THE TENANT FARMER.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 52, 30 December 1867, Page 325

THE TENANT FARMER.

A. pobtion of the letter which appeared in our last issue from one who has been a “ Tiller of the Soil,” de-

serves more than a passing notice. .We refer to that portion, in which he speaks of what be terms the imperative annual expenses of the tenant farmer in the mother country —consisting, in addition to the rental, of fvthe rent charges, poor rates, &c., and amounU ing to not less than £2 5s per acre per annum. Our correspondent'is one who has had experience in these n atters, and what he states is well borne out hy ample confirme.t >ry tvUence. A letter recently received by us from home bears on this question, and we give a short extract from it. The writer says:—

My farm is a yearly tenancy of 600 acres of mixed soil, and I keep 600 ewes. I often have to make a deep pull out of my poeket for cake, corn, &c., sometimes to the extent of 20s per head per annum. At the present time I have over a. thousand head —sheep, lambs, beasts, horses, and pigs— eating, corn, for the sake of a good crop 15 months hence, and my outlay is as nothing compared to that of some farmers I know. Thera are besides many turns of -the screw in a long of covenants, &c., and the continual expectation a notice to quit if the least thing is done contrary to what is supposed to be the interest of the land-' lord.

This picture is black enough, and we suppose that in the worst of cases the Colonial small farmer will be better off than his fellow at home, being free from the heavy burdens we have enumerated ; while the produce of his land should be quite equal in value to that of the English tenant farmer.

The principal item of extra expenditure here will be fouud to be farm labor; and here again the comparative advantages of small holdings over extensive farms becomes apparent, until the eiftensive introduction of labor-saving machinery enables the latter to successfully compete with that which, being under the immediate control and management of the cultivator, will of necessity be the only, payable method of cultivating the soil.

A “Tiller of the Soil ” is right in what lie says about a w r ell-organised society for the dissemination of a knowledge of the principles of agriculture, &c., in relation to the New Zealand climate, and the great blessing it would prove. We heartily wish we could see any hope of the organisation of such a society, but we do not; — agricultural and pastoral societies seem to us to have proved, so far as Hawke’s Bay is concerned, an entire failure. We know .of no reason why it should be so.

It appears to us, therefore, that in this time of dear labor the small farmer has the that until such time as a large influx of population makes labor mote, abundant, and larger cultivations desirable, small holdings must continue. That the problem of making, them pay can be solved we are well convinced.