TAUPO COUNTRY'S FARMING PAST

Taupo Times, Volume III, Issue 144, 29 October 1954, Page 7

TAUPO COUNTRY'S FARMING PAST

A NOTE ON EARLY ATTEMPTS

(By

Gerard

Ward)

I n recent months considerable prominence has been given by the press to the present large scale de~ velopment of the pumice lands of the Taupo Country. For much of the area, however, this is not the first attempt at farming, and although most of the early attempts failed, many of the lessons learnt then are now being applied to make the present development a success. Early visitors to the Taupo Country in the 183Q's and 1840's were impressed by the possibility of utilising the vast areas of tussock grassland for grazing, and Cooper, who accompanied Sir George Grey in 1849, speaks of making "this plain invaluable for cattle stations." Maori Settlement The Maori population of the district, estimated to number between three and hve thousand, was concentrated near the lake or in villages close to patches of bush. It appears that much of the country that was tussock grassland when the first pakehas arrived was originally forested. Repeated burnings by Maoris to encourage the growth of fresh fern root, a staple food in this district, led to the destruction of considerable areas of bush. The tussock grassland that eventually took over was of little value to the Maori as a source of food supply, so that these areas were abandoned, but pockets of fertile soil were cultivated intensely. Bidwell records in 1838 that "on the shores of Towpo (sic), every bit of soil which man can reach, even at the risk of his neck, is beginning to be plantea with potatoes." The First Sheep The first sheep in the Taupo Country, introduced by the Rev. T. S. Grace in 1855, were grazed neai the mission station at Pukawa. Other early visitors had visions o. great sheep stations comparable tc those operating in Canterbury anu Otago. In 1859 a Mr Charles Smith of Wanganui, was negotiating with Te Herekiekie at Tokaanu "concerning a pasture for sheep," but little else was done until after the Maori Wars. When things settled down again pioneers began to drive sheep into the Taupo Country. Leases were taken up on the Kaingaroa Plains and in 1879 Mr J. E. Grace began to run sheep in the Taharua Valley, on the land now occupied by Poronui Station. Rise And Fall $ In partnership with Messrs Morrin and Studholme, Mr Grace later ran about 20,000 sheep on 130,000 acres stretching from the northern slopes of Tongariro to the Kuratau River. Meanwhile other areas were taken up on the Kaingaroa Plains. Runanga Station, consisting of six-ty-two thousand acres, lay to the north of the Napier-Taupo road, while to the south were Taharua and Loch Inver, The latter station carried about 12,000 Cheviot sheep, but when the lease expired its 75,000 acres were abandoned. In other parts of the district, notably at Tihoi and Waiotapu, attempts were made to farm the tussock on a grand scale but none were really successful. The difficulties of access, of finding sufficient feed, of getting out the wool and of controlling the docks on unfenced land generally forced the abandonment of the stations. Little remains today to show that these attempts ever took place except for occasional derelict fences and one or two abandoned homesteads. The large scale attempts * had failed. It was now left for trials to be made with new techniques on a smaller scale.