WAITOMO CAVES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 677, 13 June 1914, Page 6

WAITOMO CAVES.

Own Correspondent. The district around* the Waitomo Caveß is fortunate in having quite a number of patches of very pretty'native bush reserved for scenic purposes. But while entirely agreeing with the idea of preserving the busb it seems to me a great mistake to include so much fern land in the scenic reserves. JNot only is there nothing about the bracken to please the eye, but it is c positive danger to the life of the bush, for every three year? or so the fern is sure to get alight in some way or other, and every tim 9 the fire touches che fringe of the bush it penetrates a little further. Now if encouragement was given to settlers to make use of these areas of fern land and by grassing and stocking, or cropping, to gradually eliminate the fern and replace it by fresh green grasj, not only would it add to the beauty of the bush, but safeguard it from fire. I understand that after repeated applications a couple of small blocks of fern land within the scenic reservea have been leased to adjoining settlers, but the terms on which they were granted were not such as would encourage the expenditure of much capital in improving them. Another and important aspect of theße reserves is the question of the control of rabbits and noxious weeds On a purely bush reserve neither of these matters are of much importance for in this district at least rabbits are seldom found in the green bush, or even on bush clearings in any quantity, and noxious weeds do not usually gain a hold among the standing bush. But in the opsn fern land noxious weeds can flourish and increase, and the soil being made light and open b; the action of the fern roots is very suitable for rabbits to burrow in. When land held under private ownership it devolves upon the occupier to keep his land free from pests of all kinds, not only for his own benefit, but also from the fact that if he fails in his duty his neighbour may invoke the power of the law to compel him to do so. Something of the same state of affairs exists with regard to the fencing of scenic reserves. If, in the case of ordinary Crown lanM, an adjoinng one wishes to fence, he may at his own expense erect such, and when the Crown land is thrown open for settlement may recover the half of the then value of the fence or ten per cent on the cost of erection from the new tenant. But the difficulty of getting assistance in erecting a boundary fence alongside a scenic reserye is such that few settlers would care to unravel the "red tape" which surrounds the business, but would put up the whole of the fence and bear the cost themselves. Not only does this eecenic reserve question affect the pakeha settlers, but the native owners around, who, ,taken on the whole, are a very progressive people and wish to march in the van of progress alongside the pakeha, are seriously handicapped in their farming operations by the present state of affairs.