LAND SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17179, 5 June 1919, Page 7

LAND SETTLEMENT.

ACTIVE POLICY ADVOCATED.

AREAS FOR SOLDIERS.

VALUE OF PUMICE COUNTRY.

[in- TiiixcKArn.— SPKHAL RErORTKB ] I HAMILTON, Wednesday In the course of an address on soldier i settlement, nt the Waikato Winter Show , yesterday, Mr. D. M. Ross, of the Do- ! partmeiit of Agriculture, emphasised the I. necessity for proper menus of across to | Fetllcments prior to opening up sections: , for selection. He dwelt on the hard- ! ships (if settler? who had taken up land, in tin: backblocks, and stated that the . annual loss to the State through the lark of proper access in many instances. was. greater than the amount/ necessary to meet the cost of reading. i In regard to tin- class ot land suit- | aide lor 'soldier settlement, he stated ' thai it was had policy to place men on j living pastures and expect them to immediately «i) in for dairying. The maximum i.{ production would never be attained .11 ! the Dominion until a toil survey of the : v. hole of the lauds had been made and J the genesis and composition 0! the various types of foil had been deter- . mined, inough absolute reliance could; not be placed on chemical analysis, tiiey! weie highly useful to the practical man ' Willi experimental tendencies. Dealing' v.'i'i Hie various types of land, Mr. lima fhwilied them as sheep country, dairy- 1 ing land, bush swamp, pumice, gum , lands. He paid a tribute to the Lands ! Department for their efforts in bringing 1 intu production much of the swamp land ; if the North 1.-iand. which he classed r.s among the bc«t lands of the Dom'nion, and mos;, suitable in many cases tor sol- ] dier settlement. ;

ltiiorriiij to the- pumice areas, Die' speaker said it. tvniiid. be a mistake to hast'ly londenm i!ie pumice land.-, fur | in them appeared to ho the greatest i possibilities of development. I'umice was the> basis of some of the linest soils, and upon it the prosperity of the Waikalo j had it.- foundation. These lands merely 1 required, linking up with main roads and i railways 10 be mane highly productive, i They would be eminently suited to si! ; dier settlement if brought to the pro-1 ductive stage, and there was this ,;reat ; advantage—they could be easily worked i in all weathers. " j In reference to the immense areas of j idle and unproductive land in the North ! Island. Mr. Ross said J hat the taxpayer i was carelessly and unconsciously carryin p the_],i;iden of this territory on his' back. There, was nothing more imnic-' diately the concern of the farmer than | the settlement of the empty areas and j the reduction of taxation by* the increase! of the. taxpayers. The idea'that an extra | farmer was a competitor had lung s.nce 1 liven exploded. He was an ally, audi the farmers should do all in their" power' to make the Government land settlement schemes successfu'. Mr. 1W made an appeal to the farmers to help the returned men who settled on the hod. Th,-v must remem-' b;r that they had several years' start i oi the soldiers, who had been from ore ' to tire years ..tit of the .ountrv and its! ordinary activities. In those vears thev j had rendered more Stat,. service thai others could render in a lifetime I