CLEARING LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 281, 28 November 1938, Page 13

CLEARING LAND.

GOVERNMENT'S PLANS INCREASING PRODUCTION. USE OF VAST MACHINERY. (By Tcle?rnpli.—Press Association.) WEST POUT. Sunday. "Vast machinery will be brought to the Buller district in February f<ir the purpose of demonstrating tin* clearing and <1 isiilli 11 jr of ;it present linproduct ive land." said the Minister of Mine*. tin 1 Hon. P. ('. Webb. M.P. for Jluller. when lie addressed a record attendance of farmers at the meeting of the Buller Farmers' I'nion on Saturday night. Mr. Webb emphasised tile importance of the applieation of machinery in the clearing and draining of land, and said thgt something had to bp done at once to increase production throughout >few Zealand. and before production could be- increased extra areas of ground bad to be cleared and brought to a suitable point of productivity. "There are thousands of acres of pood land that only require work—land that is near to railways and highways." said Mr. Webb. "Yet the old methods of clearing the land are too slow. "This state of affairs is entirely wrong, and. if machinery can alter the case, the time when machinery should be used has arrived. By the modern method it will be possible to clean, stump and plough four acres of ground a day." Mr. Webb added that lie had witnessed the work that could be done with machinery during a recent tour he had made of the (Jisborne district. During his tour he bad interviewed the representative of the builders of these machines. The tiovernment could get the plant, but first an inspection would have to be made of the district in order to see if the land could be cleared economically. Later Mr. Webb said he had conferred with the Prime Minister, the Kight. Hon. M. J. Savage, and the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. K, Hemple, and discuased the plans. In February a demonstraion will take place ill the Buller district on three different types of soil. "It is hoped that the Prime Minister. Cabinet Ministers, members of Parliament. and representatives of all bodies throughout New Zealand will be present at the demonstration." continued Mr. Webb. "The < Jovernment has distinct hopes that it can get machinery that will clear up the Buller district and other parts of New Zealand in a minimum of time, the clearing of which, under old methods, might take lIMI years."