A QUEENSLAND VISITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 179, 24 April 1908, Page 9

A QUEENSLAND VISITOR.

WANTS NEW ZEALANDERS TO EMIGRATE :.-,/ '■ '■' ■/.,■,.• : : Caiitain !A. Fertius-E.obertson, .'represent-. iiig', Messrs., Seholefiold, Godsall,, and' Weaver, of Toowoomba, /arrived by the .Waikare: yesterdaj'j, hjs, mission being .to, induce--settlors in' this/courttry'to take tip,-land .in tho Dar-. ling Downs. / -.-' >' ■' ; /,'■ ■• In conversation with a Dominion reportorj lie. said/that.' his. intention was to. traveF ali brer, the: Dominion,; mcefras many settlers' as possible/'' put ./beforo them - the.. . position. ', ofaffair's '.and prospects of the district- he/came from,-.with a view to their emigration. The venture is-iJurely a private one, initiated.* by 'thei firm': he .represents.llis ; principal objection to New -Zealand as. a country for settlement lay in the eitgedingly - high valua-tions-/prevailing : here ','a's ;' compared/ , with Queensland-. -'.'!' - " The -.average, value of land in the Downs, said .Cantain..Robertson,/varied .from £2 -10s;.' •to : £5/ per!/,acre.-_. This would! carry a sheep to tho acre," but with luc'erhe put down/ it carried : fromithree, .t'o/five.. Lucerne,-made a wonderful difference to the values; and land bought' at' £5 por acre,!'ahd/aftorwards. havmg lucorno. put down, could;'bo sold at £10.! In this way, Vono,, man hiade tho sum' of £5000, and lie and bought, an-other,-Jblock;-. Some ortlie -holdings are/very; laige..- One placed whichihas been owned by. the vsame. person, since -1867, carries 90,000 sheep and 1000 : head'of cattle, but not . oneacre.- of,- -is under' eultivatioii.;!!. ! / Thorp/was, continued/CJaptaiii /Robertson,a/great.future beforo Queeus'laiid, tlio; area of : wliich ,was-400,000,000 acres,' the area of tlio-- ' o.OOO.OOOv; afcros.r "The '/Downs: 'were about .2000-feet, above; se,i.]evel, r< "and'the/ soil .. extended'. ;to a • depth > of' .between thirty ' /and.; forty l /'' feet,"k'of '-/the-, /ricli,black, chocolate kind, could '.grow practically anything, and yielded-' two crops-of maize per year. "Tito-methods of .agriculture,.:/ However,, were . not'/up-to-date, and .tliis was .where, tho New. Zealanders o&mo I in with t-hoir improved nlothbds.- ' There we'ro already a great number- of .New Zealandors over thero;';wlio,Wefit on:account of tho ridiculous and '.hysterically •' high ■'values '-• o.btaihlngi hcro..-. This state of affairs might have been-caused/-,by land legislation,"but he.did : not/ know, and .could 'iiot-'cxpress an opinion on that. • rTliero was ,'no question, however/ that the Now Zealandors in Queensland .were so satisfied-' that they.-were getting. others to talco -the same.-: step. ' ; ThereYwero 'also ;: in the Darling Downs a large number of sottlers who had como from /New;, South'; Wales and Victoria. • / .: .. Things wero.in -a -very, flourishing.condition in that part of Queensland, and a number of estates were , being ! cut "'up' into blocks for subdivision by syndicates. -/ Land: that was bought a fow years kt £2 10s. to £3 was .sold!up to £7 per, acre after, being subdivided. Theso lands : .wertf. unimproved. '.'Asked-'-about Water supply and Captain Robertson stated that there ; wore no danis, biit'therp was! plenty' of '-water, although at. a consider-, ablo depth;, which w - ab'.pumped upl.by:,windmills. : There had only boon'one drought in tho Downs,m twenty-eight years;: that'was during the'drought of 1902, and even then, there was only seven months of dry weather. As to temperature,', at. Toowoomba it varied from 61 to ;95.'dogrecs—100 was exceptionally, hot—further west, 'of \course, greater heat Was experienced. •'•.'■•• '' \ haVe millions of acres and'we want populatioii," ho. concluded,; "and people, are going thero quiikly., You,have a fine country, I own that, but at tho same time, tho prospects of a man are equally good or better there." /' : '//-/ ■ • '.