THE WAIRANGI WATTLE FARM AND THE PROPOSED ORCHARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12194, 13 February 1903, Page 7

THE WAIRANGI WATTLE FARM AND THE PROPOSED ORCHARD.

TO Tllfc EDITOR. ■ Sir, —Will you kindly allow me to make some observations regarding Mr. Clifton's ,' report of the above State farms? Quoting from the 1899 report, I learn that the area of the wattla plantation' is 1800 acres. As the trees are about 15 years old the time has arrived to sum up the knowledge gained by the object lesson. The Government never shows a balance-sheet' for any of its State farms. The amounts voted in 1899 are .stated, viz.:—Experimental stations, £5000; fruit stations, £500; poultry industry, £500. In this 1902 report no statement whatever is made regarding money spent under these heads. We are left tc form our own conclusions as to the profits or losses of these business experiments of the Government. Let us see what we can make out of the • wattle plantation. First cost, say 1800 acres cleaned, ploughed, and seeded, equal to £5400. Compound interest on this sum for J5 years at v the rate usually charged, for r State' loans, from which the money comes, will probably amount to another £54-00. Total cost (leaving out prime cost of land and labour up to date) will therefore be at least £10,800. If the plantation is to pay interest on this sum at four per cent, it must, make at least. £432 per annum. To learn something of the income let us turn to Mr. Clifton's report, page 331: —"At present there is about 45 tons of dried bark ■foody for grinding from the Government plantation. It was impossible to strip more than 90 tons of green bark (this gives half the weight of dried bark) last spring. The native labour was very intermittent at that time." Why do they" depend on Maori labour? In passing this wattle plantation in snmmer time I have seen fires raging through the trees, said fires coming from sparks of the railway engines also noticed a large number of silver wattles, the bark of which has very little commercial value. It appears the Government are now spending moro borrowed money to eradicate the silver wattles. I am sure they will never succeed in destroying this kind of wattle. Why were they planted, and by whom? Perhaps the Government will please to publish the accounts of expenditure and income from the commencement to the present time. Then we should reap some benefit from the object lesson. A 300-acre orchard on thi3 barren land is the latest scheme. When ' about to lay out an orchard most people consider the quality of the soil as a matter of prime importance. Let us turn to Mr. Clifton's report under this head. He says, page 333: " One is often told that the land is too poof. That is so; it is recognised well enough ; but it is also recognised that in this district there is a great deal of this land so poor that for ordinary British agriculture it is useless." I fail to see how the " but" comes in, and am at a loss to understand the grounds for locating a State orohard at this place. Mr. Clifton's qualifications and duties are so various and extensive that one must make some allowance for him when he writes on this topic. Turning to Brett's Almanac" for 1889 one may read about the orchard that Mr. Firth planted at Matamata. " The orchard covers 60 acres, of which 18 are in gooseberries, four in plums, six in vinos, and 32 in apples, pears, peaches, and cherries." That orchard now is in the possession of the Assets Board, which is dominated by the Government. If the Govern-, ment must dabblo in the fruit business let them take over this orchard, publish annual balance-sheets, and show us how to save money at fruitgrowing. These estates of Matamata, Morrinsville, and _ all the tost were experimental farms carried on by individuals or companies. The Bank of Now Zealand advanced the money to pay for the improvements, and eventually involved the shareholders in heavy losses, ruining many. I have a firm conviction that if the Government is allowed a free hand in acquiring businesses and keeping the accounts secret, as they do now, this colony will be involved I so deeply that the British Government will J have to put in a receiver to collect the j revenue.—l am, etc., Benj. Bailey. j Te Aroha, February 4, 1903.