ON THE UPPER TURAKINA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1136, 25 May 1911, Page 10

ON THE UPPER TURAKINA.

MAGNIFICENT GRASS COUNTRY. (From Our Travelling Correspondent.) About four years ago I rode through the liangiwaea block, on the upper water* of the Turakimi Hiver, and thought I had never seen such a magnificent grass country. Only a short time since I again went through the same country, and in spite of the extreme dry season there was an abundance of feed. . It is a soil which is admirably adapted to the growth of clovers, and* such cowgrass as 1 saw was a marvel. Chiefly hilly and rolling country, it must remain a pastoral district,'••'though there 'are limited areas of level land which would grow very good crops. I saw some oats on one or two sections, and very fair they were. It is evident that the farmers' here are getting on.thci; feet, as the slab whares which were the rule on my last visit have been replaced by excellent dwellings.

There is one block of Native land in the district, to which there-is no road, either back or front; and which is hemmed jn. by laud already settled. The farmers" whose hud abuts on it hopo they will have an opportunity to secure it in sections, so as to increase their holdings: They cannot, any of them, be called land-grabbers, as one must tako into consideration the hilly nature of the laud and its out-of-the-way locality.

BetivEeii the liangiwaea block and the railway line is, a large area of Native land in heavy bush, - which iu time will make good farms. The timber is being cut by several mills and taken by train to Hihitaki, on the Slain Trunk. Th;re is a large mill near Mr. Spooner's at Itakautepauma, the property of Mr. W. H. Booth, of Carterton. Quite a township has sprung up, and a school is being erected for the many children. AVhsn the timber is cut nut the' land will make excellent farms.

DRAUGHT-HORSE STUD BOOK. A HAWERA PROPOSAL. At a meeting of the general committee of tho Egmont A. and P. Association it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. A. Hunter, that a separate committee for draught horses should be formed. Mr. Hunter said that he aimed at getting a stud book prepared, and that ho wanted to inaugurate a movement which would extend throughout New Zealand. He wanted all draught blood horses registered, so that the present difficulty in tljo way of sales for export would bo removed.