CANTERBURY BACK COUNTRY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10128, 26 October 1910, Page 3

CANTERBURY BACK COUNTRY.

A LAND OF PROMISE. |

What is known as the Mackenzie Country in Central Canterbury, has of late been receiving a good deal of attention. The Mackenzie Country consists of a largo area that for many years has been occupied as small grazing runs. It is approached from Tiniaru by rail past Fairlie. The land is undulating, and in some places mountainous, varying from 2000 to 5000 feet above the sea-level. In winter a great deal of it is liable to be covered with snow, but in summer and for most of the year it provides good pastures for sheep. Unfortunately, during the last twenty or thirty years this country, owing to a variety of reasons, has made little headway. As a fact a great deal of it has receded, both as regards settlement and stock carrying capacity. The hills carry tussocks, and where not otherwise bare, are covered with native grass. At one time the runs had a resident population, living in good dwellings surrounded with orchards and kitchen gardens. The present population consists of a fewshepherds—generally old bachelors — and the improvements are neglected. With one or two exceptions all the families have disappeared and their homes are abandoned. The fruit trees remain, but there is nobody to gather or cat the fruit, unless when the shearing season arrives. Overstocking, and the absence of systematic farming, together with the absence of sufficient labour, has seriously reduced the flocks, and the lessees when asked about their runs have invariably a tale of woe. About twelve years ago an unusually severe winter was experienced. The' country for weeks was covered with snow, and the sheep had a bad time. In some places hardly a vestige of the "flocks remained, and in several instances the owners lost more that half their live stock. Appeals were made to the Government for some consideration, and large concessions of rent followed. It is now acknowledged that the losses were largely due to want of grass, want of labour, and an abundance of rabbits, the only living thing that seemed to thrive during the period of hardship. A year hence the leases will expire, and according to the existing regulations, loaded with the value of fencing which constitutes about the only kind of improvement, the runs should be submitted to auction. But people who know the country and have their eyes upon it are insisting that the runs should be subdivided and the conditions of sale and settlement so altered as to compel an improved sta'tc of affaris. A Commission consisting of the Commissioner of Crown Lands and several experts have made a tour of the country and reported on the runs. Mr Guthrie, a fine intellectual land-ow-ner, who has lived for many years in the Mackenzie Country and knows the runs intimately, lias furnished a separate report. At present there are 31 runs. The Commissioners recommend that they be cut up into 44 runs. Mr Guthrie's recommendation is that they bo subdivided into 48 runs. The Hon. M. Anstey, who is a. practical man, thinks they would be more advantageously worked if subdivided into 60 or 70 runs. The reports were submitted to the Lands Committee, who also took a good deal of evidence. It was stated that the decadence of the runs was due to the leases falling into the hands of fairly wealthy absentees residing in the towns whose interests extended over other properties. These lessees simply used the runs for revenue pin-poses, expending as little as possible on them, and knocking every shilling out of them they could. Mr Guthrie declared that the lessees had all enriched themselves by extracting everything out of the land and giving nothing back in return.

A Bill is to be introduced by tlic Government dealing with the runs-, and it is hoped that its provisions will lead to a great improvement in the conditions of this neglected portion of Canterbury. The land is easily roaded, and there is no difficulty in the way of reaching the homesteads by. motor-car or other vehicle. Although the grass is almost exterminated in' places, the soil is mostly plough able and will grow turnips and oats in abundance. It is understood that the system of sale by auction will be abandoned in favour of revaluation and selection, if necessary, by ballot, and it is hoped that this will bring about the settlement of the land by bona fide residents. The proposal that seems to find favour is to give future tenants a reasonable lease, subject to revaluation at long periods.