PATETERE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1819, 4 March 1884, Page 2

PATETERE.

TO THK EDITOR. Silt, — It seems the fashion in moat place's — but more especially I think in this distuct — to urn down and disparage any new portion just being settled. Possibly, this partly arises, f1 om the erroneous idea that the new one's prosperity will be to their injury. There are probably plenty of people that remember Hamilton and Cambridge getting their share of disparagement and being declared too poor for anything. Yet, notwithstanding the buppoied poorness of the soil, we see pretty homesteads with nice pastures and good crops e\tendiug ovei miles of what was considered almost a waste only coveied with fein and manuka bcrub a few years ago. The Pateteie block ib now getting its share of dispaiagement, and, like the others that have gone before it, will outlivj it, and dispiove the nonsense that is said of it. That there is some very pool laud no ouo can deny, but it bears such a .small propoition to the block— a huge quantity of which is really very good — that it is haidly worth mentioning. The land has oiiginally been of a first-class quality, but the cruel usage it has had, incessant filing foi generations has to a certain extent impovenshed the soil by diivmg Luge quantities of thr» most \aluable constituents off in the smoke, and leaving the lemainder in the indestiuctible and unavailable form of charcoal. But from the nature of the soil it is land that will quickly renovate itself as soon as it has the opportunity by being sown with grass and clover, and a stop put to the destructive firing at present going on. Certainly what has been sown will compare favourably with any of similar age and treatment in the Waikato or the Thames Valley. All fern land requires a considerable time to what is called sweeten before it will grow grass or crops well, no matter how good the land may be, and I believe the best course, not only for Patetere, but also the surrounding districts, is to disc harrow and suiface sow with strong deep-rooted feed plants, such as cow-grass, cocksfoot, &c, and stock with cattle, as they help to destroy the fein and consolidate the ground, which it requires. After a few years of this the land would be in heart, either for cropping or to be broken up and laid down to permanent pasture. About two miles south of Lichfield is what is known as the " club," built for the accommodation of the young men coming out from England, I believe, and kept by a gentleman from Home, who is said to have had some colonial experience. I suppose it will also be a kind of experimental farm. If so, I hope the experiments will be adapted to the nature of the soil and climate, and not, as is too often the oase, be ones that were successful under quite different circumstances, but totally unfit for the case in hand. Unfortunately for Patetere, the road through it runs through the middle of the poor ground, so that many pass through without having the slightest idea of what the country is really like, I have been over and am well acquainted with a large portion of the block, and have since had opportunities of seeing and comparing with it a large portion of the Lower Waikato and Thames Valley, and the effeofc has been to strengthen the good opinion I formed of Patetero. Doubtless the progress will be slow at first, more especially till the railway is opened, as travelling to Lichfield at present is not only expensive, but slow, so that strangers think they have got nearly to the end of the world by the time they arrive there, and having had every disparaging thing that aan be thought of dinned into them for the two days they are on the road, get frightened and never look at the country at all. When they can leave Auckland and in a few hours be at Lichfield, it will make a great difference. I may state that I have no interest whatever in Patetere, beyond the fact that I intend to settle there, and would like to see it get fair play and stand on its merits. — I am, &c, One Intending to Settle There. Cambridge, Feb. 26th, 1884,

' A national dairy school for the instruct tion of dairy, maids is about to be established at the 4ylbepb Jngtitatio.n,