LAND SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20263, 24 May 1929, Page 14

LAND SETTLEMENT.

Sir,—"Public School Boy" considers! it is impossible to obtain land without Government assistance. May I inform him that he is mistaken. It has been done in the pa:t; I have done it and others also, and it can be done now. A prospective settler with only a little capital of £IOO or over should lease a small farm, preferably about 50 acres, at any rate not more than 150. There are plenty of farmers prepared io lease land with or without the right of purchase. The term should be not less than five years and the rental value must be based on the latest Government valuation. This will ensure that the prospective settler does not pay too much for the lease. 'One should only lease good land and if possible well away from a town; avoid at all costs a badly-watered farm. Having leased a property the next thing is to purchase cows (in some instances it is possible to lease cows as well), and here let the prospective settler ask the advice of a dairy farmer friend. Ifc takes a man with considerable experience to pick a good cow. This I have proved to my loss. There are two ways of arranging finance for purchasing a herd of cows, through the dairy company the settler intends to supply, the company acting as guarantor to the Rural Advances, or through a stock firm. Of these two I would unhesitatingly say a stock firm is the better. The rate of interest is certainly higher with the latter, but one is dealing wifh a business firm, while the Government Rural Advances scheme is the very essence of red tape and procrastination. The dairy company deducts, say, one-third of the price one receives for crearn each month and forwards same to the stock firm, the balance the settler has for himself. In three years the cows should be paid for and the first batch of heifer calves will be coming to profit to replenish the herd. The small amount of capital in hand can be used to purchase a separator and tools, etc., and the balance will go a long way to feeding and clothing the settler for many months. There is undoubtedly a good living to be made off a farm, providing a settler is prepared to apply business methods to his work, whether a man has capital or not. Another Public School Boy.