THE PRICE OF LAND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 808, 4 May 1910, Page 8

THE PRICE OF LAND.

■ HOW VALUES AHE,SUSTAINED. : A gentleman much interested in an article, which appeared in these columns • on' Friday, last conipariug the price of t&rmlands-in various parts of the world, v. statesi; that the.' farm, lands of! England f: appear to be cheap, but -that is.only;.in v. the .light of comparison with the dearer ['•;lands of this country..-'

. "It mtist be borne in mind,", he says, "that we hear a good deal, about favoured ! land which has brought £3Q or «£lO an ; nothing' of the -lands/ that !; xhange hands at M and «£lO an acre, acl.\;«brding -to..locality.' 4 As a matter.of fact i.we are Jiving' now in. an ago of gambling, : «nd, thanks to phenomenal luck with our produce,.. the ; fictitious . prices asked and ; given, for some lands appear to justify the. purchaser's enterprise/' ' , When faced with the return given by v dairying' country, our informant stated that the return was usually made by the man,, his wife, and family slaving' from dusk- till dark nil the year i.round, and by wages saved in employing . ©yery member of the : family/in-the busiipess. Working under these conditions, I. the dairy farmer is able - to pay interest, rpn the* money- he has borrowed to buy this <£40 -an .aero farm, and perhaps show ; to. profit. But what does it cost them? ;''Takei the ; wife 1 of r the average "small jdairy-farmerT-she slaves all her days, and := [half her nights, and the only rest' for i Eer is -that , found in...the grave.:, .Tho (British farmer is on the whole, a better-: • preserved.man, thaii the man on the land bn". New Zealand,; and his wife . has cer- ; Hainly, ': more,, leisure and. -comfort. - By- •!. liis; very ; st'renuousness the Zealand Ifarmer ;lias raised. the price land, ; (but-with; the. first serious set-back in the flprjee of; her. dairy ' products' there will [ toe change."-,' ■ r.. ; . • [To the Editor.] --- \ Sir,—l read with' interest* the letter on ; Und'"values * signed. b} r ' "J.T.K./' but, ; dike .a number of your , readers, I. am I. xjujto at. a ; : loss how. to-compare, values 5 Kvith'lapd. in England,-'as'l do not know. : what-their, rates, etc.;-are.' I .have..been i\ kold. "they. : "are very' higU. rv I- have no • doubt that sonie Taranaki. farmers will : answer J 'J.T.K.'s'- letter, and give/some tfacts- : and/.figures to / justify, the prices [they are paying for their farms, but I will ; conipare M this district (Heikorangi), : jtaJcing it- at .£2O per acre,' whicluis above > 'the average, price/ Our general rate is . one penny in the pound, and one or'two 6pecial rate's bring it up about another : |half-penny in the pound. This will ; carry one cow to the. three acres in wm- ; iter, with a bit of hay. .Now, Mr. Editor, 1 i 'will give your "readers, some of'-the f/prices of, the farms for sale and; to let,; I .taken from the "Farmer • aud . Stcck- ': Sjreeders* Journal/'., dated February 28, V 3910, .page 317, and. headed "Bargains in / tFarm's" : , - tfi •, - "cottages, . 390. acres, ' halt , masture. price 6000 guineas." . / „ • -Glos.—Excellent residence, buildings,^2GU ' »acres,. nearly ' all . pasture, ./bounded by ;. streams, 'including valuable timber. Price ' . To in' Surrey, ; 2lo. ncrcs, 200 .'in. i gTass,.house and buildings;:live and, dead. ; Btock must :be' taken;' includes '5- .cows, -1 and• '50 sheep.. Bent,: *.-30. .; . InVtaking the. (which. I no iloubt: will be hard to get at as the : ptock has'to be wintered. with for more trouble and expense than in.this .c 0""- '- crv), the farm in Surrey no doubt is the \>-\besl for. comparison, as it states the num- '■■ ber of cattle, etc., on. the farm., I think fSt . shows that laud values New Zeallahd compare very favourably. . As for "J,T.lv.'s" Australian land valines, I have a friend who went over to ■ (Sydney a couple of years ago .and .wrote ttne glowing accounts-of the" land he had • [taken lijJ,' and before last Christmas he mas very glad to sell out at a loss.. _ ;' r The buyer has lost nearly half of his .stock since then, with red water ajid : Hick fever, while hia neighbour has lost, gi out of 25 milch cows .with the same ; V T&ell "J.T.K." 'that we .don't meet i -iroublcs half way;, when, we have a fall : in prices of our, produce we will, have to '\jueet it. with ,a .smile, aiid; look pleasant, _I am, etc., K T j