THE PIAKO COUNTY. [From our Travelling Reporter] The Ardmore Estate.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1384, 17 May 1881, Page 2

THE PIAKO COUNTY. [From our Travelling Reporter] The Ardmore Estate.

A littls way on the high road to the diggings there U another estate on which are some thriving pliutatious and a comfortable cottige,' some loomy, substantial outbnileHjigs, some land in oultivat OP, and other mdi Uiitious of good management and available means. On inquiry I found that this was the Ardmore Estate, belonging to Messrs Campbell Bros, of Cambridge an! Auckland, and that it is of 2600 acres in extent- This is a very fine piece of land and doubtle>s will prove as good an investment for their money as Messrs. Cimpbell could have found anywhere. Under the management of Mr Webb 250 acres luvo heeu sown in gracs and clover oiis-ome, of which the clover has been cut three timea during the past siimmer and graxs nearly six feet high that filled up the barn' and was htaoked in quantities that will supply all wants for the rest of the year. Some twenty acres were sown with turnips that turned out heavy crops and come remarkable specimens of weight and soundness. The fencing done amounts to 250 chains and two miles of swamp land have been drained. The soil is a loam that is deep in places or a deep peat, and the subsoil is a good grain growing clay. About 18 aores have been planted with young- gums and pines that « ill very soon reach a considerable size and there i a nice young orchard ff fruits of all kinds near the house peaches, apucots, nectarine-* apples, pears, cherries plum-*, audall the bush fruits thriving wonderfully be-ides the strawberries of which alone five or six bushel* wore gathered dining tho last «e.ison. Of cattle there are 93 head of thr> three part Hereford breed, as good, useful, profitable a h*Td as one could find doubtless, judging from their appearance, and there are 8 good strong nicely bred working horses. Messrs Campbell have not started sheepbrc<. dinar yet, but will do so perhaps if they find their neighbours make them pay, The dwelling house is a pleasant sixroomml cottage 1 with a nice cool dairy aud store attached, aud there are a large 8 stalled stable, with barn and hay loft over it, three other outhouses and a stock yard aiound, making up a capital farm yard. F'verything looks well aud is improving daily, and the property is one that will be better than a gold claim eventually Turning round for a cool stroll home towards evening along the level sound road that now goes straight through what was no more than three years or s-> ago a dark bottomless dismal swamp, I diew a long breath of the sweet scented air that now float over the clover far and wid , and listened with never eudiug pleasure to the mixed hum of indistinct sounds that make up the quiet m isic ot nattue that is never quite still, and that includes the song of the lark, the rippling and bubb ing of eaoh httle creek falling down the distant ranges, the chirp of the grasshopper, the whispei ing of the reedy fens, the sleepy rustle of the long plumed grasses, broken by the sharp sigh of the broad lpafed flax, the deep hum o f the flies, or the perpetual song of the working bee, with now and then the clear tiny ring of the gnats trumpet and behind all the subdued far distant mellow ba&s of the cataract fifteen miles away, aud the blue deep Wailiou rushing between its banks across the plum, all blended into a music lit for the srods, and so quiet that it is only by intent listening that one can peiceive it, but the want of which would create a blank that would be unbearable for only an hour.