CHATTON. :

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 224, 26 January 1883, Page 2

CHATTON.

.A\. (From our own Correspondent,) , > -\\- U A description of the .north-eastern portion I of the Ohatton district— at least the desorip- I tion I intend to give— will be one necessarily J falling short of what it should be when we |l consider that this portion of Chatton Is the IS most fch'iok'ly populated part of this tixfcenslye fl district* Ohatton is so well ; known, now, and 1 with its past history. all areso familiar, that.it M will be needless for me to dwell at any great M length on the straggles and hardships that fl have been experienced by . the settlers "Sfco^i hare given so much of thei<? time and entf9flH| in the expectation that the end in view wov^^^l some day be gained. That day, .considering 1 the present prospects of a good, harvest and a | fair price, should not be so very far off; and .1 the hard-earned repose which so many have i strenuously worked for under very adverse | circumstances will be .gained as a reward for -4 their perseverance. A The early history of Ch*tton is pretty much g| like what other places have experienced ( ..|j

Bimi'&r periodjj in their career, with, I believe, thiß exception, that the land , here was all, or nearly all, sold under the Land Act of 1877— an Act that stipulated that in the case of all and sold after the measure came into force (unless Otherwise provided) the upset pric should be £1 10s, per aore, payable in ten years, and that what is known as the auction system should be the principal meansby which land irai to become alienated from the- State* UrideYthJß Act instances have cropped up in which the purchaser willed, under the excitement, of the moment, to give far more for his holding than< it : was actually : worth— a fact that waß .proved by the Government's afterwards, sending b Oominißsioner to, value; the land of nil those settler's who were behind with their.reut; buttbis concession on the part of the Government was not made '! until the Settlers stopped yielding any returns for the land they|were occupying, and besides, the districj; was continually agitating for sonic redress"beirig granted to those who could not (tee their wAy clear to keep faith with- the Government. 'There is not the slightest doubt that had the price of grain kept up to within any thiDg like what it was when the land was-told^ there would riot have been $py defaulters, for, the, simple reason that the,< farmers would have been enabled to psy all demands from the proceeds of their Btecond crop j for the first crop, if not a dead loss, was something near akin to it. At this time in oui* history oats were very cheap, ranging from 8d to Is per bushel, and wheat was,;downaslowas2sper bußhel. Under these circurrstances one can easily understand tbd treason why the settlers could not afford to pay such exhorbitant and fiotitious priceß for their holdings when the value of produce was at starvation price . The value of stock at this time was quite the reverse, as both store sheep and cattle were in great demand. Horses, in like manner, were very acatce ; in fact, you could- not buy anything like a good draught horse for much less than £50— ft stiff, sum, considering the risk attach£to speculations of, .this [ nature. .If tb e lor»e died, it wiil he .seen that its death infant a serious loss to the settler ; and as losses of ihis description have riot been rare> their effect on the settlers who have met with such reverses can, be well understood and sympathy ia forthcoming. Now the difficulties are past, and the depressing effect In moat cases consequent on severe losses of this:natufehaß been surmounted. The indbmitable energy and perseverance character istio of the settlers in this district have enabled them to' overcome difficulties that to gome people would seem perfectly inßurmountablej and would* in fact, be so, as, from their iwant of knowledge of the nature of the w,ork or the method of performing it, t; ne y naturally be at a loss how to begin. For instance : the observant traveller or fbVwHi/ in going through Chatton, Otama, or Waikaka districts will have noticed hills that have been brought under cultivation,and anyone not conversant with farming must feel as well as see some of the ' difficulties that have been ; surinbunted by the Battlers. Land that five jyWsfigowaß nothing but a 'swamp covered wlth^Mabrl heads; wire-graßs, BDear-efW; *4d thelike 'will now, be seen «rowiDgtluxUn»int crops of , ; wheat ,and oats, turnips, and even liuseed, which fact "speaks Volumes in I * v^r of the .'district, and thd land aB a produoiug' aren't; ' ■' '••- '< r '■■ '' l^etitß (Sa'pa^iriiief in e[ome' reapeoliß 'have" thing many of the settlers, have neglected to doV>ri«drftaatiiß;,JtO!r.jiapt those: .thingß ?so rifece'sßary k our hMthj'vi^i' fruit trebsVand 1 aiSo^to' 'ftcai^ardehßV ; 'The. benefit jbo health derivable fropi the joon^umption of fruit {and vegetab\eai. cannot ,be over-estimated • No one' : that -haiß the land to grow trees should bß'^th^uii^hep^'as iixs cost of fralii produtjl^^Y^^'aJl'compaTed witli the bene-, fittdgrived.,, iispecially in the summer time the peculiar kind of acid that nearly all fruit coiiWifa'Sj'&ctßon the blood ab a purifier and th 6 system in order. Vegetables in a like manner are peculiarly adapted for the BUDbmfer as containing properties beneficial to h'ealtb 1 ; ■••'•■ , ,I, intended when I commenced .this letter to write, you a description, of the, northeastern portion of the Chatton district commencing at the Waikaka township and giving a brief account of all the farms situated between the Waikaka township and the Dunedin road on the south to the Waikaka stream on the east, but- as I have already overstepped, the limits of space at your dis. posal for matter of this nature, I will commence my first article in your next week's issue with your kind permission. Until then we will bid adieu to the subject. : The, very energetic ( stepsjyou have taken with reVpect 1 to , the ventilation of public opinion expressed here lately in respect to the Waik'a'ia educational reserves meets with universal approbation. It is very gratifying to know, that your prompt action in this matter has met with such approval and all I Vhope. .'iiß; that 7 your effortß will be Crowned with BUcoesß. They deserve to be. Few ' people are aware perhaps of the existence of the Oakpua Stream, . muoh less that ij^ contains, in its watery depths trout in large 'numbers; One or two that I have Been would turn the scale at two pounds. A carpenter in the employment of Mr John M'Queen lately had the good fortune to hook one : that weighed three pounds. .Some years ago Mr John M'Queen liberated some troiitin^nis particular' stream, which were though, to have died or have been eaten by otheir.fish, but the fact of their being! caught, besides being seen, will disprove the above idea. It will 1 have not .the slightest doubt prove very gratifying to Mr M'Queen to know that his efforts in thiß direotion have been crowned by success. Harvesting has I believe started on some of the farms 'on the Waikaka. Mr Alex. Puller has a very nice paddock of winter oats, which I believe he is busy cutting at present, but harvesting will notbe general here for at leant threeor four weeks yet. One thing I notice, and that is, the scarcity of labouring men' this year. As a consequence wages will be higher, here this year than in previous years. :'..'-. ,1 am very.ißorry tohear that Mr Sutherland, the 'Knapdale sohool teaoher, is about to leave fchi* district. The. garrulity, of a few of those popinjays who delight k to repeat every pieoe of Boandal and, every bit of rumor, and who do notaf the : «ame timeforget to add , their own venion to it ;/ are, I beUeye, the primary if not the qnr/sause «f Mr Sutherland's leaving these parta-in wbioh, aUow me to say, he has given general satisfaction as a teaoher, and has' made many friends, who are 'naturally Burpnßed^at the suddenness of the, present $>p.Be : .most interMted '" I think that they should tomMt* better ported up to; ttf . «p. /; ?Sg WM , cvi "

againit Mr Sutherland } but this waß enough for his judges. The deeree.haa been uttered j his doom is sealed, and his disparagers and jndges have proved themselves to be immaculate. ■ '■' ; Mr Davys has had the ill-luck or misfortune to have his stable, as well as three stacks of straw, burnt to the ground. The damage" done, however, is I believe not a great deal, but still the amount is far too muoh to loosed especially when you are in want of that which is destroyed, as is the case with Mr Davys. The stable was only put upcast year. The origin of the fire is unknown, but surmises and ideas are that some " person or persons unknown,"' and who were probably drunk, went to the stack with the intention of making a bed there for* the night, struck matohes to light their pipes and accidentally or wilfully. set. the straw -.on fire* But 1 forgot to n ntion that one stack Borne distance from •' c r e+b was where the fire first started. The flamrs there were thought to have. been erf>'y xtinguished, but this was not the case, and the above is the resultHow muoh Mr Davys estimate his loss at, I cannot at present say.