LIFE ON NORFOLK ISLAND.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20096, 27 November 1930, Page 5

LIFE ON NORFOLK ISLAND.

I SUNSHINE and few I Worries, | A]N IMER HsriXG letter. r £•*-^tirvg- tideiights oa tif e 012 y ur . eeiv«<3 S ! a . nd a r • Biven in a letter rej 'i Christebureh business mna :° m Mr *>ed J. Tattle, former'v of LQristchuicli. 'Lite bcre goes on witli a smile,''' Mr G M "'and very little bappcri3 o comment on, >or to interest the oute \, or Id. I am pleated that, I winhere rather thau in Cbristchuroh hLf y °l her P art °f Zealand. We ~... , rea< l °f the cold and wet you have onfv'i?® 0 *? While here ™ b *ve had only the winter rains to face. Naturhut ♦■i >Ur sss is lower in the wiDter, „ Bun . A3 warmth and counteracts heL .J»ghts. Lately our glass has Ir round' 7o degrees in ... f ' a( r e au *l ou r sea breezes temper ns olceal working conditions, everyining— bananas, pineapples, oranges, c c. is pushing along new growth. No Unemployed. „ l** l6 depression in Australia and New eaiatid has been reflected to a certain extent, in our returns for our bananas, etc., but I have every confidence that taese two countries by judicious government measures and .by the people buying necessities only and then of local manufacture only will soon ease the situation. "Here we have no unemployed, i mean there are always a few not too eager for work, and they can bo had for odd jobs, but the steady farm band is iu constant work. There is always a certain amount of clearing going on preparatory to new plantations being planted and this absorbs a number of men. Then again most of the employable workers are men with their own sections who go out working, say, for two or three days a week, and earn sufficient to pay store accounts, until their plantations come in to profit. The Many Purpose liumera. "The cost of living is not nearly as high as on tho mainland, chiefly because we haven't the luxuries tempting us, and because most people grow their own requirements in fruit and vegetables, milk, butter, ♦'owls, and eggs, or else barter with their neighbour. Kumeras do remarkably well on Norfolk, one upecimeii at last year's show weighing 14!b. They are used as food for man and beast: horses and fowls are very fond of them. The tops are good for cows and the kumcra makes an excellent food for pigs. There are several farmers raising pigs as a side line, growing maize, kumeras, and lucerne as feed and also using their surplus milk, and on such feed the pigs cannot but make very rapid growth. Now Blood Wanted. '•'Our agricultural and horticultural show takes place next week, and we have a very comprehensive catalogue, the bulk of which is devoted to farm products, fruits, cookery, and tlowors, and very keen competition results in most classes. We have initiated a few new classes this year, and each year sees an improvement. There are no stock entries as this is really the weakness of Norfolk Island. The horses do their work, and the cows give milk, but new blood is badly needed to improve both. Tho butchers find it hard t'J fet good beasts to slaughter, as nobody as ever taken tho question of-grasses end grazing seriously. When the Melanesian Mission were here they spent a lot of money experimenting with grasses but since then the residents have been satisfied to depasture tlieir stock on Government reserve? and the roads on payment of 4a per head of stock per annum," or, iu lieu, a day's work cutting noxious weeds on reserves. This means that the beasts have no cbanco of being topped off for slaughter—consequently poor beef. As the butchers ard only open twice weekly one needs fowls and ducks as a standby. "In closing, I must thank you moat sincerely for The Press, received regu- I larjy, and eagerly scanned from cover j to cover.'' .