A NEW ZEALAND ADVOCATE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 9604, 23 December 1891, Page 6

A NEW ZEALAND ADVOCATE.

The following is from the Timaru Herald Mr and Mrs T. Jefcoate, well-known in this district and at the Pareora, returned home on Saturday last, after a five months* trip to the Old Country and the Australian Colonies. Whilst at Home Mr Jefcoate spent most of bis time among the farmers of Yorkshire, and he lost no opportunity of saying the “best word” for the Colony of New Zealand. He had with him numerous Press notices of the Colony, not the least important being the reports and plans of the sale of the Midland Bailway Company’s lands, which was held at Christchurch in November, 1890. Several of the farmers who listened to his accounts were astonished to hear of the fertility of this Colony, and of the prices at which land could be got in it. One farmer, so Mr Jefcoate says, sold out straight away and left for New Zealand at once. Others also sold out after a time, and if promises are kept, many more will leave for New Zealand as soon as they can. While Mr Jefcoate was at Homo the weather was very bad, and crops of all kinds were most backward, while sheep and other stock did not get on well at all. h’or instance, in one flock of 500 he saw more disease than he would see in a flock of 5000 in this Colony ; and yet the Home flocks are “ nursed ” almost as carefully as a child. He also visited the meat market, and from appearances in these shops, and the experience of consumers, saw and heard that Now Zealand frozen mutton is equal to the very best Home-grown. The storage rooms are close to the market place, so that supplies can be easily arranged, and so far as he could see the chances of a glut were remote. In his interview with the Yorkshire farmers, and, by invitation, with a farmer at the Isle of Wight, Mr Jefcoate concluded that plenty of farmers would be only too ready to come to the Colony “ if they could get lend at a reasonable price.” They desire to make a start in such a way that the land will be their own j they cannot afford to pay .£ls to .£2O an acre for land, for by so doing they would cripple themselves, and the land falling back into first hands would tend to get the Colony into disfavour at Home. He had not studied the new taxation proposals, but so far as he could see at present, they were very encouraging to settlers who had 2000 to 3000 acres. In addition to personally seeing many English farmers Mr Jefcoate also wrote letters to several of the papers, saw farmers at the Royal Agricultural Show, and in other ways helped to bring the Colony into notice. He enjoyed his trip very much, but hie conviction is more than ever strengthened that there is no place on earth like New Zealand.