DR. FINDLAY IN THE NORTH.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 834, 4 June 1910, Page 11

DR. FINDLAY IN THE NORTH.

. « NEW USE FOR "PRISON LABOUR PREPARING iFItTJIT-FARMS FOR . • SETTLERS. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) • Auckland, June 3. The Hon. J)r. ~]?indlay, ;who returned from his first visit c to'the.''North Auck-. land district last evening.' has como back immensely impressed;- with the possibilities of that portion of the Dominion. ' '.:.,' "I think," ike said;-, speaking;..;to a "Herald" representative, "that imosf southern people , share" vjefr'ithat the North of Auckland is mainly poor or waste' lands, and consequently has no future before it. As far as I am concerned this impression .is now entirely dissipated.: In addition to the magnificent beauty of the landscape and sea coast, I was.greatly impressed by the, large areas of land, already'under cultivation, the number of. dairy farms at present doing well, and of course the much larger area of.Native and Crown lands still awaiting settlement and development. "Everywhere I went," proceeded the Minister, "I. found unqualified approval of the suggestion I made at Whangaroi that a certain portiqn of the tree-planting 'prison labour could be used for preparing fruit-farms for settlers. I have satisfied myself that there are large areas of land throughout the counties I visited in the north which will grow better apples than any other land in New ' Zealand, and will, I believe, produce fruit equal in quality to that produced anywhere. This land, it seems clear, is'worthless for any purpose except fruit-farming, and since at Waipu, Whakarewa r rowa, Waiotapu, and Hanmer, has been such an unqualified success, there seems no reason whatever why, within a -few years in different parts of the north, an "area, of' at least 10 square miles of properly-prepared fruit-farms " should not be made available for European fruit-farmers. Inquiries I have made justify the this area would provide farms for about 400 settlers, who, with. their wives and families, would make a large addition to the population of the north. "There seems to me to be no limit to the area of suitable land which can be so treated. In five years at least the apple-orchards under the scheme I propose would bo ready for occupation. - The establishment of a fruitgrowing area such as I have suggested would doubtless lead to the establishment of canning factories and to all the other necessary adjuncts to a large and profitable export trade, in fruit both tinned and otherwise. The suggestion has not been considered in any way by the Government, and there may be pos-' sible.objections to it which.l have, not yet discovered.. It seems, however, if prison labour can be so successfully employed in: planting timber trees which will be unproductive for at , least 70 years, there can be no objection on principle to the scheme I have outlined. ,1 . . .