WEREROA STATE FARM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1840, 28 August 1913, Page 10

WEREROA STATE FARM.

ATTACKED AND DEFENDED. Replying to Mr. Robertson, in tho Houso of Representatives yesterday, tho Prime Minister stat-ed. that a commission of inquiry was set up some time ago to investigate charges of defective and dishonest management at Wereroa State Farm. The finding of the commission was that the charges were unjustified, and that the state l merits which gave rise to tho inquiry were made upon groundless assumptions. Mr. H. J. H. Okey, member for Taranaki, said that ho did not think the Dominion was getting a proper return for the large area of valuable land rosorvod in the farm. All that was done at tho farm was to keep a few Holstem cows and send eight or ten young bulls to the Palmorston Show. Members: Twenty.

Mr. Okey said that the Dominion was not getting full value from this large area of land. Ho suggested that a portion of the 1 farm should be cut up into small farms. A dozen of these farms might bo cut out, an area of 200 acres being retained for the purposes of the Government stock farm. In this way tho land would bo put to profitable use, and the production of the Dominion increased. At present a large part of this land, which was worth £50 or £60 an acre, was being kept for the pm-pose of running a few ordinary sheep. They looked to the Minister for Lands to do something of the nattire lie' had indicated with the land which now to a great extent was lying idle. A contrary view was expressed by Mr. J.' H. Scott, member for Paliiatua. He stated that the Wereroa farm was being put to good use. Very good work indeed was being done by the Department at the farm. Tho establishment of the Holstein herd alone would justify the existence tof the farm.,