No V.—To Wellington.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2065, 1 October 1885, Page 3

No V.— To Wellington.

We started by train for Wang.ui'ii on Saturday morning, at (i.50. Usually a lar^c number of town peoyle come to spend Sunday in the country, taking ad vantigeof single fare*. We notice that there i^. much moio facility for getting information here than on our own line. All the distance* are published with fares, but they ha\o none of the new Pullman cars. Am we leave Haw eta the land grows more undulating, veiy much like Te Awamutu count ly, but of better quality, though not like the Plaint. As we go on we wonder is there no uncultivated land left ; certainly we saw no fei n on both sides of the railway. The thick sward of grass becomes almost monotonous by its uniform green. Hand some houses ai c seen nestling in shelteied spots, but there are vciy few plantations. Here they seem more civilised in having wire fences, still we have a good deal of gorse. At Ritea the tram stops L'O minute* for breakfast. The town is on the other Hide of the river from tho station. Thcie arc some large buildings. Meat canning was carried on here until tho woiks weie burnt down. There is some talk of this business beingrevived. To old settlers Pateawillbring many loiuembrancesof the war, nsuearhcie many stirring scenes were enacted. I .should have mentioned when speaking of the Plains that Messis Hellaby Tiros, buy 50 bullocks per week theie : also, that few people care to sell their land.^ This seems strange to people from Waikato as them we will sell anything. Heie it seems owners are quite sati-<hed with the interest they get and would rather buj than sell. Any land that is in the uiaiket fetches from JL'lO to £12 per aero. From Patea we still go through good country but broken ; this compels us to follow the gullies, which makes the line veiy winding. There are some deep cuttings and considerable engineering difficulty must have been experienced here. Wanganui is a fine town. And besides being a shipping port, has the advantage of nearly the whole back countiy be'ug thoroughly good. As it was S iturdav there* were sales going on, many country people in making the place quite lively. Seven or eight small steamers were lying at the wharf. Considerable trading is done with other smaller The " Stormbird " also runs regularly to Wellington. I am told that Wanganui considers itself aristocratic. At 4 p.m. we staited again en route for Foxton which is iHi miles distant. Just on leaving tho town we pass over a fine railway biidge, which is one of the features of Wanganui. After again getting into the pasture land we hnd that sheep, not cattle are mostly seen. Tho former seem to do very well. Thiity miles from Wanganui the train stops L>o minutes for tea at Mai ton. This is a fine growing town, quite aa large as Hawera. It is the centre of a large area of excellent farming country, and is very bmy and prosperous. This is where the railway from Waikato will join the present line, and a section is being staited fioin this end. The railway being made creates a littlo life. As it grew daik by this time we could not see much, but qathored from fellow passengeis that tho countty we pass through between Marton and I'alinei-toii is good, being mostly bush. Palmeiston is a fine town, governed by a mayor and borough council, has three public halls, two newspaper, and cveiy thing in ptopoition. The main railway lino fiom Wollmg ton, which it is o\prcted will bo finished next year, will commence heie. The total length from Wellington to New Plymouth is 2(50 inilu-i. The line is completed at tho Wellington end 10 miles. Patmeibtnn abounds in saw mills, and much of the prosueitty of tho place is ovvin<» to its twtbtir tyado, Home <if tho bush land ncllk as high .is £10 per acie in its natural state, and when in giass carries ftoin eight to ten sheep per acre. About half way to Foxton the countty changes to low sand hill", which have been blown in from the shore at some time, and which are now covered vvithgviss and fern. Home of this has been surface sow u. In its natural state, thin will carry one sheep per aero. We ariivo at our destination nt 10 p.m. Next morning wo look round Fox ton and are not charmed ; it seems a dull little place, about half the size of Hamilton. It is the shipping port of the Maua watu river, and vessels trade between here and Wellington, also other ports, Wool and timber are mostly tho exports, The railway terminates here, and will never be oontinued further. Until the lino is opened, connecting Palmers ton, people coming from New Plymouth have to stay here tho night, but coming fiom Wellington tho couch arrives at 4 o'clock, allowing passengers to reach Wanganui the same night. I should say this is to the advantage of traveller' 1 . Land ju^t round the town in not good, but quickly improves as we get into tho oountiy. Mr Laikwoithy own* two ostatos near hctc, one, 8000 acies, three miles from Foxton, and thoothei, 7000 acre.", 12 miles on tho Wanganui side. It was the former place wo visited, and weie hospitably entertained by the proprietor, who afforded us every facility for making use of the limited time at our disposal. This land is mostly rioh swamp, uml lies almost in tho shape °f a horsoshoe, fol lowing tho windings of tho Manawatu river, by which it in bounded for 10 or 12 miles ; on the other side is the bank which gives shelter, and makes a pleasing feature in the landscape. The Manawatu is quite a navigable river. Only pait of this swamp is leclaimed, but judging by tho. resultx obtained, tho draining of tho temaindor will be a highly paying investment, Tho part now in grass carries sor (i sheep per acre. As many of tho outlet drains have been made thtnugh the unimproved part, tho cost of rendering this property highly i-e-munerativo should bo noinparathuly small, Mr Li*l'kvvorthy'H other land is lighter, find i« a thorough change for sheep off the Kvvainp. On the two places there are 7000 sheep and 2000 cattle. Veiy few turnips are grown, the cattle fattening in the swamj) as well in winter as nuwnor, Mr Larkwoithy also hay an pstato ai Waitoa. I had hoard u good deal of the w()iuleiful iiehnpsa of a swamp owned by the hoi), Robt, Campbell, so I made a point of going to see it. It is about eight or ten miles fiom Foxton. I was prepared to see something good, but cannot imagine even better land than I saw hcio. The best di v criptton of a place in a farmer's eye* ia i(,s productive qualifications, \i\yl iu\ your mformiition I wlljeivoa few statistic*. Theio are 27,000 act cs, 8000 of which is swamp, roelauned. and consolidated, carrying catfclo, a beast to the aero. Altogether on this estate thero Rio 10,000 cattle and 20,000 iheep. Keveial paddocks in the swamp land are kept specially for fattening, and turn off about l."> 0 head of bullockb a, month. As a rule, beef is not fattened off here until four yoark old, not at three as is usual with uh. The lest of tho land is flats, with low sandy hills. Turnip growing has been a success here, after vv||ich the, cany ing capacity is greatly tnercved. Tho drainage system is veiy t,ompleto. An ontlut drain five nule» long, 2">ft. wide, and 10 or 12ft, deep, is made through the middle of the. swamp, iuto

which tha other smaller chains empty themsehes. An idea of the draining that has been done here may bo gathered from the f.itt that not long ago tenders were called for the cleaning up of 2.")0 miles, of dram-.. Stock from here are never sent to market ; both at this place and Mr Lai kworthy's buyers for the Gear Company and others* purchase the cattle in the paddock at about 17s Gd per lOOlhs. The managei informed us th it the usual number of breeding cows, 2000, had been considerably reduced owing to the cost of tearing not being compensated by the price of beef. 1 saw a lot of fine fat wetheis which ueie to be kept for sheaimg if the puce asked (17s (id) weie not obtained. I wish some of my friends could see this place ; it is quite encouraging to think there is such land in our much abused North Island. I should have mentioned that the largest orchard 1 have spon since leaving home is Mr Laikworthy's ; this is ten acres, mostly apples. At five ne\t morning we started fiom Foxtoii by coach for Wellington, through sandy country which is so heavy that we haidly get out of a walk, then on the beach which continues with very little deviation for iieaily forty miles. Tins beach road is delightful, sitting in the coach we cm read with the greatest ease, there being no rough places. We passed the hull of the ship Hydeiabad, which was wiccked (> yea i» ago, and which now lies embedded in the sand. Twenty five miles from Fo\t<>n isOtaki, wheie we stop foi breakfast. This was at one time a flourishing settlement, but evidently "its lights are fled, its gai lands dead," and all but n. very few di-paitcd. Twenty miles from hue we cioss a steep langc, after which we pass through \eiy broken and uninteresting couutiy right up to the Empiie City itself. I was \ory glad to get off the coach at <i o clock, as 13 houts coaching is quite enough at one time. By the time our fac tory pays the next dividend, 1 expect the l.tilway will be opened thtough to Welling ton. l!ci k lie.