ORCHARDS FOR SERVICEMEN

Evening Star, Issue 25895, 12 September 1946, Page 5

ORCHARDS FOR SERVICEMEN

CENTRAL OTAGO AREA SUGGESTION TO REHABILITATION V: DEPARTMENT Mr J. R. McKissock, of Alexandra, suggested to the Assistant Director of Rehabilitation, Mr M. Sullivan, and the land purchases inspector, Mr W. D. Armitt, at a conference of Returned Services’ Associations , last night, that returned servicemen should be assisted by the Rehabilitation Department to take over areas in the Cromwell. Alexandra, and Roxburgh (districts’ in»order to make new orchards. Mr McKissock said that an area of about 178 acres of good land suitable for the punpose was available. Nine men had already bought land of their own, but through lack of financial assistance had been unable to develop their schemes . He. added that one property recently bought by a civilian had been the best orchard land in the Alexandra district. The matter of its purchase has been referred to the local Rehabilitation Committee, and an objection to its sale to the civilian had been lodged with the Land Sales Court, but the scheme had been turned down by the department as unsuitable for servicemen.. A scheme for a decreasing, subsidy had been placed before the Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner, but he had turned it down, and had stated that settlement on the land must be done on a group system. The civilian who had boucht some land had shown a profit of £9OO in a season. Mr Sullivan said he was very interested in the proposal, and such a scheme was now being investigated by the Rehabilitation Board in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture.' About-22 men had been graded A for fruit production, in Otago and Southland, and If they made-represen-tations their cases would he investigated. ! The scheme proposed by Mr McKissock had been turned down originally by the department on the grounds of the'time lag, the matter of building houses on bare land, relying, on catch crops in the early stages, and the lack of water for the sites, Mr Armitt said. The department had decided to leave it alone in the meantime. A scheme for the production of tropical fruits on the, block system was being tried at Gisborne, but the State regarded the converting of bare land as something in the nature of an experiment.