MANAWATU

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 81, 31 December 1919, Page 10

MANAWATU

RETROSPECT AND PROSPECTS

DISTRICT HAS FAIRLY PROSPEROUS YEAR (Special Correspondent.) Palmerston North, December 30. Although tho Manawatu district, in common with tho rest of tho Dominion, has passed through many vicissitudes during the past year, it emerges from them in a. thoroughly htalthy eondit.on in evory way. At the coimnenceniont of the. year tho district w?a just recovering iroui the ctVects of tho terrible# o.pidemic of which it had more than its full share, and in which it H>:t quit': ;i number of its best citizens, but s.nce then tho community has; boon extremely healthy. Tho oiliciiil rennrU show that there luvs been no recnulesccnco of the dis«ase, ami very litilo sickness has teen experienced, while statistics are. to the eft'ect that the 'births nnd marricges havo outnumbered the death®.

Although trado had a bad set-bad; about'the middle of the year through the destruction by fire of the only steamer that ran regularly between Wellington and l''oxton," which is reco,'jn!sed'''as the ix>rl: of this dis-irift, and the scarcity of boats, this lias now ten remedied to some extent by the purchase of another steamer which has taken up tho running bolwe.cn these two ports. 11l view of Ill's, the Foxron Harbour Board Ims entered upon a comprehensive scheme fo< 1 improving the facilities at tho port, and also for providing fcsttsr means of (iccess thereto. . ■ ! .jA little Inter came tho railway cut, which at first proved most disastrous to business, and fev a. time caused a great shortage of supplies. However, a local committee, acting in conjunction with the Railway Department, took the transport arrangements in hand, and by their pronuit action supplies of mcrcl.aiulise, coal, and builditi'.! Material were kept moving with tin most'satisfactory remits.

Business on Sound Footing. So far as biis'ncss generally is concerned, there can bo no doubt that it is ou a sound footing. Several of the loading establishment-. have found it necessary to increase their accomvnodation in order to cope with the growing while quite a liumoer of new buildings have been erected, ."ind rt the present time contracts e.re out for several shops and stores. A very good indication as to the soundness of business is afforded l>v the fact that during the year there was only one bankruptcy m the district, and in this ease the creditors are in the hippy position-of having been paid in full. , Tho ilniry industry, tvliicU is a factor to lie reckoned with 111 the Manawatu, is a decidcdly growing one. Several new co-operalivc factories have been creeled, and others have had lo havo considerable additions made to them to cope wit i the increased output which is exnected. In spite ei tlie. shortaso of feed.in the early spring, wliich militated against the milk supply, and caused a scarcity of butter for'a short lime, the factories havo all been kept soinj well for the past couple of months, and the price paid for hutter-fal: is a paying proposition for Ihc dairy farmer: There is a stroiis move in the direction of making more "use of the by-products of milk in the direction of turning out dfieil milk, sugar of milk, casein, etc., and this should still further enhance the value of butter-fat. In this connection, however, it must bo taken into consideration that there will be less skim milk for raisin* calves and for feeding pi»s. The latter arc becoming fcarcw every day, and but. very few aro being raised in' this .district, with the result that the prices of bacon and hams are soaring to heights which threaten to hanis'k the?" commodities from the breakfast tabic. Unless the industry of pie-raising i* to bo alimved to die out. it is evident that romo other food products will Ivave to bo found to'take the place of milk, and it is satisfactory to note that, with this object in view, the Agriculnral_ Department's development farm at Wcvcroa is j making experiments. I Subdivision of Land. There can bo no doubt but .that the impetus given to dairying has been. largely responsible for tile- advance in the price of land, and several large kivo been cut up ar.d sold at prices which must he satisfactory to vendors. .Although values in some eases are extremely high, it is generally considered that the heavier lands will ictuni a fair profit, even at .£lO9 per acre, when cut into blocks of from 30 lo 100 acres, and used for Jhiryiisg purposes. It: is satisfactory to note that there has been little attempt at aggregation during the year, the tendency being, in fact, in the direction of subdivision. Any estates, which have keen cut up have been eagerly sought after, while tlw demand still continues. l!oth town and suburban property has advanced considerably in price, and it is impossible to rent ;i houso in any of the towns of the district, while the prises asked for town properties iiro very much on a par with those in tlio bigger cities. To assist in casing the position tlio Palmerston North Borough Council is borrowing a sum of t £10,(!00 for providing, houses for its workmen, and severe,! of the county councils are also adopting a similar scheme. So far as stock and agriculture are concerned, the past year Jias. been most 'disappointing. Peeil was extremely scarce during the winter following on a. dry

Mitiinm, and what few root crops were grown wore almost a failure. The result was that botli cattle and sheep got into very low condition, so that many of thein imcewnbed, while numbers, of these which- survived h-id a hard struggle up to alwut a couple oi : months ago, as there, was but little sustenance ill the grass. However, the warm rains which have fallen lately have put'quite a 'different complexion upon matters, nnd now .the paddocks arc verdant with luscious grass and the stock are picking up wonderfully, while both root and grain crops are coining on exceedingly well. The shearing, now practically completed, was considerably interfered with by broken weather, which caused the /'rocc-is 'to bo delayed on some of the larger stations. Considering the unfavourable s<?,i.«u the wool, on the whole, was. in belter condition than might have bson expected. ' Although not heavy in the yolk, the bulk of the clips were clean, and being shorn early were almost free from the pirijiiri (which is so ninei) in evidence later in the season) and the wool was fairly bright. Considerable losses were sustained amongst the earlier shorn sheen owing to cold snaps, which were prevalent ,at the commencement of shearing. The nereentago of lambs is totter than might have been expected, as manv of tho-o dropped early jn the season succumbed (o tlio severe weather, but the later lambs are looking extremely •.rail. Altliouzh the cold stoves and freezing factories were more or leas blocked dun im: the past year, matters are now imnrovitiE considerably, and with the extra shipping which is in sight it is cxpecled that, room will be found for the present wasou's output of both meat and dairy nrndiicfi Owing to (lie shortage of space and I he high freights ruling for flax, those engaged in this industry have experienced rather a bad year, il'heir troubles being added to by the ravages of a disease which played luivoc with the green l!ax, and mnnv of the mills had to close down. There are indications now that freights nro comim: down, and that more space ivill be available for the finished produet on some o£ the Itome-going ships. 7lie Local Bodies,Several of the county councils arc raisins.' big loans in order (o improve the main roads, which require totally .different treatment to cope with tho large amount of motor (rathe which they are now ramii'id to carry, and several of these bodies are importing the most up-to-date machinery for laying down concrete. bitumen and asphalt surfaces. The I'ntmerston North Borough Council, which Iwfore the war decided upon a scheme for electric trams for tho borough, has got very little further with tho project. and proposes to go to .the ratepayers for an additional loan in order to nrocced with Toe work. There is considerable opposition' to the tramway scheme, mnnv experts who have recently returned from abroad advising the adoption of a system of electric motor buses

as beimr more suitable to tho requirements of the town. The oouneil is incroasins; (ho plant at the gasworks, by aettint an extra lot of retorts, -as the pirsent plant ij proving inwiHicient to emra with the increased demand for gas. Tim council is also seeking |>ower to eii'ct. a. newer-house in order to supply electric IMit and power until tho Jlaugalino scheme is completed, after which it will be used in conjunction with that scheme, and also as a stand-by in ease of ti brea.kdo.vn of tho big .jehomn at any time. Tho peoplt" generally are disaj>nninteil at the slow . progress made in connection with Afangahao hydro-electric scheme, and the local Vigilance Committee is determined to keep the Government spurred up to the mark. Some of the local bodies aro already endeaveurins to iralce .•yrn-ngements in advance for the reticulation of their districts, so that thev may be able to avail themselves of tho current immediately it is re-ndv. Tn this connection the I'c.lmer ston No"th Borough Council end the Kniranea Countv Council aro going into the nuestiou of taking the matter up jointly. On the whole, the year just closing has been fairly prosperous-', and the prospects for tho coming year aro of the briskest.