THE MOUTOA ESTATE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1415, 24 June 1915, Page 2

THE MOUTOA ESTATE.

STATEMENT BY THE MAYOR. East night's Evening Post contains a supplement on ManawaSjjjs Prosperity, in which a iSR amount of space is devoted to Foxton, Included in the article is an interview by the press representative with the Mayor, Mr Alf. Fraser. Referring to the Moutoa Estate, of which, by the way, Mr Fraser is clerk, and about which there is an agitation afoot signed by over five hundred Foxton residents asking that it be acquired by the Government for closer settlement, Mr Fraser is reported as saying :—“The cutting up of the Moutoa Estate has considerably assisted development. In 1903 in was purchased from the Assets Realisation Board by Messrs John Stevens, Easton and Austin, who had it surveyed and offered at auction. Practically the whole of the land fit for dairying has been sold, and only the flax areas, about 4000 acres, remain, Various mills cut the flax on these areas, and pay royalties, which have averaged from 3s to ,£1 per ton, and have not been excessive. The estate was originally about 9000 acres. Twenty-three different owners, occupying the 5000 acres which were sold, bought from 9j£ acres up to 1000 acres, but I understand the 1000 acre holding has since been resold and cut up. The prices obtained by the syndicate at the original sale ranged from £lO an acre. Three creameries are now supplied by the settlers on the Moutoa Estate, and many sheep and cattle are grazing there. There are two large estates surrounding Foxton, one of which is the Hlmatangi block of Maori land, the cutting up ot which would greatly assist our advancement, particularly as there seems to be a demand for land hereabouts.”