The Guardian (And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times.) MONDAY, SEPTEMBER. 3rd, 1923

Hokitika Guardian, 3 September 1923, Page 2

The Guardian (And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times.) MONDAY, SEPTEMBER. 3rd, 1923

ROOM FOR. DEVELOPMENT. With the coming of the through railway arises thoughts os to possible developments in Westland not only to justify the great work which is to give the district so great a fillip, but also to take advantage of the new era rendered possible by means of tie fresh facilities offered ft' transport. The railway makes trading and commerce more general, and supplies the means whereby progress may be distinctive all through the district. Westland is referred to.often as a pastoral country in which there is the making of a second Taranaki. But settlement mast proceed faster and more determinedly tnan is at present foreshadowed. In the various settlement at present operating in dairying there, is in general ft large area of country which as yet has not been brought into use for milking purposes. Stock-rearing is still the staple occupation. And for stock rearing a considerable area -is nocesasry. To have Westland converted into a second Taranaki, it is requisite to set about cutting up the larger areas so as to provide more dairy farms, and by more intensive cultivation secure a larger return from a given -area. The best example of this is tho Arahura Valley where the holdings are all comparatively small in area, yet within, the district a dairy factory flourishes to the greater profit of tnose on the land. Although the farms ~xe contracted in size, those occupying the land till it. and bo get more put of it. Small herds of selected stock are well kept, and give yields iyhich pe-

turn a fair competence to those m the business. If Kokatahi and Tvoitcrangi lands wore similarly settled to tnose of Arahura, the wealth production of the district would bo increased manifold, and it would he distributed over a much larger population. If the example of Arahura were copied in South Westland, similar increased yields would result, and there, too, there is mere room for development than in any other part of the district. Extensive areas are held for profitable stock raising already, but with ihe country available, it would bo more to tho public advantage to see a larger population settled about the thriving districts, and fully occupied in that class of production which, has played so important a part in tho full development of the Dominion. In aalf a dozen settlement areas in the south there is room for many Aralmras, nid if closer settlement were to result, dairying would flourish greatly, and the prospect of Westland becoming a second Taranaki would bo more than a pleasant figure of speech to plouse tho imagination—it would be a present possibility. Now that bridges arc spanning the worst of the river crossings in the south, the probabilities for an expansion i)u dairying are assured. With home separation more general cream can bo transported over longer distances. Home separation is going to make great changes in the south, as with the number of factories now in the district, the more distant of the possible suppliers will be encouraged to send forward a commodity easily produced and readily disposed of. Competition for cream in this district is one of the aids which will ensure greater and wider development in the bnckbloeks. There will bo the encouragement to cut up, lease, or sell, dairying farms, which once established, will draw a larger population to the district ami result- in greater production. Facilities for transport provided for by well-bridged roads and railway access direct- to cool stores, must give dairying its first great opportunity hero. Wlmt lias taken place so far has been a pioneering effort—but it has been a worthy effort, showing the possibilities, and now must set in that real development which will assure Hie future of the district as a profitable field for dairying expansion. Certainly, Westland has the room for development.