The Land of Promise.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 27 November 1917, Page 4

The Land of Promise.

POTENTIALITIES OF THE OOAST. AGRICULTURAL EXPERT'S VIEWS ADVANTAGES OF CLOSE SETTLEMENT. SCIENTIFIC FARMING URGED. Some remarks of exceptional interest were made by Mr T. W. Lonsdale, manager of the Moumahaki State Farm, at the conclusion of the Wanganui Agricultural Association's Show on Thursday. Mr Lonsdale said when two years ago there was a possibility of his being shifted to some other part of the Dominion his ambition was, as it is now, to stay in a district that had such great potentialities from an agricultural viewpoint. This was his object in wishing to remain here, although ho was fully appreciative of the action of his superiors who had deemed that he could greatly advance agriculture in other parts of the Dominion. Mr Lonsdale said that he considered the magnificent belt of coastal land from Palmerston North to New Plymouth had the greatest possibilities of any part of the North Island. The climatic conditions were both favourable and suitable, and from the point of viow of productiveness, as the outcome of intense cultivation, the land had as yet scarcely been touched. This view he had from the time of his first association with the district and the work of the Moumahaki State Farm. Thero was a time when the work there on the lines of intense cultivation was looked upon with some scepticism, and a disregard or fear of results, but he "was pleased to say that now the work of the State Farm was appreciated by his agricultural friends, and the improved metuods had been adopted by some of the keenest erst while critics. STOCK RAISING. Proceeding, Mr Lonsdale said that in regard to the raising of stock he had been associated with that work from his infancy, and had had experience in the North of England and Canada. But no district appealed to him more for stock raising than the Coast—as with such an ideal climate a farmer could grow grass and crops which would not be possible in other places. Here Nature did a lot for the farmer, and with judicious production and foresight a great deal more could be done in the future. WONDERFUL LUCERNE. Mr Lonsdale referred to the successful establishment of lucerne on the Coast. It was, he said, a fodder plant probably without equal in the world. Some years ago the cultivation of lucerne was a subject of criticism; now it was accepted as the principal food plant of the Dominion. It was lucerne that made it possible* for the Moumahaki State Farm to carry throughout the year 12 grown sheep to the acre, and this on land for many years regarded as second class. It was lucerne that would be the big factor in increasing the value of tho land in the district as the years went on, without the use of artificial fertilisers. CLOSE SETTLEMENT. "I look forward to the day," continued Mr Lonsdale, "when our fino coastal belt will be a panorama of smiling homesteads —farniß of from 50 to 100 acres at the most. The farming population will then be such as will produce not only sufficient for themselves, but enough for the requirements of an export trade that our port authorities at< the present time have no conception of. This may be ten years hence, as far as our better quality lands are concerned. I am optimistic enough to believe that with judicious cultivation and scientific production these small fiftyacro farms will be capable of giving a nett return of £600 per annum. This estimate might appear fictitious, but the small farmer of the future, who puts in good crops and has a careful eye on tho breeding of good stock, will be able to get the return I have indicated. Perhaps this is even an underestimate of the Mature when scientific farming will play such a prominent part. I look forward to the time when our district will be populated by a body of men who will make it one of the most intensely cultivated parts of the world. I look to the time when the men who have gone forth to uphold the traditions of the Empire will return and settle closely along the Coast, to still further our traditions as one of the foremost of agricultural nations of the world." MOUMAHAKI. Mr Lonsdale said that some of the land in the Moumahaki district had been termed third-rate by prominent agriculturalists, but the Moumahaki State Farm had not only demonstrated the agricultural possibilities of the Coast, but had also proved of great value to the Dominion. On the experimental farm they had not by any means had the best of coastal lands to deal with, but the results had been so good as to attract to the neighbourhood a class, as he was very pleased to say, of practical farmers. Although the State Farm had not even yet reached its highest point of productiveness, it had fully proved the value of farming on modern lines. GOOD PASTURES. Mr Lonsdale, in stressing the great need for good pastures, pointed out that, in addition to lucerne, selected grasses would be of great use for fodder. In this connection he strongly advocated Western Wolths, Prairie Grass, Cocksfoot, and Rye as having particular merit. Probably no other grass than Prairie Grass gave such an amount of winter feed. With judicious treatment it would become an established grass along the Coast. Eye was particularly well adapted to heavy soils, and for a long time it was considered unsuited for the Coast. However, there was no reason why heavy crops of it should not also be produced on the lighter soils. He had seen Rye pastures in the district of 25 years' standing that were fit to rank with any in the Dominion. On the Moumahaki State Farm they had devoted particular attention to the grasses referred to, and he considered pastures put down with the Moumahaki seed would show an improvement on the ordinary commercial samples. THE FUTURE. "I trust," said Mr Lonsdale, in conclusion, "that those in charge of our Dominion's affairs will fully realise tho advantages our Coast offers, and do their -utmost to foster in the minds of the rising generation the great prospects of an agricultural life, in order to mako New Zealand a country that will be looked upon with envy and admiration by all the agricultural countries in the world."