Agricultural Development of Pumice Lands

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5309, 23 January 1947, Page 7

Agricultural Development of Pumice Lands

♦ \ MAORI FARMING PRIOR TO THE . ADVENT OF WHITE MEN This article is the first of a series to be published in the "Mornmg Post" dealing with the agricultural development of the pumice lands. The thesis was compiled in 1938 by Miss Margaret Dunbar and Miss Margaret Paignton, who were then students at the Rotorua Tligh School. Passages in the original composition have, of necessity, been revised and figures brought up to date. The essence of the work, however, remains as true to-day as it was 'then.

The early Maori had no form of cereal plant, their agriculture being conGned to the production of the root crops, kumara and taro. Most of the land was held on a tribal system and in many cases the pas that were constructed in trihal areas had little permanence. The tribes were divided into hapus, which were in turn often subdivided into large family groups. These groups would often wander over the tribal areas clearing the bush and making fresh fields as they went. " "No Early Pastures. The Maori had no grass-eating animals and consequently did not clear the country for pasture, buf into helds for tilling. Owing to tha lack of animals and iron implements, all tilling was done by hand, mainly by women and children, with crude implements of wood and stone. The fields were quite a distance from the pa, which had to be built high for fortification, and the main method of cultivation was to burn off the land prior to tilling. Most of the land and crops were tribally owned. In the Rotorua area flax was grown, and the Arawa people from all over the district would come at certain times of the year to cut flax for their own ase. A tohunga could put a tapu on a field which could not be utilised until it was removed, and thoug-h this sometimes hampered development, it more often helped, as a tapoi mig-ht he put 'on a field with the idea of giving the crops time to ripen. There seems to be some evidence, especially at Maketu, of burnt shells and other rubbish ash being used as a fertiliser, but this was not extensive, fresh fields usually being broken in every year. Arrival of Missionaries. When the missionaries came to New Zealand they did not visualise the country becoming a tield for European settlement and their sole intention was to convert the natives to Christianity. They tried to make' the Maoris settle in one place, improve their housing and sanitation, stamp out cannibalism, and hring a'bout a more stable element into their system of living. By 1860 the Maoris in the Rotorua district had developed a real sense of value "in the land and had established flour mills at four piaces — one on the Utuhina Stream about li milcs from the present site of the town; one at Wairoa, nine miles from the town; one at Taheke, where the electrical powerhouse Ts now situated, and the fourth eight miles out at Te Ngae, the turn off to Whakatane; they quickly learned to bake paraoa, or loaves of bread, in hangis made of hot stones. Unfair Terms of Act. The Thermal Springs District Act, which vtas passed on September 24, 1881, and amended in 1908 ahd 1910, was introduced in order to save the native owners from unscrupulous buyers and to reserve the mineral waters for public benefits. The main principle of the Act was that the Maoris should sell land to the Government only, who would colonise and settle it as it thoug-ht fit. Following is a summary of some of the clauses of the Act: — No land may be acquired in the district except under the Act, i.e., land to be sold and bought from the Government. The Governor may provide for settlement in the district. He may (a) alter water ways, bridges, roads etc; (b) agree with native proprietors over the public use of lakes, rivers and other waters; (c) take land by compulsion under the Public Works Act, 1876, for sewerage, water-supply, roads, bridges, etc; (d) act as agent for native proprietors and intending lessees. The Governor may provide for reserves in the district, e.g., parks, schools, museums, bath houses and cemeteries. The Governor may regulate reserves and control use of mineral springs. Government Administration. A lease not exceeding 21 years of land in which lessee was in occupation on November 25, 1880, may be validated by owners. The Governor may make acquisitions to be subject to certain conditions, e.g., if the terms of any arrangements with native proprietors are siuch that the land for use of settlers is to be disposed of by lease, the Governor may with the assent of the native pi'oprietors manage and administer it as he thinks fit. Land acquired by the Act shall be subject to Native Land duties or the Act shall not abridge the duties, powers and jurisdiction of the Native Land Court. Unforunately, the Act greatly hampered land development in this district. Leasing or alienation in any form was prohibited and settlement by Elropeans was not ipossible until sections of the Act were repealed in 1910. Since that date many thousands of acres have been leased or soW through the 'Native Land Court. Reporoa Settlement In the year 1919, in pursuance of settling soldlers on ftlfeland, the

| Government of the day purchased I from. Messrs. Stead and Watt the ' Reporoa Settlement of about 1 40,000 acres at a price of 19$ atn acre ' About 16,000 of this was worthless i for closer settlement and they sold ; it to the State Forest Department for about 6s an acre. The balance retained was ligbt | pumice country with some heavy ' swamp, the latter all under rushes and low-lying and subject to flood from the Waiotapu River. The namfe "Reporoa" means "Long Swamp." The Government's first job was to survey suh-sections and construct, roadways. This, they started on the higher country and in 1920 they threw ! open for selection to returned soldiers only some seven sections of areas of ] about 100 acres each. The values were about £15 an acre. Advance loans were made to the settlers of £750 each for stock, implements, ereetion of buildings and improvements. In the first year of settlement four of these settlers milked eows, cream was carted to Ngongotaha once or twice a j week by h'orses and waggons. This f was the exceptional year in New Zeai land history when butterfat reached ! 2s 6d a pound. This appeared to the j settlers a very rosy prospect and , other prospective soldier settlers were soon making inquiries for land. | Mineral Deficiency. ' In the isucceeding years as the ; Lands and Survey Department only . partially drained but provided roads j on the swamp area, some 20 more secj tions were thrown open for soldiers. J However, by this time a mistake in 1 opening small sections of farming ' country «howed that the land was not . suitable, as it cohtained some mineral ; deficiency and the cows confined to the ! same type of soil suffered from malI nutrition | The sequel was that many of these sections were not taken up by the soldiers and some of the original ones were abandoned and. the Lands Department, decided to allow others than ex-soldiers to settle on the land. The output for the first year was almost 15,0001b of .butterfat. In 1938 each settler was producing that amount j Unique finds of arsenie have been made in certain parts of the Reporoa settlement. Over a lengthy period of years, dating back to the foundation of the settlement after the war, stock, on certain farms in this area had been subject to a mysterious malady which, it is estimated, over a period of years had been responsihle for the death of over 700 head of cattle. Although the trouble was variously ascribed to bush sickness and other causes, it was subsequently revealed that certain portions of the soil in the district were impregnated with arsenie. Heavy Losses. This, absorbed by the cattle through their drinking water, was responsihle for the heavy stoek mortality which proved such a pi-oblem to the Reporoa farmers The trouble apparently occurred chiefly after rain when surface water lay in the paddooks. In dry weather the trouble was not manifest «to any extent. It was estimated that approximately 20 farms situated on both sides of the Waiotapu s'tream were affected. The symptoms in all cases were uniform. The cattle Ifirst became money and then affected wtih the staggers and drying the skin. Death almost invariably followed within two or three days. The poisoning affected chiefly milking cattle and dry stock but it also affected sheep left on certain areas of country tbo long. In one case a bullock was found in a ditch with three broken legs, the whole of its bone structure apparently having become chalky owing to the effects of slow arsenie poisoning. •It was possible that the arsenie properties found in the soil originated from the adjacent thermal areas in the vicinity of Rainbow Mountain. Commercial Possibilities. Although arsenie is extensively used in drug preparations, it is found in payable quantities in eomparatively few piaces in the world. The chief source of supply is Germany. Arsenie is used not only for medicinal preparations but also for colouring work, "although, owing to its ipoisonous pro- . perties, it must he most sparingly t employed. It is possible, therefore, j fore, that if it existed in q)uantities i w'hich can be extracted for commer- ! cial purposes, some compensation may | be found for the lo'sses which have i already been suffered on this Reporoa land. (To be continued.)