AROHENA DISTRICT

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 77, Issue 6978, 15 October 1948, Page 5

AROHENA DISTRICT

USE OF COBALT MADE LAND PRODUCTIVE STATEMENT BY MR R. H. WYNYARD Giving evidence before the Sheep Industry Commission Mr R. H. Wynyard, on behalf of the Ngaroma District Committee, said 70,000 acres, mostly of the Wharepapa Riding of Ctorohanga County, carried about 70,000 sheep. The area included the districts of Wharepuhunga, Matapara, Ngaroma, Arohena and Wharepapa. The soil, climate and geological structure varied and the altitude rose from 600 to 2000 feet. Most of the area was Crown leasehold with right of purchase and was about 1930 classed as deteriorated lands. The availability of cobalt removed the menace of bush-sickness. Fertiliser costs were too high, wire and fencing posts were scarce, and finance and taxation were factors. Cobalt cost £1 17s 6d extra a ton of fertiliser at the works and was not always available. Referring to finance Mr Wynyard said some type of development loan would soon build up its own security as well as establishing the prosperity of the farmer.

“Even when finance is available,” he said, “the men are discouraged from developing new country while the high taxation on farmers’ improvements remains. The cost of breaking in land at present prices is high enough without having to add the additional cost of the amount of taxation on capital consumed. Adjustment Essential

“To summarise, some adjustment is urgently required in the following items, which are not necessarily listed in the order of importance:— Farm Machinery: Suitable machines must be available within the farmers’ means.

Fencing: In both the present and future interests of this area, fencing timber should be frozen as such for fencing alone and wire and staples must be cheaper and available. Manure: This must be cheaper and preferential production and delivery of cobaltised superphosphate of a uniform standard is necessary. Finance: Development and improvement of loans over a long period at a reasonably low rate of interest are required. Taxation: Relief of some description would be very helpful because of the great amount of improvements needed. Stock: Sheep: Assistance to obtain better proportional returns for wethers would encourage the use of Romney rams. Cattle: The wintering problem would be alleviated if the assistance recommended with manure were obtained as the growth of pasture would be extended later into the winter and hastened earlier in the spring. Costs at Present Prices “We have omitted the question of farm labour and, coupled with it, the general amenities of the farming community such as housing, schools, telephones, electricity, roads and mail services. The future of farming would be enhanced if these normal conveniences were more quickly available. If sufficient adjustment were possible in all the other items, especially manure, more experienced farmers would be encouraged to take up sections available in this area and the sheep population would be doubled in a very short time. This could reasonably be expected to reach 150,000 to 200,000 sheep, which would make a substantial surplus of store sheep as well as store cattle available for sale to outside districts.” Manuring Experiments Mr Wynyard added that the experiments and work done by the Lands Department at Whakamaru, which was less than 15 miles south of Ngaroma, showed that an application of 9 cwt. an acre of superphosphate in the first year with new grass would produce a highly productive pasture. This would mean a cost for manure alone of £5 10s to £6 an acre, which w’as about the average price allowed by the Land Sales Court for farms in this area which had changed ownership. Increasing Production

Supplementing Mr Wynyard’s statement, Mr A. Weal stressed the importance of the use of cobalt in this area. Its success had been amply proved by experiments carried out by himself, in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, and later by applications of liberal dressings of cobaltised super as regular farming practice before the increase in the price of fertilisers. The production figures for this district showed that some sections which were developed and brought to a fairly high state of fertility before the price-rise and the rationing of manure —and also before the pricerise and scarcity of fencing wire—gave convincing proof that the district was capable of successfully carrying a large number of settlers.