D.—2.

36

730. Have you noticed the depth of the snow-drifts that close up the valleys ?—No. On one occasion one of these narrow places was completely shut up for a long time. 731. At what date have you noticed the latest frost in the Tarndale country ?—You are liable to light frost early and late. It never affected our vegetables. Ido not think you would get any frost later than October. 732. Are you sure there is no frost later than October ?—I would not say there is no frost later than October. 733. Mr. Fulton.] Did you ever try to grow any potatoes there ? —Tes. 734. Did you succeed ? —I got them nipped off several times at Tarndale. 735. Have you heard of anybody succeeding in growing potatoes ? —'Mr. Saxton grew very nice potatoes at the Bainbow, but not at Tarndale, where we were generally unfortunate. 736. You sowed grass upon some of the bare places ? —Yes. We had nice patches of grass at the back of the old accommodation-house. 737. You state that some of the people in Waimea are not content with fifty acres, but they have to do with it ?—Yes. 738. Is it not surprising that some of them should not have taken up some of the splendid land on the heights of which you speak ? —I do not think it is surprising when you consider that there are no means of getting their produce to market. 739. Even with a coach road down ?—lf it was a good metalled road it would be too far to successfully carry goods unless by rail. 740. Mr. Fell.'] Do you know how far it would pay to carry produce. Would it pay to cart it more than twenty miles ?—lt would not. Mr. Nathaniel Fowleb, Stoke, examined. 741. Mr. Fell] I believe you know the Tarndale country well ?—Yes. I was there in 1863. 742. What were you doing there. I was with my brother on a station on a branch of the Waiau —on the Stanley. 743. Do you know the country about the Upper Waiau, Tarndale, and Alma ? —Yes^ I know it well. 744. What is your opinion of it as a stock-grazing country ?—I think it is the best part of Nelson Province as far as stock-grazing country is concerned. 745. Is'it better than the Amuri ? —lt is the same class of land as the Amuri. 746. You call all this country good sheep and cattle country ? —Yes ; it is very good sheep country and better cattle country. 747. Were you in the habit of going through that district often ? —Yes ; at all times of the year. 748. Was the climate such as would hinder you from travelling in the winter? —The greatest difficulty I had was in the bad winter of 1867. I then experienced no difficulty in getting along except in a few places. The first difficulty was in the gorge. The road is now altogether different. It was then simply a track cut round the rock. 749. The snow did not then interfere with your travelling in the gorge ?—No ; we were troubled with the ice formed from the spring. 750. Had you any difficulty in travelling as you wished? —Very slight, except at a few narrow gullies. The wind sweeps the snow into the gullies. 751. There is no difficulty in travelling over the whole country at any time of the year ? —No. 752. Supposing a railway were made, would there be any obstruction to traffic? —No, not any. 753. Were that country made accessible by a railway, would a considerable part of it be suitable for settlement by small farmers ? —Yes, in fifty-acre farms. At present it would not pay the small farmer to send his produce to market, a distance of some one hundred miles. 754. Would the land be suitable for cultivation ?—-Yes ; it will grow crops. 755. If it were made accessible to market, would the country be settled ? —Yes, more than it is now. At present there are no means whatever of getting the produce to market. 756. Is it the habit of people to travel by coach ? —I do not think the coach goes further than Tarndale from Canterbury. 757. Does it go regularly ? —I do not know. It does not go to Nelson. 758. How long has that road been at all accessible for wool traffic ?—Within the last three or four years. 759. The whole of the land is at present in the hands of private individuals ?—lt is leasehold. I believe there is a Government reserve at Tarndale consisting of 20,000 acres. 760. Is the land along the coach road open for settlement ? —I believe it is not. 761. Is the land in the valleys good ?—Unless the valleys were explored it would be impossible for any one to say of what they consisted. You may find a small opening into the main valley, which spreads into a large valley three-quarters of a mile wide and nine miles long. There are more than one of these gullies, and the land in each can be cultivated. 762. Did Mr. White, in his evidence, exaggerate when he stated that there was a large part of the 87,000 acres of land fit for cultivation ? —No, he did not. 763. Is it impossible to settle the land without the means of access to it, and of getting goods to market ?—The great drawback is the want of means of taking goods to market or bringing them out. The people who have lived there in years gone by have grown enough for their own consumption and no more. 764. What can you grow there ?—I believe you can grow any kind of grain. At Mr. Carter's station they grow potatoes for their own use. There are no means of getting them away. They grow oats at this station. 765. Is the climate similar to that at Tarndale ?—Yes ; the snow is no worse and no better. All that is wanted to make the country perfectly accessible to traffic either by carts or railway is the construction of roads and bridges over the gullies. 766. Mr. Thomson.] How many acres of good agricultural land can a man work ?—lf there are the means of getting the produce to market, one man can work a hundred acres.