WASTE LANDS BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1794, 22 September 1884, Page 2

WASTE LANDS BOARD.

We learn from the Wellington Evening Press that the following reports were presented at the late meeting of the Board:—',

CHIEF SURVEYOR'S REPORT. District Survey Office, ~ Wellington, 3rd September, 1884. The Land Board, Wellington, I have the honor to submit for the .information of the Board the following statement relating 'to the surveys and roatP works upon the Grown lands in the Wellington Land District ; Wanganui District, Tokomaru Block.—lo,ooo acres have been explored, routes for the roads determined upon, and some of the lines have been, cut or graded; 11,000 would open up about 6,000 acres; for disposal. Paratieke 810ck.—3,800 acres have been laid off in sections, all roads have been graded; an expenditure 0f:L750 would render the sections accessible. Karewarewa—3.6oo acres, all sectionised, and roads graded; LSOO would enable construction of bridle tracks, w*. Rangitikei District.—Otairi Block. —IB,OOO acres, intersected by tho Marton-Murmiotu road, the remainder partly explored for roads, and one dine, cut and graded j LI2OO would open up: about 5000 acres of good land. Manawatu District, Waifcapu 810ck.—29,000 acres, nearly all explored, and about 30 miles of roads graded, and many miles pegged off and prepared for road contracts; one. mile of road in continuation of the Kiuibolton road is under construction, but LSOOO at least is required to open up this splendid block of land. Pohangina Ernst.—lo,ooo acres, all sectionised, and nearly all the main lines have had plans and specifications prepared for road contracts j;at least L2OOO are required to open up tho-block, Wairarapa North.—Makuri Block. —50,000 acres have been explored, and routes for roads determined upon; the sectional surveys will not be started until roads have been constructed j about £6OOO are required to form roads from Awapurua up the valley of the Tiraumea and branch roads through the minor valleys. The opening up of this block demauds first attention; there is a vast tract of country at the back of this area fit for' settlement. Pahiatua and. Mangaone Blocks.— 20,000 acres; this land is all sectionised, and has been available for years past,' save that the roads have not 1 been completed ; a beginning has been effected by the construction of 60 chains at the Pahiatua Native Reserve, 4 miles at Hawe'ra, and 1 mile on the Central Mangaone line, leaving over 40 miles of road still to be made. Kopuaranga 810ck.—17,000 acres, all sectionised and partly opened up by the main coach road, i)reyer's Rock road, and the railway; but about 17 miles of roads have still to be made. Kaiwhata 810ck.—15,005 acres, roads nearly all surveyed, and the sectional work well advanced; about £ISOO would open up the block. (Signed) J. W. Marchant, Chief Surveyor, Crown Ranger's Report. The Crown'rangor reported that he had made an extra inspection of deferred payment lauds in the Waipakura, Oroua, Bunnythorpe, Kairanga, Orawaru, Mangahao, Mangaone,. and Belmont districts for the purpose of affording information to the Board of the uature and value of improvements effected on deferred payment lands, sold prior to 1881, and to enable the Board to form correct judgments on the various applications for transfer, etc., sent in to it. The inspections iucluded 75 allotments comprising over 9,300 acres. The Ranger alse supplied a very complete schedule of the properties inspected, showing the exact condition at the time of inspection. He also explained how he arrived at the value of the clearing, fencing, grassing, etc. , He states thct the average cost of bush ~ felling when fairly done was about £2 2s 6d por acre, grass sowing 10s per acre, burning about 7s Gd per acre, that is to say where bush felliug. did not exceed L2 5s per acre, a fair value for the work, including burning and grassing, was about £3 per acre, and this was the value he had placed upon the balances carried forward. 'As skowiug the coat of gi'ass sowing, the ranger stated ho had lately sown in the Waiuute district, (Taranaki), on behalf of the Government, 140 miles of bush (nearly 12000 acres) with a , mixture of cocksfoot, rye, timothy, ' cow grass, clover, and alaske, at a cost, including carriage, packing, and sowing of 10s per acre. With regard to fencing, in the same district, the report states, a 7 wire fence, one wire barbed, on Matai posts, 8 feet apart can be erected at 12s 6d to 13s per chain, In the Kairanga district the cost was stated by the settlers to be 20b to 25s per chain, and in Mangahao 16s to 17s 6s per chain, The ranger had therefore in his report taken the value at 16s to 20s per chain, according to the quality of the fences. . The following properties were specially reported upon :—Messrs Guthrie, sec, 1587, Barraud, sec. 1563 j Ryan, sec, 1 .1603, (all of Kairanga), and W. Rieux Mangahao, sec, 22a, The first-named 1 was estimated as 25 acres felled and grassed, and 30 chains wire foncing. Mr Guthrie also wished iredit for 40 acres now being felled, and clearing and draining at the back of the section at a cost of £6O making a total expended on improvements of £145, which was more than sufficient to enable him to apply for the freehold of his section. The ranger had informed him nothing could be done in the matter till the work was completed. On Mr Barraud's section of 120 acres felled, 80 acres were in grass, aud he had made more than sufficient improvements to enable him to apply for his freehold, On Mr Ryan's section only sufficient had been done to clear him for the first inspection, viz,, about 13 acres; and as the land was very wet, it was badly burned and grassed. Mr Rieux's improvements were difficult to estimate, owing to the shape of his clearings, He had, how- , ever, about 25 acres in gtass, and 25 felled and not grassed; be had also 14 chains wire fencing at 16s per chain, and a blab hut worth £lO. He had therefore made sufficient improvements to enable him to obtain his freehold. ) Mr Johnston, of Kairanga, had also |

done nearly sufficient for this purpose, /' being only about £4O deficient. He had also a clearing on an adjoining allotment and some fencing which helped to' enclose his deferred payment allotment but which could not be added, to his valuation.

The Ranger drew the attention of the Board to the fact that in many cases considerable improvements were now being effected on the holdings in- •- the various districts in. felling, fencing, and building,'and that his present report, though fairly correct, will not be reliable even- in six months time, instancing the fact that on section 26 (W. R. Waters) Mangahao, a sawmill would soon be in working order. The report concludes as follows: In the present inspection I did not include lands sold subsequent to December 1881, as the holders would not be enabled to capitalise till they have already reported upon the deferred lands in the Wanganui Harbor Endowment block, the only ones besides l those included in the present report A which have been held by selectors for more than two years, J have etc., G. P. Robinson. The schedule attached was. of a very satisfactory nature ou the whole. It showed that in Oroua there were eight selectors, occupying 1479 acres, of which 355-were felled and in grass with buildings and foncing to the value ot £221. In Arawaru, three selectors, occupied 460 acres, 42 acres of .which were cleared and in grass. In Kairanga there were 25 selectors, occupying 3004 acres, of which 1175 felled aud in grass, buildings and fencing being valued at £1357 ss. In the Manga--hao (Pahiatua) there were 19 selectors, occupying 2282ar Or 31 p., of which 864 acres were felled and in grass.;value of fencing and buildings, £1512 4s. On this block there are, among the improvement, a brick-yard and sawmill, and bush is now being fallen on several sections. In the Mangaone Block, in the same district, there arc 14 selectors,-with 1541 a. 2r. 6p.; the *, area felled and in grass is 464 acres, 9 and value of buildings and fencing £9lO, and bush is being felled .on several of these sections. In Belmont there are 371 acres among four selectors who havo cleared and grassed 73 acres, There are no buildings or fencing, but bush is still being fallen, This is the last block mentioned, The report is very complete, and must prove of great value to tho Board,. It shows that the work of settlement'is steadily progressing, and that where veritable " howling, .wilderness" existed but two or three-years ago, homesteads have sprung up, and cattle, sheep, and horses may be seen on the grass tha l ; has taken the place of trees and Bcrub,