NGAROMA SETTLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19626, 3 May 1927, Page 11

NGAROMA SETTLERS.

.ADVANCES OFFICE POLICY. QUESTION OF THE FUTURE. £HEEP AND "BUSH-SICKNESS." FERTILISING EXPERIMENTS. No. 11. In regard to Ngaroma finance the State Advances Office is to bo listed with private lenders. It is independent of Government control and, so far, it has not written down any of its Ngaroma mortgages, which, it is stated, total £14,000. Although it is not now being paid interest there is reason to believe that, like the Lands Dcpaitmcnt, it does not intend to sell up any settler, At the same time, according to information that has percolated through the settlement, it is looking to the Lands Department itself to discharge the liabilities of the settlers. One cannot bo positive on the Question. Indeed, one can only make surmises, but it would not surprise some people if there is a lively little war on between the two departments over the Ngaroma position. It may be the.State Advances Office feels it has been misled by the Lands Department as to the nature of tho district's security. Apart from surmise, it can be stated that an officer of tho Advances Office is about to visit the block to go into the case of every man with whom it is concerned, arid the hope is that the result will be that it will submit to tho inevitable and cut losses by writing down or writing off liabilities which the settlers have no hope of meeting, but • which add to their depression and hence further reduce whatever effort may still be possible. The strained relations which possibly «xist between "Lands" and "Advances'' may not be. the only departmental quarrel. It has been as.sefted again and again that before Ngaroma was opened for settlement the Lands Department knew, cr had reason to suspect, that the land was "bush sick." Is it possible the Department of Agriculture has causie to be annoyed with "Lands" for disregarding its advice!' It is idle, however, to discuss the possibilitiy of departmental "rows." The matter of the moment is the outlook of the settlers and the prospects of the settlement. Deceiving Country. None of the commissions of inquiry lias been vefy hopeful about the future ■of Ngaroma, it generally being regarded as one of the districts where costs of development are too high for economic success. Unquestionably, there are some sections which through poverty of soil and other reasons are hopeless. On most of the sections which carried bush, however, the soil is of good quality, grass grows well and to one who has no knowledge of the presence of "bush sickness" they afe attractive sheep propositions. Unfortunately, on the bush land sheep are more susceptible to "sickness" than on the poorer scrub land, but there are varying degrees of "sickness" on the bush land. In the opinion of one of the most copable men, who has sunk a good deal of private money in his holding, the future of the district, if it has a future, rests solely uoon the solution of the "bush sickness"' trouble as it affects sheep. Some of the settlers are dairying and, while •the returns afe very low in comparison with the Waikato average and while there is a high rate of wastage on account of the difficulty in bringing cows to profit, the first impression one would form would be thift on land of such low value upon which rent and inteiest charges have been remitted by the Lands Department for a period of years, dairying should pav reasonably, notwithstanding the fact that road ffeight for cream is one penny a pound and that replacement costs are heavy. Sheep Carried Eight Months. The settler in question, nevertheless, is emphatic in his assertion that only as a sheep proposition will Ngaroma. have a future and only then if "bush sickness" is so controlled that settlers are able to build up their own flocks by breeding. Dairying, he says, is only a temporary expedient. The land is not Suitable for it and the lack on most sections of areas for the production of winter feed is _ a serious drawback, it not a "fatal objection. . As to sheep the present position _ is that tliev can be held for only eight months of the year. To avoid the heavy losses through bush sickness which occur in the summer when feed is most plentiful, sheep have to be sold in November whether the market is favourable or not and re-stocking must be done in February. By that time ragwort has gone up to seed on the sections where it has gained a hold and further harm is done to tne lann-Re-stocking involves buying at laihaue. Waikato sheep do not do wed on this Wh country and it is found mat laihape bred sheep have the necessary confetitution 11ms freight charges have to bo added to the cost. Funds for Fertilisers;. Half-a-dozen of the settlers are being advanced money for fertilisers from the Deteriorated Lands Fund this w 1 " 1 " ' 1 , the experiment will eagerly bo matched but not very happily by those not _ s favoured. On one section the Dipart ment of Agriculture will treat a paddtci of 15 acres with sulphate of iron to tes the effect on "bush sickness. 1> t. department fails to show how skeep can be bred on the land and a flock built iip in the ordinary w> a > , p t settler, "then I Will not stay a day But until all possibilities are tried out, 1 Ilis settler has not lost many store cattle through "sickness. Ho h«s j™ carrv a percentage of stores tc _ land' clean, but as he cannot ..inndi a beast the profit from cattle is Jon . 1 sold big bullocks at Te 10s which would sell at £lO or .11 - six weeks on good pasture ™™rby. Thus, in his opinion, the wnole p Mem comes back to sheep and control of "bush sickness" anions them, ising, according to the is indicated, but as roa\ frc-is,'- _ * Te Awamntu is from 12 to £3 at the question of cost is a serumi handi cap. Six tons of fertiliser recently delivered at one farm cost a togeti«ei £46. Even at this rate some of the n.tn i the better sections have ( hope of a fair return provided sicKness y> age is substantially reduced so can be bred and fattened and. posa.blj, bullocks finished off. nr -T Wl t In view of the position there is ur ent call for a close study of the in this particular district by Are the measures that have ™ tir „ r{ ; c . success at Mamaku possible oi P r "- t,c . able at, Ngaroma ? No one knows Much more than the fate of Ngaroma is •- yolved. A huge area lessons blight of "bush sickness; and t.ie , - that may be learned in that dimight have wide application. „ j cussion of "bush sickness ln ln ßf " must be left to another occasion. l>o* in the meantime ran save «ome of the settlers lin-> w y,„.- will forced off tlievr holdings, on , have to find work which fev. can offer. Some are which keen them away fiom Home. Theirs has been a tragic an experience by no means ror * . ™ for districts, but it would not i« Ke r them to count upon recei v, ng cumpena^ tion and "repatriation v.l chief objects of the present agit.itio .