CENTRAL OTAGO.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 67, 22 March 1915, Page 3

CENTRAL OTAGO.

A STRATFORDIAN'S VIEWS. Mr Geo. N. Curtis, of Stratford, who has just returned from a delightful cycling trip through Central Otago, writes as follows under date March 20th:— | As Central Otago is little known by the people living in Taranaki. I write to you some of my impressions of the part of that district comprising the upper portion of the Ctutha Valley., Many acres arc yearly being planted with fruit trees, and the stone fruits grown there are, I think, the best in New Zealand. However, a late frost last spring spoilt the apricot crop, and damaged the peaches and plums. Near Clyde and Cromwell stone fruits pre-'; ponderate, but in a sixty acre orchard, planted last year near Pembroke SO per cent, of the trees are apples. The yearly rainfall about Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell is only some 7 to 16 inches, and nothing (except native grasses) will grow without irrigation, and water for this purpose is obtained from a few mountain streams, and ih brought to the land of those few who hold the right to it in water-races in some cases 20 miles long, winding round the slopes of the hills. These water-races were mostly constructed by the gold diggers in the early days of the diggings. * On the Hats near Lakes Wanaka and i Hawea, and along the bottoms of some

of the adjacent mountains, good crops of wheat and barley are largely grown, but the cost (2s 6d per bushel for wheat) is a heavy handicap on the farmer who wishes to send it to Dunedin by dray or rati. A railway now being constructed fromXlyde to Cromwell will, when completed, sliorten the 45 to 50 miles or so of cartage by about 13 miles. The butter used by the hotels in tins district is. I am told, made in the Taieri factory, and only a lew cows are kept on some of the irrigated land, while the rest of the irrigated land is in fruit or in various crops, or grass. One exception I found, viz., an irrigated farm of 19 acres, belonging to Mr William Stephens, a description of which I wrote down from information given to me by Mr Stephens m the iields. It shows what irrigation on this patch of good land has done. Mr Stephens has 19 acres of land on the high terrace flat between Cromwell and Lowburn Ferry of which 17 acres are divided into three paddocks and the remaining two acres are occupied by Ins dwelling house, garden and fruit trees. This land, with a right to water from a company water-race, was purchased about 12 years ago for £175 by Mr Stephens, who erected a nice new house and has resided there since, making a good living off his 19 acres of land. He is married and has three children going to school. Mr Stephens considers that he could keep eight or nine cows iwth young heifers to replace those cows growing old, as well as two horses on the 17 acres. At present the stock consists of two horses, five cows in milk, four 2-year-old heifers, | three yearlings, and three calves, and latelv one heifer and one steer were sold'for £l4 to the butcher. The best two cows make each in the flush of milk from 17 to 181bs. of butter per week, which, in the summer, he sells to the stores at lid, and in the winter up to is 2d per lb ; the cows seem a cross between Shorthorn, Ayrshire and JerKey. The land is grassed with a mixture of ryegrass, timothy, cocksfoot, red and white clover, and in addition three acres have also lucerne mixed with the grass. The three acres have been twice mown this summer, and two stacks of hay saved, which will be needed to feed all the stock firing the coming winter. Hr Stephens has sold as much as £2O to £3O worth of hay in a year, but now that he is keeping more stock he will not sell so much hay. The two horses are fed on nothing but hay and grass. There are three old stacks of hay left from former years. This year in all the Central Otago orchards a late frost in the spring destroyed the crop of apricots and peaches and damaged the apple and other fruits, but in former years £2O worth of apples and £5 to £7 worth of apricots have been sold from practically unpruned trees. The garden and house is sheltered on the south side by a broakwind of poplars, and also there is a row of poplars along the road frontage. The fields are not sheltered j by any breakwind. The fields, which gradually slope towards the river Clu- : tha, are irrigated, and are green, and with abundance of rich grass, two or three small brown patches over| which the water does not go, because these patches are a little higher than the rest of the paddocks. Mr Stephens expects next winter to keep 14 cows and heifers, 2 horses, and coming calves. Poplar trees are cut clown for fencing posts and firewood. The cost to Mr Stephens for his share of keeping the company water race in good order i is about £lO per year for an average j of about one quarter head of water, which is conserved in Mr Stephens' dam.

Xo pure, cool, clear water is obtainable. The race water is supposed to be unwholesome. The river GTutha is distant perhaps half a mile, and there are Hold dredges working on it; so rain water from the roof of the house is used, and the difficulty is to cool it in summer. The reader will wonder why they do not dip; wells. There is this trouble, that under the six'or more feet of top soil are boulders and shingle, and sinking cannot be done without the shaft being timbered, and timber | would have to be brought from ])un-j cdiu. and the well would have to bo' 70 or 80 feet deep probably. In Central Otago the climate is dry, the scenery beautiful and grand. But for pleasure, profit, and most other good things, 1 think that Taranaki has the advantage. The sheep runs I have omitted.