THE PELORUS GUARDIAN FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1890. Make the Most of It.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 1, Issue 52, 25 July 1890, Page 2

THE PELORUS GUARDIAN FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1890. Make the Most of It.

It is admitted on all sides that New Zealand is one of the grandest estates in the world, but do we make the most of it? We think it will also be admitted that we have not taken full advantage of our resources, and consequently we are not in that prosperous state we should be if we had made the most of the treasure which New Zealand is known to contain. As it is, with a country which has to depend solely on the development of its resources, so it is with a district or a farm. It is with regard to the latter we intend dealing on the present occasion. All the old settlers know that they had to live on what the land would produce, as there was practically no market, and little chance of getting casual work to obtain what necessary cash they required. They grew their own wheat and ground it into flour, potatoes, vegetables, butter, meat, and in some cases honey was used in place of sugar; in fact, a settler in the early days had, by force of necessity, to live almost entirely on what he could make his farm produce; but although it was a hard life for many years, most of them succeeded in making themselves independent. We are told over and over again that farming does not pay, and yet we have thousands of examples of men who have made it pay, and pay well. As we have already said, they made the most of their resources. We will adrait at once that to employ labour and carry on a farm on what may be termed commercial principles that farming does not pay, and it is likewise a well-known fact that a purely farming or pastoral community cannot be rich. We are aware, however, that men who have diligently worked on their farms and made as much out of them as possible, have had their farms clear of debt and a few hundred pounds in the bank, after some years of hard work. This is rather different to three parts of those who possibly invest a few hundred pounds in a small business, for, in the latter . case, after struggling to meet bills, and passing years of constant worry, they are worse off than when they started. These are not mere suppositions of what might happen, but actual facts of what had occurred. It is the knowledge of the above results that causes us to advocate for the settlement of the land, and also to advise people who have a few hundred pounds at their command to invest it in land, instead of putting it into a business already over-done. Unfortunately, people, in taking up land, are too apt to depend on one kind of produce, instead of going in for everything it is possible to get out of the soil or off the land. We have gone on to farms where people have only got sheep, and, had not got so much as a drop of milk to put in their tea, and not even a fruit-tree, while others have depended solely on butter and the sale of their young stock. If a small farm is to be carried on profitably, attention must be paid to fruit, vegetables, poultry; butter, potatoes, and everything, that will save the occupier the expense of buying from elsewhere, for what he produces himself for his own use is so much money earned. We have referred to this subject, not so much for those who have already settled on farms, as many of them are more conversant with the facts than we are, but to those who intend to settle, and possibly havp had no experience as to the best means of succeeding. It is astonishing what a small piece of ground will produce, and there,can be no possible chance of failure if those who occupy if will only jry and make the raost of it.