THE FUTURE OF OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 3007, 1 November 1911, Page 8

THE FUTURE OF OTAGO.

TO THE EDITOR. Sib,—The past glories of mining are gone—maybe never to return. It is no use worrying over the past, however; what concerns us all now is the future. If Dunedin is to retain its present proud position as the soundest and safest commercial city in the Dominion, then our great back country must be developed to enable it to retain that /position. Every new settler placed there means that employment for three or four, or more, will be created/ in the city. The settler will produce the crops, fruit, etc., but the Dunedin merchant has first - of all to provide him with fencing materials vehicles, and many other things, as well as the usual necessaries of life. Therefore, the more new settlers there, are the greater the volume of business, necessitating more em- j ployment for those who cater to the wants cf such settlers. ' I was pleased to notice that tobacco growing was mentioned in " Speculator's i letter in. your issue of the 21st inst., as 30 years ago I saw quite a quantity of this article in all stages of curing, etc., at Arrowtown, some Chinamen having gone quite extensively into its culture. I was told by those who tried it that the tobacco was of very fine quality, and equal to anything imported at that date. Having left the district shortly after I never heard any more about them, or how they got on commercially with their enterprise. I am afraid the iure of gold must have proved too strong for them to continue at tobacco growing. Too many of their countrymen were making fortunes in those days, and returning to China, for them to refrain from the search for gold. From my knowledge of the climate of Central Otago I should say that the country between Cromwell and Roxburgh would be the most suitable for the growth of the tobacco plant. What is ca.lled wild tobacco can. be seen in summer growing profusely alongside the coach road and on the rocky faces in the district mentioned, and it seems to thrive amazingly, even without irrigation.. With water it would grow ever so muoh more luxuriantly. Tobacco seed ©f all good commercial varieties is obtainable in Victoria, where quite large areas are now being devoted to its culture with great success, and what will grow in Victoria will do equally as well in Central Otago, as the climate.is very similar. There is another article that could be grown to perfection in this fetile region on land that was of good quality, and where there was a supply of water so that it could be irrigated. I refer to the carraway plant. Holland is at present supplying the 'English and German markets with very large quantities of this fragrant and spicy seed. In 1910 no fewer than 19,500 acres were under cultivation, the yield varying from 6cwt to locwt per acre. A . crop of 14 to 16 balls (each 1101 b) per acre is reckoned good,'but the average is 10 to 12 balls. The plant is biennial. September or early in October is the best time for sowing, and it is best sown in rows; it blossoms in the latter end of November, and is ripe at the end of December or beginning of January. At this period the seeds turn brown and fall easily. The plant bears for two years, but the second year's crop is not so heavy as the first year's. The present wholesale price in the English markets is 24s per cwt, and with an upward tendency. Germany is a heavy consumer, huge quantities being used to make spirituous beverage called kimmel. : The ordinary carraway seeds can be sown, and usually germinate freely. Travelling down from Arrowtown to Cromwell two or three years back, I noticed that near Gibbston there was quite a small . plantation of thyme. I do not think I ever saw a better sample. Now, our] butchers and housewives use quite a-re-j spectable quantity of dried herbs every I year in this Dominion, and on making a few judicious inquiries in the proper quar- j ters I find that tons upon tons, not only ot . thyme, but also of sage, marjoram, mint, and other savoury herbs, are imported' from the mountain regions of France and Italy. Now, Sir, anyone vho has ever read anything about the cultivation of these plants knows that with the exception of mint, which requires' a rather damp, gravelly soil, these herbs would simoly revel in the soils of Central Otago, and especially on the raw barren hillsides, and very little, if any, water would be required once they got a start. _ Therefore, why let ail the money now going to foreign countrijs for them leavo our shores? This is an industry that settlers who have families of young children could take up with profit, as the only real work necessary is the harvesting of it in the right season. In foreign lands the cultivation of these herbs is a household industry, and the children do the bulk of the work after school hours. It is pleasant and there is- nothing arduous about it. No doubt there are many other plants, etc., that could be grown profitably in the same localities, and it seems to me that the Government is not taking half enough interest in this great belt of fertile coun-

try. It should have an experimental farm somewhere near Clyde or Alexandra, and test all the plants, fruits, etc., that would' grow there, and let the settlers have ocular demonstration of what the soil -will produce, because, as things are at present, not one in a hundred of them has the slightest idea of what a magnificent asset they have in their own acres, and thev are not getting anything like what they should out of the soil. Certainly, those who are growing, fruit are now beginning to awake to the fact that they are not likely to be beaten by any competitors, bu£ why are we still importing thousands, of pounds' worth of prunes when Central Otago, so Mr Blaokmore tells us, will produce the finest prune plums in the world? This fact this well known expert has been hammering into the ears of the Central fruit growers for years, but so far they have made no move to put in areas of these trees. And yet the price of rirunes is, as the Americans would say, "way up," and still rising. Then, again, we are still dependent on America for our dried apricots and peaches, and on Victoria and Tasmania for our dried aplpes, although in Central Otago we have one of the finest apricot and peach growing countries in the world', the great fertility of the soil, the fine climate during the ripening season, and the cold of winter being the main factors for this being so. If the Government had tackled the irrigation problem years ago all this money that has for years been spent on these commodities would probably now be in the hands of scores of New Zealand fruit growers instead of being used by other countries to build up their particular growers' fortunes. They say it is never too late to mend, and I notice that those members of the Government who have visited Central Otago in the fruit season have come away fully satisfied that irrigation is all that is necessary to make this part of the Dominiou fairly seethe with prosperity. Let us hope that at last something is going to be done in this direction, and 1 once started there will be no going back. The results will be so great and so profitable that the Government will be forced to extend its operations to the fullest limits possible—l am, etc Ikrigationist.