A LAND OF PROMISE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3578, 18 July 1912, Page 7

A LAND OF PROMISE.

COMMISSIONER OF CROWN LANDS ON POVERTY BAY.

SUITABLE LANDS FOR MENTWith what he has 'so far seen of Poverty Bay. Mr. R. .T. Sadd, the re-cently-appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands,-is most favorably impressed, and Qie is of the opinion that there is a great future before the district, a future which will! not be surpassed by any other district in New Zealand. Yesterday, with. Messrs. Ross, Hyde, and Birred, of the Hawke’s Bay Land Board, and Mr Thompson, secretary, he motored to Te Arai and adjoining settlements, for the purpose of gaining first-hand knowledge of the district and the prevailing conditions. Mr. Sadd and party left for the South by last night’s steamer. To a “Gisborne Times” reporter, the Commissioner gave his impressions of the district, and told of his travels in. the country. The Willows Settlement was first called on, and there, Mr. Sadd says, he found a satisfactory stats of affairs'. “Everybody,” lie said, “seems to he doing excellently there ” The holdings were small, but this disadvantage had been overcome by the provision that the wives of holders could obtain the runs adjoining their husband’s. The land was of a good agricultural nature. The party proceeded to Te Arai i settlement and found a. similar state : of affairs, the residents appearing to be exceedingly prosperous, after three ; years’ residence. One settler in par- ! ticular held 320 acres, which was thoroughly cultivated, a good part being put down in turnips and rape, for the purpose of fattening sheep. The number of sheep said to he turned out from the holding indicated that the settlor must be making something like £3OO a rear. Another settler kept about 250 pigs. He bred the pigs and fattened them, thus making an excellent living out of store pigs--The Commissioner had been told that a certain To Arai settler refused £ISOO for the goodwill of his property, thus showing that he must have made £SOO or more ner year for the three years. The holding was of something ' like 300 acres. The laud further up j the river was, ha believed, even richer j still. " ■ . . j The Pouparae settlement was visit-; ed. Matters there were prosperous ! and healthy, and the settlers appeared j to he doing well enough- The five- | acre sections for laborers, he consul- i ered, w T ere a mistake, for tne reason that the workers could not always find employment within a reasonable radius of the sections. “We met mobs of sheep in all directions,” said Mr Sadd. “and they were of a fine class, most!-' Romney, with some Lincolns.” The Commissioner said he- thought the sheep would have been inclined to have foot-rot, running over such a class of country, hut it was with pleasure that lie learned that the disease was practically unknown. . With the cattle of the district he was most favorably impressed. The class of dairy cow did not seem to be rierht, ami lie was of opinion that a Jersey-Shorthorn cross was the most suitable for the district. One held of Polled Angus struck him as being a very fine lot of beef cattle. Late in the day the party set out for Ngatapa, hut had to abandon, the journey on account of the heavy ram which 'set in. As far as they went, Mr Sadd noticed some' very fine sheep. Responding to a question, Mr Sadd said that there would undoubtedly be some more land cut up for closer settlement in the district before long, although the Land Purchase Board actually had no particular _ land m view at present. He had viewed the Wi Pere land yesterday, although tune did mot permit of his making a- close inspection. It was certainly most suitable land for subdivision. He would return to l Gisborne in the neai future, and his present intention was to thoroughly inspect the land between Napier and this town. The Commissioner said that one settler near Matawai had recently odd out li.is freehold and leasehold land at the high mice ■of £l2 per acre- that another fattened from 60 to 70 per cent, of his lambs on pasture alone; another young sett.er 10 miles out from the Otoko settlement, only four years out from Home had in two years felled and grassed about 150 acres, on which lie had 350 sheep, and a contract let for another 120 acres, and was about to increase lus stock. „ ~ As an instance of the increasing value of property, Mr. Sadd said that, fifteen years ago, a certain estate not far from Ormond, could have been, bought for £3 an acre, and now £7 was refused* for it. Mr. Ross was also _ favorably impressed with the district.