THE RECENT BUSH FIRES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 251, 2 March 1911, Page 8

THE RECENT BUSH FIRES

IX THE TARAXAKI HIXTERLAXD. Mr. W. T. Jennings, M.P. for Taumarunui, yesterday Teceived several letters from his constituents in the heart of the back country, telling sad tales of the loss caused by the recent bush fires. We have been permitted to make extracts from two of them. A Waitaanga farmer writes: Since last writing, the fires have continued, and have burned up a lot of grass and fences. For myself, I will have to re-sow over forty acres, some of it a third time, which makes it a bit hard for us, just starting. This is in addition to losing a good deal of fencing and outhouses. Re-grassing twenty or thirty acres may lie just as big a handicap to us as regrassing fifty or sixty acres is to the outside settlers, who have been established a number of years. In fact, it does tne latter a lot of good in the way of cleaning up the logs and stumps and preparing the land for the plough, whereas in our case, being a now settlement, although some dirty places are well cleaned by the fire, there is still enough timber left to make things good for another fire. In addition to myself, another settler has lost forty acres, another twenty acres, and two others twenty and thirty acres of their grass destroyed. There may be others that I have not yet heard "of." A settler on the Wanganui river, below Taumarunui, wrote: "The recent bush fires, especially in the Retaruke district,. have struck some of us very hard. I had a crop of 201 acres sown last November with rape, turnip, and grass seed, which cost me for seed and labor over £l4O. The Land Board, which just visited our district, admired the good crop I had a few weeks ago. This now has been completely destroyed by the second fire, and burned as clean as a billiard table. I intended putting lambs on this present week, and had an offer of 1000 lambs at Os. Of course. I cannot buy now until probablv after July next, and I will be lucky 'if 1 get lambs then at 12s. There are numbers of other settlers who have also lost considerably through the bush fires." Mr. Jennings, while recentlv in Hie Te Kuiti district, heard of a good deal of destruction by the bush fires to grass lands, and in some cases destruction of stock, and from his experience of bush fires three years ago he is quite certain that the effect ,of tbe.se recent fires will be very hard on the new settlers, who are just struggling on. lie telegraphed to the Premier on the matter, and received a reply from him that the UnderSecretary of Crown Lands has been instructed to have a report made.