WEST COAST FARMING

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1930, Page 2

WEST COAST FARMING

AGRICULTURAL PROGRESS. RAPIDLY-GROWING INDUSTRY. If anyone had told a digger in the days of old that within a generation nearly 60,000 sheep and over 6000 cattle would be exported from the West Coast in one year, he would probably have waxed exceedingly eloquent concerning the mental condition of the person who made the prediction. The unexpected has materialised, nevertheless, and the figures quoted represent the number of stock sent from tlie West Coast to Canterbury last year; moreover, the dairying, sheep-raising and farming industries are as yet in their infancy, and prophets are not wanting to declare that, in a tew nioie years, the West Coast will rival Taranaki, writes the West Coast correspondent of the Weekly News, Auckland. The men of the gold rushes reaped a valuable harvest from the creeks and rivers, but the farmers of to-day are raising better crops than gold. The golden harvest was a flash in the pan, whereas the prospects of the industries now rapidly expanding are practically Unlimited. The coal industry is still of enormous importance, and so is that of timber*, but gi*eat inroads are being made upon the available resources, and the mines and forests cannot go on for ever. Far-sighted inert are realising what the real future of the West Const is to be, mid the fact that there were recently over 200 applicants for s»ven sections thrown open in South Westland was an instance of the writing on the wall. Some Unsu’table Land. It is frankly admitted that much of the land on the West Coast is unsuitable for the new industries, being rugged and barren, and in some places difficult to drain owing to the hard pan beneath the soil. The miles of tailings left by the gold-seekers are a discouraging sight, while hard-won experience has taught many men that areas from which the trees have been cut by the sawmillers are unsuitable for farming, and that, after a satisfactory start, they deteriorateed to second growth. There are, however, extensive areas in different parts of the district that are excellent.

Wise top-dressing is having its effect, and numerous settlers are, by dint of hard work, making a good living for themselves and their families, although the latter will reap the real benefit of the pioneering work now in progress. As a general rule, the West Coast land is not suitable for sheep-raising, and chief attention is devoted to dairying and cattle. Jerseys are popular for milkers, and Herefords are bred for beef. Most of the stock is sens throug) the Otim tunnel to Canterbiry. Another (satisfactory development this year is the formation of a West Cloast Herd-testing Association, comprsiing about 100 herds and 3300 cows. The project has been enthusiastically taken up, the dairymen realising the importance of weeding out the non-pay-able stock. The uniformly high-stand-ard of butter produced on the West Coast is being admitted elsewhere in New Zealand, and it is significant that some of the butter exhibited by cooperative dairy companies lias defeated the competition of Taranaki and Waikato at shows held in the North Island. The Hokitika factory recently secured a contract for the supply of butter to a South Island customer at prices better than London parity—another feather in the cap of the Coasters.

Supplies of Lime, So far as Westport is concerned, dairying is as yet in its swaddling clothes, but there is a factory, and two more are located at Reefton and Maruia. There are several herds around Greymoutb.,. where there are two factories, one a co-operative undertaking. Heading southward a factory, is found at ICumara, where once 40,000 miners lived, mostly in tents. There is a factory at Arahura, and several around Hokitika. A lime-producing company is in operation at Ross, about 15 miles south of Hokitika. The support given to it bv farmers has not been everything it might be, and the company has seen some up and downs. The cost of transport is the main stumbling block, and efforts have periodically been made to secure concessions from the railway Department.

Longing eyes have been directed to tho great limestone quarry at Greymouth, right alongside the town and the Grey River, from which stone for the construction of the harbour works has been secured since the port was first opened. The stone has analysed satisfactorily, but the Harbour Board has shelved the project meanwhile, adopting the attitude that competition against the Boss company would scarcely be “cricket.”

Totara Flat, between Ree'ton and Greymouth, is splendid dairying country, and fine returns are being secured from it, hut it is to the great undeveloped areas of far South Westland that West Coasters look as the future centre of the industry. The difficulties of transport are retarding the. development of the south, both from a sawmilling and farming point of view. The roads are being extended steadily,'H’t the settlers’ dream of a railway has not yet been realised. The present terminus is at Ross, and the time is anxiously awaited when the Government will realise the potentialities of f'e district below that township. At present, sheep arc brought to the railhead bv motor lony.

Model Farm at Hari Hari. The show place of Hari Hari, about SO miles south of Hokitika, is the model far In owned by that ICO per cent. West Coaster, Mr Joseph Melonii, president of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Greymouth Harhoul* Board, and “booster” of everything connected with the West Coast. The farm is named Duart, and is one of tho most up-to-date and bestequipped establishments of its kind l on the West Coast; in fact, it will compare with anything of its size in the Dominion. 1 One of the best-known sheep-raising centres is Kokatahi, a few miles south of Hokitika. The percentages of lambs this year have been exceptionally high, the tallies in some cases being 120 per cent. Favourable weather was experienced during practically the whole of the lambing season. Romneys are popular, but the Southdown is gaining ground for lambing purposed The adjoining settlements of Kokatahi and Koiterangi are famous for their rivalry at the annual shows, and the district bays contain an amazing variety of home-grown produce. The shows may be ranked a,s the best on the M est Coast, and attract large attendances from all over the district. Bullocks and heifers fattened at Koiterangi command high prices.

Scientific methods are steadily being adopted on the West Coast lands, natural difficulties are being nluckily tackled by the settlers, and the results are consistently growing in value. . With a few more years behind them, the primary, producers will be a power in the land. They have already put the West Coast upon the agricultural map, and the miners and sawmillers must look to their laurels.