COMING CONFERENCE

Hokitika Guardian, 16 January 1929, Page 3

COMING CONFERENCE

MINISTER TO MEET HTS OFFICERS. WELLINGTON. Jan. U. It is intended by the Minister of Lands, the Hon G. W. Forbes, to call a conference of his officers to discuss land settlement on Wednesday. January 23 in Wellington. The Minister will preside and the conference will be attended by the Under-Secretary for Lands, members of the Land Purchase Board, and all the Commissioners of Crown Lands. The Minister intends to place before bis officers the policy he proposes for expediting settlement, and it is probable that a further statement regarding the Government’s intentions in this respect will follow immediately the conference has concluded.

Addressing fruitgrowers at a luncheon at which he was a guest to-day Mr Forbes remarked that as Minister of Lands, and being responsible for the settlement of the country, trying, to get as many men as possible on the land, he felt that they had to look for the expansion of such industries as orcharding to bring about closer settlement. The whole essence of fruitgrowing was that it brought a return from a reasonably sized holding, so that it was an industry in connection with which a good deal of settlement could he effected. At the inception of commercial fruitgrowing lie could remember that the Government-gave a good deal of encouragement to people to go in for orcharding, and many grovel's who started enthusiastically found that there were many more problems in it than they anticipated at the commencement, when they had in mind alluring advertisements showing apple trees breaking down under big loads of luscious fruit an'd nicely dross, ed neople walking about apparently doing nothing. Tt was like the Garden of Eden.

The Hon H. Atmore: Without the snake. (Laughter).

“The snake was there.” added Mr Forhcrs, “in the shape of woolly aphis, cod!in moth and mussel scale.” His own experience in planting a farm orchard suggested to him that with the millions of pests which had to he dealt with the farmer found it almost impossible to run an orchard', in fact it he had to maintain his own orchard it would need so much attention that lio wo’ukt have no time left for politics. (Laughter).