THE WOODVILLE DISTRICT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 984, 26 November 1910, Page 19

THE WOODVILLE DISTRICT.

PRESENT AND FUTURE PEOS- . . . . ■. pects: Some,idea of the value of the Woodville district for dairying purposes may bo gleaned from information supplied to a Dominion representative from a , very authoritative and accurate source. Tho Woodville Valley is drained by three rivers, Manawatn, Mangatainoka, and Mangapapa, most of the soil is alluvial, and a very large area river silt. There is a beneficent rainfall. The opinion is confirmed on many sides that there is land in Woodville, equal as , a producor (but not so extensive) to the Hawera dairying country, and of the same formation .as the well-known' river soil property north of Groytovni, in tho Wairarapa. A Taranaki farmer, it is • stated, sold- his - farm- in ■ that -district at £45 por acre, and bought at Woodville at £30. His. statement is thathis' 'new farm is better than his old one. Of course,' it must be Temembered that the farm lands of Woodville do not nearly compare in extent with Taranaki, whioh is tho greatest dairying.province in New Zealand. The Riverside property, referred to in the.note on tho Woodvillo cheese factory, sold from £30 to £33 per acre, and is now producing a , return of between, £5 and'£6 per acre for milk alone. Some farmers are runining more than one cow to the two acres. .It is very ■ likely that there will ,be a.further extension of dairy settlejment -in the. districtj -.owing to - the fact that the leases/ 1 of some thousands of acree of-Native -lands -are -now- on tho. point of expiring,". and a • petition having been presented to; tho .Govern;-' ment that the land should bo cut up, the place is about to be surveyed. It Iwill probably be placed on tho market early next year. It is 'estimated that on tho Woodville side of the Manawatu Eiver it will run sixteen families, on the Pahiatua and Mangatainoka side, thirty' families.

Tho increase in the price' of dairy land in Woodville during the past ten years has been on the average from £7 to £25 per acre. The average prico now is from £14 to £35 per acre, and for ono or two soctions of the better land, as.much as £40 por acre is being asked. This movement is not based on speculative values, but on an absolute return from tho areas. Thero aro many people, x>i course, who declare that land values, are too high, and that a fall would mean a slump, but thero is tho fact to be considered that of late years there has been a considerable improvement in the methods of dairy farming, with the natural result of a greater return from dairy stock.

Ton or fifteen years ago farmers thouglit that they wore- doing remarkably well.with' butter-fat at 'Bd. per pound, their gross annual, return per cow was £9, whereas, at tho present time, Bomo'. of , the bettor herds Lα jVocdville are returning to their ownora

;a gros3 annual, value of from £16 to £17? ■per cow. Allowing '£3-108. per- coV for. interest on the land, this'leaves' a handsome enrpine to come and go on, and pay for labour,. /. ,\ .. .. .■ .

, There is a large amount:'of sheep country in the back districts' of Woodville; running from one and a half to three sheep to the aero.. Since the bush has been felled, the climate has. improved considerably. The rainfall has lessened slightly,' but the great gain has been in the almost total elimination, of the fogs. For instance, there were none last winter, arid people who have tried other climates besides that of Woodville,;. Have found tie latter much to their benefit.- ■

A great want in connection with the town itself has' been the dearth of arterial roada connecting the place with the remote back country. Ono of these roads, however, is shortly'to be projected into tho Makairo district, which will be brought within, six miles from the railway line, instead of sixteen miles as now. The new road will also bo utilised as a etopk route from Kumoroa and Pongaroa. Aβ •Woodville has also come to the fore as a stock sale centre since tho advent of Dalgety and Company's regular sales, buyers fromManawatu, Htuvke's Bay, aid Wairarapa, recognising the locality as a most convenient market from a : geographical point of view.