LAND SETTLEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 226, 24 September 1938, Page 13

LAND SETTLEMENT.

MARKETING COSTS LOWER.

"Land settlement will be pressed ahead with the intention of diversifying our farm economy," state® the Labour manifesto in dealing with land policy. "The Crown has very little land available which is suitable for economic settlement. Therefore, to pursue a policy of closer settlement, the purchase of estates which are capable of carrying a larger population will be embarked upon, tinder a planned system. the State providing a full measure of finance for building, stocking and equipping the farms, in order to enable farmers' sons and other capable men with farming experience to become efficient farmers.' Care will be taken in the purchasing of estates for closer settlement to avoid the mistakes of the past through paying to high a price for the land, or cutting it up into uneconomic farms. To strengthen the j>osition of the primary industries the marketing side will be* developed on the basis of guaranteed prices. In 1925-20, the farmer received £96 14/ for every £100 paid to the dairy industry. Since then, the proportion *of transport and factory costs has gone down nntil now they are £12 per £100. The result is that on the average the farmer gets £88 in payout out of each £100. This ia an improvement which, It is stated, comes from zoning, together with efficient and centralised handling of the product.