WARS RAVAGES

Wanganui Chronicle, 25 February 1947, Page 5

WARS RAVAGES

REHABILITATION IN CHINA APPALLING CONDITIONS. The vast task of rehabilitating China, and New Zealand’s part in it, were given life and colour by Mr. W. Huse, who is on loan by the New Zealand Department of Agriculture to U.N.R.R.A., in an interview. The duties to which he will return on the Lindenwood Victory, about the middle of this month, are in the Kwangsi Province of southern China. Kwangsi has an area which is 55,000,000 acres, and a population of 36,000,000. U.N.R.R.A. and its Chinese subsidiary jointly have done a great deal to relieve the pitiable condition of these people, he said. After the devastation of eight years of war, there were 3,000,000 acres of land in the Kwangsi province with not even a rabbit running on it, but which, with the help of irrigation, modern equipment, and trained people, could be made one of the most productive areas of the world. CO-OPERATIVE FARM PROJECT. At Linchow U.N.R.R.A. had been given 5000 acres of rough land which it was hoped to turn into a co-opera-tive farm. Two hundred families had already been established on it, and it was hoped by the end of the year to have 1000 families there, which would mean about 5000 people. They had the co-operation of the provincial Chinese Government and technicians, but lack of transport made progress slow and difficult. In the rainy season, which was at the hottest time of the year, traffic was practically at a standstill. The rivers rose from 20 to 30ft in a few hours, washing away the bamboo huts on the banks, but the Chinese were used to it, and rebuilt placidly. Rice is the main crop. Corn, wheat, sweet potatoes, and peanuts are also grown. Fertilisers are China’s great problem. Artificial fertilisers are practically unknown in Southern China, and U.N.R.R.A. is sending in many thousands of tons. Seeing that the quality of the fertiliser and its use are explained so that there no waste is another task. The Chinese farmer’s method of getting potash is to burn hundreds of acres of dry grass and sweep up the ash. Roads were established in 1938. They were very rough and badly metalled, and surfaced with red clay, which, when wet, was a death trap to jeeps and other vehicles. Sanitation was a tremendous problem in the villages all over China, and if New Zealand people could see the conditions they would be appalled. It was a wonder that the people were not wiped out by cholera and other diseases. The pigs and chickens were not fe’, but lived as scavengers. INTEREST THE FARMERS’ BANE. “The Chinese farmers are tireless from daylight until dark,” said Mr. Huse. “When they retire at night they I lock themselves in for fear of bandits, and they lock their pigs and chickens in with them for the same reason. All wear a look of passive resignation. The farmer's great problem is interest on the money he borrows, which runs as high as 45 per cent., not by the year, but by the month, with the result that the poor wretch has to sell his surplus rice, and then his buffalo, and live on what he has left till the next season, when the success of the crop depends on the borer. One day the crop is standing and promising well, but it may soon all lie dead. The borer gets inside the stem at ground level, then the rice head goes white, and the crop disappears. But the chief trouble remains the interest. From what I could see every man who has 1000 dollars sets up a bank. TRACTION AND TRANSPORT. “The main traction power is the buffalo. We have tried to bring in 1 mechanical power. Three hundred i New Zealand-made have been j delivered. They are very efficient and' are in great demand by the Chinese. ■We are introducing tractor equipment. I The Chinese are not mechanically j minded, but we have a tractor school land hold classes, which are given not by the permanent type of instructor but by students. The school is controlled by the Society of Friends and the teachers are all American boys, j who only take enough pay for their ' sustenance.