Will Farming Pay?

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 229, 1 December 1888, Page 3

Will Farming Pay?

The N.Z. Herald, in a late issue, says the number of persons who cannot obtain steady remunerative employment, and of others who find the greatest possible difficulty in paying their way, is continually increasing, some of the results being seen in the abominable sweating system which has obtained a footing in our large colonial towns and in the numbers receiving charitable aid. It is satisfactory to note, from the latest returns of the Crown Lands Department, that nearly 40,000 acres were taken up last month under the perpetual leasing clause, and a considerable area under the deferred payment regulations, or sold for cash, the total area taken up during the last four months being over 130,000 acres. To revert to the opening question, an old settler who took up his land in the oft-despised North some years ago may be taken as an example of what can be done. The land selected by him is in a district that has never been considered good, but he was full of energy and determination. At the beginning he devoted a considerable portion of his time to the preparation of an orchard and vegetable garden, and nearly all his cultivation was done with a spade; but he was of the right material for a successful colonist, and ha? prospered beyond his most sanguine expectations. The result may be summed up in a few words. His returns for some years for fruit sold in Auckland have averaged about £2OO per annum, after paying freight, carting and auctioneer’s commission. He has settled his sons on farms of their own, and now surrounded by all the comforts and necessaries of life, an orchard of apples, pears, plums, lemons, &c., in full bearing, the returns of which will far more than suffice for his wants, and a garden full of the choicest early vegetables for the table, with poultry, pigs, cattle, &c., on the farm, his position is one that. many of our struggling people may well envy Another illustration is that of a settler who came here under what was known as the forty

acre system. He had barely enough cash to keep him inßctual necessaries during the first year. On taking up his land, his first work, after providing a temporary shelter, was to fall a small piece of bush, burn it off at the proper time, and sow grass seed on the ashes. The grass when reaped was carefully threshed and the seed obtained a top price in Auckland. The cash received gave him a good start. He gradually brought his land under cultivation, purchased a few sheep and cattle, which increased and multiplied, so that in a few years he was practically independent. These are not isolated cases, for similar ones are to be found in nearly all our country districts. The I early settlers in the bush, who enjoy a com-

petence now, are not those who sent to the local storekeeper year after year for potatoes and flour, bacon, and tinned fish. They are men who produced all the necessaries of life

in the shape of food that they required, and those who have not tried this plan can hardly realise the freedom and practical independence of a farmer who can sit down to a repast consisting of healthy, relishing and appetising food, and proudly say it is p.ll the produce of his own land. A change from town life to that of a pioneer settler involves plenty of hard work, self denial, and careful manage

ment, all of which should be fully considered before the change is made. Those, however, who have a longing for a country life, who are now only earning a precarious livelihood, with no prospect of saving anything for the time of sickness and old age, and who value health and independence, to these we reply—farming does and will pay, providing a judicious course is taken. Anyone who expects to make a fortune by tilling the soil will be disappointed, but those who prefer health before fashion, and a comfortable independence to a fluctuating income, may have every prospect of realising their expectations by taking up a section of good land and doing their best to turn the wilderness into a fruitful field.

A Melbourne telegram states that on Sir Bryan O’Loghlen’s motion to support the position taken up by Queensland in regard to the appointment of a Governor being negatived by 59 to 3, the House rose and sang the National Anthem,