QUEENSLAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 218, 8 June 1908, Page 7

QUEENSLAND.

WHY A MASTERTON FARMER IS GOING THERE. A BETTER LAND INVESTMENT THAN OVER HERE. >. FOUR POUNDS PER ACRE CHEAPER. (by teleobaph.—special cobhespondent). Masterton, Juno 7. Mr. F. A. Hosking, a well-known Masterton slieepfarincr, has just returned from an inspection of Darling Downs property in Queensland, where he has purchased some 3600 acres of the famous Yandilla Estate, nonr Pittsworth, thirty-six miles south-west of I'oowoomba. Mr.,Hosking intends to leave Now Zealand in about four months' time, with his wife and family, for his now homo. Interviewed by a Dominion roprescntativo on the subjcct of his visit to Queensland, Mr Hosking stated that he had not gono over with the direct intention of buying but mainly for tho purpose of inspection. ■Ho had expected to he disappointed, but m- ■. stead had been thoroughly impressed with 1 tho magnificent country which had been shown to him, and his purchase was eventually made because he considered that tho property., classed with tho samo sort of sheep country in New Zealand, was about £4 per aero cheaper than that in the Dominion. ABOUT HALF OUR PRICES. )■ ' "It is like this," snid Mr. Hosking. "Land running one sheep to a:sheep and ?. quarter to the acre in New Zealand is'selling hero at £7 10s. per,acre. In Queensland it is £3-lOsa There are great possibilities for a practical farmer in Queensland, for the man wnj can look ahead; and I am not afraid to .< put my opinion to the test. My property ia situated about five miles from that of Mr. Join Grigg, of Longbeach. It is plains", corntry, with black soil, which varies from four to twenty feet in depth. " The 1 rainfall during tho past fifty years has averaged ' thirty inches yearly, and water may be struck practically at a depth of one hundred •feet. .My estate is eminently suited for fat- 1 toning stock, and'l intend to put a thousand acres under lucerne straight away, as a sort of, standby in case of drought, although the only case of drought remembered on tho Darling Downs, during the past fifty years occurred in 1902.

"The terms of the purchase are easy, and admirable from tho point of view of anyono who may wish to dispose of other property not too hurriedly when making now purchase, namely; 10 per cent, down, and tho balance to be made up in nine annual payments, interest to bo at 5 per cent. Another factor which made me decide to' buy the present prcperty was tho almost certain'possibility that, during the course of thc ijext ten years, a railway will pass within two or five miles of the estate to Oakley. The agitation for th's railway is on now froni two different quarters, and as; Pittsworth is splendid country, and one, agitator is a strong Goverrmcnt stipportor, tho railway may he looked upon as ,a .certainty. ' LUCERNE CROPS! Mr. Hosking saw practically only the Darling Downs country,, which extends mostly from Warwick north and east to Toowoomba, an area, roughly speaking, of four million acres of land, ( and comprising rolling plains, ridges, and bush country. The bush, however, was' very, light—nothing like that of New Zealand. 1 Lucerne could not be grown except on tho plains. It had been found that cleared areas were splendidly adapted as grass pastures. Oh tho flat land lucerne had given five crops a year, and with tho stuff chaffed this meant a return of fully £12 per acre. Lucerne hay brought as much as £9-por ton during tho drought of 1902, and Mr. Hosking intends to mako full uso of his thousand-acre crop should advantage present itself. JWitli three good seasons on unimproved land it would be easy to stand a drought. . ..... .

' Tho Darling Downs wero not looking at their best when visited by Mr. Hosking, owing to the fact that the late rains had not fallen. "There was no sward as we understand it in New Zealand, only tussock. But among these tussocks grew a kind of herbago which flourishes under the late rains, and which, is said to bo . splendid fatteningi food for sheep." It'was' stated that tho average Queensland farmer was improvident, and at tho same time entirely regardless, of the importance of beautifying his place and surrounding himsolf with house comforts. These statements wero borno' out in the first caso by much evidence, and in the second instance by ocular demonstration. The eye was immediately struck with tho numbers of ramshackle farmhouses in all' portions of the district.. At first it would appear : that this neglect was caused through poverty, but inquiries showed that in a large number of cases theso farmers were those who had got rich after years' of toil as nomadic shearera and teamsters. They had no idea: of real comfort such as we looked for in New Zealand, and did'not really know how to spend their money. Thero was ono man who was said to bo worth £30,000, yet who resided in a place which was in such a state that , it could hardly be classified as a habitation. On tho other hand, the homesteads, of some landowners were quite palatial, equal to tho best which wo had in Now Zealand. QUEENSLANDERS AND NEW ZEALANDERS.

As for Queonslandors thomsclvos, Mr. Hosting liked them very much. In tho coun- , try districts they wero quite equal in physique to New Zcalanders, ana they were most cheerful., As an example of the healthiness of thoir distriot, the Darling Downs fanners quoted Warwick Churchyard, whore they said the tombstone inscriptions showed that the longevity of the .majority of. the residents had extended generally from seventy years upwards. All New Zcalandors who were farming over there were doing well. In addition to Mr. John Grigg and himself, Mr. Crowley, of Wanganui, had land in the same vicinity, while Mr. Lord, of Clifton Grove, Wairarapa, had practically decided on the purcliase of a 4000-acre block near Yandilla. Messrs. _ Donnelly, 1 Watt, and Ormond, of Hawko's Bay, had been inspecting land around Toowoomba. Thoro were Now Zcalandors ( at Dally, further up country, while men from all portions of the Commonwealth ' were simply flocking into Queensland. In " Darling Downs land was being cut up fast; there was none remaining in its entirety— only one big block of 18,000 acres, li'rom* what ho had been informed, Mr. Hosking was cortain that all round Queensland could not bo kopt back. DAIRYING PROSPECTS. Askpd what were the possibilities of the ' district as regards dairy farming,'Mr; Hosking said that very good raaizo was grown in large quantities; this, with lucerne, was excellent foed for cattle. There wore butter'

and cheese factories, and the finest pigs: he had ever seen wore grown on the Darling Downs. Ho had been informed of tho up-to-date Queensland farmer who had bought up one-thousand pigs at the time of the great drought. He fed them upon lucerne, topped them off with'maize) and mado'a small fortune out of them! The dairying industry would' no doubt progress much quicker .than at : present with the i inauguration of creameries in different parts of the. district. At it. was mostly ; home separation, which might be the reasonwhy .the dairy produce did not bring such high prices as it might' otherwise do. Still, dairying was going ahead. There was just as good a chance on the Darling Downs for the small dairyman as for the'sheep farmer. • Mr.' Hosking : was asked what ,he .'thought of the political aspect of Queensland; in its relation !to the! land for settlement. He answered that he did not quito! know. The Government had compulsorily -seized Jimba estate, but had • burnt' its fingers . over the bargain, paying eventually .£2 per acre more than the land was really worth. The. seizing of Jimba -hadbeen brought. about' possibly ,on account of outside motives, through the influence of a certain member, of the Cabinet, than for purposes of genuine settlement. It was hardly likely that the Government would' hurry itself over any similar proposals. However, it was a difficult matter to prophesy with'an air of certainty... ■ Much depended as to whether Mr. Kidston, the present Premier, would coalesce''legitimately with Mr. Philp, Leader of the Opposition. It was understood to be a fact that they had amalgamated, but then Mr. Philp had no representation, in the Kidston Cabinet. '. On the facp of it, it appeared that ah alliance between Mr. Kidston/and Mr. Philp vvas as unlikely as .one between Mr. Ma'.ssey and Mr. Tom Mann, if, for instance, Mr! Mann - was -at present Prime Minister s of New Zealand. But it was understood that many of tho Kidstpnit'es had refused tin subr scribe to the ultra-Socialistic ideas of their leaders. ,

; MUNICIPALLY BACKWARD. -.Referring generally, to Queensland, Mr. Hoskingsaid he-was not altogether struck with the municipal progress of' Brisbane or Toowoomba. In' neither case was there any drainage, although the Queensland" capital Had 100,000 and' Toowoomba 15,000 inhabit tints. Toowooinba was municipally'neglected otherwise, 'and the inhabitants stared "at b'iiri as'if they thougfit him mad when he suggested a £100,000 loan for drainage, water, and' better roads. ; The. railway service, too, as far as.Toowoomba was concerned,: was drowsy at times. For'instance, one' morning' he' rushed '.te catch a . trail! .with only a minuto to spard according to time-table, and found'he had to wait thirty-five minutes. On its return journey the train left the station an bour and a : quarter late. Toowoomba'was a subterminus with a resident .'traffic' inspector, to whom the residents had' just .'presented a purse of sovereigns and some .silver' plate, possibly, in recognition of the aceommodatiilg prpcrastinatbry characteristics of his trains; which may have been, in pleasing sympathy with' some of: the; weaknesses of the irihibitants.. ■ ' ' : ■' <; ''' '" • ' There were, a lot of New Zealanders in Queensland, and all were doing well. Mi\ Hosking would not advise anyone to'.take up land out west, where droughts might ooine often, because .it would be too. much of a gamble. Granted that the land there could be obtained almost for nothing, what was.tlie . use"'of .it' if a man lost all 'his stcick? ' iVirtt far better to settle in a good' district, neat the sea .coast, where one would, !not so much b.e the sport' of chance, and;would -have, an opportunity of exercising •• his intelligence. ! ■'■'In conclusion, : Mr. Hosking said that,, so far' as he. was concernedj he'was not leaving New Zealand on account of its land laws, but simply because he thought he was making a better land investment,' and he advised any farmer with spare cash to go over and look for himself. I'rom the; time bejeft New Zealand till: he Teturaed'he - was away just about a month. " ■ -• .'■• .■