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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 76

Pastoral Land

Pastoral Land.

1. A portion of the lands included in the Starborough Settlement is divided into small grazing-runs, which are open for selection under the provisions of "The Land Act, 1892," "The Land for Settlement Act, 1894," and "The Land for Settlements Act Amendment Act, 1896" (herein referred to as "the amending Act").

2. The lease shall be for a term of twenty-one years, to be reckoned from the next 1st day of March following the date of the lease, and shall in addition include the broken period between the date of the lease and such day.

3. The lessee, duly fulfilling on his part all the covenants, stipulations, and conditions of the lease, shall, at the expiration of the term thereof by effluxion of time, have the option of a renewal thereof for a further term of twenty-one years, computed from the date of the expiration of the original term, at a yearly rental equal to 5 per cent, on the then capital value of the land, computed in manner prescribed by the said Acts, being, however, in no case less than the original rental; and for the purposes of this clause the provisions of "The Land Act, 1892," relating to renewals of leases of small grazing-runs shall, mutatis mutandis, apply so far as the same are applicable.

4. The half-yearly rentals stated in the Schedule on page 8 hereof shall be the price at which the land shall be open for selection, and shall be payable in advance to the Receiver of Land Revenue on the 1st day of March and 1st day of September in each year, the first half-year's rent being due on the 1st day of March first following the date of the lease, and being payable out of the hereinafter-mentioned deposit.

5. The lease shall be dated as on the day whereon the Land Board declares that the applicant has succeeded in obtaining the small grazing-run.

6. Applications for leases shall be in the form or to the effect set forth in the Regulations under "The Land for Settlements Act Amendment Act, 1896," and every applicant shall make the declaration therein set forth, or to that effect.

7. Applications shall be addressed to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Blenheim.

8. The day on which the lands shall be first opened for selection shall be Monday, the 13th March, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine.

9. Every applicant shall, to the best of his ability, answer the questions set forth in his application, and such other questions relating to his means and ability to work the land and fulfil the conditions of the lease as the Land Board may see fit to ask. Failure page 26 to answer any such question to the satisfaction of the Land [unclear: Board] will entail the rejection of the application.

10. No application will be considered unless it is [unclear: accompanied] by a deposit consisting of an amount equal to the rent for the [unclear: first] half-year of the term, together with the sum of one guinea to [unclear: defray] the cost of the lease.

11. An application may be for more small grazing-runs than one, but no person shall be allowed to acquire or to hold more than one run.

12. If any application comprises more small grazing-runs that one, it shall be sufficient if the prescribed deposit is duly made it respect of the run applied for whose deposit is the largest.

13. If the applicant is successful in obtaining a small grazing run his deposit, or a sufficient part thereof, shall be retained and applied in payment of the items hereinbefore referred to in respect of such run, and the residue, if any, shall be returned to him.

14. No person shall be capable of applying for or holding any small grazing-run in any of the following cases, that is to say:—
(1.)If at the date of his application he is directly or indirectly either by himself or jointly with any other person a persons, the owner, tenant, or occupier of any land what soever under the Land for Settlements Acts, or the owner in fee-simple, or the tenant or occupier under a lease fori term whereof not less than two years are unexpired, of any other land in the colony which, with the small grazing-run applied for, would exceed in area 5,000 acres; or
(2.)If at such date he is the owner of real or personal property the total value whereof, after deducting the encumbrances thereon, exceeds one and a half times the capital value; of the small grazing-run applied for.

15. When more applications than one are made on the same day for the same land, the right to occupy the land shall, if such applications are accepted by the Land Board, be decided by ballot it accordance with the regulations under "The Land Act, 1892."

16.
(1.)Subject to the provisions of "The Land Act, 1892," as to relaxing or dispensing with the conditions relating to residence, the lessee shall reside on the land comprised in his lease, or by the amending Act deemed to be so comprised, within one year from the date of the lease in the case of open or partly open land, or three years in the case of bush or swamp land; and in each case suet residence shall thereafter be continuous to the end of the term.
(2.)For the purposes of this clause, the Land Board shall determine and specify in the lease the period within which residence is to commence.
17. The lessee shall put on the land comprised in his lease substantial improvements as under, that is to say:—
(a.)Within one year from the date of his lease, to a value equal to the amount of one year's rental; and
(b.)Within two years from the date of his lease, to a value equal to the amount of another year's rental; and page break
From point above Homestead, looking towards Haldon's Section 5, Block XIII., Clifford Bay.

From point above Homestead, looking towards Haldon's Section 5, Block XIII., Clifford Bay.

page 27
(c.)Within six years from the date of his lease, to a value equal to the amount of other two years' rental.

18. For the purpose of determining whether the lessee has put upon the land substantial improvements to the value and within the time prescribed by these conditions (but for no other purpose), there shall be included the value of all substantial improvements existing on the land at the date of the lease.

19. Substantial improvements of a permanent character mean and include reclamation from swamps, clearing of forest, gorse, broom, sweetbriar, or scrub, cultivation, planting, gardens, fencing, draining, making roads, sinking wells or water-tanks, constructing water-races, sheep-dips, making embankments or protective works of any kind, or in any way improving the character or fertility of the soil, and include the erection of any non-movable building.

20. The lessee shall at all times during the term of the lease maintain in permanent pasture not less than two-thirds of the total area of the land.

21. The lease shall be in the form or to the effect set forth in the Schedule to the Regulations under "The Land for Settlements Act Amendment Act, 1896," and may contain such additional provisions, not inconsistent with the said Acts or these conditions, as, with the approval of the Minister, the Land Board thinks fit.

22. The lessee shall once a year throughout th e term of his lease, and at the proper season of the year, properly cut and trim all live fences on the land at the date of the lease, or subsequently planted thereon, and stub all gorse not growing as fences, and also stub all broom and sweetbriar and other noxious plants.

23. The lessee shall not take more than three crops, one of which must be a root-crop, from the same land in succession; and either with or immediately after a third crop of any kind he shall sow the land down with good permanent cultivated grasses and clovers, and allow the land to remain as pasture for at least three years from the harvesting of the last crop before being again cropped.

24. The lessee shall not cut the cultivated grass or clovers for hay or seed during the first year from the time of sowing as aforesaid, nor shall he at any time remove from the land or burn any straw grown upon the land.

25. The lessee shall once a year during the term of his lease properly clean and clear from weeds, and shall at all times during the said term keep open, all creeks, drains, ditches, and watercourses upon the land, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands (hereinafter called "the Commissioner") or any Crown Lands Ranger of the land district shall have the power at any time to enter upon and make through the land any drain that he deems necessary, without payment of any compensation to the lessee.

26. In the event of the lessee at any time failing to comply with any of the conditions hereinbefore mentioned relating to the trimming of live fences and stubbing gorse, broom, and sweetbriar, or page 28 other noxious weeds, and to the cleaning, clearing from weeds, [unclear: a] keeping open all creeks, drains, ditches, and watercourses, it [unclear: should] be lawful for the Commissioner to have such work done, and recover the cost of the same from the lessee in the same [unclear: manner] rent.

27. The lessee shall pay all rates, taxes, and assessments [unclear: level] on or payable in respect of the land during the term of his lease.

28. The lessee shall not open up any mine on the land [unclear: comprise] in his lease without the previous permission of the [unclear: Commissioner] writing.

29. In the case of land with buildings thereon which have [unclear: been] valued separately, in pursuance of section 7 of the amending [unclear: Act,] following special provisions shall apply:—
(1.)The ascertained value of the buildings shall be set [unclear: forth] the sale-plan and in the deed of lease, and the amount set forth shall be final and conclusive evidence of [unclear: such] value.
(2.)Subject to the provisions for postponement contained in [unclear: such] section (3) of section 7 of the amending Act, the [unclear: amount] so set forth, together with interest thereon at the [unclear: rate] 5 per cent, per annum, computed from the first [unclear: day] January or July next following the date of the lease, [unclear: shall] be paid by the lessee by equal half-yearly instalments [unclear: in] advance, extending over such period, being not less [unclear: than] seven nor more than twenty-one years, as, with the [unclear: approval] of the Minister, the Land Board thinks fit to [unclear: determine]: Provided that during such postponement (if [unclear: any] the interest alone shall be payable by half-yearly [unclear: instruments] in advance.
(3.)Such instalments shall be payable in the manner and on [unclear: that] dates hereinbefore appointed for the payment of [unclear: rent] Provided that the lessee may at any time pay the [unclear: who] or any less number of the then future instalments [unclear: under] a duly proportionate rebate of interest.
(4.)The amount of such instalments (where they consist of [unclear: combined] principal and interest, and not of interest [unclear: alone] shall be calculated according to the table shown in [unclear: the] Second Schedule to the Regulations under "The [unclear: Land] for Settlement Act Amendment Act, 1896," which shall [unclear: be] deemed to be final and conclusive.
(5.)So long as any such instalment remains unpaid, the [unclear: lesser] shall, at his own cost in all things, insure the [unclear: building] and keep them insured in the name of Her Majesty in [unclear: a] amount equal to the full insurable value thereof, in [unclear: some] reputable insurance office, to be first approved by [unclear: the] Commissioner.
(6.)The lessee shall deposit with the Commissioner the [unclear: policy] insurance forthwith upon effecting the insurance, [unclear: and] shall also duly pay all premiums in respect thereof, [unclear: and] page break
Cottage and Sheep-yards in Section 3, Block IV., Blue Mountain.

Cottage and Sheep-yards in Section 3, Block IV., Blue Mountain.

page 29 deposit with him each premium receipt not later than the forenoon of the day on which such premium becomes payable.
(7.)If the lessee at any time fails or neglects to effect or keep on foot such insurance, or to duly pay any such premium or deposit such policy or receipt, it shall be lawful for but not obligatory on the Commissioner, at the cost in all things of the lessee, to effect such insurance in such sum as aforesaid or in any other sum, or to pay such premium, as he thinks fit.
(8.)The amount of such insurance may, with the consent of the Commissioner, be reduced from time to time, provided that it is not reduced below the total amount of the aforesaid instalments for the time being remaining unpaid.
(9.)In the event of the buildings so insured, or any of them, being destroyed or damaged by fire, all moneys payable to Her Majesty under the insurance shall be recoverable by the Commissioner, who, after deducting the expense (if any) incurred in recovering the same, shall, in his discretion, apply the residue thereof, or a sufficient part thereof, either in or towards restoring the buildings or in or towards paying the unpaid instalments (a duly proportionate rebate of interest being made in the case of instalments not then due), and any surplus shall be payable to the lessee.
(10.)Every such instalment as aforesaid as it becomes due, and every sum paid by the Commissioner in respect of cost of insurance, shall be payable by and may be recovered from the lessee in the same manner as rent.

30. The lessee shall at all times during the term of his lease keep in good repair and condition, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner, all buildings and erections for the time being standing on the land, and shall not destroy, pull down, or remove them, or any part thereof, without the previous permission of the Commissioner in writing.

31. The right to search for and take gravel for making or maintaining roads from any of the lands disposed of is reserved, payment to be made for surface damage only.

32. If and so often as the lessee makes default in the due and full payment of any rent under the lease, or of any other moneys payable under the lease, or in the faithful observance and performance of any other of the provisions of these conditions, or of the lease, then and in any such case the Land Board may, without any previous or other notice of demand, forfeit the lease; and in such case all his interest therein shall absolutely cease and determine, subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of the next-following clause respecting valuation of improvements: but such forfeiture shall not affect any right or remedy on the part of Her Majesty page 30 to recover from the lessee any money due to Her Majesty, or [unclear: release] the lessee from any penalty or liability in respect to anything [unclear: done] or omitted to be done by him.

33. In the event of the forfeiture or surrender of the lease, [unclear: the] provisions of "The Land Act, 1892," respecting valuation of [unclear: improvements] and the payment or other disposal thereof shall, so [unclear: far] as the same are applicable, apply to the improvements made by [unclear: the] lessee.

34. For the purpose of distinguishing the improvements [unclear: existing] on the land at the date of the lease from those subsequently [unclear: made] by the lessee, the first-mentioned improvements and their [unclear: value] shall be fixed by the Land Board and be specified in the lease.

35. Subject to the provisions of the said Acts and the [unclear: foregoing] conditions relating to small grazing-runs, the provisions of "The Land Act, 1892," and the regulations thereunder with respect [unclear: to] applications for and the grant of leases of small grazing-runs, [unclear: the] stipulations and conditions subject to which such leases may [unclear: be] granted, the rights and powers of the lessor and of every person and authority in Her behalf, the rights, powers, and functions of the Land Board and the Commissioner in relation to the land [unclear: and] premises comprised in such leases, and the estate, interest, rights duties, and liabilities of the lessees shall apply to lands [unclear: acquired] under the said Acts and disposed of under the small-grazing-[unclear: run] system: Provided that the lessee shall not be entitled to obtains [unclear: a] lease in perpetuity of the small grazing-run by surrendering [unclear: his] small-grazing-run lease or otherwise, anything in "The Land [unclear: Act], 1892," to the contrary notwithstanding.