LAND AT AKATARAWA

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 21, 25 July 1927, Page 8

LAND AT AKATARAWA

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —We, the undersigned farmers anj . owners of land for many years past, de«;<: sire to enter a very strong protest against the unwarranted attack of a land agent, . against the district in which we live and -*. farm. Whatever may be the merits or -:" otherwise of Wellington's proposed water supply, the remarks made by jir. Leighton:' are quite uncalled for.

Unfortunately, several returned men ■ were allowed to take up in the Upper Hutt, Pakuratahi, Mangaroa, " and Aka« ■ ~ tarawa districts blocks of land that were .. unsuitable for the purposes for which they; -v were token, but what part o£ New JZeav -.-'.' land has not a similar record?- Whafc_ ri about the Slanawatu, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, Waikato, and other places? Has not .*" the same thing happened there? A lot o£ the Akatarawa laud has been neglected, ■ ~ and some should not have been felled; but • taking into consideration price per acre ? •"■ and carrying capacity, it will more than . ,-. favourably compare with other parts. The . ..- greatest contributing cause of failure ,was, ; ' . that the land was cut up into 200»acre;t" blocks. This is not a. sufficiently, largo • J area of this country to live on, and it ia " only when it is held in much larger blbcksr" that it rnn be farmed to profit. The sama ' thing applies anywhere. If ■ sawmillers •. ■ pay more attention to their business o£ '" sawmilling than to fanning, land will suf- .-, fer; but that does not justify the remark* „ madr. -...'.■ .

The land required for water-conservation' purposes can always be taken under tha c Public Works Act, and the rights of the public safeguarded; but we know that'tha - land proposed to be given by the Govern-' ment for this purpose contains a'lot of" valuable timber. Moreover, we think that. Mr. Strand's firewood and fence post scheme would, iv the hands of practical men, be well worth trying' as an avenue," of employment to many who have difficulty in finding work at certain periods of the year.—We arc, etc.,

THOS. TRICE AND CO., LTD. M-GHIE BROS. WHITEMAX BROS, (per F. Whiteman). F. A. AND P. WHITEMAN

(per F. A. Whiteman) AUi-.tarawa, 22nd July.