MORE SETTLEMENT

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6867, 23 March 1929, Page 17 (Supplement)

MORE SETTLEMENT

Fanning Pumice Lands The practical and sympathetic attitude of the chief Ministers of thc Crown toward thc development of the great pumice areas in thc central districts of thc North Island augers well for the future expansion of agriculture in New Zealand. There is room in this part of the Dominica for the settlement of every New Zealander desirous of going upon the land; there is room for hundreds of new settlers from overseas. Thc absorption of trained farmers now in the ranks of labour by tho opening up of these lands would automatically solve the problem of unemployment; thc demand for materials needed in the creation of new farms would greatly stimulate tho trade of cities, and the increased production of primary wealth would, besides increasing the national income, assist materially in stabilising the nation’s financial pesition. All those are very sound arguments in favour of the new and active policy suggested by the Minister of Public Works with regard to these lands, and it is to be devoutly hoped that his colleague thc Minister of Lands will heartily endorse it. A National Question.

The settlement and development of the pumice areas is not a local matter, it is of national importance. There are at a low estimate over live million acres of this class of country largely owned by tho Grown and the natives. If |he present Government can assist in bringing even one-fifth of this area into productive use it should, at a moderate estimate, provide five thousand now farms, which would mean an increase in our rural population of 25.000 and employment for another 25,000 in our cities and villages. Even at a low average of production it would-add £3,000,000 per year to our national income, and tho working of this class of land in various districts shows that it is capable, when fully improved, of yielding twice this amount yearly, and even more. Surely every patriotic New Zealander must acknowledge that possibilities like these should not bo neglected, and that no parochial jealousy or ignorance should be allowed to stand in the way of their realisation. Expenditure and Receipts.

As the Minister of Public Works recently pointed out, tho cost of settling men upon land by thc subdivision of private estates is," in many cases, out of all proportion to thc benefits received or conferred. It was this method which caused such largo losses and so many failures during tho repatriation period, and which was so largely responsible for the most injurious land boom this country ever knew, and also for the damaging and depressing slump which followed. To bring new land into cultivation, to create new farms out of tho wilderness, and thus provide work for new primary producers, is a task of the greatest importance, and that this can ’successfully be done on a very large scale in the pumice districts is no longer open to reasonable doubt. The economic soundness of any land settlement scheme depends upon tho returns obtainable from the expenditure of copital and human labour. It has been shown over and over again that no other soils in New Zealand can bo so quickly or cheaply made productive as pumice soils. It has been shown that whereas in well known dairying districts it costs up to £GO an acre for land good enough to keep a dairy cow, farms can be created from thc pumice soils that will carry thc same animal on £3O worth of land.

Practical Experience. A well-known and practical farmer recently said: —“After some experience I consider pumice land the best and cheapest proposition on thc market to-day,’ ’and he gives instances of what some friends of his arc doing with this class of land. “On one property of 200 acres they are milking 104 cows, besides grazing other stock; the return for butter-fat from this farm fof the month of December was £259 16s. There is a portion of this farm in turnips for winter feed, besides what has been cut for liay. Two returned soldiers are farming 100 acres each of pumice land. One is milking 50 cows and the other 49, and both arc getting good returns from thc factory. They are also grazing other stock, and notwithstanding that parts of these farms are in turnips and hay for winter feed, they have run their mowing machines over tho paddocks they arc grazing to cut tho surplus feed. One other point in favour of pumice land is that it can be brought into a productive state for about one-third of tho cost of most other lands. Should anyone doubt these statements I can give them the names of the owners of these farms and others who have done equally well on the pumice land, so that they may verify the facts for themselves.”