NEW ZEALAND

Taranaki Daily News, 5 October 1929, Page 18 (Supplement)

NEW ZEALAND

ITS LIFE AND PROSPECTS REVIEW BY AN ENGLISH BOY. INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS In “The Mercian,” the journal of the March Grammar School, England, appears an article on New Zealand by an ex-scholar,. R. E. Whitwell, now living in New Plymouth. His observations are both pertinent and interesting, and show that he has kept -his eyes open since he has been in the Dominion. He writes: — “An ambitious, title for an article of this length,” you ’may say. It is. It would require a lengthy book to convey an at all detailed'conception of this country in all its aspects. Still, in the space at my disposal, I hope to give a fairly accurate impression of life out here, and perhaps correct some of your ideas about it, / : /■ .;./ ■ ' .. : It is common knowledge that New Zealand occupies approximately the same position in the Southern Hemisphere as does England in the Northern. Perhaps it is this, coupled with the fact that ninety per cent, of its inhabitants are of British extraction, that gives rise to the slogan, '“New Zealand —the Britain of the ASdu|h.” This statement is hardly accurate. / The country may be more like Home-.'Gian any other of the Colonies, but it is still very different from England in many/ respects. England is a very centralised country; small towns depend on larger; these latter ones on still larger, and so on, the whole system being linked up by very comprehensive transport facilities. New Zealand will never be like that. Its physical structure, will not permit it. So here we have a comparatively decentralised country, possessing very few large cities, but having a muhber of thriving towns with population of about twenty thousand, and which act as direct links between the district they serve and the outside world. The rugged nature of the country rules out Such transport systems as England possesses. There are very many parts of the country in which the construction of railways would *be practically impossible, but which, owing to service ears and lorries, are able to be quite closely settled. DIFFERENCE FROM ENGLAND. In its buildings, too, there is a very marked tendency to follow America,-but, most of all, it is in its outlook, its attitude toward life, that New Zealand differs from the Old Country. It is so vigorous and so vitally awake as to its possibilities. Everybody believes in the future greatness of the Dominion, and all plans are made with that end in view. Indeed, it does show signs of a wonderful future, and there are great opportunities here for those who are in a fit mood to grasp them. New Zealand is still a very young country, and its secondary industries have not yet had time to properly develop. Undoubtedly there are great. mineral resources, but the geographical position and configuration of the land make it very unlikely that they will supercede, or even approach, agriculture as the principal industry, and it is in this occupation that there are such good opportunities. The professions generally are greatly overcrowed. In fact, people are beginning to get somewhat concerned over the position, and several methods have been suggested whereby this “urban drift” might be counteracted, but as yet they arc all rather vague. One idea has been to institute a system of apprenticeship on farms, as is the case in other trades. The pupil is to be 'bound for a fixed number of years at a standard wage, part of which is to be kept back until the apprenticeship .is completed, when the amount thus sa\ed would help considerably towards the acquisition of a farm. Another scheme provides for the State to find ninetyfive per cent, of the purchase money, when two or three persons jointly act to break up some larger estates. Agriculture is easily the soundest industry in New Zealand to-day, and its zenith will not be reached for a long time yet. In its limestone downs, Hawke’s Bay possesses tho finest sheep country that could be desired. Here, in Taranaki, are farms that may confidently be said to produce more butter-fat to the acre than anywhere else in the world, whilst who has not heard of Canterbury lamb, synonym of our frozen meat industry ? PROSPECTS IN DAIRYING. Probably dairy farming offers the best prospects for the young immigrant with a moderate amount of capital. A sheep run requires at least £5,000 to commence with, whereas with a capital of from £lOOO to £l5OO a dairy farm can be run with every prospect of success. However, it must not be thought that one can come out here and start on his own account at once, even though he has had experience at home. Conditions, and methods, too, are so very different. Those who are making their first essay at farming would be well advised to work for others for at least three or four years. “But under what conditions does he live during that time?” you ask. Well, it is futile to pretend that farm work out here is a holiday. It is hard work from daylight to dark, seven days a week, and quite probably on farms removed fiom the amenities associated with life at home. It may be fifty miles to the nearest town of even moderate size, and the intervening townships quite probably only comprise a dairy factory and a store. However, with the advent of improved transport facilities, the position is rapidly improving, and thirty oi foity miles between homestead and the town no longer means exile for the backblock farmers. It is a very conservative man indeed that does not own an automobile of some description and who does not visit town every week or two to do his shopping and to foregather at the market with others of his calling, as is the way with farmers the world over. WORK ON A FARM. Perhaps a short description of work on a farm would be of interest. The day commences at about five o clock, and after an' early, morning cup of tea the cows are brought in to be milked. -Machines are generally used, and a herd of, say sixty cows should take about two to two and a half hours; then the milk is separated and the cream taken to the butter or cheese factory, which may be three or four miles away. The skim milk is fed to the pigs, which are a very paying proposition on’the majority of dairy farms. On some of the most up-to-date places,, the separator is connected direct with' the milking machine, and a

pipe runs straight to the pig troughs from the shed, so that in what is virtually one operation, the cows are milked, .the milk- separated; and thepigs fed. Upon . arriving . back from the factory, usually about ten -o’clock, breakfast will be eaten. After the- meal,- the machines and cans fliave to be cleaned, and the stock fed. ■ . The time of the year determines what has to be done next. In the summer, there is hay and ensilage to be made; in the winter, in most cases, there is ground to be stumped , and ploughed, whilst there is gorse to be grubbed and blackberry to be cut. These two noxious growths have secured a firm hold in some parts of New Zealand, and it requires persistent, and incidentally very hard, labour to keep them down. Of course, where the plough can be used they can be eradicated without much difficulty. During the “season” the cows have to be brought in for milking about four o’clock, and after that the day’s work is ended. Of course, during haymaking the farmer may continue on until dusk. It may be that after a year or so of this work the “new chum” considers himself as good as his master, and feels tempted to launch on his own account. Well, he may be quite as efficient in the practical branch of the work, but it requires '• more than that knowledge to prove a successful farmer. A good acquaintance with What might be called the economics of farming is essential, and that cannot, in most pascs, be acquired in such a short time. It would amply repay one to work for others for at least three years. When commencing operations for oneself it is most important to have sufficient capital, since if this is lacking the mortgages on the farm will naturally be larger, and interest charges will swallow too large a portion of the revenue. Then, quite probably working expenses and wages will account for the remainder, leaving nothing for interest on the personal capital, and no surplus that could be utilised for farm improvement. A man, however, should be quite successful if he had about £l5OO to commence with. IMMIGRATION SCHEMES. In the past there have been several very successful schemes for attracting immigrants to this country, but just now they are all in abeyance, but there is every prospect of them' being revived again in the near future. At the present time new-comers have to pay their own passages here, approximately forty pounds. If they should come when the immigration schemes are in operation again, the journey will only cost them eleven pounds, if they come out as farm labourers. Our school would probably come within the scope of the Public Schoolboy scheme, by which, in addition to the reduced passage, boys are guaranteed work and training on approved farms for a term of years. It may seem that I have devoted too much space to agriculture out here, but really that is the most important feature about New Zealand, and it is the only career that immigrants in this country should interest themselves in. The trades and-professions are hopelessly overcrowded and show every sign of continuing to be so. In the past, the majority of newcomers have been townsmen, and they have shown a distinct dislike to living away from their accustomed environment. These are not the type of people that New Zealand wants. Men that have the same -spirit that animated the early pioneers are the ones that are wanted here. Those that cry at the slightest indication of discomfort are worse than useless; they are more like millstones round the country’s neck, since it is they who are responsible for whatever social or unemployment problems our cities have. They, and they alone are to blame for the present cessation of assisted passages here. I have endeavoured to give you some idea of this important part of our Empire, and I hope I have somewhat clarified. your views concerning it.- If I should have turned the thoughts of any of your towards emigrating to this land of promise I shall be more than gratified, and can safely predict that it will be a step that you will never regret. In the words of Kipling: — “On us the unswerving season smiles; Who wonder mid our fern why men depart To seek the Happy Isles.”