TOKANUI MENTAL HOSPITAL.

Waipa Post, Volume 32, Issue 1783, 17 July 1926, Page 5

TOKANUI MENTAL HOSPITAL.

gi r) —por some considerable time it has been apparent that affairs in connection with the administration of the agricultural portion of the Tokanui Mental Hospital have not been at all satisfactory. The late manager, a capable man. I believe, was transferred to the Avondale institution because, I am credibly informed, he did not comply with Sir F. Truby King's orders to plough in about five hundred acres of green oats to obtain humius for grass. That farm manager wa s condemned by inexperienced men. Since his departure some months ago no one of any consequence (that is, in an authoritative sense) has been left in' charge of this large and increasingly valuable estate, where, all practical farmers agree, extra experienced knowledge is particularly needed during the winter months. From my inquiries I am convinced there is no one to lay out work that should be carried on, and if some works are carried out they are condemned by the medical men (Drs Beattie and McPherson) in charge at the institution, neither of whom knows the first thing about farming, I'll warrant. There are many hundreds of acres of the estate that have been brought into very productive pastures, but which will quite shortly have to be classed als deteriorated lands if not properly handled. The expense now would be only trifling per acre, but if left much longer under the charge of nobody these same hundreds of acres will cost many pounds per acre to restore. Now, sir, if the Department of Mental Hospitals is unable to handle this land so a s to make it productive, may I suggestthat a considerable area be sub-divided into small dairy farms, for which the land is admirably adapted? The area is handy to a dairy factory and railway

station. The administration has been forced to sell cattle that should first have been properly fattened, and the Department will be extremely fortunate if it does not have to sacrifice some hundreds of cattle before the winter is over, as many are admittedly on the verge of starvation at present. I might mlention here that the late manager is practically idle at Avondale, as there the acreage and development are not so extensive as at Tokanui. Further, so far as I could learn, there are no signs of a successor being appointed at Tokanui. I 'hope this reference to the administration at Tokanui, which, after all, is a,State enterprise, and therefore one of public interest, will result in other people who probably have a fuller knowledge of the actual position than a casual visitor can have will result in a noticeable improvement in the near future. Whether the fault is clue to neglect or ignorance by the official 'heads of the service, or by lesser officials at Tokanui, the fact remains that mistakes 'have been made and are still being made. I think that a little less government in business and more business in government should apply to the Tokanui mental hospital farm. —I am, etc., VISITOR.