CROWN TENANTS

Southland Times, Issue 22993, 12 September 1936, Page 8

CROWN TENANTS

SETTLEMENT OF LANDS DEPARTMENTAL REPORT (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, September 11. “Taken on the whole, the past year has been the most satisfactory one for Crown tenants generally since the beginning of the slump period,” states the annual report on the settlement of Crown lands presented to the House of Representatives to-day by the Minister of Lands (the Hon. F. Langstone). “The dairy farmers experienced a fail- year,” the report continues. “The average price for butterfat, however, was still below the level required to enable members of those engaged in this branch of farming to meet their obligations' in full. An improvement in the price of wool, together with the continued remunerative returns from fat lambs, resulted in those tenants engaged in sheep farming having a good year.” Referring to the reinstatement of the revaluation provisions of the Land Act, the report says that numerous applications for revaluations were received and a careful review was being made of the position of those Crown settlers who had applied for relief. During the year there had been an indication of a renewal of confidence in the future of farming and there had been a fair demand for properties suitable for either dairy or sheep farming. Selections of Crown and settlement lands on all tenures during the year totalled 210,026 acres at March 31, 1936. The tenants on the books of the Department of Lands and Survey, excluding those established under the Small Farms’ Scheme, numbered 37,328, and they occupied a total area of approximately 18,850,000 acres.