£31,000 FOR FARM

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30275, 30 October 1963, Page 3

£31,000 FOR FARM

Sale Approved By Committee

An unconditional order was made approving the sale of 236 acres for £31,000 by James Frederick Doak, Of Horrelville, to lan Edward Tallott at a hearing before the Canterbury Land Valuation Comm irilte yesterday. Mr A. P. Blair, S.M., was chiairman, and the application for approval! of the transaction was made under the I'nd Settlement Promotion Act.

The Crown (Mr S. G. McGeorge) opposed the transaction on the ground that Tallott owned sufficient land.

Mr J. H. Macdonald appeared tor Tallott and Mr N. H. Buchanan for Doaik. Peter Horton, a fields officer of the Lands, and Survey Department, said he inspected Tallo'.t’s farm in August. It was of 306 awes with a medium to good level of fertility. Average yields an acre were: Wheat, 50 bushels; barley, 55 bushels; linseed. 13cwt; clover half a bag. The farm carried 900 to 950 ewes; lambing was 110 per cent, and wool production was 81b a sheep. The farm was sufficient to provide a reasonable standard of living without further acquisition. Share-cropping Doak’s farm had been farmed by Tallott as a sharecropper for eight years, said the witness. The farm could carry 700 sheep under normal management aind could be an economic unit run on its own. To Mr Macdonald, the witness said when there was a property sale to Mr Draper, of Cuiverden, two years ago the price was £156 an acre, but it had come down to £126 an acne to Tallott. The only recent sale in the area was that of Thompson to Rich at £ll7 an acre. William Richard Booker, of Hawarden, said he had visited many farms in North Canterbury during the course of business. Doak’s - farm was going back under sharecropping, and production would be increased if Tallott was allowed to acquire the land. Booker said Tallott was a very capable farmer and of above average ability. The witness agreed with Mr McGeorge that it would be desirable for a young man to take over Doak’s property, but he said no young man starting out in farming could afford to buy the farm.