HUTT AND PETGNE NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1793, 4 July 1913, Page 4

HUTT AND PETGNE NEWS.

(From Onr Bpoeial OorraßDonflnnt.) METHODIST CHURCH 'EE-OPENED. Though the weather was boisterous, a .large'gathering, assembled in the Jackson /Street! Alethodist Church oji Tuesday, tho occasion' being* part of the/ re-opening ceremonies. Ml'. C. M. Luke, M.L.C., presided. .There was a combined choir under the leadership of Mr. W. Hepplestone. The chairman, in tho course ot liis' address, remarked that the Methodist Union was not only a union in name. Thirty-live years ago he had dreamt ot the possibility such as this one. He referred to the Rev. J.. J. Lewis as little Goliath," for the manner in which once (thirty years ago) lie had opened and debated the subject of unity. He then referred to the financial aspect of the union. There was a mortgage to 'remove, and he would ask them to strive earnestly to become debt free. ; The Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewan) then welcomed the president of the conference to .Petone, and went on to state that ho was pleased to find that two sections of the Christian religion had joined forces. The Rev. S. Lawry (President ot the Conference) stated that When he first came to Hutt w 1874 there was only, a llag-station there, and the train sometimes stopped at it. (Laughter.) Petone was a swamp. (Loud ' laughter.) He then passed on to speak of several new churches' which he had recently opened. When the Unity Committee met in Christchurch recently it had' been advocated that, when a church was closed through unity, another should be opened in a "more strategic position." That was what had happened regarding this church. The Rev. P. J. Cossum congratulated the Methodists on the removal of tho church to where it could fulfil its mission in a better manner. . The Rev.'J. J. Lewis and the Rev. Mr. Cottom also spoke. During the evening songs were rendered by Mrs. Ridge .and Miss' Foster,- and Messrs. Maude'and Chamberlain.

THE HUTT COUET. Dr. M'Arthur, S.M., presided over the monthly sitting of the Lower Hutt Magistrate's Court 011 Wednesday, Messrs. J. C.ulby and J. Wilkin. J.IVs, were also on the Bench. The hearing of the ■ adjourned case in which Isabella ICronast applied for a separation order (with maintenance • and guardianship of child) against Edward Kvonast was continued. Mr. P. W. Jackson, appeared for plaintiff, A. W. Blair for defendant. His Worship reserved decision. Judgment was given for plaintiff by default in the civil case Waugh v. Simmonds and Co., a claim for 145., with costs Us- , , Reserved judgment was given 111 the case in which B. Tutte, licensee of the Taita Hotel, was charged with keeping his hotel open after hours for the sale of liquor, and exposing liquor for sale. His Worship stated that he had inspected the slide through which liquor was alleged to have been seen, and had come to the .opinion that there was no exposure." The liquor had been sold to a lodger, and the licensee had a perfect right to entertain his friends. Both charges would be dismissed. Mr. J. J. M'Grath appeared for the licensee . For failing to attend drill, Win. E. Coolev was fined M, in default seven days' military detention in Alexandra Barracks • P. D. Rae, G. W. Burns, S. H. TTnwrott S. Stratton.' H. l 1 ltzinaunce, W tFtoiourice. Ily. J Barlow, D Neil, and E Booth, wero each fined .£l, 111 default seven days for a similar oilence. For failing to attend. camp. H. Fitzmauricc was fined »• 11 military detention, tfor failing to render persona! Juno Hook. 1. JTlntoMi 'were charged, but as they were all regular attendants at drill, the cases dismissed'

TEMPLARS* RESOLUTION,. At Wednesday evening's meeting of the Hope of Petone Lodge of Good Templars the following, motion (proposed by Bro. ,1. Rose) was adopted"That we congratulate the Petone Council on passing a resolution opposing-the sale of liitoxteating liquor on the Hutt Park, and in the public interest, respectfully urgO tlio controlling bodies to take a firjn stand in tJiis matter." Next week is competition night.

The 6Gventh instalment of tho replies receivcil in responso to The Dominion's questions for farmers appears below, and will be found to contain a number of interesting letters. As previously stated, when the publication of tho letters is concluded an analysis of the replies will be made. IN THE KING COUNTRY. VIEWS'OP AUCKLAND FARMERS' UNION PRESIDENT. SETTLEMENT IN THE. NORTH. Mr. D. H. Lusk, of Te Kuiti, one of tho pioneers' of Auckland province and Auckland Provincial President of the Farmers' Union, before dealing with tho questions, gives. an account of the progress of settlement in the north, and tho obstacles with which settlers there have had to contend. Ho writes:— Your special country life issue is now beloro me, and I beg to congratulate you upon having produced a very interesting and instructive publication. The review of Mr. J. G. Wilson, president of the New Zealand Banners' Union and the reminiscences of Sir. I. W. A. Marchant, late Surveyor-General, are of special interest, but it is regrettable that neither of these gentlemen seems to know much about the provincial district of Auckland. At least, they have not said, much about the northern half of the island. Believing, as I (10. that from Wellington southward very little is known of the Auckland province, 1 will confine my remarks to that part of the Dominion, though I claim to know something of the early history, of' the south, having been present arid assisted at tho birth of the Canterbury settlement in 1850. It is with the sunny north, however, that I speak with confidence, having been interested in its agricultural and pastoral pursuits for G3 years. The great bar to the progress of agriculture in the north has been the presence of- a large Native population who owned and wish, until lately, to retain possession of the greater part of all the best land. That fact, ana not as often stated, the gonoral poverty of the soil, is the cause of the slow progress made and the many hardships endured by northern formers. The>land for European settlement having been slowly acquired in small and detached blocks, it followed that decent road communication either to seaports or market towns was in tho past entirely wanting, and is still lamentably insufficient—hence the well-known phrase "tho roadless north." In addition to this great'.'hindrance to agricultural development tho north suffered most severely from two wars with the Natives, and the Native Land League, through which a very largo portion of the best lands in the province was absolutely closed against European settlement, and business intercourse also greatly hampered between different farming communities. So that, while tho farmers on the Canterbury Plains were rejoicing and prospering through ' good. roads cimd railways, the north had neither one noi* the other, but was sparsely settled by small detached settlements of struggling pioneer farmers.

Native Difficulties. It has been said that "all things corns to those who wait." The northern farmers have had to wait long for roads and- railways and now there does seem a fair prospect of their obtaining at least a modicumof those necessary aids to agricultural prosperity, and when the north is well roaded it will be the beauty spot of tile Dominion. Fortunately, Native difficulties are altogether a. thing of the' past, and the Maoris are now more than willing to dispose of their surplus lands. Tliey also fully appreciate goodroads and railways; they uso them fully as much as their white neighbours; but they cleverly arrange so that the simple white man should make and" maintain them at his own expense—they object to wad rates as a principle.

Following, but briefly, in tho historical sketch contributed by Mr. J. G. Wilson of tho rise and progress of agricultural pursuits.in New Zealand, it is to bo noted that forming in every branch commenced in tho extreme north, as did European settlement, and that as far back as 1842, there wero considerable area? of grain in the Bay of Islands district, also flour mills to grind the wheat, so that tho limited population at that time were independent of imported foodstuffs. In the same district, and further north, there wero also some very nice . little herds of cattle and flocks of sheep owned by tho two Williams families, Captain Butler, of Jlangonui, and a few other pioneers. At Hokianga, nearly the oldest white settlement, there was a littlo cattle-raising done on land cultivated and sown in English grasses, but the principal business done ou the west coast was in the export of kauri spars and tflnber. Then camo tho war in tho north known as Hcke's War, which for a timo prevented all progress, and drove a good many valuable settlers altogether away from the north. A short time before this, Governor Hobson had reuioved from the Bay of Islands to the Waitemata Harbour, and selected the new settlement of Auckland as the seat of Government for tho colony. There immediately sprung up a demand for agricultural and dairy produce, also for beef and mutton. There were British troops to be fed there at. that time, as well as resident settlers, and tho few farmers then on the isthmus were very busy and successful cultivating the rich volcanic lands near Auckland.

Some Early Settlers. About 181G three ships from Britain brought quite a number of Scotch farmers to Auckland, and they and their descendants have since kep,t .well in the van of agricultural knowledge both as to theory aml practice. There were many good and enterprising farmers in tho Auckland district in tlioso days, among whom I may specially mention Itobert Graham, who first exported wheat and potatoes (grown 011 what is now the Ellcrslie racecourse) to California, when gold was there discovered in 18-1!); the lM'l.ean brothers, who were mainly instrumental in introducing pedigree shorthorn and Hereford cattle from England; Bich, who introduced the first, and, I believe, the best merino sheep ever brought to New Zealand; I. May, celebrated for Lincolns; T. Russell (with whom was associated .Mr. Joini Grigg, then farming near Auckland) imported splendid thoroughbred horso stuck, and formed the New Zealand Stud Company with the celebrated Musket as principal sire. These, and many other farmers in the early days, did much to foster good farming. I myself in 18.it imported and used all the best agricultural machinery, including reapers manufactured by lt-ansom and Sims and HornsIjjs. There was no lack of effort or enterprise among farmers in the north, but as I said above, war and the Native land difficulty proved a terribly heavy handicap. Now the clouds have, nearly dispersed—not altogether until the Maoris are put in every respect 011 the same foot-, inn on tho European. with all hi» jirivi. lejs« and til his responsibilities 1

With all tho drawbacks enumerated, however, farming generally in the north is prospering greatly of late years, and very large areas are being each year brought into grass and cultivation, especially in the King Country, which, since opened to white settlement, has made wonderful progress. Tho dairying industry and export of butter and cheese, which from this province ten .years ago was'a mere trifle, is now increasing so fast that in a few years it will far exceed that of any other part of the Dominion, because settlement may truly be said to be Only beginning, and vast areas of good land are now available for cultivation. In the extreme north fruit-growing is rapidly on tho increase. As much as ten tons of grapes to the acre has frequently been grown in the open, and made into very decent wine, while peaches and other stone fruits are grown largely without fear of damage by frost. The lack of the moans of conveyance, and the almost entire absence of good roads, is the bano .of the northern settler. If he grows, Wheat or potatoes all his profit }s gone in the expense of getting it to a market. Fruit is destroyed by long transit; fat iambs and sheep can not be got out through the mud tracks that obtain for seven or eight months in the year, and milk or cream wagons are similarly blocked. The greatest and most crying need of the north is roads—more and better roads given these settlements agricultural progress will at once increase by leaps and bounds, but without an energetic public scheme of road-making progress will be comparatively slow, and the prosperity of the whole community checked.

The Questions. In l-eplyinff to your published questions, I will bo brief lest I weary your readers. 1. The schoolmasters are, I believe, generally, doing the .host thoy can in accordance with their ability, and in some cases doing excellent work in training children, in life on tho farm, but unfortunately innny of the teachers themselves, especially in small schools, are young persons, reared in towns, who liava no tnowledgo of farm life, or either the theory or practice of agriculture. This evil should bo rojncdk'd as soon as possible by . training the teachers themsolves, and establishing in every country district agricultural high schools, with large of land attached, so that the full practice as well ; as the theory of good farming could be taught. Again, this should be supplemented by an agricultural college, which is specially required jn tho north b: cause of tho widely differing soils and climatic conditions existing' in different parts of tho' 'Auckland province.

2. The farmers in this neighbourhood do .not get the return they reasonably should from the sale of their products, and tho reason is fully explained abovo in tho bitter oomplaint of .the want of roads or other means of transport to port or market. 3. The farmers hero most emphatically do not receive from tho railways and roads the service they should reasonably expect. Tho so-called roads are a disgrace to any civilised country;, and tho general management of the' railways the worst, I believe, in tho Empire. We have hopes of a remedy through the. advent of a competent general manager given a free hand, and the retirement of some fossilised heads of the Railway De.partment. . i. Tho postal , and telephone service is good, bait farmers would like some exten-. sion of tho telephone wires, and some reduction in rates. 5. Tho farmers here are obtaining direct benefit from the holding of agricultural shows, principally through the opportunity of seeing and buying higliolass stock for breeding purposes and the latest improved farm implements. All agricultural and pastoral associations should be united as a branch of tho New Zealand Farmers' Union. This would promote unify in general among farmers, obtain a greater amount of combined usefulness, and save a great deal of unnecessary duplication of work. G. The work of the Department of Agriculture has been of direct benefit here in many ways. Much useful information has "been distributed, and the R.uakura Experiment and Instructional Farm is now a very excellent and instructive institution, much appreciated by the farmers in this and surrounding districts.^ 7. We have an excellent buying and selling organisation here, the best in tho Dominion. upon purely co-operative lines, in connection with the New Zealand Farmers' Union. This has been in operation nearly three years, it is an immense success, "and is about to spread all over New Zealand. I have been lately requested to inaugurate it in New South Wales. 8. There are scarcely any renters of farms near here, excepting holders of lease in perpetuity. They aro doing fairly well. 9. The supply of farm labour is quite inadequate. Onr Union have arranged with tho Prime Minister a plan for the settlement of groups of agricultural labourers to be pla«d on small sections of land located in different parts of the district. 10. I think the conditions surrounding wage labour in' this neighbourhood are satisfactory to tho labourers. They

ought to bo, as the labourers aro making more money off their work' on the farms nt present than tho majority of tho farmers. 11. Undoubtedly the providing of Rood ronds, and as this cannot bo done under present conditions by tho local bodies, therefore, I hold that tho most important thing the Government can do awl the thing which will most conduco to the prosperity of the whole Dominion, as well as the general betterment of country life, is to speedily construct good main roads wherever they do not already exist.

MAINTENANCE OR METAL?

TARANAKI ROAD PROBLEMS. From Whangamomona, fur inland in Taranaki, coiiirs this letter:— 1. Schools aiot especially satisfactory. 2. Yes; their products arc sold in tho open market. 3. No. Tho roads in winter pot into a very bad stato from want of metalling. 4. Post and telephone services are satisfactory. 5. IS'ot so far, but tho Stratford show (40 miles) will benefit as access is provdded. G. The Department of Agriculture lias been of direct boneiit so far as tho inspection of stock rocs. Other work of tlio Department will benefit later on. 7. No organisation; but consider they are. not under disadvantages cxcept for carriage.

9. Supply of farm labour not satisfactory ; but tlie conditions, especially for bush-felling, arc not conducive, and bushfelling is the principal labour. 11. The most important single thine; for tho bettermpnt of country life in these parts is a satisfactory road. Tho need of motal is keenly felt, especially in winter, and it greatly adds to tho cost of living when one is obliged to pay lieavy fiteignts over a mud road. It should certainly bo tho aim of tho Government fo provide a finished road (moaning metalled) as in tho long run it would bo the cheaper. . As it is, it is vory expensive patching and fascining mud-holes every winter, and the money spent over a number of years would certainly have been bettor spent in tho first case on metal.

LAND SETTLEMENT.

HELP IN THE FIRST YEARS OF A FARM. Mr. William Smart, of Havelock North, writes: 1. No. The teachers liavo no time for such work. 2. No. The retailer gets too much profit, owing, in my opinion, to the giving of too much credit. 3. Yes, they are veil served by both railways and roads. i. Yes, from postal service. Telephone charges—J3lo per year—for house connection are considered too high.

5. Yes, being an education to see exhibits. : 6. No; so far as I know the Department is no uso whatever. 7. No organisation whatever. ' 8. Yes. Heaters of farms aro doing 9. Yes, plenty of hands available. 10. Yes. I believe the conditions of lalour are satisfactory; I have heard no complaints. , „ 11. Land settlement by the Government so as to give persons with a limited amount of capital a chance to secure land. Private individuals' selling terms aro mostly too high for small capitalists, i.e., where the price per . aero is reasonable, the deposit in cash required is often prohibitory. If sortie scheme could be devised to assist settlers the first two ■years after they take upland it would certainly better country life. ORGANISATION. A CARTERTON REPLY. Mr. E. Eagle, junr., of Carterton, replies as follows:-— 2 3, i, and 5. les. .. 6] The work of the Department of Agriculture has been of d'rcot benefit here, but I am of opinion that the farmers do not make tlie use of the Department that. Nof'tlrero is practically no buying and' selling organisation at all. 8. Renters of farms aro making a satisit is almost impossible to get R °lo! Yes? conditions of farm labour are satisfactory in most eases. 11. Organisation.