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Hokitika Guardian, 9 March 1925, Page 2

But the Minister of Lands could and should take up with enthusiasm a policy which would ensure land settlement on a considerable scale by small holdings. When Mr Tate in the Town Hall last week was referring to the position of Denmark mul its great success in dairying, he stated lie was introduced to a Dane who was described as the most successful farmer in the immediate community. Yet '.hat farmer had Of acres only on which to operate—an area about the sue cf Cass Square! He was a prosperous farmer—a tribute to his intensive cultivation and the superior excellence of his dairy herd. There are many areas in New Zealand where the small holding farmer could do well. Many of our own river flats in Westland could participate in the prosperous times, too, were some of the larger-held stations sub-divided. As it is, much of the land held is still covered with native hush, or partially cleared. In a great many instances blackberry or gorse takes charge, or for the want of the plough and drainage, rushes have asserted themselves and crowd out the grass fodder. This is mainly througn areas being too large for the occupier who has not the means to employ labor to clear the land thoroughly un i till it regularly. There will be many people who go about Westland who can recall areas where the lnnd was a trim paddock, producing grass w crops, and

carrying regular herds of stock. In several instances now the herds arc there still in diminished numbers, while the crops are lacking, and rushes and other useless growth are taking the place Of grass. In a more restricted area the occupier would keep his land cleaner. And while his stock may he smaller in number, it wjould be in better order, and for less daily labor return a hotter average return, while the reduction in land would mean less capital invested or less interest to pay on borrowed money. And if two, three, four, five or more settlers were farming the land, where before only one was doing so, what a marked increase there would Ire in. the productivity of the district. Denmark has shown the world what tan lie done in the matter of small holdings. The outstanding success there should ho an encouragement for this district to follow, for if is clear dairying can lie made to flourish ig really )iu New Zetilaaul. Hon. A. D. McLeod has many excellent qualities as Minister of hands, one of the most signifLdant being personal determination. If then, he took up tliis great aspect to the land .settlement problem—a policy of small holdings—lie would leave his mark for al time on one of the most prominent pages of New Zealand history.

“Luck, the incalculable factor,” is the title of an article contributed recently to the “Daily Mail” by John Blunt on the text provided by the had luck of the English Eleven in the first th.rotost matches, llis theory, which gnmb Inns will heartily endorse, Is that luck, either good or had, comes in runs and that it generally evens itself up in the long run. The gambler, indeed, opes further, and plays a conservative or a risky game accordingly as his luck runs out or in, ami he soon learns the lessen, too, that the worst form of luck may come in the shape of good cards, which are pro-destined to lie beaten h\ better, and that when his luck is in fie can win with the poorest “paper”. It would seem that some such factor entered into the fifth test match in Sydney. Just when the Englishmen were congratulating themselves on the collapse of the Australians, and <n the turn of the tide disclosed in the fourth test, the English Eleven failed in a degree that was the more sensational by comparison with the opportunity lost. And if it he argued that the luck really did change with the fourth test, then one would expert that even at that stage the Englishmen had still every reason to hope for the test. But luck, again, is like a dying t audio, which may flame up for m; instant, and go black out the next. And while luck must he. in the Ion; run, a stable quantity, it is hopelessly incalculable in the duration of its ebb or How. But. in regard

cricket, into which it enters, proven ally, it is only fair to say that the Australians have proved themselves more than merely lucky, for on the run of the play they have shown their superiority to the Englishmen.