The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1919. FARMS FOR SOLDIERS.

Southland Times, Issue 18618, 16 August 1919, Page 4

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1919. FARMS FOR SOLDIERS.

It is satisfactory to note that the group system of settlement is likely to receive the consideration that it deserves. As a means of placing soldiers on the land this method offers powerful advantages, and we have never been able to discover any good reason why it should not be applied successfully in New Zealand. The group system is designed to eliminate the chance of failure, to concentrate the benefits of supervision and advice by the experts employed by the State, and to enable men with little practical experience and small capital to settle on the land under conditions that promise success. This type of settlement has been adopted with the best results in other countries, and is exemplified in the Durham Settlement in California, which is under the direction of Mr Eiwood Meade, a Victorian irrigation expert. The Durham Settlement consists of 6000 acres, on which 100 families are settled. The State Agricultural College helped to select the land and estimate its productive value, conducted a soil survey, and assessed the prices of the land. The State Engineer’s Office furnished architects to design settlers’ houses. The United States Department of Agriculture supervised the irrigation and drainage system. Concrete and gravel highways were built to connect the settlement with main roads, and a farmstead engineer was available M advise settlers concerning the laying out of fields and the location of farm buildings. The board in charge of the settlement levelled the land to render it suitable for irrigation, and engaged a permanent expert superintendent to give adv&e to settlers. A large part of the land was planted with crops before being offered for selection. A cooperative stock-breeding association, with the professor of animal husbandry of the State University as its president, is another feature of the settlement. The land is occupied on twenty years’ purchase with interest at 5 per cent. No land agents earned commission in connection with the settlement, and the conditions of purchase stringently guard against the element of speculation. There is special provision for attracting farm labour, a two-acre allotment and a decent house being provided for each family. The Durham Settlement was a success from the beginning and has created a settlement imbued with the co-opera-tive ideal and the community spirit, and it presents a striking contrast to what is being done in. New Zealand to satisfy the desire of soldiers for a career on the land. The system is so thoroughly thought out and so well organised that it ensures success to anyone who has the qualifications that a settler must have, and it appeals to us as one of the means to be adopted in securing the closer settlement with which the prosperity of this country is bound up.