ABNORMAL LAND PRICES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 498, 20 January 1920, Page 2

ABNORMAL LAND PRICES.

Normal Times Returning

Prices in Franklin.

Stabilization Scheme.

Returns of iPfl^fcttjon.

Prize Moneys Offered.

By Percy H. Basley.

The world in general, acd New Zealand in particular, ie now on the crest of a wave of exceptional p.osperity, and the banking returns for the past quarter disclose that there ie a surplus of free deposits to the tune of £13,000,000. Such a state of affairs is only to be expected after four years of bountiful seasons, and the purchase ot our agricultural products at enhanced prices by the British Government with paper money paid through our own Government, cash on delivery at the local freezers, and the natural result has been that the £1 note has lost its purchasing power to the extent of almost o;;e half. But as the purchasing power of a £1 fell, so prices generally rose and soared -and land prices perhaps most of all With the swing of the economic pendulum, hnd prices, in contradistinction to land values, must and will fall. People may be inclined to laugh at this statement, but, if they will look back, o , if a younger generation consult their parents, they will find that New Zealand has seen the trough of a wav« of depression as w*U as the crest of the present wave of prosperity—and we will assuredly see it again in the near future, despite the expectation of butter-fat being worth 2/6 per lb. In the economic cycle lean years follow years of plenty ; I am not a pessimist, but an optimist, and it is only by being prepared that we can hope to tide ever the depression when it comes. That keen financier and astute banker, Mr Harold Beauchamp, Chairman of Directors of the Bank of New Zealand, has for the past twelve months been warning the country that land prices cannot be sustained, and forewarned is forearmed. I have used the term land " prices "in contradistinction to land "values," for the simple reason that most of the land prices in this country never were and never can be, by recorded results, shown to be the true land values of the properties sold. How then i* the land owner and the intending purchaser to arrive at the true value of a property in the face of falling prices of commodities and the increasing purchasing power of the fil note in the .near future? The tradesman keeps his books and sells his business, ; when necessary, on the records of his business as evidenced by his books; but the farmer—and with him we are at present con<*eroed—what of him ? Does he keep field field records ? If he does, are those field recoids ever iiiblisbed to the world and thereby to the intending settler in his district ? No so, for at present th«re h not much necessity. In the wild land gwnble of the* past few years crops returns have rarely been considered; a bujer's trouble was to find a person wo would seljf

him land. Iu passing th«e remaiks. lam speaking fS an interested observer lately it turned to New Zealand an absence of scnis t«\lv**years ; hut j'.ist hs the faimer ii nrw starting to » uy his dairy herd on the individual cow's milk and i.u'tfi fat record, so tbe farruer in the near future will assuredly desire to I'uroLaß- liis la' d <'n the lecordi of t!ie ac.uul rrturns from the de ired Lud, tud iu iLia fe<ti e district, so rchly «wd«»w*d hy Nature, the retun s from po utues *ud onions—- ' Puk. kohe nupgets,' 1 one is apt to term them—are chit-fly res otsihle for the high price, and iu this instance the values of Pukekohe lands Therefore, in order to maintain these values, a- d to induce intending land seekers to settle in this district, and to enter into this lucrative form of intensive cultivation, the returns from potatoes and onions must be collected yearly, and be readily available to the country in order that we may hoost our richly endowed district - the fairest in the whole Auckland Province. Let the slogan be "Boost your district. Boost your town and so Boost yourself." As a ready means of collecting these returns I am, through the Franklin Agricultural and Pastoral Association, presenting for competition, at the Winter Bhow in May next, a first prize of five guineas and a second prize of two guineas for the two highest yields per acre of potatoes in the Franklin County for this year, 1919-1920; and, should the entries for the competition warrant it, I shall, for the 1930-1921 season, present a cup valued at twenty guineas, to be competed for annually and to be won outright should a competitor win it three times in succession, or five times at intervals. The conditions under which the competition will -be held are now being considered, and will be announced shortly.

In the meatime, I would appeal to all potato growers in the Franklin County to enter into tbe spirit of the competition, and to measure up the land from which they have this season dug potatoes, and in which they are now cultivating them. They must have the areas certified to, by say two of th« ir ad j uining neighbour*, and then ascertain from their merchants, or the Railway goods shed, the weights <>f any further potatoes to be dug and sold this season, and will be tbe returns required for the forthcoming competition at the inaugural Witer Bhow When these * returns are available, I would ask you, Mi Editor, to devote a special space in your esteemed paper, and give them the widest publicity. The publishing of these retains from year to year will form authentic records on which land values in the district can be based, with to the farmer, the purchaser, and ?k# dibtrict generally. X