Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1889. THE TURN OF THE TIDE.

Manawatu Herald, 22 November 1889, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1889. THE TURN OF THE TIDE.

* From the commencement of the settling of New Zealand, even unto now. the vast plains of Canterbury have a'ways been referred to as the farmers parad se. Now the tide has begun to turn, nncl the show held in thrtt district ha-! been the means of awakeniny the public to other parts where the opportunity to raise the staple exports can be managed with lesser expenditure and better results. His Excellency the Governs in proposing success to the Canterbury association, mentioned that the show brought out the vast resources of i his country. He said " When you reflect that you receive for wool three millions sterling, and for frozen meat half a million annually, and that while you are doing that you are placing cheap meat within the reach of all but the very poorest of her Majesty's subjects in the Old Country, y v will see how the colony has devel ped. . . . The frozen meat trade has grown till you send home a million carcases, but it takes fourteen millions to supply the pre sent requirements of England, and by every penny by which you cheapen the prico . i meat at Home, you aro help ng to bring in to consume it a class that; has hitherto been unable to afford the luxury of <».eat." These statement's are exceedingly satisfactory to all, and wo kuow that they Mi tutte, httt to holder* of property

on this coast' they conio with increased : significance. That an almost uu I limit d deman exists for stock that can be grown on the lauds held by them, means that their property is of much increased value to what- it Would have been if fanning in its pvopw £<">!•-•■), thai is, tL<- of grain, bad to be looked to for a livelihood. Mst of this cor,3t, and c pecially the richer pastures, have been but -late'y reclaimed from th-* bush and swamp, and would therefore be of litfcl • use for any other purpose than grazing It appears c th :t the pjsitious have now been reversed, and that we in the North Island hold supremacy in this particular trade,' as more sheep can ' c fattened on an acre of land on this coast, than can be in the South, and land has also been obtained at much cheaper rates. If the sale can be increased by any reduction in the prices now obtained for meat in England, it is the graziers here who will be best • ble to reduce it. A leading Southern newspaper is awakening to this fact, and points out that owing to the stoppage of the Belfast freezing works last year, allowed Wellington to rank a » the largest exporter of frozen meat. | The ""West Coast" in the early days meanfe-tiie-g'ok^cli^ing^ on the western side bi'tW- Middle Island, but to-day the " West Coast " is this district, where the gold is an annually recurring crop, and which is year by year surely increasing, the extent being only limited by th« ai*ea to be occupied, and by the exhaustion of the most iraprov d types of sto -k kept. These beius: the imexaggerated i'acts, it seems surpriing that land should be under offer for sale a day without finding a purchaser, tut we believe the large sale, now. advertised over the colony, of the Oroua Downs Estate, wi'l not only be the means of introducing Southern capitalists »nto our midst, but will also help most materially in spreading abroad into the Canterbury farming districts the fact of the richness of the land about us. The paper we have befo c refo;red to, thinks that owing to the future of the frozen meat trade, wheat growing will to a large extent give place to sheep and cattle feeding. Men who have visited the North Island cannot sot the South against it for grazing, and we confidently look forward to much movement in country properties in consequence.