AROUND THE PIAKO AND WAITOA DISTRICTS. [BY OUR TRAVELLING REPORTER.]

Waikato Times, Volume XIV, Issue 1209, 27 March 1880, Page 2

AROUND THE PIAKO AND WAITOA DISTRICTS. [BY OUR TRAVELLING REPORTER.]

11. Overcoming* by degrees the utter astonishment which filled me as I looked down upon the Watoa-Waihou plain I had leisure to look more carefully around me. To the right and left of the road were the paddocks, well grassed, of Mr Larkworthy's property, the house, a very neat structure standing to the right flanked by the various outbuildings, while long lines of fencing sloped away in all directions. The previous dry weather had had a marked effect upon the pasture, which the more recent showers had not been able effectually to counteract. Still the appearance of the grass was anything but discouraging, and indicated most unmistakeably that the land is of more than ordinarily good quality. From here to Campbelltown the road — partly across wet land— is a thoroughly good one, bordered all the way by the fenced lands of Mr Larkworthy or the Messrs Campbell, whose estate adjoins. Coming upon the homestead on this latter, I observed that considerable care had been exercised in its selection. The house is situated on a piece of rising ground, and commands a fair view of the surrounding country. A large barn and wool bhed has been erected at the rear of the house, and tree planting has already beguu. A good portion of the estatesome hundreds of acres at any rate — has been laid down to grass, which is doing remarkably well all things considered, and at the present maintains a fair number of stock. The grass is mostly young and was seriously retarded in its growth by the late dry weather. A short distance from the Messrs Campbells house is the new township of Campbelltown, if being in fact a portion of the same gentlemens estate, and named *<fter them. At present,it would be easily understood that the settlement is only a small one, not more than four or five buildings comprising the whole, but among these is the very comfortable hotel, kept by Mr Misßen, the commodious general store of Mr Eowe, also of Morrinsville, and last, though by no means least, the snug- little public hall which tho settlers have already built. The roads in the neighbourhood are all good, albeit some of them are only tracks. Of this latter class is that which leads hence to the farm of Messrs Parr and Mellon, whither, aftpr admiring- the situation of Campbelltown, I bent my bteps. I was most hospitably received, aud the evening being far advanced I went no further that day. This farm consists of about 1200 acres, a considerable proportion of which is at present in swamp, but as there is ample drainage facilities by means of the Waitoa river, which borders the property for two or three miles, and as the land even where wettest is of the best description, having a good sandy subsoil the work of preparing it for cultivation will uot be dirficult. About 3 i 0 or 400 acres of the dry land has been laid down in grass, which has taken exceptionally well. A few miles below this on the same river are the properties of Messrs. Strange and Edwards. The former consists of about two thousand acres of mixed lauds, similar in quality to that of Messrs. I'arr and Mellon' s. The manager, Mr McCor;nick. has only been in occupation about two years, and has already got two or three thousand acres of grass down. s ome of this — not much — is surface sown, though it appears to be doing equally well with the other. Both properties along the river pos-ess the advantage of having plenty of timber of good quality. The farm of Mr Edwards lies back from the river, and consists of much the same kind of land as its two neighbours. I had almost forgotten to mention that several very good hot springs exist on the bank of the river at Mr Strange's, and only require a little attention to convert them into excellent baths. The manager contemplates doing something of the sort before next summer. Leaving here, a smart ride of seveu or eight miles over a good road partly formed through the swamp brought us to the Waihou landing at Te Kawana. Here also a great change has come over the scene. There is now a very good hotel and store here, a large warehouse for goods, one or two cottages, and a cabinetmaker's workshop. The latter is on the other side of the river, which is here crossed by means of a punt. Back to Campbelltown — some four miles— by 3 o'clock, 1 lost no time in retracing my steps as far as Mr Larkworthy's, turning up through this fine estate iv the direction of the Upper Waitoa. Leaving the fine paddocks one after another, we come to the equally fertile property of Mr J. B. Smith, whose farm originally belonged to Mr Moon, aud afterwards to Mr F. Strange. A large amount of grass has been sown down, and some of the older paddocks which I passed through contained a good thick sole of grass, despite the fact that they were heavily stocked. From Mr Smith's house a road leads down through the swampy portion of his land to the Waitoa River, skirting which we pass through the properties of Messrs Willis, Murray, and one or two others ; while we leave the pretty residence of Mr McGlashan on the other side of the river, being unable to visit it. The Messrs Murray have also laid doun a considerable area of land in grass, which appears to be getting ou remarkably well. Crossing the river here by means of a substantial wooden bridge only lately erected, we leave the large estate of Mr Gould to the right some distance off and push on to the Richmond property. Ou this block which is situated at the head of the Piako river, which is here divided into two branches, there are already several settlers who have, siuoe their occupation, not been idle. The farms of Messrs. Hunt, Wright, aud Kells in especial show marked signs of improvement. On the two latter places, the experiment of surface sowing has been tried with a large measure of success, the surface sown in most instanoes fairly equaling in growth and appearance that sown on ploughed laud. The land is all of an undulating, evenhilly character, and is ! not of veiy even quality, some portions being very inferior to those places I have mentioned above. What strikes an ordin- | ary observer is the large number of pahs which exist in this immediate neighbourhood. They were constructed to aid in the tribal wars, and grace almost every prominent eminence within sights. 1 do, not care to offer a decided opinion on the quality qf the soil on so short an acquaintance, but from the results I saw I should take it to be of a kind a Imirably adapted for grazing purposes. From pearly every part of the block the homesteads of Mr Wright, Richmond Hill, situated wjthjn the limits of one of the largest pahs is a very prominent object iii the landscape. From Richmond my journey to Pia :o for several reasons was a rap'd one, scarce allowing time to notice the properties of Messrs, Taylor and Morrin, through which the track passes, and hardly pausing to see those which lay further back. The general impression which anyone riding over the same gr und must form however, is that at no distant date, the Upper Piako distriot will take up p}aoe as one qf the best cattle grazing districts in the province. I saw the grass at its worst, the caterpillar and the dry weather having done their utmost to destroy the pastures. The paddocks were just beginning slowly to recovu* from the effects of theae, and were there-

fore not in the beat possible oondition for inspection. MorrinsviUe was reached at 11 o'clock on the morning of the third day. If these rough notes are somewhat incomplete, as I hardly doubt they are, they are simply so because the amount of ground to be covered in a given time necessitated the adoption of a pace utterly at varience with any desire on my part to inquire into the qualities and capabilities of the country through which I rode. On a future occasion, with more leisure, the work will be gone over carefully, when I doubt not the results will be more ap« preciable.