MR BUCHANAN ON THE CHEVIOT ESTATE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4802, 17 August 1894, Page 2

MR BUCHANAN ON THE CHEVIOT ESTATE.

[From Hansard.]

■Mr Buchanan—Now, after looking carefully ovor the map, and classing the estate roughly, I found that on the western division of tho.estate there were about 30,000 acresjakon up by twenty- twtfhoKlings; and on the eastern divrjbn, close to the sea, teh holdings up a littleunder 20,000 acres/Ihe average of these holdings, mo/fy hill-country, being from 1,300 <71,500 acres each. The 1 rentals ra/ft from Is 9d up to :3s and 4s; a' I. let me give tho House an idea :'fthe carrying-capacity : of one of tKJj larger holdings of about 3,000 acres, let at 3s per acre. Last winter, 1 /undo!' the- management of the, Cb'eviot Estato. trustees, 1,800 merinrewcs were' put oh this' block as tlie full winter stock; aml.thej rental now payable is 3s per acre. Now, I want to know.'Low any sottWean make his living out of such a Aiding as this under that rental, wMi there : is scarcely any of tlie Ml plouglmble, and it is quite useas to surface-sow it with English ,£rass, because Yorkshire fog and white'clover have already taken possession of what is not already occupied by tho nativo tussock. Take, again, the 5,000 acres purchased by one of the late owners of the estate: the winter stock at present running on it is only 0,400 sheep—in other words, very little more than a sheep to the acre, although a considerable portion', of these 5,000 acres has already been ploughed and laid dowu in grass, Now let us 'take tho agricultural portion of the estato; audi find that that was cut up into areas of from 200 to 300 acres, roughly speaking. Mr J. McKonzie,— Some of them far less than that. ' Mr .Buchanan.—l will come to that, Now, this land, has in the past been growing mutton and wool, and, as far as lam able to judge, cannot; except as to very limited portions of it, be made to grow grain at a profit, and must still continue to grow mutton and wool,, witli the aid of turnip and other cultivation. But the honourable gentleman in cutting up the estate utterly failed to realise how impossible it is to grow mutton and wool at a profit with or without cultivation on such land in the small areas into which he has cut up this portion of. the ostato, How, can a settler, without great' waste of capital, provide implements and horses to work small areas like these for turnips aiuWfots to feed his sheep at present.prices of mutton and wool ? If _ tho land was good enough for dairy purposes it would be quite a different thing,' .The; hbhourablo gentleman shakes his Lead;' T admit it is a matter of opiniou,.aud, claiming the right to mine, 1 deliberately say'that, of the 30,000. acres which is called the agricultural portion of tho land, the areas fit for either grain-growing or dairying to profit are confined to narrow limits on tlie Waiau, the Homestead, and tho Huruimi flats. Tho great bulk of tho estate must therefore necessarily continue in the : future, as in tho. past, to grow mutton and wool, But the value of the land has been much depreciated by tho utter want of judgment shown in cutting rip, tlie plouglmble area intosuchsniall holdings. Then, let us take the smaller areas—the W-aero and 50-acre sections, and less. I was grieved to see land so poor cut up jntosuph small sections, How tho unfortunate settlers aro to make a living, much less nay the rent they have agreed to pay to tlie State, lam unable to say. I visited Cheviot ready to believe that the honourable gentleman had effected a very good operation for the couutry-to believe that the settlers had been put upon tho land under circumstances which would enablo them to llourish; but I came away with the conviction that the greater number on the cultivable areas must necessarily come to this House for relief; that it is impossible for them under 'the-circumstances to pay. tho rents .they have agreed to pay, As for the larger, purelygrazing areas, I beliovo that, with economy and good management, the settlers on them may be able tb hold on to thoirsectiohs; butoveuinthoir case a good many oftliom are overrented,:; Let me > hore explain that the highest-rented land is, in many instances,the cheapest; that, if.the honourable gentleman could "have multiplied the acreage of : tho'undoubtedlygood land near Waiau, the aspect of. matters would have been changed; but, there is very little of this good land. The greater part of it has such ah iron-bound subsoil as to be quite unprofitable for graiiiigrowing. Of course it can be improved agood deal wherever plouglmble; but the 'honourable gentleman had little sense of his 'responsibility to the country when tellirig'the House that tho e( j. tatoinjvo yea,rs weuldqarryfour sheep to the acre. lam very sorry to have been compelled by absplute

facts to form such an unfavourable opinion of what tbo honourable, gentleman hasxta'.r\As to the road making on tlm estate, tile' half-hour limit,gives mo timo, but for one si)ecimali,"At',;tho end 1 I found ■/ a • mile ; arid a half of earflifoiination on' larid' as fills Oanterbuiy Plains.-.'A s 'ditcii'*waL cut on eaoli Bide ■ 10ft 6iii at' the top M, ;at;-tbo,bbttbmVaptl'3ft; ; deep;; and would, Kqnouval}le : mejiiljera. : believoit I ■ the ijret'qpo'ration in making this pieceof wad.:'was:to:clip oyoiy.tussock'offtliß surface: before putting, down4hoformatioir. ; ;-iThb public'mohey was squandered in dig;- ' ging''but : two ! useless cost of one sbilliiig'pei'l ; [Vawl, tha foi?nation' egstiiig' Sl|o r QflU , a milej'ivheinVi 9W) taqivs ;■ such .a road is easily formed by a , plough and" scoop at a tithe of the