IN THE FAR NORTH.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1917, Page 7

IN THE FAR NORTH.

HOKIANGA TO KAIKOHE, A FIXE STRETCH OF COUNTRY. No. V. The party left Horeke, on the southern side of the JTokianga, for Kaikohe, via Okaihau and Ohaeawai. The morning was fine, the roads were in fair order, and consequently the going was, relatively, good. (.In the way to Okaihau some excellent country was passed through. The valleys running into the Hokianga contain soil in which anything will grow, whilst the hills will carry two sheep to the acre. Some of the land has evidently been settled for a considerable time.' Other parts are in the breaking-in stage, whilst from the higher points of the road can. be seen patches of forest land. From the Hokianga you steadily ascend to a plateau on which is situated

OKAIHAU ■ The land improves as you advance, and the surroundings are very picturesque indeed, the effect being enhanced by the clumps of puriri trees left standing in nearly every -paddock. Puriris make first-class shelter and shade, and the wonder is that more use has not been made of them in other districts. The settlers turned out in force to welcome the party, and the inevitable speeches followed. The const ruction work of the railway is within two miles of Okaihau, and the settlers are naturally gratified with the prospect of being linked tip shortly with the Main Trunk. Improved land around here is, selling at £2O for Hat and £lO for hill. Up till now the heavy freights have kept the district back, but this will be largely remedied by the rail connection.

WAIMATE NORTH. From Okaihati the party headed for Waimate North and then to Pakaraka, returning to Ohaeawai. Hero is met some of the finest country yet seen in the landscape, with its patches of wheat and oats, well-ordered farms and comfortable residences, being not unlike certain portions of rural England. This is really one of the oldest settled parts of the Dominion. It was tln> scene of early missionary enterprise. Tbe church at Waimate North is still extant, and near by is the first oak tree planted in New Zealand.

VOLCANIC FORMATION Generally speaking, the land is of volcanic formation. In the years of long ago it must have been a veritable inferno, judging by the number of extinct volcanoes that dot the landscape. Dairying is engaged in to a limited extent. One settler told the writer that he could carry almost a beast to the acre on his place, near Lake Omapc-re, but the land is not all of such excellence. The district fattens large numbers of cattle and sheep. Hitherto graziers have been at a disadvantage in finding an outlet for their fat stock. Freezing works, however, are about to be erected at Opua, near Kawakawa. As things are, there i evidence of prosperity everywhere, r.iit the land will have to'be subdivided more if the district is to make any considerable progress. At present the best blocks are in the hands of syndicates and wealthy families, nnd the small man has not the opportunity of getting on as in some of the neighboring districts. The roads here, though better" than they are further north, are nothing to boast about. Parts onlv are metalled; the rest are clay, which means that in wet weather they are impassable for motor traffic and difficult for wheeled traffic. Rates are ridiculously low—about 8d per acre. It is not all good land, trim and settled, hereabouts. There are patches of pipe-clay, g-um land that have to be diligently cultivated to produce grass.

, KAIKOHE. After ninchoan. at Ohacawai, the party proceeded to Kaikohe, the terminus for the day. One had visions of a bush settlement in the midst of frownings hills, a Taihape of fifteen years hack, 'but Kaikohe is in the centre of a park-like district, the land gently sloping away to distant hills, open to the; breezes and kissed by the morning as well as the evening sun. The party were taken to Kaikohe Hill, to the north-west of the township, on the top of which is a monument erected to the memory of Hone Tleke, whose exploits in the early wars are well known. Here an address of welcome was delivered by the Maoris, accompanied by a haka. From this eminence a good view of the surrounding country can be obtained. Kaikohe itself is mid-way across tho peninsula, and should have an important future, for it has miles and miles of good country all around it, much of it still being in its virgin state,

THE LAND QUESTION. The Maoris own a good deal of the land, but gradually it is being sold. One has not to be in the north to realise how Maori lands are keeping back settlement and how necessary it is for the Government to step in and take it over and throw it open for settlement. The land sharks have been at work getting hold of good blocks, but their ownership h little better than that of the Maoris, foi most of them are holding it for speculative purposes. 'Some land syndicates, on the other hand, have cut up and sold their properties, hut only at a big profit to themselves. The Government could have done this better than the speculators, and the genuine settler .would have had the benefit of getting the land at a lower cost. It Is hard to say who is the greater bane in the north—the speculator or the Maori; but it is not difficult to see that had the. Government acted years ago with wisdom, the Kaikohe 'district" would have had hundreds of settlers where it now has dozens. Bush land some distance out is selling at from 30s to 00s an acre, partially improved from £.5 to £lO an acre, improved from £lO to £-25. The latter is in parts suitable for dairying, and prtictically all for fattening. One farmer assured the writer Hint on the 3000 acres he owned he ran •JOOO sheep and 1000 head of stock, and the place was by no means fully improved. His neighbors said he was one of the most capable farmers in the district, which may have had something to do with the good results he was obtaining. But, speaking generally, the district is a fine one, and has a great future betorc it. PASPALUM GRASS. Paspallim grass is everywhere seen. The local people swear by it, though southerners with tho party were not at

all convinced tliat the north was well advised in putting down practically all their pastures in this grass. Jlen'v.'ho have had it in for ten yours state that they are quite satisfied with the results. It rnves abundant food, both sheep and cattle thrive on.it, whilst weeds, even the despised Mark berry (from which the north, by the way, is not free) are choked out. They further claim that it is the only seed that will readily germinate on ground not. recently burned when surface-sown. Tt grows well on poor land, but where the soil is nndrained and heavy it is apt to get rootbound. The southerners, on tlte other hand, claim that pasjialuni is not in itself a balanced food for stock, and the expert soon detected this in the stock. Cattle, they maintain, should have a change of feed, which could not be obtained where paspaluni wa3 planted, for it covered everything, choking all other grasses. Still, the northerner swears by the paspalum, and consequently you see little else hereabouts.