VITAL FARMING AREA

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 34, 4 November 1937, Page 1 (Supplement)

VITAL FARMING AREA

Palmerston North Ideal Site For Royal Show CLEARING HOUSE FOR PRODUCE

■ Surrounded by fertile farming land of varied types, Palmerston North is the clearing house for the primary produce of almost the entire southern half of the North Island. As such, it is the ideal site for a Royal Show, representative of all classes of fanning. In addition to being the centre of a prosperous farming district, Palmerston North is the focal point for a great many breeders of high-quality stock. Its central geographical position is also important, giving producers from all parts of the Dominion an almost equal opportunity of attending.

THIS year will mark the fourth occasion on which Palmerston North has • been chosen as the centre for the holding of a Royal Show, a record that has not been beaten by any city in New Zealand. It requires little thought to appreciate the reason for the Royal Agricultural Society’s choice. Palmerston North is the centre of one of the richest dairy and sheep-farming areas in the’Dominion—a centre that serves the Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington and Gisborne districts. In 1936 there were more than 118,000 cows in the Manawatu district alone, and near Palmerston North, in the Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay districts, were a further 319.323 cows. Statistics show that there were approximately 1,896.445 dairy cows in New Zealand last year, and of this number it can be assumed that nearly half were distributed within a circle of which Palmerston North is the centre. An even more impressive figure is shown when the sheep-farming areas of the North Island are compared. In 1936 there were more than 1.217,798 sheep in the Manawatu area, which represents nearly one-third of the number tn the Wellington province. In addition, Palmerston North was directly connected with the handling and control of farms in the’ Hawke’s Bay. Taranaki and Wellington districts, where a further 13,512,614 sheep, or nearly three-quarters of the sheep population of the North Island, is concentrated. Horse-Breeding District. The horse sections of any show are always one of the most interesting and most popular from exhibitors and spectators’ points of view, and in order to obtain the fullest possible representation, the Royal Agricultural Society has to gee that its show centre serves the principal horse-breeding districts of the Dominion. Of the 157,984 horses, which, it is estimated, are in the North Island, 82,234, or more than half, are within easy reach of Palmerston North. Similar figures, proving beyond doubt that the city is the centre of one of the,,richest stock-raising areas in New Zealand. could be given for the pig industry, which, during recent years, has taken a place among the more important agricultural pursuits. Figures are impressive, and give ample proof of the wisdom of choice of Palmerston North, but the primary object of Royal Shows is to concentrate not a large number of animals, but the pick of the Dominion’s stock, where it can be inspected and compared, and the lessons of its breeding learned by others.

Here,, again, Palmerston North enjoys opportunities that are denied other centres. Not only do the districts sur-

rounding it contain tfn extremely large, percentage of the stock raised in the North Island, but the animals are, many! of them, of the finest breeds obtainable 1 in the Dominion. Pedigree animals, 1 imported or raised in this country, are well distributed over all parts of the Dominion, but there is no area in New Zealand which can boast such an average high standard of stock, sheep, cattle, horses or pigs, as can that surrounding Palmerston North. Prospects for Future. The prospects for Palmerston North as the centre of these rich farming lands are very bright. Ten years ago there were only 637.750 cattle in the Wellington province, a figure which had last year risen to 798,048. The comparative figures for other districts showing the increases are: Gisborne, 274,516 to 343.996: Hawke’s Bay, 201,423 to 341,628; Taranaki. 356,120 to 389,216. This promises well for the cattle industry, but sheep figures have shown an even sharper rise. In 1927 there were 5,389,895 sheep in the Wellington province, a figure which had last year risen to 6.434,718. In the Hawke’s Bay district the figures show an increase of 1.180,730 animals. In the Taranaki and Gisborne districts there have been slight decreases, but these are more than offset by the increases in the carttie figures and the increase in the number of sheep in the other districts. Even the most brief survey of the surrounding districts reveals tremendous farming potentialities in the vast area of fertile laud. Between Taihape and Wanganui is some of the best hill country in the North Island. The richness of Taranaki as a dairying area is well known. Between Hawera and Wanganui is a strip of light fertile loam soil 60 miles long and from 25 to 30 miles wide, and there is a good rainfall. Good Cropping Land. Excellent pasture and cropping land, used mainly for fat lamb production, lies between Palmerston North and ■Wanganui. The land is about 200 to 300 feet above sea level, and extends nearly 49 miles inland before reaching the hill country. Over the ranges to the east of Palmerston North are the Wairarapa Plains. Between Pongaroa and Martinborough are several hundreds of miles of stable hills, all good limestone and sandstone country. From this district can be expected a continual supply of store sheep, including ewes for fat lamb production and store cattle. This type of land extends to Hawke’s Bay, where there is again good stable hill country under rather drier conditions and with no rapid deterioration. Inland on both sides of the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges is country of a high rainfall, where there is more difficulty in keeping back the secondary growth. The land is not nearly so difflcult, to maintain as the back country of the Taranaki and Auckland provinces.

AU this country is a source of supply of cattle and sheep for fattening, and of ewes fo r the production of fat lambs. These are turned off extensive areas of river flat, drained swamp, and low terrace land, of which there are about 200,000 square acres surrounding Palmerston North. Moreover.there are many thousands of acres of similar land in the Wairarapa plains, the Takapau plains, and the Hawke’s Bay plains. It Is for these fertile areas, then, that Palmerston North forms a clearing house.