MINISTER’S TOUR

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 895, 12 February 1930, Page 13

MINISTER’S TOUR

HON. G. W. FORBES VISITS RAGLAN LAND SETTLEMENT POLICY Special to THE SUN HAMILTON, Today. The Minister of Lands, the Hon. G. W. Forbes, continued his tour of the Raglan electorate yesterday. He left Waingaro in the morning, and visited Waimai. where he inspected a property of 3,800 acres owned by Messrs. H. W. and T. Wilson, which has been offered to the Government for subdivision. In the evening he visited Raglgn, and was entertained at dinner by the chairman of the Raglan Town Board. Mr. T. Parker. Afterward he was entertained at a social, at which he outlined the attitude of the Government toward land settlement. It was the opinion of the Government, he said, that there should be a stock-taking with regard to land available for settlement in New Zealand. It was not good business to allow land capable of profitable occupation to remain undeveloped. Parliament had voted £1,000,000 for : the purchase of developed land, and £5,000,000 for the purchase of undeveloped land for settlement. Advisory committees had been set up to assist in the selection of areas suitable for settlement. There was one commiteo in North Auckland, one in South Auckland, and one in the pumice areas of Taupo. The Department of Agriculture had been actively engaged in researches with a view to increasing the productive capacity of developed land. Particular attention was being given to the use of fertilisers and to grassland management. Everything possible was being done to obtain the maximum production. Special investigations were being conducted with a view to improving the quality of the country’s butter and cheese. The average butter-fat production in New Zealand had increased from 1741 b a cow five years ago to 2121 b a cow last season. The average was in respect to all dairy cows, whether in milk or not. On Monday the Minister visited an area near Te Kauwhata, which the Agricultural Department is clearing before handing it over to the Lands Department for selection. It was stated that the area at present attaches to the Government’s experimental farm, which includes a vinery and large farm, but it is proposed to make available about 1,000 acres, now mostly covered by wattle, for settlement. When opened up, the area will comprise sections ranging up to about 100 acres. The railway will run along one side of the block, and the Great bouth Road will run through the block.