DEMAND FOR LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 81, 6 April 1933, Page 8

DEMAND FOR LAND.

TE KAUWHATA ESTATE.

SUCCESSFUL SELECTION. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. The experience of the Lands Department in throwing open for selection nine sections of the To Kauwhata estate in the Waikato last week provided significant evidence that there are many men with farming ability willing, even under present conditions, to take up land on reasonable terms, in line with the economic conditions of the industry.

Many years ago the area was planted in wattle, with the idea that the bark of these trees would be valuable for the tanning industry. The. experiment was not an economic succcss, and the Lands Department cleared the whole area, utilising unemployed workers for much of the stumping and felling. Some portions were given three ploughings, and all the sections carry sufficient pasture to enable a settler to make a prompt start in dairying. Fortions of the sections, nine in number, and averaging 160 to 170 acres, are unimproved. The tenures were either freehold for cash, a 66 years' renewable lease, or deferred payment. Applications closed on March 24, and there were from nine to 36 applicants for every section, with the result that the Land Board had to interview candidates to ascertain their qualifications, and submit the sections for ballot, under which system they were all taken up.