RURAL LIFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18689, 21 April 1924, Page 5

RURAL LIFE.

NEW ZEALAND CONDITIONS. CHANGES COMING. BY OTTR SPECIAL COMMISSIONER. No. 1. Rural life in New Zealand is still- in a transition state. It has, except in a few districts, passed through the pioneer stages, and yet, if one counts out tho eastern part of the South Island, has not entered into that permanent form wherein men and women love the farm they or their parents have moulded and shaped and impressed with their personality. During the past ten years rural life in this country has been very much disturbed. There was the world war; which drew fathers and sons from their peaceful work on the soil, and sent them to fight on distant battlefields. Few people realise the tremendous effects those years of desperate struggle and stress had on rural New Zealand. In the cities boys and girls could often take the place of men and women; in the country the absence of the strong arm and the guiding brain often meant stagnation or deterioration of the farm. There was that feverish boom toward the end of the war and after the war when food prices soared to extravagant heights, and that mad buying and selling of land sent the value of farms to a, peak which, in many cases, made the succcssful working of the soil impossible, and worse perhaps than this, brought into rural life the spirit of gambling and speculation which is more deadly than high values and big mortgages" The settlement of returned soldiers' on the land, and the shifting of Jongestablished farming families into the city, and many other changes have taken place, but I believe that now we are witnessing the beginning of new and better forms of rural life. The New Rural Standard.

The ideal of a rural population fastrooted in the fertile soil is becoming but surely realised in New Zealand. The old, rough, crude conditions are passing away; the muddy tracks are being transformed into smooth highways; the swift motor the telephone and the radiowireless are breaking the old barriers of isolation. The development of farm machinery and abundant supplies of hydro-electric power are supplanting the drag of hard physical labour. There are already established all over the country magnificently equipped modern dairying ana freezing factories; agricultural industries are becoming well organised, and agricultural education, one of the most important of our national works, is being introduced into our university colleges. The foolishly high price tc. -which landi was forced has not heen without its benefits; it has compelled many owners to take up more intensive farming and has driven them to the use of better stock and better crops, and the fact that farm land is high in value naturally precludes frequent buyitigs and sellings, so that in my opinion, at any rate, there are better opportunities now for the improvement of rural life than ever were known before, and more inducement for people to break away from the cities and establish themselves in the country. How healthy and free and pleasant rural life can be made in New Zealand is only realised by those who know the condition of life in other countries and who, at tie same time, have had long epericnce of lifo and work in cities.

The Hope of the Future. I believe that, in spite of all the pessimistic opinions that have been expressed regarding the conditions affecting farming in this and other countries, there is a distinct turn in the tide' toward rural life. I Many of our men are reoognising that there are few opportunities tor them to succeed in the already crowed, professions, j and that the law ana medicine and other once very popular avenues for youthful energies and Ambitions offer much less reward than can be gained by devotion to the rural industries. Moreover, a change, and a very important change, is coming in the attitude of men toward farming. At one -time, and to some extent even now, the most tempting form of rural life was the possession of & largo tract of land, no matter whether it was improved or not, or whether it was revenue-producing or not. The desirability of a farm or estate was measured by its size. Now people are realising that a small farm, well equipped and well worked, is more profitable than larger areas and is generally more easy to acquire or create. This not only makes the possession of a farm more easy, but it affects rural life to a very marked degree. The sentimental pleasure or the pride in owning a large estate has its drawbacks; it "generally means isolation and back-blocks conditions, whereas a number of small farms highly cultivated., means a denser rural population with all the advantages of good roads, modern conveniences, and pleasant social conditions. _ From a purely practical point of view, the young men, and the young women who may become their partners, have many more chances, not only of securing a small, or moderate sized farm, but of making a profitable undertaking, than they have of securing and working a large estate, and when, as I think, they are inclined to sink their pride in big estates there is a much better hope of rural population increasing. Quite recently I have met a number of men who have expressed to me their desire to own a small farm; among these were men who by their education were well qualified to succeed in the various professions or in business. I take this as a distinctly hopeful sign that our people are turning their minds to the simpler and safer and better form of rural life. And what a lovely and prosperous country New Zealand may become when the educated and intellectual among its people take to rural life and transform the waste spaces intb cultivated farms, and create in the rural districts communities where argiculture is lifted to its highest plane, and leisure and culture, become possible even to the smallest land owner.