The Grey River Argus FRIDAY, April 16th, 1937. FARMER TOURISTS.

Grey River Argus, 16 April 1937, Page 8

The Grey River Argus FRIDAY, April 16th, 1937. FARMER TOURISTS.

As a spokesman for the visitors last evening remarked at the reception, Southlanders and West Coasters have something in common that is distinct from other provinces,i Not only was gold mining a very early and important factor in their development, but both communities were for a long time more separated from others than those elsewhere in the country. It is only natural that these things should have influenced the character of the people, and those here are therefore well able to appreciate the admirable enterprise and the spirit of self reliance which have gone to make Southland the prosperous and influential community that it is to-day. Its capital has risen to the status of a city, while the quality of its primary products has won an enviable reputation in our export trade. It is, of course, a recognised fact that the land in that province is of a comparatively high productivity, but it has called for stamina and skill on the part of the producers to have established their industries so solidly and to have fashioned their holdings so uniformly well as they have already done. It is probably in the timber and mining industries alone that the West Coast could bear favourabe comparison with Southland, where, however, in addition to the species heretofore most in demand, the beech forests promise to prove an asset of increasing •value as time goes on. West Coast primary producers have in considerable number familiarised themselves with the well-divided farms in the southern province, the present tour being in the nature of one returning the call made there on a former occasion, when the lessons learned were rated as highly by all who made the journey as was the hospitality shown. Climatically comparisons might be odius, but our present visitors, who are no strangers to beautiful scenery, will probably recognise the unique endowment of the West Coast in this respect, as also such advantage as a moist climate may confer in the form of an evergreen landscape. For the raising of certain classes of livestock, therefore, the West Coast may appear to the visitors as having a future comparable to that of any other part of the country, while the very extensive areas

of land yet remaining to be taken up may prompt them to make known elsewhere such possibilities for new settlement as they should see here. The farming community set other classes a good example by their exchanges of visits, and at the same time, by means of the personal touch, arc doubtless able to promote their own common interests, and make their influence greater in. national economy. As the We;t Coast President yesterday observed, it is now more than in recent years that a true holiday spirit may accompany the .farmer when this time of the year allows him some freedom from his labours. The depression is plainly ranging itself among the things tluyj; belong to the past. Though it has demonstrated the dependency ol the Dominion on the primary producers, it has also illustrated that they, in turn, have, in aii emergency, to rely partly at least, on the rest of the community, aaid the rural recovery today is in a degree assisted by the greater spending power of the urban dweller. The several speakers who have welcomed the Southland farmers to Greymouth with cordiality have but given authentic expression to the sentiments of all West Coasters, and the desire will be general that the tour may prove of pleasure ami profit, and that it may leave with our visitors the happiest memory of their stay on the Coast.