Agricultural Development of Pumice Lands

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5322, 7 February 1947, Page 7

Agricultural Development of Pumice Lands

M.

DUNBAR

M.

PAIGNTON.)

' NGAKURU-GUTHRIE SETTLEMENTS

(By

and

Seven thousand six hundred acres of permanent pasture land, reclaimed in a few short years from fern and tussock wilderness and producing in those few short years over a million popnds of butterfat in addition to many thousands of pounds worth of fat stock and Qther produce. This in brief is the achievement which has been wrought inHhe basin of the Whirinaki Stream adjacent to the Atiamuri Road where lie the flourishing Ngakuru and Guthrie settlements.

In 1922 this land was regarded as , being good for nothing but tree planting — if for that — and had it not j been for" the foresight of men who saw a thriving farming industry on these wastes, tree plantations would be the only cultivation there to-day. Instead, together with the native j development schemes and the steadys | gTOwth of private farming activities, ' they are building up the su'bstantial foundations on which the prosperity i of the Rotorua district or of any district must be built — a settled and prodpctive back eountry. , The Ngakuru Scheme. The land, which may be said to be typical in its virgin state, of the medium pumice eountry of the higher inland plateau, lies in the basin of the Whirinaki Stream which joins the Waikato River near Atiamuri. The developed land varies in elevation from 11000 to 1230 feet. In its nafcural state, the ground was covered only by light fern and scrub with an underlying growth of rough tussock. It lies chiefly in a shallow valley, bounded on either side by low ranges" of the peculiarly decapitated hills which are one of the features of the pumice lands in this vicinity. Under the provisions of the Land Laws Amendment Act of 1929, the Minister of Lands is empowered to grass, fence, drain and erect buildings in undeveloped land in suitable areas. This legislation has largely influenced the progress of the Rotorua district, for the development of Ngakuru, Guthrie and Galatea has been carried out under its provisions. Investigation has shown that pumice soils in general lack sufficient phosphoric acid and nitrogen for the successful growth of permanent pasture. The deficiency can best be supplied by liberal top-dressing with superp'hoshate to supply the necessary phosphoric acid and by the establishment of white clover to remedy nitrogen deficiency. When the first experiments were made with the development of these lighter pumice lands, the Sowing of red clover and turnip ci*ops usually preceded any effort to establis'h permanent or semi-permanent pasture. Permanent Pasture Grasses. .In these cases the turnip seed -was ' usually sown with the clover, which was left down for two or three years in order to raise the fertility of the soil. This was usually followed by the sowing of a permanent or semi-per-manent grass-seed mixture consisting of perennial rye, codksfoot, timothy and red and white clover. It was necesary then, before successful development could proceed to evolve special methods of soil treatment and pasture establishment for the pumice eountry. That this has been done successfully, the production results achieved undoubtedly demonstrate. Development work commenced at Ngakuru on February 10, 1930, on what was known as No. 1 Block, an area of 2000 acres. By March of the folowing year an area of 1100 acres had been sown in pasture. In Decem'ber, 1930, development work also commenced on Ngakuru Block No. 2. The cultivation work in each case was done by up to date machinery with tractor power, camps of men being established to construct

roads and fences and carry out the necessary work of development. In the spring of 1932 suitable areas on the two hloeks were broken >np into dairy farms which were worked on a share-mil'king basis. First Four Years' Progress. At the end of March, 1934, there were 12 sharemilking farms in operation carrying 816 milking co'ws and heifers, 38 head of dry stock, 80 calves and 320 pigs. The area outside the share farms was 3161 acres of pasture together with 2'70 acres of root crops and 150 acres of shelter trees. I. The process of developing the counjtry and of converting it into sharemilking farms continued until at the end of 1935-36 there were il4 sharemilking farms in operation, including the demonstration farm. Between Fe'bruary, 1930, and the end of the the 1935-36 season, a total area of 5626 acres had been put down in pasture, an additional 995 acres which had been ploughed in preparation for sowing, 14 shax*e-milking farms were in operation and many miles of fencing, internal roading, etc., had ben constructed, together with the planting of proper shelter belts and the erection of the necessary farm and community buildings. The total butterfat yield from the blocks during the period of development and up to the end of-493'6 milking season was 725,3301b, or approximately 323 tons, representing lOd per l'b., a revonue value of £39,222. In addition to this, large mimbers of beef cattle and fat sheep had been Sold, giving a further substantial means of revenue. v The types of beef cattle run on the hlocks were chiefly Herefords and red and black polled Angus, while the breeding cows were Hereford and polled Angus. Grade Jerseys comprised the milking herds, whicli8 varied from 65 to 80 cows. Guthrie Blodk. This land in its virgin state was also of a light pumice formation covered with a growth of scrub, manuka, rushes and flax in the mar'shy places. The majority of the land was undulating with some flat terraces, the estimated area suitable for cultivation being between 60 and 70 per cent. The block comprises 2978 acres and .was thrown open for selection in the winter of 1927, when eight sections were taken up by private farmers. Dairying commenced'* at the Guthrie settlement in 1931, and until the end of the 1935-36 season, 399,0901b of butterfat had been taken off the various farms representing at an average price of lOd, a revenue of £16,625. Subsequent Development. Although offleial figures are not obtamable at short notice, it can safely be assumed that since this article was written there has been considerable development of the Ngakuru, area. Guthrie has, for the most part, ceased to be a separate settlement and the name Ngakuru eovers both areas. It is estimated that there are at least 60 farmers in the district, whose farms average a'bout 160 acres in area. Thus, it can be seen that approximately 9600 acres have now been brought under cultivation.

(To be continued.)