RANGATAUA FARMERS' CLUB by W. OHIA Lying east of Tauranga on the main Whakatane highway, and extending between five and nine miles from Tauranga, is a farming district which has made history in the Young Farmers' Club movement of New Zealand. In that district in October, 1949, was formed the first all-Maori Young Farmers' Club. Although there is now a second all-Maori Y.F.C. at Matakana Island in the same district, the club at Papamoa was the first to be formed. The district is essentially a dairying one, embracing places with such euphonious names as Maungarangi, Ngapeke, Waitao, Papamoa, Kairua and Matapihi. Because of that diversity of names the Club has adopted the Maori tribal generic name — Rangataua. The Rangataua Y.F.C. is not a large Club; at no time has its membership exceeded 22. It remains at about the 15 mark, with an average attendance of 10 at meetings. But smallness of numbers does not worry the stalwarts, whose enthusiasm keeps the Club not only alive, but effectively functioning. As members remark, they prefer a small Club composed of active participants to a large Club of dormant visitors. It is with the effect that the Y.F.C. has had on the economic prosperity and progress of those young Maoris that this article deals. The first meeting was held in the Papamoa Maori School on October 26, 1949, through the enthusiasm of three men—a young Maori farmer, Mr W. Ohia; an elder who later became senior adviser, the late Mr W. Werohia; and Mr A. V. Allo, supervisor of the Department of Agriculture, Tauranga. It was the pertinacity of those three and the sympathetic co-operation of the headmaster of the local Maori School, Mr F. M. Pinfold, which has carried the Club successfully over the four years of its existence. And that same spirit has permeated all present members, whose loyalty to the Club is one hundred per cent. Though it is not claimed that all the progress on the farms of these young men is due to their Y.F.C. activities, it is claimed that no other Maori farm in the district is better than the farm of any Club member. In other words, every one of those properties is a shining example of farm management to all other farms in the district. Cause and effect go hand in hand. One wonders whether the members' interest in the Y.F.C. movement is a manifestation of the qualities which are carrying them to success on their farms, or whether their association with the Club's activities brings about that success. My guess is a ‘fifty-fifty’. Monthly meetings of the Club have been held regularly over the years, and all members are agreed that the aspects of farming brought to their notice have helped them very materially. At practically all meetings there has been a guest speaker, so that members have been given the benefit of a lifetime of experience, much of it specialised, from farmers and government officials. In particular, officers of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Maori Affairs have been very helpful. Besides speakers from the Tauranga County Council, Auckland University College, and Maori Adult Education group, the Club has been addressed by a Tauranga dairy factory manager, a Maori Welfare Officer, a district officer of the N.Z. Dairy Board, a stock inspector, a veterinarian and several outstanding local farmers. The diverse topics studied have covered a multitude of farming activities. The enumeration of half a dozen may be of interest: Administration of a Dairy Factory: Seed Certification: Hormone Weedkillers; Rating of Maori Lands; Silage Making; Copper Deficiency in Local Soil. The author, (Photo: J. Ashton)