UNSETTLED LANDS

Waikato Times, Volume 91, Issue 14133, 9 August 1919, Page 10

UNSETTLED LANDS

EN SOUTH AUCKLAND PROVINCE. DEVELOPMENT NECESSARY. A DOMINION NEED. (Written Specially for The Waikato Times.) The matter of unsettled lands is daily claiming more and more attention, and there is reasonable hope for supposing that, when normal govern- i ment is again restored, a strong and I sustained effort will be made", both by ! Members of Parliament and the interested public, to settle the empty places in our province. Auckland is now the only province containing any appreciable area of unproductive lands, and the interests of the whole Dominion demand a vigorous land settlement policy here. A good deal of attention iS'being directed to the desirability of building light lines of railways to facilitate land settlement, especially by Ihose who have had experience of the system of transport by such means on the Continent. Railway Communications. The system of making lines to the Government gauge and standard seemed at the time a far-sighted policy. Justified in such constructions as the Pukemiro, and the Ellis and Burnand lines communicating directly with the Main Trunk line, the one at Ngaruawahia, and the other at Manunui. Had the Totara Timber Co.'s line from Putaruru to Mokai been built to the same specification as those instanced it is probable that the State would long ago have taken it over and extended it so -as to serve and increase settlement in the interior of the province and stimulate tourist traffic, wnich. so far, has not returned the expected profits. The original negotiations for the purchase of this line fell through, but that is not a reason why they should not be renewed. The line is about 52 miles in length, and the building cost was about £IOOO per mile, surely a very inconsiderable sum when consideration is given to the amount of heavy traffic it has dealt with and the large area it has served. On the long si retch between Putaruru and the Waikato river at Ongaroto there are no steep gradients, none more than 1 in 60, and there are no dangerous curves. It is from the river to the mill that the worst curves and grades occur, but they are not beyond" the possibility of easy conversion. To bring the whole length of 52 miles up to the standard required for the safety of a 20-mile-nn-hour serv'oe with a motor engine and the ne< esssry cars to carry p.asi sengers I goods, timber, etc.. to be carried by the ordinary light engines) it ; was estimated that the expenditure of ! another £50,000 would be necessary. ' So far as the bridge across the Wa ! - kato is concerned, it is quite capable | of carrying the 90-ton Government engines, but it must not be forgotten that I it is about 14 years since the bridge was built, and that the probable life of j it will be little more than 20 years in ! all. It is built on a single laminated j wood arch, and is probably the longest 1 wooden arch-span known. I Over this line.it Is estimated that the Totara Timber Company is able to carry its timber at a cost of 6d per [ hundred feet below the Government charge, and in its negotiations the company stood out for a preferential rate should these be satisfactorily concluded. There is 20 years' timber-cutting in sight, so the reservation seems a reasonable one, as the company, while doing the best possible for itself, has also done very useful pioneering work. The Whole matter of taking over this line, or of constructing a special line to open up the Taupo basin, should be considered at an early date. There are several lines already in course of construction in various places that have not yet been brought to the paying point, but none of these is so urgently required as a line to tap the great central area and make it quickly productive. That light lines will, at in early date, play a great part in nations! development schemes is undoubted and the sooner they are ff'vAn a trial the better. There appears to be a prejudice against them on the part of the Public Works Department, but this is due to ignorance, or lack of opportunity for investigation. The Putaruru-Taupo Country. There is on record one remarkable instance of a railway that went in advance of settlement—the PutaruruLichfleld line, the Government of the day, looking upon it as a white elephant, serving little more than the needs of the Thames Valley Land Co., tore up the metals and sleepers and used them elsewhere. The old Thames Valley estate was long since subdivided into small holdings. The Tokoroa plain has also been settled, and what happened between Putaruru and Tokoroa is now happening between Tokoroa and Atiamuri. It is a difficult matter for even the most apathetic Government to withstay the advance of settlement. The old line ■- that was looked upon as a bad paying proposition in the old days, were it still trafficbearing, would be paying handsomely, and its terminus would be a fit starting point for the great inland line of the future. The problem we have to solve is the opening up and settlement of Rotorua, East Taupo, West Taupo, Rangitikei and Waimarino Counties, within which lie hundreds of thousands of non-productive or merely partially productive areas. In pre-war days a Parliamentary Committee was appointed to take evidence enabling the Government to decide whether or not it should take over the Mokai line. The alternative proposal, that under certain land concessions the owner-company should carry on the. line to Taupo, was also considered. It is understood that on the interested natives lodging an objection to the rating proposals that would affect their lands, nothing could he done, and the country dropped hack into its old "dot and carry one" style of going. Was tin's because the land to be tapped was too poor to have its title* to decent communication with the outi side world considered? Not so. The great Tihoi block was recognised as a pood pastoral area in the old days when Tuiri Takiwa, Takiwa te Momo, and others ran a considerable number of sheep on the wide rolling downs about Kakaho. Afterwards certain runs were occupied by Europeans, but prices for wool and stock were so low, the cost of transport so high, and the wild dogs so fierce and destructive, that these runs had to be abandoned. Quality of the Land. On a question such as that under consideration it is well to forget persona) enthusiasms, however firmly based, for Ihe moment, and to spoak of facts wilh calculated precision. If ; s not sufficient to say "I believe this" or "I am convinced of that," but to ascertain-what scientists, experts and travellers intimate wilh the country say, and to quote their irrefutable sayings and writings. The Tihoi block has already been referred to. and furIher reference may be made, as it is typical of the inland soils. The country is beautifully shaped into rolllncr downs, low hills and plateaux, all splendidly watered. The soil of the sreafer part is of fiir !o <7ui!>!v. in places sue!: as Mansf.il;.'no and Waihaha it is very a-ood. but such areas outside of the bush belt are ex-

tremcly circumscribed. Generally it consists of rhyolitic and pumiceous deposits in various stages of decomposition, in many places forming a soil of considerable depth, which with intelligent farming gives astonishing results, especially in the way of producing clovers, the growth of which does not impoverish, but improves the soil. Lucerne, a member of this family, makes a marvellous growth on pumice soil. This is the calculated statement of one who knows. It has been shown that this light soil is capable of growing root crops after cultivation —winter root crops. "I saw some grown on Mr Vaile's property, and was perfectly astonished at their size." So said the late Mr Ken- . sington, in evidence before the committee.

The evidence of the Government i chemist, Mr B.'G. Aston, based upon analyses of soils taken from various parts of the inland area, proved conclusively that many—indeed most of tl iem —are rich Tn the chemical constituents that are a positive guarantee of fertility under proper management. "Pumice contains a less amount of silica, which is in the combined state, and a larger amount of plant food, than the majority of sands. It is of the chemical composition of granite. Eruptive rocks, as a class, give rise to very productive soils. The pumice soil readily allows the heavy rainfalls to rapidly drain away, and owing to the excellent capillarity of the soil when compacted, permits the soil water to ascend from below, where this : s possible. Owing to the absence of clay particles the soil can be worked at anytime, wet or dry, without puddling. The droppings of stock are extremely favourable as an ameliorating agent on pumice soils. The intensity of nitrification is dependent, on the poms'ty of the soil. The grealer the porosity the more intense the nitrification, by which is meant the conversion of the inert nitroi-rn of humus into active solid nitrogen, the most expensive fertiliser ingredient. The dominant plant food required for legumes is potash, and this is present in abundance in the pumice. There IS wan tin? evidence that pumice soils are. capable of very great improvement." Methods of Development. Ther,e are few educated farmers of to-day to whom these facts are unknown, but it is necessary to interest not merely farmers, but also commercial men and the general public in a great development scheme in which ali sections of the people are interested; therefore the evidence of the scientist, is given, it being that of an independent and unbiassed witness. Mr Aston added: "The ground is full of potash. All the samples I have analysed have been full of available potash." There are those possessed of an idea that there would be. a great waste of phosphates applied to these soils. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Phosphates would remain indefinitely in the soil, so long as the covering soil remained, as phosphates do not wash out.

Similar evidence was given by Mr Clifton, Directr- of Agriculture, who, in addition, characterised the climate as "the finest in the world." There is no suspension of vegetable growth for any appreciable period, and no annual periods adverse to animal life, when feeding and sheltering of stock would have to be resorted to. In other countries times of non-pro-duction and loss occur with unfailing regularity, and have to be guarded against as far as possible. It is not so here. There would be no extra winter expenditure to reduce the gains of other seasons, for the temperature favours animal and vegetable growth to an extent that cannot be appreciated in the South, where winters are long and severe.

Almost all the land is easily ploughable, and any f,orm of motor power might be utilised. It is a land of fine rivers and streams, the very names of which are almost unknown, except to the fortunate few who have travelled in and explored the trackless places. The Huruhurumaku, Kakaho and Mangawhio flow to join the Waikato, while the Waihora, Pairamui, Otupotu, Waihaha, otango, Oruapuraho and Waikino flow into Lake Taupo. These streams are all stocked with rainbow trout, which grow into magnificent flsh. It has been demonstrated both by the Department of Agriculture and by private enterprise that the following grasses thrive well: All the fescues, noa pratensis, brown and red top, florin, crested dog's tail, paspalum dilitatum, Rhodes' grass, Indian doob, prairie grass, tall oat grass, Canadian blue grass, cocksfoot, ratstail, danthonia, philaris eommutata, and all the clovers, so that it should be easily possible to make a mixture that would guarantee a good and permanent sole. After taking evidence from all good and reliable sources the committee found as follows: "The committee is of opinion that the whole matter should be held over for the consideration of Parliament next session. The committee is further of opinion that, in the meantime, full enquiry should be made by the Government as to the best means of connecting Lake Taupo by rail with the existing railway system, so as to facilitate the early settlement of the large areas of Crown and native lands in the Taupo district." This report was furnished to the Government in October, 191 i. The evidence adduced established the fact, which must remain unquestioned, that the country is.> splendidly adapted to the growing of root crops. Probably, however, in the not far distant future it may become pre-eminently a sugarbeet growing country, as beets grown there yield the highest possible percentage of saccharine, and return fine yields in weight of crop. Proof might be heaped on proof by reliable evidence that, in the Taupo basin, lie the hopes of future development so far as South Auckland is concerned. Opening Up the Country.

There are several ways of opening up these uninhabited lands, but if history repeats itself, and there* is no reason to think it will not, each scheme will have its enthusiastic supporters and its bitter opponents. Rotorua will not tamely submit to being side-tracked when matters of railway .extension towards Taupo are being discussed. Naturally, and with justification, advocates of the Mokai continuation will put up a strong case, and the contending parties, advocates of arbitration and conciliation in labour disputes, wili have none of it in their own contentions. In suggesting a scheme one is hampered with financial considerations that take a bogey shape viewed in the light of recent war expenditure, but if the history of this Dominion teaches us one thing more than another, it is that developmental schemes for the future must originate, not in the minds of t.'iose who represent a mere constituency, but in the larger minds of those whose thoughts reach to the bounds of Empire. This country has never "turned us down," and therefore has branded the pessimist as its worst enemy. The Vogels are the best citizens and statesmen of the Outer Empire: they are men of great capacity and of splendid optimism, because they are endowed with a strange prescience, or foreknowledge. What this country requires is a Midland line of railway either from Rotorua to Taupo, or from Pii'nrnru to Taupo. On leaving Taupo the route would he by Opipi down the Tajinrua Valley to the head waters of the Mohaka near where the main river branches into the two streams, Kaipo and Oamaru, thence up the Oamaru and over a low saddle (recently discovered hv lh" wr.'tf"'l on !n and acrnp.s the Mjjyrurora river, where it is a comparatively small stream, down its yalley, through Ngamatia te the Nanier-

Taihape road, and by Moawhango to ! connect at or near Taihape* There are I no engineering difficulties 10 face: the i line might be started from both em's and made to pay almost from the start, and it would provide a short and direct route through the magnificent glacial and volcanic regions lor ilie tourist from Wellington. Probably few people are aware of the great grazing and agricultural areas that are still locked up in the runs between Taihape and Taupo. Were the line to be continued from Rotorua it would pass through Waiotapu, which is a fertile valley admirably adapted to dairying, and open up the soldiers' block there, said to have been purchased by the Government from Messrs Watt and Stead. Its course would then be along the eastern side of the river through Mr Vaile's big property, so that the Waikato would not require to be bridged. Further than this, the Kllis and Burnand line should be extended by continuation for 25 miles or so, to connect with lake shipping. Such a scheme, if carried out, would open up the whole of tho country now tenantless and unproductive. Travelling by the usual itinerary the tourist sees nothing of the surpassing magnificence of lake and mountain scenery as yet almost wholly hidden in the interior.

No policy of marking time in regard to roading and railway building will be approved of the people. It is a time for action, a time for expansion, a time to foster settlement and increase production, a time to open up every avenue to revenue. What answer will the legislators of the near future and the next- Parliament give to the ideals and aspirations of the people. There was never a time when colonists were more self-reliant. We trust the fepling will be reflected in the words and actions of our Parliamentary representatives, so that the victories of Peace may indeed be greater than the victories of War,