MANUTUKE UNIT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22318, 1 May 1947, Page 4

MANUTUKE UNIT

MEN WORKING WELL’ SMALL FRUIT FUTURE MINISTER SATISFIED “The layout of each property is very good indeed and when the areas coma into full production they will be profitable units,” said the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. E. L. Cullen, when in Gisborne this week. He was referring to the small fruit, ex-servicemen unit at Manutuke. , . , Mr. Cullen still retains his keen interest in the welfare of the discharged servicemen. The morning after his arrival in the district the Minister paid a visit to Manutuke to see for himself the results achieved by the four men working that land. As a member of the Rehabilitation Board, Mr. Cullen had been largely instrumental in starting the scheme, the first of its kind in the Dominion. Grapes and passion fruit had shown good growth at Manutuke, said Mr. Cullen. He had persuaded each,of the men to plant a trial plot of asparagus to see what its possibilties were in this district. Mr. Cullen had been interested in the cultivation of asparagus on his Hawke’s Bay property. “I was pleased to learn that the men chosen are sticking to their work,” said Mr. Cullen. “It was difficult to obtain the land and difficult to get started, but the men are working splendidly and I am quite sure that the venture will be a successful one.”