BAY OF PLENTY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 165, 6 August 1909, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY.

PROGRESS OP SETTLEMENT. A POPULAR DISTRICT, (From our Own Correspondent), , Tauranga. Tuesday. For several months there have be n many signs apparent that something like a boom is approaching in land settlement in the Bay of I'ienty. J.a.i 1 and estate agents whom 1 have interviewed tell me that, though many Taranaki settlers have already transferred their activities to the more favored Bay of Plenty, a surprisingly large number of enquiries has been received of Jate from the 'same district with respect to the Bay, its prospects and its possibilities. TARANAKI ENQUIRERS. Many Taranaki enquirers have, I believe, expressed a desire to excliangj their holdings in the west for farms in this neighborhood—a kind of business which 1 am led to understand is not looked upon here with much favor. The stock-owner, dairyman or agriculturalist established in the Bay of Plenty is not likely, I atn afraid, to lightly entertain proposals for exchanging his home on the Bay even for a holding "l the much-praised Taranaki. But there is no lack of lands in this neighborhood, or, indeed in any part of the Bay of Plenty, private lands as well as Crowj. A LEGEND REVIVED. Mr. Hogg, while Minister of Lands, visited the Bay of Plenty and 011 his return to Wellington revived the old, a'most forgotten, legend about the "Bay of Plenty Disease.'' Interviewed by a Dominion reporter, alter referriug to the mildness of the Bay climate, "n said: "One thing has proved a serious drawback to Tauranga and the country around it. Live stock, in the shape 01 sheep and cattle, but not horses, suffer from some niysterio.us kind of complaint. The young stock don't thriv. They lose flesh and fall away. Direct: they are removed out of the distri. . however, they quickly recover and fatten. Whether it is due to something in the climate, the water, or the soil is at present but a matter of conjecture." This Ministerial utterance was read with astonishment and with considerable indignation by stockowners throughout the Bay districts. The troubles, however, which afterwards befell the Minister probably explain why he was not called upon for explanations. MR. GILBERT BROWN'S REPLY. On the subject ,j£ stock disease "n this locality I have been favored with certain valuable information from M'. Gilbert W. Brown, manager of the Tauranga agency of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Co., a gentleman w.iose opinions and statements will every where command respect. "Certainly, said Mr. Brown, '• over twenty or thirty years ago there was a good deal of sickness among young stock, just as Ulere was in great many other districts, But, as the land gets brought under cul tivation the sickness i!i-appears. So it has proved in this di- i;-t until nmv do not think a liealtji.er stoc-K (*strict could be found in the whole Dominion. Mr. Davidson, chairman of the County Council, has, for example, been breeding and fattening lambs for export continually for eighteen years and a good many others have lately, and successfully, followed his lead. From time to time I come in contact witn practically tile whole of the stock in the district, and 1 can say that it is a very rare thing to come across a baddoing beast. SOME TELLING FACTS.

"I might mention Jlr. Bell, 01 uc 'Biink run.' During the three years he had the run lie wintered GOOO sheep and 1000 head of cattle, bred lambs each year, all of which matured and did excellently. Mr. Downing, Welcome liav —just to give the names as they occur to me—also produced a good crop of lambs each year and fattens them all without loss. Again, take Tc Puki, which i-i one of the principal beef-rais' ing centres in the Auckland province. I'roni 7000 to 8000 head are sent out of Te Puke district every year, though, of late, butter-making has reduced t.ie export of beef. Dairymen rear all their young stock, and the fortnightly sales attract much attention in outside farming districts. Tlie stock raised here, that i* Taurnngn, Te Puna, Te Puki, and "i her districts, as 1 know, is very highly ibought of mulalwavs commands top pviors." OFFICIAL TESTIMONY.

iarauaki readers will no doubt bt l glad to read an official iind entirely disinterested, testimony concerning the JJay of Henty. 31r. \V. J, Palmer, late Chief Government Pomologist for the Xortu Island, recently contributed ah interesting description of the Buy districts to the Farmers' Union Advocate and from that article 1 give a lew vx tracts. "Some time ago," writes Me, Palmer, "1 was asked to write you a short description of the. Hay of Plenty district and its capabilities for fruit und agricultural productions. 1 consider the climate of thai district the lim'st in the Dominion. The range of hills running from Cape (.'onville to hast checks the cold west, and winds which. coming for so long a distance overland, are rarilHl, and their harsh, cutting vxture modilied. This can be seen by th? healthy appearance of the trees growing' there. Not a leaf is injured., nor do they show any indication from which quarter the prevailing wind blows, although at tinus it is very strong. The soil is generally of a light description, in which all kinds of root crops grow well. Ma-igolds sown ou the Government station last jear took the leading prizes at all the winter exhibitions in the Dominion, and again this year, at the winter show in Auckland, took first prize against ill competitors.

Maize is the principal crop grown; as much as 120 bushels to the acre have been taken this year. I saw one paddock Lhii't yielded close on to 100 bushels to the acre. Dairying is becoming a flourishing industry, and sonic ot the creameries are in a great measure supplied bv Maoris, of whom the managers speak well, crediting them with being more cleanly than some of the Europeans." FHUiT-llltOV.:. Mr. Palmer's article concludes as follow*:- "As to the capabilities UK? May of Plenty as a fruit-growing district,. I am convinced jt is the Jiiie«t. in the Dominion fur all ki.ids of fruit, especially slone-fi nits. Th;' linest peaches I have ever seen were grown there last >ea-t;p. i -.1 w peaches weighing up to fourteen utuuvs, and cases that would average three fruits to two pounds. Che gentleman 1 know near 'fauraoga, whe certainly has not more than tiie fourth of an acre of orchard, after using what fruit was required for a large family, I sold upwards of i;4O ul irmt. .another instance: Thirty-three large cases J pears were gathered from one tree. At the Government Fruit-Testing Station, near Tanruiga, of which, until lately, 1 had charge, the trees have made wonderful growth, and have also borne a quan titv of fruit. The oldest trees ni tip place are only of three years' growth, and many of them are much younger The Minister of Agriculture wjhs at the SI a I ion the other day, and when told by thp overseer the, age of the trees he could scarcely believe it. It the Government had allowed me to eon tinue tiie management of the station for a short lime longer 1" could have made if one of the greatest successes of the Dominion.''