THE PUTARURU PRESS. THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1929. LAND SETTLEMENT.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 284, 18 April 1929, Page 4

THE PUTARURU PRESS.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1929. LAND SETTLEMENT.

’Phone 2S - - - P.O. Box 44 Office - - - Oxford Place

THE Government as represented by the Minister of Lands (the Hon. G. W. Forbes) have been recently in search of a block of pumice land wherein to experiment as to the suitability of such country for a land settlement policy. During the recent visit of the Minister to the Putaruru district, he was shown farms that have been evolved out of pumice lands and he was also given returns from these farms that must have convinced him of the suitability of the Putaruru pumice lands for the experiments he is desirous of carrying out.

If the Minister is in search of further information that will convince him that the land is capable of being broken into excellent dairying- country, the figures of the supply of milk and cheese manufactured at the Tokoroa cheese factory for the season to date should be the culminating point. The quantity of milk received during the month of March increased by 164,5131 b over the amount supplied in the same month of last year, whilst the butter-fat has increased by 5091.191 b. The payout has increased by £409. These figures bre for the month of March only. The most striking figures, however, are those applying to the increased turnover. To date 245 tons of cheese has been made, this being 16 tons m6re than was manufactured in the previous best season. There are still several months to run before the season ends, so that this year the factory’s progress- will be an outstanding one. Yet it is a fact that the seasons gone by have shown a steady yearly upgrade tendency. Nothing speaks more for the quality of land than the dairy or cheese factory returns, and those of the Tokoroa cheese factory should surely convince not only the Government, hut others that the class of land in the vicinity of Putaruru is equal to anything that can be found in the more boomed and dearer areas.

Whilst on the subject of land settlement, the good Work Mone by Mr. K. S. Cox, of Upper Atiamuri, on the New Zealand Land Settlement and Development League Conference should not be cve?Jsoked. Mr. Cox’s remarks as published elsewhere should be read by all* interested in this very, vital question. The Putaruru Press has in and out of season stressed the Putaruru district claims in this respect, and again it raises its voice, claiming that what has been done in the Tokoroa district should leave no doubt as to the suitability of the land for settlement purposes. Much of the work achieved has been so done in the face of lack of Government -aid, and with the Government promising aid to prospective settlers the outlook for a greater success in the development of pumice lands is all the brighter.