THE WAIKATO.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 264, 16 May 1888, Page 5

THE WAIKATO.

Auckland, May 12. Oi X own coi respondent, wiifcing fiom Monin-\illc on Fudaj, sends the follow mi; notes : — We me having splendid lain heie at the present moment, and a good deal fell dining the nicjht, which has h;id the eilcct ot making the tiunip paddocks look quite blight, and w ill do them a lot of good. They look well all around Ikm c, especially some 300 or 400 aeics at Niol umaoho. Thrashing is about to com - inence, lender*- having been called for the win k, and the managci anticipates a good \ lcld. Pheasants aieas scaice heie as anyw iicio else, and haies aie not .-o numerous a^ they used to be a lew years ago. The Wnitoa reclaimed swamp, propeity ot the Auckland Agricultural Association, looks well, and the amount of sfodv they cany bi>eaks\\ell for itself, some 17,000 sheep and 1,800 head of cattle being pastmed on these land*., which, live or six ( \ears ago, woie nearly all impassable -wamj). The diainage of tbib block of countiy has been an evident .success, in spile dithc opinions so ficel) expressed at one tune that it would not be so. The work has been done systematically and scientifically, b) which I mean that no hapha/.nd work hat> been clone in the way of putt in» in diains promiscuously wheie there seemed to be a hill (a very common erroi all over the country), but the whole estate was piopeily lc\elled, and the drains taken out to li\ed levels under proper engineeiing supervision. The result speaks tor it-.elt, mil ought to be a lesson to other large M\amp owners who ha\e for years | been spending money (and a lot of it, too) lecklcs-ly in seeking tor the proper outfall, and otten, oh how often, finding on the i completion ot a drain that it was in the wiong place, and work had to be done twice o\ er. It is a matter of history now that l"20,000 has been spent in ono s\\,unp alone (not the l'iako swamp) on di, linage, not £100 of which is really to the good at the present day, and it is also ii fact that before that amount of money wa*. expended a level had ne\ei been put o\er the surface of the uiound. There aic tlnec great essentials to the success of swamp draining, viz,, time, money, and scientific management. No amount of money spent w ill effect the piuposc unless the necessary time be jghen to the water to get away, which is at all times a slow process, and this it is t hat. has* surprised so many persons, who, atler getting their drains in, found to their disgust that the swamp wilt, apparently as wel as ever, and they have left it in disgust, only to find out, however, that in the course of two or three years the land is dry and their labour hat. been unexpectedly icw aided. Past cxpciiencc has, however, taught its lesson, and nowadays the works are being carried out on systematic principles with naturally successful results. tl Star Correspondent.''