CROSS-COUNTRY JOTTINGS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 845, 17 June 1910, Page 8

CROSS-COUNTRY JOTTINGS.

'AROUXD MATAKOA. Gang from Taihape towards Mataroa, I'.- and about a couple of imles or so from : tho town (writes our travelling eorrespon- ' . dent), a road branches off to tho left across the railway line, leading into tho I"- . State farm settlement.- The land is, of ; : course, nli taken up, and occupied chiefly as sheep fauns, though there are a few ; dairying sections as well. Like most of | the land in the Taihape district, this - block seems to carry a splendid .sole of grass, and is good country for all stock. Being at a considerable altitude it is, ! ■ of course, very health}'. • It' is just'about here where one sees the remarkable mud boulders, which jlie scat- ! tered all over the country. They vary s ■ in size from an orange to blocks weigliT•' ing tons, and are exceedingly hard. They .make splendid road metal, when cracked. A settler told me that they are only j found, in a line about two miles wide, i They look like giants' cricket balls, being quite round. I should imagine they S must be something like the boulders on ' .' the Moeraki Beach, in. the South Island. !'■ -I only know of another place where they | occur, at Mongatiti, neaT Pomjaroa, but i . there they are not in anything like tiro : same numbers as are seeoi at this place.. i\ All the main north road are' to I . . be seen desolate-looking places, deserted ; ■ sawmill villages, where, tho bush lias, been cat out.' Very few mills are \vorking there now. I think nothing looks more !■ dreary tlia.n-.one. of these ullages. In '- fact, at their best they are' never a [■,'. scene of beauty, the buildings aTe run :• up as quickly as possible, vary rarely are they painted—it is not to bo esf. ( pected that they should be, seeing that : they are merely temporary shelters. Yet [ even in these primitive villages one ■ - always sees some of., the cottages which ; a much more homely look than the and irt is usually the wife who is i,. responsible. As one said to me, "I do j like to see things look nice." Such peoi pie can always find time for almost any- • '■ thing. They are "like some farmers, who l have a good orchard amd a nice flower : garden, very often, > too, there is a> bit i- of well-kept lawn.' It depends mainly oil i system. On tho other hand, I know of ! dozens of farms where there never seems i. to be an idle minute, : going from day- ; light to dark, and yet they never eeeni , to get ahead, of their work. They .buy, | !: their cabbies from the "Cliinky and ' use baker's' bread; the cows and 'horses &re turned into -the orchard to. eat the ;. : long grass, instead of which they eat ; tie fruit trees and waste the grass. | "Coming back on the main road!' I was f, B bit surprised to see a Chinaman's gar- [; den. .He tad a fine show of winter cabf bage and bl-ocoli; He. did not seem to have been so much troubled with the'fly b -as other gardeners this season.- '■ ' There is some nice country in- tie Ngai waka ' Settlement. This ; is' on a road vrfidch, crosses the Hautapu Stream.. It is ' chiefly in small areas. A good many of i the farmers are milking; and they ell told j", me what an excellent season they have V 'had. The settlement certainly grows any v amount of cocksfoot, which is undoubt- : edly the milking grass, as was proved by | an experiment in the South Island some r few yjaxs ago. Ngawaka also grows excel- '. lent fruit, the ■ soil seeming to suit api pies. The wonder to me is that more - .people in those districts do, not grow |• more of -the small fruits. l There is :al\yays : , a demand for black currants, and in this iigh country they do remarkably well. i