TEN THOUSAND ACRES FOR SALE.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 32, 1 March 1879, Page 2

TEN THOUSAND ACRES FOR SALE.

It is but rarely the public haVe their attention drawn' to a sale such a3 that announced to take place at Feilding at the close of the month, for numerically large as is the number of acres to be disposed of, that is but a secondary consideration, when the situation and class of land is taken into account. Large blocks have been repeatedly placed m the market, but^ their inaccessible position made them as it were a white elephant to the unfortunate purchaser. The chief merit of the lots to be submitted by Messrs. Haleoinbe and Shcrvrill i.s that they are either village, town, suburban, or rural sections, having not only metalled roads interlacing the whole block and leading up to every section, hut are the nucleus of lar *c and flourishing town 3 and communities. Unlike the New Zealand Government, the Feiliing Corporation have fully" recognised the importance of constructing roads through their various blocks before the public are asked to invest, and perhaps this can be taken as the secret why while other communities have remained m, a state of stagnation, with capital land m the market for selection, purchasers are not to be found, Mi\ Halcombe, the agent for the Corporation, was shrewd enough to see the immense advantage to be derived from placing the land m a condition that bo-nd\fide settlers could not only take possession of it, but by the provision of roads have communication with the more settled portions of the district, and with this view has had no les3 than seventy miles of road constructed, while £20,000 more are still available, and will be expended during the next threo years for further road improvements. Then, again, for the judicious manner m which the lota have been arranged and divided, the Corporation are to be complimentad. The first section is a block of 9000 acres of rural land, lying m the Valley of the Oroua, and the very pick of the Manchester Block, being perfectly level, and while well watered by the Oroua River and several permanent creeks, is still never liable to be flooded, and contains not an acre of swamp. This will be disposed of m firms of fifty to five hundred acres, and as they lie within a couple of miles of the Feilding Railway Station, and many sections heavily timbered with totara, are magnificent sites for sawmills. The next division of the sale is the Corporation portion of the town of Ashhurat. The township comprises 190 acres, which hava been divided into 31-2 sections. The posi| tion is so well known that it seems euperj fluous to refer to it, but for the information of those who may be 6tranger9 to that part of the Manawatu, we may state that it is situated m a 7no3t picturesque natural clearing close by the crossing of the river to the Manawatu Gorge, and on the mam, Napior line from Palmewton, m the vicinity of the junction of the Pobangina and Manawatu Rivers. We notice that the advertisement refers to it a9 the sister towu to Feilding or Halcombe, but we think if it wore put as sister to Feilding or Pvilmerston it would be move correct. It is a site peculiarly adapted by nature, for a township, wliile the. grand bush by which it is surrounded on all sides not only materially contributes to its picturesque beantv, but will eventually prove a very material adjunct to its coiainereiaa wealth and prosperity. Here again thft enterprise of the Corporation has been manifesto 1, for before an acre of lan I m the vicinity was offered for sale, a splendid metalled road, running; thirteen miles through the bush, and connecting with Feilding, has been constructed; anl.as Asiihurat is but nine miles f r:>m Palmorstrm, & splendid proapsct has been opened up for. Bawaaillqra, the tjimber ipv Wang_=mui being

sent through the new road to Jb'eiiding, and f<r Fpxton by Palmerston. The other lut ; are seations m the townships of. Halcombe and Cheltenham, and the Village -of Stanway. The former is too well known to make remark necessary, but the township of Cheltenham is a reserved block on the Kimbolton Road, and on the boundaries of the Manchester and Kiwitea Blocks. Some idea* of the value m which the town sections are at present held may be gleanel from. the fact that a few disposed of lately readily fetched £65 the quarter acre, the purchasers, too, being residents m the district, who would be the more. likely. to properly estimate their value, and not give fancy prices, m one case as much as £120 the quarter-, acre being realised. The Village of Stanway is situated at the junction of the Stanway and Makino roads, leading to Feilding, Halcombe, and Marton, and consequently its natural position marks it out as a most eligible site for a town3hip ; but the principal inducement should be that as the country all around it has been already occupied, there is good presumptive evidence it would afford considerable trade to blacksmiths, carpenters, and other tradesmen. Sujh is the land to be offered for competition, and while the vendoi'3 have so arranged to make the lots submitted as attractive as possible, they seem to have bestowed equal care that the terms should be such a3 would come wilKzn the reach of all. " In"the first .instance a payment of ten per cent, upon the fall of the hammer will be accepted, the balance being allowed to remain for twelve months upon the very easy terms of seven per cent., but it is worthy of note that if paid within six months no interest will be required. With regard to the rural land, which, of course, being cut up m large blocks, will represent a large outlay, the Corporation have most liberally made provision for the larger blocks being taken up by the purchaser on deferred payment, m the form of a lease, with a right to. purchase. The terms will be twenty-five per cent, added on the price at the auction, and* payable at any time between the sale and June, 1884, meanwhile bearing a rental at the rate of five per cent. To- make the matter more plain we will follow the example of the advertised notice and put a supposititious case : A block for which a cash price of £4, per acre is bid at auction, the deferred paymentprice will be £5 per acre, payable on the 30th June, 1884 ; the rental of ss. per acre, of which 2r. 6d. must be paid at the fall of the hammer. The unexampled manner m which the" land hitherto disposed of By the Corporation has gone up m value, has put the public "upon the "gut vive, an.d already the . coming sale .has- become a topic of interest and expectation. Perhaps one of the very best -featuresin .the whole arrangement of the sale is the manner m which the 9000 acres of rural landhas been cut up, and" the easy terms, upon which it will beobtainable. By the system adopted the land will pass into the hands of a number of small, bona fide settlers, instead of grasping speculators, and by the- -settlement and development of the resqurees of the County, acid both to its population and prosperity, instead of having it locked up,' m the hands of opulent absentees.