HIGH COUNTRY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26545, 21 August 1947, Page 8

HIGH COUNTRY

PROBLEMS DISCUSSED RENTS NOT SOLUTION WOOL-SELLING METHODS Parliamentary Reporter WELLINGTON, Aug. 20. Rent adjustment was not the solution of the high-country farmers’ problems, said the Minister of Lknds, Mv ■- Skinner, during the Imprest Supply Bill debate in the House of Representatives to-night. He i said the average rental was 3id aji acre per annum. j Mr Skinner said that the; deterioration of the high country irt the North Island was almost as serious as in the South. In its developmental work the Lands Department had part of the solution. The Government had set up a commission in 1938 in/ response to high-country farmers’ requests, and it was unfortunate that tne war had . prevented its continuance. At the time it was agreed to give thus high-country farmers representation/ on the land boards in their areas..' A' sheep industry commission had 1 , now been set up, and its recommendations would be debated, he hoped, as’, soon as produced. / Not all, the fine wool ’came from the high country, the Minister said. Much was produced on the downs country. , Nor was it correct to Isay that a big proportion of the high-country runs carried only dry sheep.' Much was said about,-‘the unsatisfactory nature of tenure, said the Minis ter. There were 738 small grazing runs, totalling 2,500,000 acres and producing £BO,OOO in rent annually and 615 on pastoral licences totalling 8,500,000 acres and bringing in £82,000 in rents. The total rents of £162,000 averaged out at an acre, and if al! the rent was handed back it would come to only £l2O per property, thoygh it would work out more oi less according to individual rents. The solution did not lie in rent adjustment Thg Rabbit Pest The Minister said they would not get far until there was a general determination to stamp out the rabbit pest. That would cost millions.. Another ill-effect which had to be countered was that resulting from in- . discriminate burning-off. Mr T. L. Macdonald (Oppn., Wallace) said that burning was once the ordinary practice, though now recognised as unwise. Carried out at the right times, it .did no harm and cleared * accumulations of heavy dead growth. The alternative to burning tyas heavy stocking with cattle, but that was not * possible in the South Island to the extent desirable because of the severe winters. The introduction of the rabbit had been a real disaster to the hill and high Country of the south. Before there were parasites introduced, rabbits had swept the country like a wave and some runholders were ruined in a season. Rabbits bared light soils and opened the way for havoc by wind, rain, and snow. They depended on the high country for the bulk of fine wools, and many families depended . on it for their living. The high country farmer and .employee had developed a great degree of aptitude and it , would be tragic if that experience were lost to future generations. The problem of experienced .labour loomed large. Few young men were taking up high country mustering, nor were shearers from the low -country very happy among the merino and halfbreds of the high coun- , try. Fencing was an art, and the old experienced fencer was dying out. : Barbarous System . Mr C. L. Carr (Govt., Timaru) said he could not understand the pleas for the old wool auction system as against appraisal. The auction _was almost barbarous and cannibalistic. It forced up the price and helped to create booms. It was one buyer against the other and all against the producer in the long run. Appraisal was scientific valuation ana sale at a reasonable price. The Minister of Agriculture, Mr Cullen, said' he thought the day was overdue for a great drive for the classes of wool needed for suiting in particular. He said that the overall return for wool from 50 and below counts to 60 under appraisal was 16.64 d per pound and the net return through auction 16.17 Gd. It was only in the finer wools that there had been a marked difference. The discussion, which was interrupted by the adjournament at 10.36 p.m., will be continued when the House resumes to-morrow afternoon.