IMPRESSED WITH SOUTHLAND

Southland Times, Issue 25512, 4 November 1944, Page 4

IMPRESSED WITH SOUTHLAND

TOUR BY STUDENTS OF AGRICULTURE

“Three days have not been long enough to cover the province properly, but in that time we have been impressed favourably with what we have seen,” said Mr R. H. Bevin, lecturer in agriculture at Lincoln Agricultural College yesterday. Mr Bevin is in charge of a party of students from the college who have just concluded a visit to Southland to gain knowledge of farming methods and farm economics in the province. The students are returned men and part of theix- course is to make a study of types of farms in the Dominion. They have seen the developed land at Southdown and the heavier lands through the, Thornbury and Drummond districts. Winton was visited and also the lighter land around Dipton. The main details of the tour had been arranged by Mr A. Buchanan, of the Valuation Department, and Mr A. M. Weir, of the State Advances Corporation, said Mr Bevin. The students were struck with the hospitality . they had received at all the farms visited and the farmers had given all the information they could to them. “The party has been impressed by the improvement on the poorer country of the Southdown area, the heavy stocking on grass pastures on plain lands generally, which compares very favourably with anything to be seen in the North Island, the high quality of stock on all farms, both lambs and ewes, and the evidence of development of the small seeds industry,” said Mr Bevin. “Noteworthy are the rational i and reasonable land values throughout the whole district. They are in marked contrast to the values for similar country in the north and seem to be reflected in the prosperity which demonstrates itself in the general appearance of farms, buildings and homesteads. All give ample evidence of sound farming practice and economic stability.” The main regret of the students was that they had not the time to make a wider contact with Southland farmers, he concluded, but they had ■ seen enough to realize that of all districts in New Zealand few had the same attraction of good land at a reasonable price as Southland.