Too Much Land a Curse.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2024, 31 January 1887, Page 3

Too Much Land a Curse.

From an excellent paper by “ A Small Farmholder,” in the Adelaide Observer, we take the following:— We know of a good number of steady going farmers, owning moderately acred farms, who bare been doing well all along. We quite recently beard of one who owns only fire acres who earns orer £4OO a year upon it by growing lucerne. Of course, this is exceptional, because be lives near to the city—at Woodrille. There are m.'ny others near the city doing equally well, whilst there are others, owning a couple 1 of hundred of acres of equally rich soil "lose by, who earn scarcely enough to ki'OP their fences in repair. The same can i wid of others all over the country. It is not the large holders of land thnt always are the most comfortable and successful, or who are the happiest. Ibere are plenty of men who aro a source of wonder to tbeir neighbor?, who eaunot make out how they manage to be always so comfortable ou such email farms, or even allotments. But whilst the big farmer grows nothing but wheat, and often fails with that, the “ little’’ farmer manages to raise an income from a d>/eu source?, and makes a deal more off his few acres (and at less expense) than his neighbor can obtain from hi? extensive domain. “ Barth hunger” has been the cur.-e of England and Scotland : it has injured America, it has stopped ; i ■- gres.? m New South Wales arm \ ictora. and ..id prevented Western Australia becoming au important colony. In South Australia we can point to a verv extensive and rich pait o{ the colony that has fallen into the hands ot aoout twenty men, who make use of it lor a few sheep run? , but tins land would easiiv maintain thousands of families in comfort and happiness if it wue divided amongst them and properly cultivated This last stipulation, however, is a very important one, and would involve something better that wheat growing Rut supposing that it were possible thsta man could maintain himself and family comlortable upon 100 acres of land—and we feel assured that he could do so— would it not be better fur everybody that -100,000 families should be maintained in comfort upon the land, and that its fertility and productiveness should bo sustained, than that some 20,000, or many ies?, should occupy the samu area o! laud, and half ruin it through imported cultivation ? The greater the number

of people there are in a country earning a living and producing goods of a merchantable value, the richer ihut country is ; and the greater the number of taxpayers the lighter the taxes upon the individual—tho belter able are they to keep all public works in a state of efficiency, and to contend against fires that may attack their crops, or to protect themselves and their property against thieves, marauders, &c. The man who owns thousands of acres of land cannot find manure to compensate for crops taken off, whilst it is quite easy to one who owns only •50 or 100. To properly plough and thoroughly cultivate 100 acres is within the powers of a man and his son with a couple of teams, but it requires a large drove of horses and a good stock of implements, as well as several hired men, to properly work 1000 acres. A man needs to hold a good reserve in the bank in case his 1000 acres fail him for one season ; bnt if it fails twice or thrice in succession he will be ruined, notwithstanding that he owns enough land to found a kingdom in some of the European countries. The little farmer can always manage to rub along with the aid of his garden, his cows, bis poultry, his pigs, and a few other little odds and ends, and through cultivation be is almost certain to raise a fair crop of wheat where his worried and hurried neighbor is almost as certain to fail in a bad season.