“FARMS WITHOUT FARMERS”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIII, Issue 20803, 11 August 1937, Page 6

“FARMS WITHOUT FARMERS”

To the Editor of " The Timaru Herald.' Sir, —The facts put forward by your representative recently under the above head, certainly emphasise many points in dire need of attention by the powers that be. In many cases such neglect has been augmented, and probably will be more so, by what appears to anyone not in the secret, to be the very puzzling administration of our Crown Lands Department. Starting at the jump off, the acquisition prices of farms rose only too often to high figures. Then the work of sub-division has proved shockingly unsatisfactory in many cases, with the result that some few of the favoured properties are taken up while others are shunned. But perhaps ultimately, one strange to local conditions or inexperienced, becomes a tenant soon to learn that all is not gold that glitters, also, that rent is not the all-important consideration. A 5 per cent charge on an average valuation, Ls too often outweighed by a 10 per cent, variation in quality. And that in turn, is augmented by the ill-judged lay-out of boundaries necessitating an impractical means of access to the only site for the steading. A practical farmer will, I think, admit that grain grown on a conveniently laid-out farm can Ire produced much more cheaply than on one that is not easily accessible throughout. As for the extra 1/- that makes rental too high on the average section —more tobacco money for the good supporter of our national revenue —that is compared with the cost resulting from a farm difficult to work and a home with unsatisfactory access. Such a home is a constant brain-wracking source of discomfort, a veritable breeder of discontent and destroyer of aspirations. Undoubtedly, the Mackenzie County is a real hot bed of such whirlpools. The latest of that kind of picture has now been recently hung in the Fairlie gallery, as mentioned by your representative, and supplements a galaxy of such art. If a full glare of light could be drawn on to that aspect of the matter, ye gods, what a picture, what pertinent questions could be asked! The answering reply, “we are instructed to work in strict secrecy,” would not suffice as was the case with those employed in hacking—yes, literally hacking—the best portions of a farm off for neighbours. Now, sir, is there any reason why the public shy off such a bracketed farm and leave it to swell the naturally large list of farms without farmers? In the majority of cases, pictures of desolation are all too correct, also pictures of mal-admlnis-tration; not merely a matter of recent years either, as various settlements show. —I am, etc., NOT A TENANT. Fairlie, August 8.