LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16816, 5 April 1918, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PRIVATE WEBB. ' >M Sir,—ln the Herald of March 23 i-Wk road with the utmost .disgust and indigna- Je, tion the item of iicws under the heading! *m "On the Way to Prison Camp, Private*|| P. 0. Webb's J2xj:ierience." That a ffltfcTfSj who refuses to fight ' for his country iii'jjag her hour of direst need should be treated to the luxury of n' first class carriage—a ~$ returned private travels second class—and is allowed to motor about Rotorua like a wealthy tourist, is a downright inruUj to every loyal citisen of the Empire, •Si CrrrzEK. "m

, " " RACE FARES. ■ i *$& i Sir.—ln Thursday's 'Herald I noticed' that the city . solicitor had notified that ,'i Avondale Jockey Club that the charabancs, • i and similar motor vehicles holding 'buiijp licenses, could only charge passengers the 1 ! ■■ sum of 3d per wile. At that -rate , th* j% fare to ithe Avoncale course would be 1j •>.,'; 9d. If this is correct, why. for some tin.* ;'•■■>. past, have these vehicles been permitted ~r to charge 2s out to the Ellerslie conne, which is about five miles, and 2s 6d b-uk, •!? to town! These fares are paicled. on the ;* vehicles in whitewash, bo there- is no ex-< .■/$£ cuse for the authorities to say that the/ vs are not aware of this.' The public do nob ;; | know the by-laws, and it is the duty olp| the 'council to protect them. Now thalj'>K there aro no race trains, it is quite eaeyj for these 'bus owners to •' charge"'* whii* v| they like, and the public pay it, because! a* they do not know any better. The samoi ;: ; thing applies to motor-cars. The charge! 7*| on race days to either Avondale or I!llcrs« 1 lie is 5» per passenger, providing the car" ,1 is filled. If it has less than the full load, M the charge is £1 each way. Taking it by : :'i the time, the change should'not be mora ''■;$■ than 16s. each way, whether the,: car ba.ui full or not, but the owners of these cau will .not: take passengers on this basis..>'' ; On Saturday after' the races, car after" 'jv; car, came along the Great South Road, : av considerably overloaded, in many case* Jsome of the passengers standing, , and it* : L;-| was the licensed cars that were tho ''-fm greatest danger turd biggest * offenders. -'.| ne asks where were the traffic inspector!... to let these cars load up in this way, Hoping that the question of fares will be 1 A; more fully investigated. ! Racegoeb. .Asi

DEVELOPING. THE NORTH. . r lM Sir, —I . read with great.interest and ;ij satisfaction a report in a recent issue of : '; the Herald -re the establishment of an j j experimental farm in,• North;, Auckland. Better late than never; but this matted should have boen attended to long ago.i \ l| I entirely concur with Mr., G. J. Garland! M that the Board of Education should spare) ; no effort' in urging upon tho /Minister the®! vital importance of taking .at once thefj|| necessary steps towards the adoption and! .• ;> speedy realisation of the scheme. Front'£s the scientific point of view, 1 and taking !'.£ into account the capabilities .of the soil and climate, J] am a firm believer in th«.',-.'i) possibilities of tliti" neglected North;" and ■ : ; '! nave no hesitation in saying that with ;; reasonable enterprise, knowledge, and! 'M energy, it might become par excellence, the "Garden of New Zealand." It ha* been customary to speak of the waste! V-j lands of the North; As a matter of fact. *.''■' there in no waste land, every bit 0f.it, .0 ■save the actual rooks,, can bo turned tor'vlj profitable account, if people knew what types of flora to -plant, and would only :■:,.;;; wake up— this time of all others—to ai';l':A sense of the power within and their duly] to the country. Apart from the stow* ;:-'< and citrus fruits, many other plants arq':'? eminently suited for introduction to th« : /;j North for economic and commercial pur< poses. The various strictly lefcal climate* which, though depending mainly on latitude, are yet very largely determined by m surrounding physiographical features,''-: should be ; thoroughly tested, and erery;:V| district assessed at its proper value and 1 i turned to the very utmost account for the f:? f gorfi of the community. An adequate ;£' knowledge of climatology in the settle- : 0 ment and development vof a country is'of'YP the greatest moment—tho local climate" not only of the atmosphere as between! hills, valleys, slopes, and plain*, but that' i of tho very soil itself, which " largely de- vj pends on geological factors with regard; to the degree of penetration of th* >. f actinism.of sunlight; Tho cliraato of »'.s* soil is modified, and rendered ' mora .'; J equable by deep cultivation nnd drainage,' : v and this great fact should bf remembered • in all agricultural and horticultural opera- i ':■; tions. Moreover, it should bo the special' ii business of experimental farm authorities • >? to. study v local climatology in all its' ; ,| aspects,'• recollecting, for instance, that' conditions in Victoria Valley, and in the ;iv|! .neighbourhood" of Awanui, and the Kai- .'f?>, taia Swamp, are very different to thoso that obtain on tin slopes of the northern hills country, ami these again are modi-,. $ fied by compass aspects and prevailing local air currents. Remember knowledge- $$ is power, and I affirm that the "fei, c*y>i Tanitian hills banana, giant Abyssinian :i banana, fourcroya gigantia, or Mauritius hemp, and other fibre-producing plant', Jf robber, and many in addition, can be .>] profitably grown in North Auckland; ■; and, of course, numerous palms for. econo- ft mic and ornamental purposes. '* fM Clement L. Wkaggb. \fijg Birkenhead, .•• $J||