IRRIGATION IN CENTRAL OTAGO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20222, 7 October 1927, Page 4

IRRIGATION IN CENTRAL OTAGO.

TO THE EDITOR. Sm, —May I be permitted to congratulate the Otago Daily Times on the lucid and descriptive article published in this morning’s issue? It is, indeed, well that the public of Dunedin should know the transformation which is taking place in the hinterland of their ' province and which, as your writer aptly describes it, is believed to be a “ barren, unsightly, and monotonous desert.” Too great praise cannot be given to the early pioneers who, in the face of many discouragements, persisted in making “ their dream come true.” Since the inception of the Otago Expansion League the opening up of Central Otago has been one of the main planks in its platform, and the importance of this opening of irrigation and electric power, along with transport facilities, has been stressed every year by deputations to Ministers, representatinos to members of Parliament, and by local agitation. In 1913 the league organised the first big visit of northern members of Parliament through the district, and thereby enlisted their support to the public works policy commenced in the Ida Valley irrigation works. The league has since then been actively engaged in promoting additional schemes and was especially instrumental in securing the early starting of the Ardgour and Arrow sections, while the branch of the league at Alexandra kept alive the interest and the demand which culminated in the Chatto Creek and Manuherikia works. After these years of effort it is especially gratifying to the members thus to see their faith and vision verified, and I trust that the interest again awakened, especially in the question of tree-plant-ing in the Central, will be kept alive, and that as the years go by these fertile valleys and verdant hillsides may become more and more not only things of beauty but of utility and prosperity.—l am, etc., S. B. Macdonald, President Otago Expansion League. October 6.