THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1933. THE PLAINS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4537, 9 March 1923, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto : Public Service. MONDAY. WEDNESDAY. & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1933. THE PLAINS.

In the Thames Valley there is ( at times much talk of the progressiveness of its towns, and. of what they arc and will become. The fact, however, that all real prosperity must necessarily arise from the farming industry on the Plains! should never be lost sight of. A couple of years ago Ngatea was little more than a name —to-day it gives promise of becoming a very important centre. So it will be with the whole of the Plains. Taranaki had their boom_ days, but this district does not need them. Nothing but some unexpected “act Jf God” can retard its progress. The virgin soil of the Plains is ready to “deliver the goods” to the man who tills it. There may be bad seasons and pests to contend with, but those are merely the natural enemies that encourage man to strive, and are anticipated by any reasonable-minded man. In the past the more solid prosperity of the Plains has been retarded by the operations of speculators —men who never farmed and never intended to farm. The advent of war and its aftermath has, however, largely eliminated the attractiveness for them, and though many’ farmers are at present labouring under the disadvantage of having to keep a “dead horse”—the difference between the farming value of the land and the price that the boosters raised it to—sound prosperity" lies ahead. Few of the original pioneers remain, but to those yho still reside on the Plains the development there during 'he last few years isremaii’kable. One speaker, at a function recently held at Tuma, said he went there 18 years ago, and at that time it was a common occurrence for waggons to become bogged in the mud, the milk frequently having tp be tipped out. It then took eight acres of laud to carry a cow, while the price of butter-fat wa,s 4%d. It may be said, of course, that those were “good old times,” but the pioneer knows that they were not. From a material point of view the past does not count. The present age demands real progress—machinery instead of manual labour, more home comforts,, a higher standard of living. And the farmer on the Plains can have them a,ll. The installation of electricity, bringing With It efficiency, cleanliness, and case of working, has brought with it a true recognition of the need for being up-to-date. The man of Turua, of Ngatea, and of Kerepeelii is eager for progress, as eager as the city-dweller, and modern roads, bridges, and even railways will come within a very few years. In a sense the Plains are yet barely scratched, but the scratches have given an unmistakable indication of what may be expected in the way of production in the future. All districts naturally boost their own, but it sannot, wd think, be claimed, while strictly adhering to the truth, that any district in New Zealand gives promise of such dairying prospects as the Hauraki Plains.