THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Morning. Nelson, Thursday, Aug. 22, 1907 NELSON WANTS A FREEZING WORKS.

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 12020, 22 August 1907, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Daily—Morning. Nelson, Thursday, Aug. 22, 1907 NELSON WANTS A FREEZING WORKS.

Some seven years ago a well directed effort was made locally with a view to establishing freezing works but the effort failed, for the time, owing to the difficulties that had then to be surmounted. The last seven years, however, have brought about many changes, and the conditions of to-day may render easy oi accomplishment that which seemed unttain able in 18&9. In the first place, our back country Is, Ihanks to the efforts bl the Commissioner oi Crown Lands, Mr Flanagan, and the Land Board, being rapidly opened up and utilised. Then, in the second place, the Harbor improvements are searing completion, and the time when tno ocean - going steamers will be able L to enter oui Port is within measurable distance. Tho flockft of the district, too 5 have increased since the dawn of the present century, and that tkby inus! increase at a mb"re rapid rate withit th 6 next few ye^ars is plainly appar enfc. The work done by the Com mittee in the year 1899 is o: material aid in considering the sub ject at the present time. Then th< number of sheep in the district waj 260,749, now it is in round figures three hundred thousand, and that, notwthstanding the fact ' that as many sheep have been sent away a; it was contemplated to freeze Ideally, The opinion of experts when th< suggested works were in contem plation was that Nelson could supply sheep of the re^'isite quality, and indeed, one Satmer reported having purchased sheep at the Richmonc sale yards aad shipped them tc Wellington. for freezing, when, no only did they realise h%h prices but he was told that they woulc like to secure ten thousand more lik< them. At the time we refer to i was proposed to float a company tc establish a freezing hulk. It was calculated that the scheme wouk cost ten thousand pounds, and tha" it was necessary to have a guarantei supply of thirty thousand sheep auc lambs a year. One farmer veVy pro perly pointed tiu"t that if the farmer: gained, no direct profit from invest ing in such a company their indir«e profit— the added value to tbeii sheep — would be a very large one. At that time, "however, there wer< many farmers who heaitatc-d to guarantee a supply for, as they said, tbej could raise the -sheep, but they co.uk not be sure that .they could deli.vei them fit for freezing. It was de clared by some of the Wairnea set= tiers that they were ready to pul down their land in root and othei crops with a view to topping ofl sheep intended for freezing, but this offer was evidently regarded aa too vague, notwithstanding that it was accepted by many that such a course would mean puttiog new life into country that has been cropped overlong. But, since that time the railway has teen extended and new country has been brought into profitable oc cupation. Much of the country, too, is well suited for root crops, and the prospects of success to-day are infinitely brighter than they were seven years ago, while there is now a certainty that every year will improve those conditions. That Nelson is losing heavily for lack of local freezing works is apparent when the prices obtained for sheep at Addington are compared with those ruling locally,. It is true that a great many Nelson sheep are sect South, but these go to enrich the Southerners, and there is no legitimate reason why the Nelson farmers should not have the full measure of reward that their industry entitles them to-. We believe that a well directed effort at thfe present time would lead on to success, and we are convinced that tho majority of the gentlemen who gave their assistance in the previous moverrent would be equally generous now. They will earn the gratitude of the community by considering the subject from its present stand point.