The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, September 17, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 892, 17 September 1879, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Wednesday, September 17, 1879.

Sib Julius Yogel, the most able, untiring, and indefatigable Home Agent which any colony ever possessed, has been making strenuous efforts, happily with considerable success, to induce a class of farmers to emigrate to New Zealand, which is here so much needed. This is, men practically acquainted with all kinds of farm work, from the raising of roots and cereals to the breeding and, rearing of stock. But, Sir Julius is not so foolish as to assert that any kind of farming operations can« be conducted by a man'on his own account xinless he possesses the necessary capital to commence with ; for he well knows that buying land upon credit, and stocking it by means of liens bearing heavy interest, is no other than entering upon a live of abject misery and humiliation. It is foily, says our Agent-General, for emigrants to proceed to New Zealand under the impression that they can procure good land at from one to two pounds per acre, as they have, many of them, been led to believe. It would be impossible to satisfactorily fix the sum which the emigrant who proposes to enter upon farming pursuits on his own account should take with him. If his family is small, if his habits are frugal, and if he is active, and able to easily make up his mind, he may do more with a small sum than another with expensive habits, or with an indecisive mind, might do with a much larger amount. In my opinion, a man who intends to rely on fanning on his own account should not land m the colony with less than .£250, and he should, with this amount, remember how all important it is to him to set to work at once. If he cannot get Government landj he should try to lease with a purchasing' clause private land. In any case he should see befoi'e him the prospect of becoming his/ own landlord. He should not go to New Zealand to remain a tenant farmer, though it may suit

him at first to pay rent so as to leave a Jarger command of the limited capital he possesses. But he should take care that his option of purchase is full and satisfactory ; and if he has any doubt on the subject, it may be worth his while to take legal advice In naming £250 as the minimum sum the farmer should land with, I am expressing my own opinion. I am aware that some people would name a' larger' sum whilst others would think a smaller one would do — and so indeed it might if a farmer were prepared to undergo many difficulties and hardships at first: For instance, he may put up a rough turf and wooden erection, m which he might live for a year or two. If his rent were moderate and his way of living frugal m the extreme, and he wasted no time m the town after landing, £150 m his hands might suffice to lay the foundation of his future fortune. Ib will be observed that Sir Julius Yogel is cautious m advising m matters which may affect the happiness of many men and their families for a whole life time. The best of farmers — men who have driven the plough by their own hands, who have sown, and reaped, and mown — must have the necessary capital to commence, but with capital combined with skill, and for a time unceasing industry, men, m this country, may live a life of freedom and independence, and so place themselves as to leave a • rich inheritance for ther childien. The curse of New Zealand farming has been through men entering on land with a load of debt on their shoulders from which so very few have been able to relieve themselves. We learn that Sir Jijlius Yogel will succeed m sending out to New Zealand some four hundred families, the heads of which will bring with them capital varying from .£250 to £2000, and these are the men who help to make a poor country rich and a rich country great. Of such we cannot have too many.