IN SOUTH WESTLAND

Hokitika Guardian, 19 August 1932, Page 8

IN SOUTH WESTLAND

LAND IMPROVEMENT.

A BIG SCHEME,

Ono of the most ambitious schemes of iliand improvement ever attempted in Westland is now being undertaken at Wataroa, where a party of unemployed’ men are clearing, draining swamp so that land at present useless might be converted into dairying country. The land is the property .of Mr D- ,F. Denneliy and; for the, p" st twenty ; years haa: been used for grazing.purposes. It has produced very little in that time, but after the present scheme is completed,, it is expected that it will be able ,o carry 1 ten dairy farms. , u ; The area is of 1500 acres, made up of 900 acres of swamp and 600 acres of bush. Tile country is flat‘and part 0f the bush is very light, being ribbonwood and cabbage tree country,; while the remainder is covered vi'itff white pine, black pine and totara. ■ Eighteen men, engaged under the '4a Scheme, are living in the camp which lias been constructed on the property. They are working at draining, scrub, cutting and bu'sh felling. The two; ■main drains, which will discharge into the Waitaflgi’River and : the RotoCreek, will each be one mile and a half long. They will be eight feet deep, ‘ .

TWO FARMS READY.. A number of the mew- employed cm the joo are tradesmen from towns and are not yet physically lit foundertake the heavy work', pf ’diaining. 1 Thejse are at present ; employed oh scrub cutting, clearing timber which has •’ been burned and burning off. When tney become hardened to the work, they wild be transferred ; s>’ the heavier type of labour. ■ Already, sufficient dry land is avail-;

able for two dairy farms, but 'if Will * be sorny yeans before the whole of the ‘ 4rea is suitably for dairying, as. time will be required to allow the country to settle., During, that process,-'the-land will be used for grazing'. ' : The Wataroa Valley contains 44,000 acres of flat land. Nearly alll of it-fs' fit present used for grazing cattle and sheep, although there is a dairy factory at Wataroa. The high prices for cattle and sheep for the past ten years have caused farmers in the district to ; give up dairying and; the .buttprr'fat production has decreased as comparedwith the total of twenty years ago.

CAPITAL NEEDED,. It has been pointed out that land development on the lines being carried out on Mr Dennehy’s property requires ■a. good deal of capital, for accomodation, clothing, food and tools have to he supplied to the. men. Already,. Mr Denneliy has- spent over he ' eWOta:o'ivr’of , "the I, eakhp”S.‘Eid thfl" flhuip-” msnt foi- reclaiming the tand. : - /f, ■Since the work began four, mopths ago, excellent progress has. been made.p There have been'oply nine .days when the Weather was too wet- for the men to vircrii. When'snow was lying oh|bhe gi’ouud in' Canterbury, the weather %n £outh Westland wa® perfect, the day§| being cloudless and warm. •' The. camp accomodation has been inspected. by-\ the Commissioner of Crown Land® for West'knd and an in-

spector of the; Department of Agriculture, and both haVe : 'described it as the beet they have seen. The building which is large enough to accompdate thirty men, measures 48ft by 12 feet inches. The walls, floors and partis tions are of rimu cut on the property, | and the piles, doors and' window (rames are of totara, also off the property. • •* • The*’cdnip building is divided into

eight rooms, of which the dining-room —25 feet 6 ittbhes tong by 12 feet wide —is the largest. This room has' two c|ining tables which are unuqual in “Each is "mftdetof oneplank. They are 12 feet long, 2 inches jihibk and' 27 inches' wider <>J.Theseplanks were also cut timbei'growing on the property. ,f v ' : I RADIO installed. I A large fireplace, in whiclntlie fire is never allbwed'to go out, is provided;’ and there is ah ' ample" Stock of'fire- { jvood. Hot and cold water are provicß' ed, and a large bath has been installed;*A modern range has been fitted; tiii' ifi' the kitchen, which is also provided’ with cupboards; a; sink arid all corivenEfor the cook. Beef and rnuiWh from the farm’are'killed for fbo f d, Ja’iid fresh vegetables are railed frpto .Chhisti <*hurch to Ross and conveyed; by: rndtof for the remaining fifty miles to Whfcto toa. Tlie whole.buiMing is illumined jvith petrol gas lamps. A moderh radio set has'also been in>talledi-^;:|l-^J ! j To provide a regular supply of , vegetables, an area of tw;o acres round the ramp building is now being cultivated-.

The cost of this , work to the TJh'ehfployment Board is 17s Gd a week' for each man as compared with the chkrgfe of 30= a week for men employed' ton road construction. : , The area, is seven miles from the township of Wataroa, and is reached by good motor' loads 1 . Rates in -tile district are lo#, as tiiei roads' Have ! been constructed by the Government to assist the tourist traffic, and " 'the Westland County Council lifts liad little expense in; this connection, i It is anticipated that witliin a few years the land now being developed will he ninon'T Ihe best dairying conn- ! try in the Dcminion. Allready, two i rows in the district which have been ■ under test have given over 00011 > of butter-fat in. a season. With drainage top-dresing and liming, it in * by competent authorities that produoion figures as high as those obtaining I in Taranaki wiU he reached, i •< "■ i