Levin State Farm.

Manawatu Herald, 20 September 1894, Page 2

Levin State Farm.

We do not think thai; there are 52 men upon the property at present, as We had mentioned a little over 80 by the manager; and it is natural thaft some, alteration might occur daring « tbe sis tiioiltlls;. The work done during the six-< months since a start was made is as follows" :— The open land about twenty acres has had the scrub cut down and cleared off, the whole has i been substantially fenced and subdivided, and a portion, some six bi' v eight acres has been ploughed. A garden bus been prepared as a^ nursery for fruit trees and ' some • 2250 trees, obtained from a southern;' nursery, planted close • together ; therein, The trees looked well and strong.*. . .... v , .... r- T . • A "rooiii; -provided- with a fireplaces has been built fora school for the : children daring the" day and as a Social Hall for the labourers of- a night. A road has been cut through almost the centre of the land north ' and south, cleared and formed, but not metalled. The private road from the main road has been partially met* tailed :with stones obtained from the garden, which gives a fair idea of the" rough character of Levin clearing. - The site is a particularly good one, . being on the borders of the township, facing a road that leads to the seabeach past the southern end of the ; Horowhenua lake, and is only sepa- . rated from the railway station by other Government land which is open for selection next week. The bush is on rich ground and the southern boundary of the Farm adjoins tbe property of Sir Walter Buller. At the railway station, some half-mile, from the Farm, is Mr P. Bartholomew's sawmill- The land is uhdoubtetflyar very valuable block . and so will be.no cause in preventing the experiment from" being a siceess. We cannot help thinking that if the number of men mentioned in the report have been continuously employed there is not sufficient to show for'their labour. One trouble appears to be the; ' claim a man has to become a labourer upon this Farm. The Report states > the workers generally are elderly men," without a review of the men we dare not contradict this statement but we think the fact of the number of children^ upon the Farm must do so, especially when' the manager informed us there were no children who were old enough to. leave their homes. Th,e fact that'" there are so many children of young ageg dependent upon their parents would tend to . show . 4ba4 T rfcheir parents would hardly come qndMhe description of " elderly men." The proposal to ask these people who may on arrival be destitute and have to be provided by the State with tents, to " erect cottages for themselves " points to what appears; an -M almost impossibility, yet within these six months some wooden cottages have been built! How? That appears the rub, for it speak? volumes either for the -wonderfully renewed energy imparted to these - s "elderly men" by the bracing air, of Levin, or to the capital wages aujrposed to be at the " current rate," or to the belief in the success of the settlement by the storekeepers of Levin. We have an opinion that an amount of credit has been given the labourers beyond what is at all prident, though we hope it is npjf so, and that it can be shown that by industry and sobriety these men nave been fortunate enough, beyond ; their brothers elsewhere employed, to save so much in so short a time. The Government, however, think such things are possible or they would not declare it a condition that .^ .e^feriy men ' ' have to erect oottageaPfxa themselves. At present the bush is all standing though a start has just been made to fall a portion. We believe it isO found a difficult job to put many o| the labourers the Farm is supposed to. : be instituted for at this work, an* j younger men have had to be taken on, sufficient at least to help and direct the others. Bush felling ia. not an elderly man's proper ocoupa*.^ tion and we shall be thankful : if. there are not many- casualties to report. ■ •-*' .■:■■■:';/ It would appear better had a large acreage of the bush been fallen by experienced bushmen, as the work I would have been done quicker and 'cheaper, and, after it was btfrnfi . would have afforded the elderly men 1 a fair field for" wl;, In

fencing, splitting, cutting firewood ftp., ft.thede hands find they carinot tackle the standing biisti, the manager will flo 4 tjtotibie iji jluttirig th'ein at any profitable employment on the small area of open land. We thus ► acknowledge the difficulty facing the State, but still hold a larger present Outlay Would really mean a saving Iti the end» The permanent site of the homestead has not yet been fixed upon, r but w"heii it l3 } Badh labourer dan erect a cottage and secure half an ajjre of ground; "What will become bj the cottages at present ericted on toie.«ftivfcohtie feusii U ttoj Settled, they may, if they escape being burnt when the bush 13 lit, be removed, but we should not like to take a fire r insurance policy on them.