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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 75

Soils and their Uses

Soils and their Uses.

The Wairau Plain, which is the principal block of agricultural land, has been already dealt with. The second agricultural centre is in the neighbourhood of Kaikoura. The land extending along the base of Mount Fyffe, between the Kohai and Hapuku Rivers, about 13,000 acres in extent, is held in small or moderate-sized forms; the soil is good, the block known as "The Swamp," between Mount Fyffe and the Peninsula, being particularly rich. In the Pelorus, Kaituna, and Onamalutu Valleys, and in the Sounds, settlers following in the wake of the sawmills have already converted much of the land worked over into grazing-farms. The land is of three descriptions—alluvial flats, terraces, and hill-sides. On the flats in the larger valleys the soil is rich, producing heavy crops of oats, peas, beans, and potatoes, wherever it has been brought into cultivation. The terrace-land varies much in quality, but generally grows good grass, as do also the hills on which tawa formerly grew; the birch country being very barren. On the small bush-farms cattle-grazing is the chief pursuit. Out of over 11,400 head kept in Marlborough, 7,000 belong to the forest country.