Test Farm Of 700 Acres At Ahaura: Importance Noted

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 October 1948, Page 2

Test Farm Of 700 Acres At Ahaura: Importance Noted

Announcing that an area of 700 acres of land on the Ahaura plains had been selected by the Government for the purpose of establishing a test farm on the West Coast, the retiring president of the Westland Progress League, Mr W. D. Taylor, last evening, predicted that this would be the forerunner of the conversion of the province from ope supported mainly by secondary industries to one of primary industries. Adding to the annual report which he presented to the meeting, Mr Taylor said that the league had made efforts to have a test farm established on the West Coast and last Friday it had been announced that an area of 700 acres had been definitely adopted as the site. Two areas, he said, had been under consideration, but the Ahaura area had now been chosen.

Many Thousands of Acres “Many thousands of acres of equivalent and better land are available for development,” continued Mr Taylor. “Taranaki and Northland were developed from forest and second growth lands such as we have here. The West Coast is now the only part of New Zealand where substantial areas of virgin lands still await pastoral development. The Government is now ware of this and I believe that the next ten years will see immense strides in the utilisation of what is now waste land. Unfortunately the unsettled condition of international relationships make fpr difficulty of supply of plant machinery and farming necessaries including in particular fencing wrie, so essential to farming development. “It is trite to aver.that the future of the West Coast lies largely in the more extensive use of our land, but only a programme of vigorous and scientific development can hasten the solid prosperity which comes from the land,” he said. Indubitably Westland will become mainly a farming province ultimately, but it behoves us to sell our wares to the rest of New Zealand and so hasten the day of farming settlement. I believe the Government test area at Ahaura will be the forerunner of the conversion of this Coast from its present secondary industries to primary industry. I do not suggest that the coal and timber industries will die out —nor do I hope that they will—but I believe we have a great farming potential here only partially developed. Precept and Practice “If the Government test scheme is a success—as we all earnestly hope—then attention will be focussed throughout New Zealand upon the practicability of bringing in extensive areas on the West Coast capable of economic and prosperous development,” he stated. “The people of the West Coast, however, ■ will have to present and practise the gospel of land development for in that lies tae future progress of the district.”