The Evening Star. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1938. LAND DEVELOPMENT

Evening Star, Issue 23129, 1 December 1938, Page 12

The Evening Star. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1938. LAND DEVELOPMENT

In an address to farmers at Westport the Hon, P. C. Webb said that vast machinery would be brought to the Duller district in February for the purpose of demonstrating methods for clearing and draining land that is at present unproductive. This is a highly important announcement, and it is in line with the Prime Minister’s desire to see production increased. The Land Laws Amendment Act, 1929, deals chiefly with the promotion of settlement on undeveloped Crown lands. Power is given to the Crown to develop idle lands, and also for the making of advances to Crown tenants holding undeveloped country for the erection of buildings, purchase of stock, and for clearing, grassing, fencing, and other necessary work. The proposal announced by Mr Webb is in conformity with the Act mentioned. There are thousands of acres of good land, he said, near to railways and highways, that are suitable for the plan proposed, yet the old methods of clearing the land are too slow. By modern devices, it is claimed, it will be possible to clear, stump, and plough four acres of ground a day. In such circumstances it puts no strain on the imagination to see how quickly considerable areas, which are serving no use at all, could be made available for farming operations. Experiments with the type of machine it is proposed to employ have been made in the Gisborne and Oamaru districts, and the results were so satisfactory that the Government has been encouraged to make further tests. The Minister remarked that the Government could obtain the necessary plant, but he very wisely added that an inspection would first be made of the areas it is proposed to deal with to see if the land could he cleared economically. It is essential before such expensive operations as those outlined are undertaken to ascertain if the natural fertility of the land is such as to make farming on it profitable.

The area included in the Minister’s announcement stretches along the West Coast from Buffer to Jackson’s Bay, and much of it has been described aa barren, treeless moorland, with an undrained, sour soil resting upon a cement-like gravel. Portions are covered' with gorse, blackberry, and scrub that have been the despair of settlers who have tried to cope with the rampant growth, which is due in part to the abundant rainfall experienced on the West Coast. When the machines have done the preparatory clearing work the land is ploughed to a depth of nearly four feet, and is then ready for cultivation. Naturally these experiments will be watched with the greatest interest. Successive Governments in New Zealand have been constantly engrossed in the problem of bringing neglected lands into cultivation, but the cost and difficulty of clearing them and making them adaptable for farming operations have always been a hindrance and a bar to successful development in many districts. There are strong reasons for hoping that the experiments will be successful. If effective means can be employed for transforming waste lands into profitable farms the consequent extension of the rural industries will react to the benefit of the whole community. Supposing these tests do succeed, much will depend on the initiative and industry of those who take up the land that is made available. Discussing the matter of strikes and their bearing on production, Mr Webb has been giving some wholesome advice to the workers, pointing out the disabilities to the Government and the country by the unjustified stoppages that are occurring from time to time. As he implies, co-operation and industry and faithful regard of obligations provide the key to expansion of« production and general prosperity.