MANAWATU TIMBER TRADE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 14, 29 April 1871, Page 1

MANAWATU TIMBER TRADE.

We publish elsewhere the specification referred tq in an advertisement which has for some time past appeared in the Independent calling for tenders for the supply of sleepers for the projected Can* terbury railway works. Unfortunately, the specification does j not state the number of sleepers required, but as the projected extension is twelve miles in length, the total number required will probably be not less than thirty thousand. ‘ . , . ' . .... We take especial interest in this matter because we desire to direct the attention of the public/ both within out boundaries and outside this Province, to the facilities which now present themselves in the district of Palmerston, Manawatu, for the cheap supply of any quantity of the finest timber which this or any Australian colony can produce, and because we believe the development of a timber trade from Manawatu for the supply of totara for the public works throughout New Zealand will enable this Province to locate a large population in a district now almost unoccupied, with money which would otherwise be diverted to Australia, and would in no way benefit this colony by its expenditure. Immediately below and parallel to the main mountain range of this Province, and on its western side, we have a continuous and dead level block of the finest timber land, extending from Otaki, for nearly one hundred miles and of an average width of fifteen miles, at least. Everywhere throughout this block, wherever the gravel ridges approach the surface, groves of totara timber are to be found, varying in size from five to five hundred acres in extent. In addition to the totara, rimu, or red pine, and matai—the black pine of-the South Island—ris found in large quantities. The township of Palmerston is situate in the heart of this extensive forest, and immediately in its 'neighborhood are several of these totara groves. But hitherto the uncertainty of native affairs has prevented settlement, and the want of roads has discouraged any attempt to occupy the district. There has also been a strange disregard of the value of timber land, which we are entirely unable to account for. At the present time, however, partly owing to the fact that the main line of communication between the East and West Coast is in course of construction, and partly in consequence of, the location of the Scandinavian immigrants in that country, by the exertions of Mr Halcombe, attention has been directed to the advantages offered by this extensive block of land, which for some years has been lying idle in the hands of the Provincial Government. The timber trade once established, will afford employment to many hundreds of laborers ; and everywhere the soil, being a rich, afluvial deposit,. of great depth, capable of growing the most exuberant crops, will support a numerous agricultural population to furnish lumberers and to replace them as exporters of agricultural produce, when the timber tracts are gradually exhausted., . In order to facilitate the occupation of this block, and to develop the timber trade, the General Government has, we are informed on the best autho-, rity, given instructions th at the wooden tramway which, as part of the road from east to west, is in course of formation from Palmerston half-way to the port, shall be pushed on with vigor, with a view of immediately contracting for the remaining end of the line from Ngawhakarau to Foxton, which can only be constructed after the completion of the ten miles through the bush from Palmerston, as all the timber necessary for its formation will have to be brought from the Palmerston end. We are confident that the whole of this line, twenty-five miles in length, can easily

be completed in the next six months, and if its completion within that time were a necessary condition of the acceptance of such a contract as this called for by the Canterbury Government, we have no hesitation in affirming that the Government of this province would not only be justified, but it would be incumbent upon them, to guarantee its completion within that time to any contractors proposing to procure the material in the Palmerston bush, and we feel sure that the Canterbury Government would get their sleepers at a far cheaper rate than from any other part of the colony. It is well to state that the, tramway line from Palmerston to the port of Foxton is a dead level the whole way, and a single horse will easily draw a truck of four to six tons at the rate of three miles an hour on the tramway when it is formed. From Palmerston, any contractor putting down a saw mill would find plenty of timber within a mile or two of the terminus of the main tram line, and as the whole country is practically a dead level, it would be an easy and no unusual work for the proprietors to lay down their own private tramway for that distance. The port of Foxton next deserves' attention, as the facilities of sea carriage would be a great item in the practical consideration of the question. The entrance to the river is remarkably easy, and there is always at high water, even at the lowest tides, 6-| feet of water on the bar, and the times when there is any' heavy sea at the entrance are rare compared even with the Wanganui river. The Government steamer Luna, of 180 tons, fpund no difficulty the other day in entering when the river was at its lowest, and the tide highly unfavorable, and all the captains of vessels visiting the port speak in the highest terms of the entrance, as presenting less than the usual difficulties incident to bar harbors.

The time fixed for the acceptance of the tenders to which we refer is so short, that we fear this information may possibly come too late ; but when we mention, that we have it on the authority of a practical man, a mill owner in the neighboring district, that totara timber can be delivered at Foxton at 9s per 100 feet, and leave a handsome profit to the sawyer, when the tramway we refer to is completed; and when we state that the Government is supplied at Foxton with sleepers for the tramway of heart of totara, seven feet long and nine inches square, readily scarfed for the reception of the wooden rails and wedges at one shilling each, intending contractors must see that it is worth their while to consider the advisability of obtaining their timber from this country, and the Canterbury Government may even be induced to delay the acceptance of their contract, till a sufficient time has elapsed to allow of an enquiry into the facts we have endeavored shortly to put before the public for their consideration.