PRODUCTIVITY OF RURAL LANDS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 17756, 17 September 1927, Page 15

PRODUCTIVITY OF RURAL LANDS

The annual report of the Otago Expansion League states that. tllf! vexed question of the productivity of rural lands is one with which the League has been identified for many years, as well as the backward condition of many farms within easy reach of Dunedin. The range of coast hills stretching from Brighton to Taieri Mouth is a striking instance of the deterioration which .ad. taken place. During the latter halt of last century this area was dotted with farmsteads wherein were reared healthy and happy children, and the products—oats, sheep, and dairy produce—found a ready and profitable market in the city. To-day there are less than half the number of settlers of 50 years ago, and this remnant is fighting a losing battle against noxious weeds and ever-de-creasing returns. At the request of local settlers the League secured the interest of the Department of Agriculture, and an examination convinced the expert that one pressing need was the application of lime and other fertilisers to restore the depleted growing power of the land. Lime deposits abound in the hills near Brighton, and samples were analysed by the Otago University. The report was exceedingly satisfactor3 r as to the lime content, and one sample was selected on account of its accessibility and easiness of crushing. A proposal to the department that, a subsidy should be paid to the settlers to help them in the erection of a communal crushing plant wa3 | declined, the department pointing out that, as the farmers near Taieri Mouth could get their lime requirements easily down the river from Titri, there was not the quantity of lime needed to justify the erection of the plant, and that Milburn lime could be had free on rail to Green Island station. This, the settlers say, is too costly to transport by horse haulage, and unless some scheme of mechanised traction can be arranged for the supply of lime the prospect of rejuvenating the land seems as iar away as ever. It may be necessary to utilise these lands eventually for afforestation purposes, and so get them reclothed iyitu,vcrduie and the prospect of an ultimate economic return.