OTAGO. NOTES ON THE SUBURBAN AND RURAL DISTRICTS OF OTAGO SETTLEMENT. [From the Otago News, June 16.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 412, 14 July 1849, Page 3

OTAGO. NOTES ON THE SUBURBAN AND RURAL DISTRICTS OF OTAGO SETTLEMENT. [From the Otago News, June 16.]

In attempting to give, for the benefit and information of strangers, and those among our fellow-settlers who have not yet made themselves acquainted with the interior, a brief description of the several districts of the Otago Settlement, clearer notions of each and of the whole may, perhaps, be conveyed by classing them m accordance with the boundaries marked out by nature, and the characteristics of each distinct portion of the couutry. The block may therefore be considered as divided into six districts, lyFirst — The hilly wooded country on either side of the harbour. Second — The hills and undulating downs at the head of the harbour aud extending to the borders of the Taeiri plain. Third — The Taeiri plain and adjacent chains of hills. Fourth — The Waihola plain and lake. Fifth — The Tokomairiro plain and contiguous chain of hills and uplands. Sixth — The Molineux or Clutba district. The first division then, according to this classification, comprises the country on both sides of the harbour of Otago, and forms the extreme northern portion of the "Block." The face of the country is everywhere rugged and hilly and densely wooded throughout. The hills are of moderate elevation, and in general, of easy ascent, having on their summits aud at their bases, in many places, considerable spaces of level or gently sloping land. The bush is chiefly scrub, with an extremely thick and matted undergrowth of creepers and prickly vines, which renders the woods almost impenetrable ; there abounds a variety of different species of beautiful shrubs whose graceful foliage would seem more in keeping with the elegant pleasure grounds of a gentleman's domain, than with the roughness and wilderness of the natural forest. But good timber for building purposes is not very abundant, aud in all accessible localities is rapidly becoming scarcer. Hence, sawn timber in the neighbouring town of Dunedin bears. high prices, and is not likely to be cheaper, as when the supply from the adjacent country fails, jhe inhabitants will have to import it by sea from a distance. The scenery of this district, especially along the shores of the harbour, possesses many of the elements of beauty in- landscape ; — the sides of the hills clothed to the very summits. withJ magnificent .masses- of foliage of: eyer^ varied tint oj verdure, the contrast*

of light and shade on a sunny day, the number of beautiful little bays, each with its surrounding amphitheatre of wooded hills ; all combine to produce a sucesssion of very pleasing and graceful pictures. All the available land of this district is laid off in ten acre, or, as they are otheiwise denominated, suburban sections. The soil, though in a few places stony, is in general of excellent quality and promises to be very productive; the district, however, labours under the disadvantage of being exposed to the violent squalls and gusts which so frequently blow up or down the harbour. Another drawback is the want of open grazing land, and this deficiency will be more-seri-ously felt, as stockkeeping is likely to be the most profitable mode of investing capital in this settlement. Cattle may no doubt find subsistence in the bush, but they will keep their owners engaged incessantly in the fatiguing task of searching after them. The allotments in this division will suit the townspeople of Dunedin, who may be desirous of having their villas, or their rural cottages, at a shoit distance from the town. They will also be adapted for cottage farmers, and market gardeners, and settlers with small means, but for other classes of settlers, that is, for capitalists, employers of labour, , and the owners of stock, this district will be totally unsuited ; as well from the smallness of the sections as from the want of pasture land. Had the allotments been of any tolerable extent, say 100 or 200 acres, valued at £1 per acre, of course, this division would have been far more valuable than it is now likely to be. Capitalists and employers of labour would then have established themselves there, greatly to the promotion of the grand principles of concentration, and of the contiguity to church, school, and market, whereas now they are obliged to become exiles, if not squatters, in the distant rural districts, denied all the advantages which the scheme of the settlement held out. However, for settlers who have not the means of engaging largely in stockkeeping, and whose views will be for a time limited to the cultivation of a few acres, principally by their own labour, this will be a most desirable part of the country. The harbour will furnish an easy and cheap means of conveying their produce to the town, or to the shipping frequentfng the port. The second division comprises the hilly and undulating uplands at the head of the-har-bour and extending in a south and- southwest direction to the Taeiri plain. The more available portions of this district - are laid off in ten acre sections. The soil is for the most, part of good quality, being chiefly a strong clayey loam, the surface of which, to the depth of six or eight inches, is mixed with a rich vegetable mould. There are two or three large tracts of bush land in this district, but, with these exceptions, it is an open country ; the soil being covered with a luxuriant growth of fern, flax, toot, and grass. The vicinity of this district to the town of Dunedin will render it very valuable in course of time. The same remarks, however, in regard to the smallness of the sections will apply to this division as to the last. The possessor of capital or employer of labour will not spend his time and money in growing cabbages and potatoes. It may be said, however, that he has the open unsurveyed country around for his sheep and cattle, while his one or two ten-acre allotment! will serve for paddocks or garden ground : true, as long as there are only a few people in the district; but the multiplicity of small holdings if gene-* rally or only partially occupied would soon reduce each individual's share of graziug ground to very insignificant proportions. Even now t people are beginning to complain of want of space for their cattle. The fact appears to be, that the existence of these small ten-acre allotments will be found to operate very mischievously. There might and ought to be a number of small holdings, suitable to the means of immigrants with scantily lined purses, but these should not take up the whole of the country for miles around the principal town of the settlement. For a certain extent of rural population, this district presents some very desirable spots — the two principal being the Half Way Bush and the Green Island bush. The former is only about half an hour's walk from the town, the latter is considerably farther off, some five or six miles, but it has an excellent cattle run in the neighbourhood, and for owners of stock it is the best locality in the vicinity of the capital. Most of the country settlers have hitherto made their location in the suburban districts, chiefly in the north-east valley, and about the half-way bush ; the difficulty, and expense of getting to the rural districts, the disinclination of people with families to going far from the town, and the present .elbow room they .have the enjoyment of, were apparently the' chief motives wjth many of them for settling at first on their ten-acre allotments. For

those whose views and means will be limited to the cultivation, by tbeir own labour, of a fritf acres', »nd to tbe keeping of two or three afrks; tn'ese'' suburban sections will always be tbe most suited ; but those whose views are more extended, and whose means are greater, , will be compelled before long, if the settlement fills up at all, to betake themselves to tn'eir rural allotments. Very little progress was made last season in the cultivation of the soil. A variety of circumstances occasioned this ; the lateness of the period that the settlers were enabled to go upon their lands, the novelty of their situation, and the want of local knowledge and experience, all combined to paralyze and circumscribe their efforts and exertions. Before quitting the subject of these suburban lands, I may observe, that the price demanded in the colony, by the Company, for their ten-acre sections, is, under existing circumstances, unduly high, I may say exorbitant. One reason that has been assigned for placing this high valuation on them is, if true, but little calculated to do good. No benefit to the settlement at large can ensue from puttiDg artificial obstructions in the road of the honest industrious labourer, to independence. {To be continued.)