SMALL FARMS SCHEME

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21886, 12 September 1936, Page 16

SMALL FARMS SCHEME

- * ! Slower Development In Last Year FEWER SETTLERS NOW ON SUSTENANCE [From Our Parliamentary Reporter.! WELLINGTON, September 11. A slowing-up in the development of the small farms scheme is disclosed in the annuo] report of the Lands and Survey Department, which was tabled in the He use of Representatives to-day by the Minister for Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone). “Viewed in the light of the number of settlers established under the scheme, and the additional development works begun,” says the report, “it has not maintained the progress recorded in the previous year. Factors retarding the scheme are the increasing difficulty in obtaining lands suitable for the scheme from private sources, the increasing cost of many commodities, particularly building materials, which make it more difficult to establish and equip new holdings at a cost within the limit of £I2OO for each man settled, and an inability toward the end of the year ended March 31, 1936. to obtain sufficient men to carry out developmental work. Crmps were established on certain blocks in the King Country, but they had to be dismantled because of a shortage of men. Some of the workers also left their work to obtain other positions carrying higher rates of pay. Returns From Farming “With the works already in hand,” the report says, “the progress made has been gratifying in all districts. While development work is proceeding. various blocks are farmed on a large scale. In many cases, the farming returns have shown a good profit after allowing for interest on the purchase price of the land and stock, and on the per capita expenditure on buildings and development work. “Another good feature of the farming policy is the training which men receive in all branches of the work, which should prove of great value to them when they take over the management of individual sections.” Reviewing operations under the original scheme, consisting mostly of five-acre to 10-acre sections, the* report reveals that 408 holdings were established and of these 109 had since been closed. Since the inception of the Small Farms Board, 364 full-time holdings were established, and sections included in blocks under development totalled 583. The total expenditure from the inception of the original scheme to March 31, 1935, amounted to £516,304, and the expenditure from April 1, 1935, to March 31, 1936. was £146,480, making a total Of £662,844. Men Leaving Scheme

Of the men established under the original five or 10-acre scheme, a fairly large proportion had found that there was little hope of permanency, and they had left, fortunately, in some cases, to take up employment in their former trades. Of the rest, the majority should be successful.

This view was supported by the numbers who no longer required the sustenance allowance. The larger holdings established by the Small Farms Board should prove satisfactory except in a few isolated instances. Numbers of settlers would require no further assistance from the State, and their future seemed assured, particularly with guaranteed prices for their dairy produce. Since the inception of the scheme, 722 men had received the sustenance allowance, but at March 31, 1936, only 144 were drawing sustenance. CROWN TENANTS HAVE BETTER YEAR VALUATION OF LANDS BEING REVIEWED [From Our Parliamentary Reporter! WELLINGTON, September 11. “Taken on the whole, the last year has been the most satisfactory one for Crown tenants generally since the beginning of the slump period,” says the annual report on the settlement of Crown lands, presented to the House of Representatives to-day by the Minister for Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone). “The dairy farmers experienced a fam year,” the report continues. “The average price for butter-fat, however, was still below the level required to enable numbers of those engaged in this branch of farming to meet their obligations in full. The improvement in the price of wool, together with continued remunerative returns from fat lambs, resulted in those tenants engaged in sheep farming having a good year.” Referring to the reinstatement of the revaluation provisions of the Land Act, the report says that many applications for revaluations were received and a careful review was being made of the position of those Crown settlers who had applied for relief. -

During the year, there had been an indication of the renewal of confidence in tiie future of farming, and there had been a fair demand for properties suitable for either dairy or sheep farming.

Selections of Crown and settlement lands on all tenures during the year totalled 210,026 acres. At March 31, 1936, the tenants on the books of tho’ Department of Lands and Survey, excluding those established under the small farms scheme, numbered 37,328 and they occupied a total area of approximately 18,850,000 acres.