RUAPUKE.

Waikato Times, Volume XLII, Issue 3391, 24 March 1894, Page 10

RUAPUKE.

As it was many years since I had visited the Ruapuke district, I was glad of an opportunity of so doing when one morning, some weeks since, Mr Thomson 1 of that place called upon-me and kindly asked me to go out there. Though only .some eight miles by surveyed roadlfrom my place to his,home, ,we had, to go down to Raglan„.aud„proceed, via Te Mata-nearly twenty miles-arriving at Mr Thomson's']residence' just': before sunsetjarld as at that time the rata tiees were in full bloom a gorgeous sight met the view. 1; Up next morning early to take a:look around, I found Mr Thorneon. busy milking a fine lot of cows. I His propei ty, which consists of a thousand acres or so, is certainly one—if not the best—of the ,be3t cultivated .farms in the Raglan, district, aud.in Mr Thomson we have,one who is a practical and ex : perienced farmer; Jlr.Tlnmson comes " frae the !i 'Land' f o' ! Cakes'' "-a' land that has turned but a host of'successful 1 farmers—and "as oiie "of Ker sons' he certainly hasjieeu most successful on. this laud.. He deserveVevery/crfidit for stick- 1 ing to the land through bad times and many difficulties, and lie ,is now being rewarded,.as is.most meet, by obtaining a very' handsome return each yeir as the fruits of his industry~at ; le.ist',' I'should have said of himself'and' wife, both of whom were most kind and hospitabledur-' ing my stay. On'this farm, the soil of which ! is of excellentbetter in,the Raglan, district), and mpstpf which is; level, itaking : grass, aud clover exceedingly well when,,surface sown, are kept about 1400 sheep, 200, head, of, breeding cattle (Shorthorns and Herefords), 20 horses, pigs, ' etc. All the cattle, sheep and horses weie,in splendid' condition. The; sheep were' a grand lot; '• about 400 fat -lambs 'being nearly'ready' for the market. ;Shropshires are'being introduced,- into Mr Thomson's I ,flock, aud. are found; to do well on. the land:: These lamb 3, though coming, lateri than others,,.., soon overtake ..them . ; in growth. The house ,is pleasantly situated, overlooking the \ocean, and a fine hedge of pines' has-been planted to protect it from thewestfrugales. ! Water is supplied by means 1 of a 1 hydraulic ram;' available: for. both hbusehokl and farm purposes.: Fine barns and outbuildings are erected,, and there is also: a most useful windmill.of very easy, construction and cheaply made, by which the wheat is gioutuLand ,cha(fcutter,.and other ma<ihinery worked.'. As tlie morning ad; vanced I took' a little/res't", on a seat ■erected on'the sea-side of .the/pine hedge, and had a gvand'view of the 1 ocean, Albatross. Point, Gannet' Island, 1 etc., ! and if the sky had -been'clear I could have seen the snowy top'of Mount Eginont... Below was the kitchen;pai4»eiv worked on .the veiy lines laid down,iri; that practical paper read only ■> recently before the Waikato.FarmersLClub by the Rev,. Mr Simmonds. Long rov.s of cab-bages!-potatoes, and other [vegetables,! all put in with the plough, were looking splendid. A l.ttl'c walk brought us to other ■ patches of' 'potatoesj l pumpkins, mtlons,and'a splendid pad■doek (-f 'wheat, nearly! ready/, for.' !the reaping, machine and ~by.' itsriippearancei likely, to turn out thirty bushels per acre,. and, wasjj ~1; believe, , put jin .without manure. \ , Other portions,,.ofi (the, estate were prep'ai'e ; 1 ] for turnips, r and wheievti' we turned was apparent that care!u 1 cii Itivatibri .was the '' order of the day.', The grass and closer were growing' luxuriantly, l and I could not ■■ help thiuliing that this was agrahd property,- 'and showed what Could be accomplished by the systematic* work 1 - ing of i the land,! land; when-the itime, arrived for- my I 'departure I [left with regret this pleasant spot, especially after. receiying,,so > much,ikindness [from; .-my host and hostess. ...,.,,.... ":>]. ,;;., The public,school, the.postoffice,Nadjpins the property of Mr 'Thompson," and is prettily siiiiated bverlboking i the'ocean.' - A

MrO. Hill's farm; one of the oldest in thei district; cornea next'. 1 lt : is now'in the occupation of his soti, ! Mr E.'B Hill,' Here: mixed is being carried <pn,' includingi'ithe,:breeding of sheep! arid' cattle; and excellent crops, of wheat, : oats : .and potatoes have,been^gropMissea-,-, son. .Large numbers.jofsturkeys were ■seen at various^places, ; and the nature of: the soil andl its,surroundings geerit to suit them well' The fences on "this' pro'-' perty are'all puriri posts and' wife, :aiid' in many places a' puriri rail,'t'ak'eV llie' place of a top : wire,; rhakihg'a 1 most sii b-, sfcantial fence.' ' Large ; quantities' of puriri still remain on the piacs; whilst karaka.ngaioand other ornamental native trees giver the estate quite a park-like appearance.;. Large quantities :6f ilime: \ sfcone,also; .abound,,and, limeburning for use on .the land is carried, on. /Another' at thosej useful ..windmills,. the. same ,as described, on. Mr,'Thompson's,,place, " 'is, found here,''witli threshing'' maciiiiW chaffcutter, and flour milLattachedj, '',', : Mr Richard Given owns'ahd ! 'occupies another'of the oldest farms, 1 , formerly the late Captain S\yan's.' i! lt'c6mprises : bofch' open • and bush la'ndj r Cattle and horses appear 'to be the principal stock carried on it at present/I The; soil! beirig light makes, it well, adapted for: sheep.: MrGiven is .also! engaged .during each •< w.eek.; in carting,flax,, to Raglan and,conveying, goods, etc,) both to and from that part, and may be torrid so doing almost every ,day-and,;for the matter-of. fchatr v - ( in the' ■night;, too. He is a settler of the right :Btamp,:and a most industrious man,i -•■ M •: Next is the farm of Mr: VV.'-Liddell; ■who' was'formerly engaged ;in' ; running -vessels <! 6n : this 'coast;;' He*' 1 has ,7 a' very.' ■aice.garden''and orchard,;. Hisplace^at 1 , -the fopt of/ Karipi r t>y: .su'rveyed'roadVis' just ■mil£s, ) fnjiii; t ,'for, the wa'DtipKfive ? milea.- entf 'being' clifc through,jtheyj>pehj hejias ,*to; go,-rnund, : nearly twenty miles before'* hoi:reaohes**|

ißaglan. Three miles out of the eight W a-half miles of road ; required are formed at the Raglan aide, of the mountain, and thiß sort of thing ought not to. exist any'loDger, ecetog.that besides being ! a much nearer road thousands of acres of the best land in the district.would,be thrown open for settlement. .: On the roast Mr Swan.'hasa nice farm stocked with cattle and sheep, whilst on the property are growing large riumbers of karaka'j puriri, and other trees. J ' ; Between him and RaglatVMessrs Ward and Jackson have their homestead, selection of nearly 400 acresi They have also leased 1200 acres.. ,f rom„the Gpvernnient, and have both sheep and cattle on the property arid,byjgreat -perscryerance and 'industry have tliu's far done remarkably well.

i ■Neat I 'Messrs Ward and Jackson's,on the coast,' is'tdbe seen on a rock what is said' to be the footprint of' the' giant Karioi;' who' one fine morning long* ago when the clouds had rolled;away and the hills were tipped with gold, saw. his 'spouse smiling at distantPirpngia,. when, mad with' jealousy, he. kicked her out to sea, and in so doing left the print of his foot on the rock. There, poor thing, she lies as Gannct'lsland, solaced by : the gannet anC;' tl e wild seamew. whilst at times from the' heart of Karioi is heard a sigh of regret-now, alas! unavailing. Between''Ruapuke 'and Aotea Harbour lies a'largeiblock of fine land of some thousands of'acres, which is. still-in th'e. ihands and occupation of the Maoris,; and known as theMahakanative settlement. On ,the, Aotea, Harbour Messrs Langley Bros, have a flaxniill, and another at Ruapuke; but I' am sorry to sav. that owing to the low price of flax both' mills are closed.

~ Coming, back towards Te Mata we ! come to thefarm of MrW. Duncan,'but npwinthe occupatiotiof Mr W. Lldd'ell,' jun.' Oti this property large quantities of •limestone are to be seeivand'grass Mat has been down for the last twenty years looks well. ; : • ; ' ;

. At Ruapuke, Mr Phillips has : Booacres on which are principally cattle anr sheep. He also, jus a flaxmill which he works on. the place.' He,, too, has' workea hard and is another persevering settler. The lands' now for .some chiefly belonging to absentees. Amongst other consisting! of/ several' hundred;, acres,' is 'that* known as Rinnaid's.'uow belonging 'to Messrs L. D. Nathan and ( .Co ••' , ' : - , ' ! ' ;, 7- "' : '. !V| ,fi::, '- ; ' . are'the farms of Messrs < fhillips and Billington stocked with sheep and' cattle,'both being 'home- \ 'stead selections./. Mr Billington also.does 'a i good bit of dairying and owns a nice lot of dairy cows,, He has ou-hU place.a 'very-.nice.orchard, and, has done.a large amount of wpr,k on the place.. Another example of persevering energy ; a nian of the right stamp."' 1; ' J . . i : At the bapk of his place on the Kawhia Roacl-is 1 the. farm of ,'Mr J'., Brdgrrien, another Ivomestead selector, 1 who'may be looked ! 6n'as one of the• pioneers of ■ this. locality, aud whohasby hard work and in dustry' made:a nice farm all but of bush landvnThis year his cropsof wheat! oats, maize; potatoes, etc;, bid fair to turnout very .\vell. The; maize.has been three years in succession on the, same -ground. Alljhejand.around, here is ; settled under the " Homestead.. System.'' , ; Mr [M6uld,|anotlier homestead settler, 'is on'the'other side'of' - ,,the road from Mr ;Bregmen\ whilst nearer Raglan Mr Bankh'art r 's farm is situated at'the junction of the;road that leads put to our beautiful Bridal Veil Falls, which are 'fast'b'ecomingoue of the chief attractions in! the Raglan district, and where the have very wisely set aside 640 acres as apublic reserve; which some ;day,mußt becomc.yeryvaluable. ; '[place, both ;butier! anil phee.se < rare produced, as well as .cattle and sheep [carried. : ',. ~ - , \ At T,e Mata are other homestead selection places, Messrs Jerome, Vernon, etc., and'here reside Messrs Galvan, who have ia finepropeity, shocked with cattle, sheep, etc. 1 , they 'are' : well known as cattle'dealer, ! each lyear -taking, over hundreds of cattle from the Kawhia and Raglan* idictricfa 'to the is the 'piiblic school andtteachei?s residence, Postwffice, telogr.'tph f station, and'store kept by 'Mr Pain, who" has alSo a nice property,, ikeepingstock,;etc.;,;upon.it.; Messrs'MoOracken and Saunders have their farms ?near here,,.the iormer huvinir a good orchard, ; Along- ,;*he road between .To Mata and Raglan Messss. La trobe.M. 'G-alvan, Collins, and Somerset have properties. The latter has.:just had a new house erected on hi§ place. ;;

Between Raglan and Ruapuke are still 'unoccupied landti, .belonging/chiefly to absentets, Maoris, Government, and the Education Board.; arid although to make ithis valuable block of land, consistiugof several thousand'acres accessible, it only requires about five miles of roa'd cutting through, the bu ? hV .'Yet Thad to ride, as before stilted, over-twenty miles, which 'ought to be this road w'as open, 'iii much less thau.'.half the distance.!, It would soon bring numbers of fresh settlers into the district, and then we should see smiling homesteads, green paddocks, fruitful orchards; and hear the lowing herd of dairy cows,' and the bleatin'g;of .hundreds of sheep along the line :| of road and creameries; the stay of any district, erected',',arid in full swing 'at ;Raglau, Te.Mata, and Ruapuke; and; the land now .lyiiig. idle'supporting a happy and contenDed; ; ,people. Had only;.tire Ministers'of Stateirom'the several colonies of Australia as well cis the ministers of religion from'that country who lately jvwited these shores,' enquiring Into ttje 1 "ivillagesettlem'eht.'scheine" come'pVer ! to tlie Raglan%trici, they would, ijrrjot 'in that scheme yet, in the." homestead'''' 'one have found,'good and'sufficient :ev.i'dience of|the:success aohieved by/most .selectors, some ; of whosa names.;! jiaye i.mentionedij.and .yet there are othersiat (Waitetuna and Karioi who richly! de-

serve for the great perseverence, often under trying difficulties,! the, success which has resulted from their continued indußtry,'manyof theni being now-inde-pendent men as|the saying goes. ; In cpnclußibh ! rmust mention the great want there is for a bridge at' 1 the town : ship of Kaglan, to cross over the Opotura creek, where the ferryman crosses or ; some .other suitable site. It is to be hoped some way will soon.be found /-to accomplish this so that our visitors, >yho 'again and again have pointed out this neevssary work whilst sojourning here, may be able to walk, 1 ride, or drive a'i : the case niay be, oiv to the beautiful ocean beach without .the expense and other drawbacks of'the ferry.. The outlay wouldsoon be recouped by the increased value given' to the| .lands befQre mentioned; and the speedy settlemont of the same. -.■•■■• : <i ; . ••• ■ • ■ "''''• ■ ;; ~ ■ ■".