MAKING FRUIT FARMS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 205, 30 August 1910, Page 7

MAKING FRUIT FARMS.

HON. DB. FIWDLAirS SCHEME. CRITICISED BY MEMBERS. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WRTJ.TNG-TON, this day. Speaking dn the Legislative Council last Friday afternoon, the Hon. Dr. Findlay outlined at length his proposal for utilising prison labour in the preparation of fruit and dairy farms in the Bay of Islands district, and concluded by saying that there had. been such a howl of pro-, test from the growers in every part ol the Dominion that he feared it would be necessary to delay of indefinitely postpone the 'scheme. Judging from inquiries made members of Parliament do not seem. t6 view "the Hon. Dr. Findlay's proposals at all unkindly. The member for the Bay of Islands (Mr. Vernon Keed) 'is already championing the scheme, and asserts that there are thousands and thousands of acres at present lying idle in his electorate, which could be readily converted into fruit and dairy farms on the lines advocated by the Minister for Justice. The small settler, he says, who possesses little or no capital, cannot afford to take this land up and wan three or four years before he gets any return. If, however, the farms are prepared for him, and then made available by lease or purchase, it would mean a great deal to the North, and would facilitate closer settlement to a huge extent.

Nelson is recognised to be one of the leading fruit-growing districts in the Dominion, and the member representing that electorate (Mr. J. Graham) was asked his opinion on the subject. Mr. Graham said Ihe had closely studied the Minister's scheme, and was compelled to admit his admiration of it. Growers who had worked tfor years, and whose orchards had just come into bearing might, he thought, very naturally be inclined to look askance at the scheme at first sigh'fc, but, when the Minister's real object was apparent, there remained very little to cavil at. it was not proposed to use prison labour to compete against the private or commercial grower, neither was it proposed to brine prison labour into competition with free labour. All the Minister wanted to do was to find reformative employment for a certain class of criminal, and to at the same time turn it to good use for the country as a whole. All over the Dominion there were large areas eminently adapted to fruit culture, but so difficult to break in that the small settler could not Effort to wait the necessary length of time -for results. In the Nelson districts, for instance, there were the Moutcre Hills, running over an area of at least a couple of thousand aicres, the bright I sunny slopes of which might easily be converted into fruit farms and made accessible to the small settler. With the growth of the industry, Mr. Oraham added f.'Xb he expected the provision of better markets and a greater demand for fruit of all varieties. Mr F- Mander (member for Marsden) is a member possessing a very intimate knowledge of all parts of the north of Auckland, where the Hon. Dr. Findlay proposes first putting his scheme into operation. Although a prominent Oppositionist, Qic cannot altogether disapprove the Minister's scheme. The difficulties in the iwny are so great, however, that he fails to see how the scheme can be successfully put into operation. First of all, he points out, there is practically no market. Already the growers of the north have a struggle to make ends meet and to find a market "for their produce. In the height of the season there is nearly always a glut, and if the "Dlum crop is at all good growers often don't toother trying to dispose of the yield. To cope with extra supplies the Government would have to encourage the erection of factories, make a success of cold storage, and establish an export trade. The land in the north was unquestionably suitable lor fruit growing, tout rthen, iagain, arose the question of how long it would be before the farms would be ready for occupation. For years the Government had been experimenting at Waerenga with the idea of placing model fruit farms on the market, but so far nothing had been attnjn-frd. In Mr Mander's opinion, it would probably pay the Government to undertake the planting of trees capable of producing commercial pulp, so that if in fifteen years' time, when this country has completed its railroading, as indicated by the Prime Minister, there •will be a new industry coming to the fore, to which the surplus labour of the Dominion may profitably be directed. Members representing city constituencies are loud in their praises of the Hon. Dr. Findlay's scheme, 'both from the prison reformative point of view and the ultimate likelihood of cheap fruit finding its way on to the market, the general opinion being that the prices charged throughout the Dominion are altogether too high.