IMPROVED FARM SETTLEMENT.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 567, 14 May 1913, Page 2

IMPROVED FARM SETTLEMENT.

RANGITOTO NO. I. THREE YEARS' PROGRESS. Just three years ago a block of land lying to the east of the Main Trunk railway, between Te Kuiti and Otorohanga, wai opened for settlement under the Improved Farm Settlement conditions. Immediately prior to that time there had been a general financial stringency, and the stringency in New Zealand was accentuated by the retrenchment in the Civil Service. In respect to some of the land thrown open for selection preference was given to retrenched Civil Servants, and a certain number tuok advantage of the opportunity to acquire holdings. The majority of the sections, however, were taken up by ordinary working men, many of whom had no previous experience of farming. The land upon which the settlers were placed was, for the most part, open fern country, of average quality, while a fair percentage of it was distinctly under the average quality of the land of the district. Roads in the block were nonexistent, and the settlers were employed at road work with the idea of enabling them to earn sufficient money to keep them in necessaries while making a start on their sections. The conditions attached to the scheme provide for advances by the Government to the settlers up to the amount of £l5O, with a further allowance of £SO for house building. The money is only advanced when work to the value of the amount applied for is per formed, and the scheme of improvements has to be approved of by the Crown Lands ranger. Two settlements were established in the locality mentioned, and are known officially as Rangitoto No. 1 and Rangitoto No. 2. The spttlements cover a wide area,however, and various portions of the settlements are known by their local names, which include Otewa, Tahaia, Puketawai, Mahiihi, and Rangiatea. Some years ago 1 saw portion of the country referred to, in its virgin state, and last week I paid a visit to Rangitoto No. 1. The first portion of the settlement to be reached from Otorohanga is Otewa, just six mileß from the railway. The road is practically level throughout, and passes through a fine stretch of open country, all of which will be turned into dairy farms within the next few years. This land is practically all native-owned, though the bulk of it is now held under lease by Europeans, and the hand of progress should Boon be apparent on the gentle slopes fringing the Otewa road. A fair amount of swamp country is to be seen, but this is all easily drainable to the Waipa, and when brought into cultivation will be a veritable garden. Practically every acre of the land in sight is pluughable, and it requires little imagination to draw a most alluring picture of the. future of this locality. At Otewa the first of the Improved Farm sections are seen, the holdings of Messrs Hull, Hewer, and Smith, being close to the junction of the Otewa and Tahaia roads. The firit portion of the settlement visited was the North-East, where the sections have their frontages in the valley of the Waipa river, and include the somewhat precipitous valley slopes, as well as some of the rolling country which crowns the hills above the river. The homesteads are established on the river fiat?, and a road right up the valley is now in course of construction. Compared with the cost of roading in other parts of the district this road should be constructed and metalled at an exceptionally low rate. It follows a shingle-bedded river the whole way, and haß almost a level grade. Messrs Meredith, Cruicksbank, Morton, and others have sections along the river, and already dairying is being earned on by some of the settlers. When the road is completed it will open up a fine lot of bush country, and will intersect the Rangitoto road, which is constructed for some miles from Te Kuiti. From Otewa a road has been formed through the settlement passing Tahaia, and junctioning with the main Te Kuiti-Otorohanga road near Hanga tiki. Close settlement exists throughout the whole distance, the sections averaging from one hundred to two hundred acres, and improvements to a considerable extent have been effected on each section. In many instances the settlers are already milking a few cows and sending homeseparated cream to the factory. Last season the Government supplied cows to most of the sections, and the settlers are making every effort to provide for a still greater number of milkers as soon as possible. The journey through the settlement is instructive. One gets a deeper insight into the possibilities of close settlement, and of the things which make for success or failure, both individually and collectively. It is made manifest that success can only be attained'by industry and thrift, and that these qualities, allied to foresight and executive ability, count tremendously in individual cases. Certain sections have been forfeited in the settlement, while the adjoining sections have been well improved. An Improved Farm settlement is no place for the shiftless or the faint-hearted, wnile again the margin for ill-for-tune or mistakes is small, and the settler cannot afford to take chances with any of his efforts. To the ordinarily industrious man, however, the opportunity is there to make a home and a future for himself and his family, and with that incentive to spur him on the average settler is doing great work for himself, and for the country. A highly important matter to the settler is the fact of being able to obtain financial assistance through the Advances to Settlers Department after he has expended the allowance which is originally provided by the Lands Department. If the money is judiciously expended, and the settler has good luck with his grass by the time the original amount ib expended, there is sufficient grass on J^fi..^_-?liQlLl9,,, l Erg.vide a living for.

can then pay his rent and obtain his lease, and apply for an advance on his improvements tor the purpose of carrying out further improvements on hia holding. In the case of the JRangitoto settlement thie is essential to success as the land is not of the best quality, and requires constant working in order to provide the beat results. As is the case with similar land in the Waikato, with proper methods of farming it will give first-class returns, and when the roads are metalled there will be every opportunity for rapid progress.