FUTURE OF IRELAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18051, 28 March 1922, Page 5

FUTURE OF IRELAND.

FARMING POTENTIALITIES.

RICHNESS OF THE SOIL

METHODS QUITE OBSOLETE,

One of the keenest enthusiasts about! the future of Ireland as a prosperous farming country is Mr, George Kay, a well-known Waikato farmer, who returned from a visit to Great Britain and the Continent by the Dorset on Sunday. Mr. Kay left New Zealand toward the end of last year, and on arrival in Ireland found the conditions bo unsettled that he decided to spend a few months in Switzerland. His impression of Ireland was that there were so many people on both sides anxious that the country should bo given an opportunity of returning to a peacetul state that a settlement was inevitable in the near future. His view was that there were extremists on both sides who were delaying a return to normal, but they could not prevail against the best opinion of the country for long. Mr. Kay said the best land in New Zealand could not compare with the farming land in County Antrim. The farming methods throughout Ireland, however, were quite obsolete; milking was done by hand and the farming implement were crude. His opinion was that if dairv farming was taken up on New Zealand lines Ireland would become tremendously prosperous. The land was cut up into farms of about 50 acres each, and m (he richer areas this would suffice to provide a comfortable living for an industrious family. While travelling in Switzerland, Mr. Kay was surprised at the knowledge of New Zealand possessed by many of the people staying at the various resorts. At one hotel he met no fewer than '20 tourists, belonging to various European countries, who had visited New Zealand, and all spoke in praise of the Dominion. On two occasions Mr. Kay visited Mr. Chapman, the New Zealand representative on the permanent staff of the League of Nations at Geneva.

Mr. Kay expects to spend about four months in New Zealand before returning to Ireland, where he will join Mrs. Kay, who was not able to face the long sea voyage to New Zealand. Mr. and Mrs. Kay expect to make their home in Ireland in the future.