A Tour in New Zealand. No. XIII.—Canterbury Plains.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 953, 18 June 1881, Page 1 (Supplement)

A Tour in New Zealand. No. XIII. — Canterbury Plains.

[From the Melbourne Leader'}. A branch railway runs westward from Timaru for about 30 miles to Albury, connecting an important part of the district with the port. The farming districts are indeed pretty well accommodated by the 1,100 miles of railways which have been made in the colony, and when a reasonably low rate of freight is charged they will do much to develop agriculture. At present, however, the freights are so high that bullock and horse teams are frequently seen carrying grain along the roads which run by the railway lines. Travelling northward from Timaru by the main Christchurch railway, one is impressed with the large extent of the farming settlement along the route. The distance to Christchurch is 100 miles, and farms are found all the way, excepting at a few points where strips of poor shingly country are left to the depasturing of sheep. Where these poor patches occur they are closely hemmed around by farms, the homesteads and stacks of which enable the eye to trace the boundary of the good land.

“ The larger the estate the better the land,” has been set down as a pretty reliable rule in Victoria, and it is generally the case that the large properties of New Zealand consist of the best kind of agricultural soil, but on this part of Canterbury Plains, while there are some large properties of very rich land, the state of settlement forms a contrast to what is generally found to be the case in the working of colonial Land Acts. The traveller in Victoria is accustomed to see rich tracts of agricultural land held in large properties, while a fringe of farms runs round the borders, taking up the inferior remnants : but the journey through Canterbury shows the converse case of the farms occupying the rich country, and the sheep runs taking up that which is inferior. The province of Canterbury is the only part of the colony where the system of free selection of public lands has been in force. In the other parts of the colony the auction system, under different regulations, has been in operation, but the extensive agricultural settlement in Canterbury was established by free selection. The upset price of the land was £2 per acre, and the settler who took up a block obtained the Crown grant at that price. Dummyismand the usual forms of swindling were of course resorted to by monopolists, to secure large properties, and several extensive estates were formed; but notwithstanding this, a more numerous class of farming settlers was created than has resulted from the auction system in any part of the Colonv.

“ Gridironing ” is one of the worst forms of defeating the object of the Land Act which were resorted to by the monopolists. The Act specified that not less than 20 acres could be taken up in one allotment, and this clause was seized upon by some of the wealthy and intelligent class, who wished to have “a stake in the country,” and a bigger stake than the country allowed them. The runs were “ gridironed,” that is, every alternate 20| acre allotment was selected, leaving an intervening 194 acre block. As no one could take up the 194 acre allotments, the squatter secured the use of his whole run at about £1 per acre, for he had purchased about half of it at £2 per acre, getting the other half for nothing. The next step was to get an Act passed (after possession had given a claim), to make legal the fraud which had been perpetrated, and the result was that the squatters were allowed to purchase the intervening blocks. There are land owners in Canterbury, and some of them high in political power, who might very appropriately adopt a gridiron for a crest. It is fortunate, however, for Canterbury, and for the Colony at large, that agricultural settlers took up the land so rapidly that the large estates were kept from absorbing the largest portion of the fertile plains. So numerous are the farms, and so thickly do they cluster in every direction, that the “big estate ” evil is neither conspiciously noticeable nor severely felt in this province. The farms range from 100 acres to 500 or 600 acres in extent, the most common size being about 200 acres. Many of the holdings have the appearance of being owned by well-to-do farmers, for they have good fencing, comfortable-looking houses, with stables and barns, while garden hedges, and plantations of trees are sufficiently

common to give a pleasant homelike appearance to the country. There are, however, many indications of want of taste or want of capital among the selectors. All along the route farms are frequently seen with poor houses, dilapidated stabling, and possessing that bareness which results from the absence of gardens and hedges. These indications show that among those who, beginning with too little capital are simply working hard amid many discomforts to pay interest on borrowed money.

The existence of two distinct classes of settlers is also seen in the system of agriculture which is carried on. On the best farms there is more or less attention paid to rotation, and the due resting of the soil. Wheat, oats, and barley are grown, and sheep, horses and cattle are grazed upon the land. After a course of cereal and root crop growing, the land is sown down in artificial grasses, and thus allowed to recover itself for three or four years. Manuring is certainly not yet attended to as a rule, for with the exception of using a little bonedust for the turnips or mangold crop,"fertilisers are very rarely resorted to. There is, however, on the better class of farms that regard for maintaining the fertility of the soil which is indicated by the rotation of different cereal and root crops and periodical letting out in pasture, while the folly of “ putting all the eggs in one basket” is avoided by having different kinds of grain and stock to dispose of. Burning, straw, however, is a custom which, once very common in Canterbury, is still followed in some cases. This is one of the features of the farming, system followed on the inferior class of farms —continuous grain-grow-ing is carried out. On these farms, from year to year, root crops are neglected, stock is not kept, and so little is manuring thought of that the straw is either allowed to rot in the stack or burned off before the winter sets in. These selectors, judging from the appearance of their homesteads, are not growing rich at present, and there is no doubt that they are rapidly impoverishing the soil, and thus rendering it difficult for them to make profits in the future. This exhaustive system of farming is less justifiable and more injurious than a like system would be in Victoria. In many parts of Victoria root crops and artificial grasses cannot be successfully cultivated, but in Canterbury the farmer has no excuse for thus exhausting land which would yield him productive returns in the shape of root crops and artificial grasses. In Victoria, especially in the wheat growing districts, the soil is a strong rich clay, extending to a great depth, and is consequently able to stand a deal of bad treatment. The Canterbury soil, though fertile, is not so strong and is of limited depth, being only in some cases a few inches from the shingle, which everywhere forms the subsoil. In addition to these considerations it must be remembered, that owing to the want of rain, only from 10 to 15 bushels per acre are obtained from the Victorian wheat lands, while the Canterbury farmer reaps from 30 to 40 bushels, and is, therefore, exhausting his less durable soil at a much more rapid rate than the Australian grain grower. Experience, however, will no doubt soon teach the exhaustive farmer of Canterbury a severe lesson, and then the climate in which he lives is so favorable that he will easily adopt a better system. But it is evident that those farmers are adopting the wiser course who are taking steps to maintain the fertility of the soil, for it is easier to keep land in good condition than to bring “ worked out” soil to a state of fertility. The turnip crop struck me as being the greatest advantage possessed by the New Zealand farmer over the Australian. Its value in feeding sheep and in giving a beneficial change to the soil seemed to be most incalculable. Will turnips not grow in Victoria ? If not, why not? The benefits are so great that we should give the matter another trial. I am aware that trials have been made, but I am inclined to think, nevertheless, that in many of our most moist districts success might yet be attained. The annual rainfall of Canterbury does not average more than 24 inches, and the farmers find no difficulty in cultivating turnips. Even if a less productive crop than that obtained in New Zealand could be got, there would be great advantage gained, but when Canterbury, with a rainfall of only 24 inches per annum,

can produce full yields, there should be many parts of Victoria where equally good results could be obtained. Further remarks on the Canterbury Plains will be given in the next paper.