MATAMATA—PAST AND PRESENT.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8049, 5 November 1906, Page 2

MATAMATA—PAST AND PRESENT.

> ITS GROWTH AND SETTLEMENT,

POSSIBILI TIES AND PROBABILITIES. .[ Matamata! Even afttr the lapse of years on?) lecalls—aot without some lingering of regret—the pleasurable feelings cf anticipation and hardihood with which he set out for a land then— to many Southernems—looked upon as a land where Maori and Pakeha were continually at loggerheads over the possession of country impenetrable for dense bu*h and unsafe by hot springs. "The land of the Maoris and the geysers," one man put it. Matamata ia the land of contrasts—not merely of contrast between the time when the white struggled with brown for supremacy, and the day wheu the youngsters of each sit side by side in our public schools ; not simply a contrast between the day when Wahoroa sold his birthright for a mess of modern p )ttage, and the era of tho iron horse and the steam separator ; it is mote than thia; it is a contrast between the regime of tho Jarge landed proprietor who thought, and spoke, and farmed in thousands of acre?, and the advent of the small farmer whose limits are in tens. Kven from the train this is noticable, for where five years ago was thick ti-tree, where solitary Bporfsmeo got bewildered, tht-re is now grassed land, with large saleyards; the Burwood paddocks, as they wore called, nre thickly dotted with all tho multifarions buildings which are associated with a rising township. And this tendercy to change is strongly brought home to one acquaintod with the pint history of the estate, by the substitution of proper names for the numbers and letters which formerly designated different localities. Only the ,ex-amployers cling lovingly to the past. For instance, No 4 paddock is now known as "Mr Simpson's;." '1 he vlalai, perhaps the block best known to outsiders, now gees as " Bowler Bros;" "37 a or " Gabble's," »ftar the well-known contractor who cleared it, has likewise suffered The Burnt Spur" is no more; and" Springs" is not known to the present generation. Nor can we afford to let sentiment interfere with progress, however prosaic, for there is no doubt that the country at large has and will benefit greatly from the closer settlement. Shearing time in the old days used to be a period of a big undertaking, for fr m 30,u00 to 35,000 sheep were shorn by means of 16 Wolsey machines, the hands, including woolclasser, bailers, rollers, roueeabouts, musterers, and shepherds, totaling about 50, the work occupying, on an average, two months. Now it is a question of counting on the fingers, in days. Then there were not more than 103 miloh cows, including those used in connection with the cheese factory at Waharoa. Now, over 1500 cows are called upon to contribute towards the general prosperity. On the other hand, the quantity of stock fattened has dropped greatly, for whereis in the old times two trucks of fat cattle per week (on an average) were Bent to the Aucklaud market, now only an odd truck goes down occasionally. The same remark applies to fat sheep. Mr Tetley, tha local butcher, takes a large number of the fatted 6ttck, the saleyards, which are now in their year, dealing principally with stores and dairy oows, with a few fat sheep thrown in. When erected, these yard?, it was anticipated, would meet all requirements for the uext three or four years, but so rapidly has the centre grown in importance and fav< ur with buyers that even now accommodation is limited enough. In fact", at Messrs McNicol and Co. s last sales there was ne d (or half as much again. A matter which might well be considered by those concerned is the erection of sheep pea?, as it would ensure that all sheep from the district would then be sold there, as even under present conditions prices have compared very favourably with thosa ruling at ' any other provincial market. It iniy be of interest to note before passing the other topics, that during one year of the latter portion of the Assets Realisation Board's control 800 tons of mauure wer9 used for various purposes. Though n>t suitable for wheat, Matauiata grows goo 1 oats, of whioh 675 acres were sown in the year mentioned, all of which would be consumed on the Estate for horsefeed and seed for the following year. There were also 1-13 horses and 61 foils kept. Among settlers the consensus of opinion is that the olimate and land are exceeding anticipations, and that if present prices for stock continue, everyone will soon find himself on a sound financial foxing. 010 thing farmers in Waikatomust remember and that is that th->y cannot sit down and watch the grass grow as rumour has it is the case in i'araaaki.Hawke's Bay and Gisborne. Tne plough must be kept going and manure systematically applied. The land is houest and responds gratefully to suitable manuring, of a light loomy nature. It is lacking of phosphoric acid and this must be remedied, with superphosphate and tile bones for preference, p <tash being a splendid assistant tj these. In this respect. we may be pardoned for saying that there is ample scope et excellent work in the th.rough teaching of agricultural' chemistry in our public school', for upon a knowledge of tho properties and. conslntuents of his land all a farmer's suct&jP entirely depends. Yet how many are utterly ignorant of this, and thrown good money after bad by aiding to their evi s useless and perhaps over rich minure. I'he application of bisic slag has in many similar lands iu other parts of the colony prove 1 of great advantage, and small quantities are being sown in Matamuta, but suffcient time had not elapsed to test the results. The best time to sow it is in Julyor th) beginning of August, as it requires soaking to the roots of grass. As reOognised throughout tho Waikato, Matamata can more than hold its own in turnip growing, and the land, which from its loose nature requires consolidation, can be greatly improved by feeding t ff, which can be doue throughout the winter. As au example of what has been done, we may say that in one year Mr McOaw grew ou Rangiatea, to the north of Matamata, 25 t >ns to the acre, which carried 22 large wethers for four months. Allowing tor averaging 20 hoggets for four 'i oaths on 20 tons, it will hj» sien that these roots paid well. Ito uding rent and taxes, turnips would cost 35s par acre, and assuming that 20 hoggets were bought early iu May at lis, and kept till the end of Auguit they would, at present rates, be worth from 18s to 20s, a profit, at the lowest, of X2 5s per acre. But this is not all the farmer gets, for the beneiit the lar.d d rives from stocking, with the trampling and the residue, about one-third of the manure still left, may be safely put down at 10s per acre, making a nett gain of X2 15s per acre. Followod up by oats f r chaff, which should yield from one and ahalf to two tons, at present worth XI 10s per ton on the trucks, this allows of sowing into grass in the following autumn, an application of three per cent, of boues and super in equal quantities giving very good results. Thus iu eighteen months the worn-out pasture is replaced by young grass, which sh >ul J pasture well for six or seven years without renewing.