KING COUNTRY LANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18879, 29 November 1924, Page 12

KING COUNTRY LANDS.

NEED FOR EXPERIMENT. RUNHOLDER'S PROPOSAL. BORSTAL OR PRISON CAMP. [BY TELEGKAPH. OWN COHKESPONDENT. ] TB KUITI. Friday. Giving evidence before the committee investigating King Country and Taranaki lands, Mr. John Francis, a representative Mairoa runholder, said that the deteriorated lands were generally light, loose volcanic soils incapable of holding English grasses after the potash resulting from the burning of bush was exhausted. The euro, he said, was topdressing. There were two classes of land between To Kuiti and the coast, the easier type ploughable and suitable for closer settlement, and the rougher fit ouly for large grazing runs. In many instances private mortgagees and stock firms had reduced mortgages and cut their losses, but the Public Trusteo had. done nothing. That was very bad for the country. The manuring of these lands was a matter for experiment. The settlers were working in the dark. The same applied to sowing. The Government should establish an experimental station. There was an education area of 1600 acres at Mairoa unsuitable for private farming. That could be used for experiment if a Borstal institute or a prison farm was established. The commissioner manifested a good deal of interest in the proposal, and asked Mr. Francis to put it as a formal suggestion. Mr. W. .T. Broadfoot, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, advocated the establishment of portable lime-crushing plants. There were outcrops of limestone on nearly every farm in Mairoa, and if the stone was crushed on the spot it would bring the cost of top-dressing within the reach of most farmers.