FARMS OF ENGLAND.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 978, 19 November 1910, Page 9

FARMS OF ENGLAND.

— » ■, ; AND IMMIGRATION, AUCKLANDER'S OBSERVATIONS,' Mr. R. H. Abbott, of Auckland, wha j has just returned from a round-the-. world tour, made some interesting comments on the conditions of lifo in Ens- ; land, and their .influence on immigration to a "Herald" interviewer yesterday. ; Speaking of the fall in the value oi " j lural land at Home, Mr. Abbott said that, while he was in England, a great ! deal of agricultural land changed hands. ! One estate in Kent, "tho garden oi i Jingland, of nine farms of about 10U ' acres each, .were placed under tho ham- ! mer—all first-class land, beautifully cul- J tivatcd, and subdivided into small fields, ° ; with decent homesteads and outbuild- i ings, etc.: Evidence was.tendered that .■™° years ago tho owner was offered ! £90 per, acre, yet the land was knocked down at a shade over £<10 per acre. i i< arms were selling daily in England at i from £10 to £20 per. acre, , and land i thero appeared to be as cheap as -id . i\ew Zealand. It .was commonly rd- I ported that farm land had ' dropped ' about one-half in' England during the • lost twenty or thirty years. . "I visited several farms in England/'- ! continued Mr. Abbott, "The condi. tions now are such that a lot of tempt- ! ing would be necessary to induce many i i i ° ccu P ler s to come to New Zea- 5 Jand,, I lie only thing that would draw j them is the idea, of obtaining their owh : freehold. They cannot-believe that any ■' such fools can ho ''found in New Zeaw ' land as to lease unimproved -Native i lands for 21 years, and then have to i hand them back to the 'Maoris oii the ! mere payment for the visible improve. ! ments -which would, represent about I .one-nfth.of the cost of. experiments ihet I dental to bringing in new laud; Prac- ' tically •free or nominal • passaee-rates ! Will be necessary to induce "genuine i Joritish agriculturists to come Ho New j Zealand. This, and the hope of "cheap 1 (Prjit ; would alone draw theiii. I Jne fact is tho Government cannot ! err in making the condition of country ' ! lire too attractive, or in assisting■ tho | farmers too much, as this should'be i the popular life for the youths of this "I country, instead of the present pre- I ference for city life. The small free- ! holder is .the backbone of the country, j and the best asset a country can pos- ! fjess, either in regard to the. best-use j and cultivation x)f the - soil, or'to-th© ' -production of self-reliant, intelligent, j and hardly citizens."'- /: . j Questioned as to : what ho thought. . i by comparison, of the proposal of New \< Zealand, Mr. Abbott said: "I'haveire. '" turned with renewed'.faith and coufi- ] dence in New Zealand, and I feel . con. , vinced that Auckland has a great futurft --not necessarily rapid, but of steady.^l S' on 'th as tiie immense latent resourced j of. tho provinco . are developed. This | I am more convinced of than ever whea ■ I see what is done in other countries j situated not half as favourably as wa ! are. Even comparing our country j II 'th tho large prairie belt of Canada, i allien, just now, is booming, it musa - ; bo bornt; ■in mind that should wheat- ! growing'-* become unprofitable, .or .'the' * seasons fail, as they sometimes do, there is no alternative but wheat, whdrea's our exports comprise over half-a-dozen, commodities and products... This j places our national prosperity on a much : safer footing. ' , - 'Italy is a country about the same i size as New Zealand, and also, like our country, contains, a number of-Jakes, and much mountain land, and 'jot-car-ries a population of over thirty millions on natural resources of .soil and; climate not superior to ours. : Italy, ii. unlike England, does not exist on manufactures and invested funds abroad, but, : like us, on natural products of the soil. While I should be sorry to compare the conditions of life in' Now Zealand with those of Italy, yet, when one sees .what is done there with laud of a sort that we regard as useless, it opens one's eves as to the future possibilities of New Zealand." 1 , -j