TOO ENERVATING

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 805, 28 October 1929, Page 16

TOO ENERVATING

SUMMER ON NORFOLK ISLAND FREQUENT SERVICE WANTED After spending 18 months on Norfolk Island, Mr. R. A. Fox Rogers, formerly of Hastings, came to the conclusion that the summer climate was too enervating. This morning, on the Maul Pomare, Mr. Rogers said that he had gone to Norfolk with the intention of going into partnership with his brother on a banana plantation. The winter and spring months were excellent, but the summer left him so sapped of energy that he decided he could not stay there. However, for those who are equal to the climate, Norfolk is a wonderful place, he says. The soil is fertile, though the time is rapidly approaching when owners of the land will need to topdress if they are to produce big crops. Mr. Rogers’s brother leases 30 acres of land at a rental of £lO 10s a year. It is impossible to obtain Government land nowadays, and it is difficut to buy freehold property. The islanders, he found, were disturbed at the thought of lack of communication with New Zealand when the Maui Pomare is taken off in December. They desired a regular service between the island and New Zealand, preferably once a fortnight, so that they could supply both North and South Island markets with fruit and vegetables, of which immense quantities could be grown there.