SETTLEMENT IN NORTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20111, 23 November 1928, Page 17

SETTLEMENT IN NORTH.

CITRUS FRUIT CULTURE.

COMPANY'S INITIAL SUCCESS.

MANY SETTLERS FROM EAST.

Success beyond expectations is revealed iu tho first annual report and balance-sheet of the North Auckland Land Development Corporation, a company formed to develop the , growing of citrus and sub-tropicnl fruits at Kerikeri, North Auckland. Tho report states it has been deomed prudent not to pay any dividend this year, but (o hold profits in tho appropriation account. Considerable opposition to tho company had developed as tho result nf reports forwarded to tho press in Shanghai and other parts overseas, detrimental to land settlement conditions in tlio Dominion, but, if these were intended to apply to Kerikeri, they wero absolutely untrue , Confidence is expressed by tho chairman, Mr. A. J. Hutchinson, that tho corporation will in duo course pay tlio shareholders really good dividends, and that it ivill provo that, by careful management mid co-operation, home settlement on small areas can bo financially successful. True, dividends could this year bo paid out of profits, but the company's first duty was to secure the capital of shareholders—to build tho organisation up on sound lines to ensure the 1 payment of regular dividends and enable it to meet tho demands of settlors. Naturally, further capital must eventually be raised and tho policy of building up a reserve must appeal. Increase in Profits. Tho report of tho managing director, Mr. G. K. Alderton, says tho result of tlio first year's operations liave exceeded expectations. Profits wero larger and administration costs were less than tho estimates. Tho estimated profit f.or tho first year was £3523. and tlio profit actually earned, after allowing £I2OO for incomo tax, was £4500 16s. Tho paid-up capital of tho company was only £18,125, including £SOOO paid to tho promoters for their options and preliminary research work. Tho profit earned represented 24 per cent on tho paid-up capital. . Tlio finances of tho company had been arranged on very favourablo terms, the vendor of tho property being satisfied •with £SOOO cash, with tho . balanco of £46,151 at 5 per cent. As tho land was disposed of to settlers, tho liability diminished and was passed on to new purchasers. Already tho reduction was considerable, as section-holders were building houses and planting their holdings. Each purchaser of a section found tho capital for planting tho land, and tho company's own capital should bo applied to tlio planting and development of its own plantations.

Overseas Settlers. Tho offer of tho company to the overseas niaii to plant, cultivate, and maintain his section until ho could take it over, had made a very real appeal, and Britishers, from tho East in particular—men with adequate capital to develop their holdings —found at Kerikeri a situation ideal' in climate, in which permanently to settle. Already close on 50 sections had been taken up by overseas people, and orders for sections in the second year were expected to bo larger than in tho first. Tho company's staff had been busy preparing grouryl and planting 12.500 citrus trees, tho sarno number of passion fruit, and about 12 niiles of shelter belts. Several dwellings, somo costing up to £2500, had been erected, and others were being arranged for. Tho company had established its own nursery with a view to raising 1,500,000 afforestation trees for its own planting next season.