks and tackles can drag out all the stumps, and so render the land fit for the plough. By leaving the stumps at a height of tour .feet ahove the ground, a large .leverage power is obtained than if they were cut loft er down towards the roots. , •'■ In heavy bush, however* the operation of clearing out the stumps would be too expensive* even after.a much longer interval of time, and though the systcn of cropping and preparing for cultivation will in their case be the same as for the lighter bU3h, yet" we iiiuSt^wiln.: them " rest content with the knowledge that wheu once laid down in pasture they must remain" so permanently. ' ', •'"-. The bush settler then, having selected a site for bis house, will wisely and naturally turn to the resources to be found, dose at 'bind for its construction. If unused to bush work— indeed iv any case— he Will be the better for som* temporary assistance, say for the first; month or six weeks* The best wood From which to split slabsor palings for the construction of his house are Kauri and Totanu Kihikatea vvill split equally well) but is not so durable, though (v?<» speak from experience) Kihikatet slabs will lust upwards of live years, aud the probability v before that time the settler will both require} and possess the means of building a more durable house. His rafters, ridge pale, studs, &0., he will find growing artmn I him in th« shape of young kauri or other saplingsv Wn have seen au excellent housa built of To tar a palings, weather boat d. fashion, the studs, &c, round poles, and neatly lined throughout, ami floored and roofed with Totara palings, all split by the settler and his wife. We ; should ct*r« tiiinly recommend the use of shingles or h.ilf length palings, in preference to Hikiia or etu* ting grass fora roof; they are cheaper a* regards Urn 0 , neafer, and require no renewiug. Window sashes and doors, must be procured from Auckland, and will* with the wages for a. man's assistance for a month an I tue cost of the nails, be the only money outlay, required for the construction of the house. r The best time for commencing occupation ou a bush aliotmeut i*, we think, fro 11 October la March. For the first work, the obstruction ofthe house, we may allow about tares weeks 01 4 month. The next step is the lemoval from town of bis wife and family to tha scene of their future labours. Now one great error, inn* which many new settlers fall, is that of commencing operations on a largerjsoale than the/ are ultimately able to carry out. - ay :'t\iWi\iby not only disappoint themselves,: but really throw away an amount of labour, which, had it beeu concentrated upon a smaller objdJt, might have been a present profit and a permanent/ go in" j whereas the result too often is a, positive loss, and a source of discouragement toothers. v • We should therefore recommend the seltler not to undertake mord than the reclamation of I ten acres during the first year, of these one acre will be absorbed in garden, ground Sec, annuid his house. His first Work then w>ll .be ue full* ing of ten acres of bush. All trees over tint** and a half feet in thickness he Wiil leave standing. He can^ on an average, if a tolerably, good nxotnau, fall an. acre in eight, days*. ■ Iv falling the timber the trees should be all laid as nearly as possible), iv one direction, in otdor that the.branches may lie cveoiy spread over the giouud, and the Ore bo thus the m re readily eomnuiniuated from one part l.o.nao.tiier. Ths timber wheu fallen aud while yot ;, must' be logged and lopped, that i*)» the hr<iucius all'cutoffand the trunks logged 6r cwt hilo such lengths as oue or two men with the aid of levers, can roll rogether.-*so thut.yvJitiii ti*<j'lir«i has been through, arid hWcons'aiii'ed tt«v :^.»> •>>^r . :. wooJ, the larger pieces" may be . ttig'et«»irv;^c and oue log burn the other oixC ''Ji'uis^ojjerauo^^ of logging and J'uppipjf 1^ -'V*'" '-^ falling the trees it the first ir^|Djßf,|(i:Yuait;|f)^ V ten acres wehaVe*>ua hundred and sixty work|| : ing days orjffsl sit Uioaibi66hißuraedt , ThikM. he has commenced ocoupatioDiu October, *HoWt' { ing one month for the completion ot bis f , > will briog him to the end of A^ril, time euoa^u ; ;