Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFILDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1873. "MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Tuapeka Times, Volume VI, Issue 291, 28 August 1873, Page 4

Tuapeka Times. AND GOLDFILDS REPORTER & ADVERTISER THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1873. " MEASURES. NOT MEN."

Little would it have been anticipated a few years ago that the miner in New Zealand would so. soon have come into collision with the freeholder. So much of the soil has, however, been alienated from, • the Crown, particularly in Otago, that notwithstanding the fact that we have still an immense Crown territory, the miner is almost daily coming into contact with either the freeholder or leaseholder ; and instances of recent occurrence are not wanting to show the necessity of direct legislation upon the subject. The case of Robertson v. Blundell — decided ultimately in favor of the miner by the Supreme Court — has, to some extent, indicated the state of the law as regards the. right of miners holding licenses from the Crown, antecedent to freehold or leasehold grants to others ; but the question does not end there. At the present moment there are large freeholders, squatters and others, in possession of thousands of awes of payably auriferous land* which should never have been alienated from the Crown. These persons are in the position to demand a prohibitive royalty. ' f6r permission to the miner to enter on the land and unearth the hidden treasures. To attack the citidal of the freeholder is a very dangerous task, and one that should not be attempted without grave consideration ; but upon the principle that every wrong has a remedy, we think it is the duty of the' Colonial Government seriously to weigh the question, and to endeavor to frame some measure to prevent the grevious wrong which is inflicted upon, the mining community through the- locking up' 1 of untold wealth, under acres of land used simply as a barren sheep-walk or a. small farm. By all means let the holders of such properties be protected and amply recouped for ithe. spoliation of their lands, but let the miner also be protected against: exorbitant and prohibitive demands. The Mining on Private Properties Bill, introduced by Mr. Bradshaw, , if passed, may possibly remedy thfe the evil to some extent ; but- we fear it is of the hasty legislation cla^s, and consequently unworkable. -".■-■•' ;

Noticing in our contemporary tjie " Cfu.ardian " that the practise of agricultural tenants in Victoria is to exhaust the soil by means of ruse and unskilful husbandry, for wljich a Tenants Right Bill is proposed as a remedy, it has occurred to us that not only tenants, but even proprietors in our own neighbourhood are pursuing the same shortsighted and suicidal' policy, • We often hear the cry that agriculture does not pay in these colonies ; ancl,

no doubt, there may be many pursuits that pay better, but it has often occurred to us that a different system of tillage would be much more remunerative. There are few .of the homesteads here furnished wiiK fold-yards, where the dairy sows at least might be sheltered and fed over night during the winter months. The advantage arising from suck an arrangement would tend in a great measure to make agriculture a more profitable employment than it is found to be. Our stores here are not, at this season, kept supplied by dairy produce from the neighbourhood. Our storekeepers are therefore necessitated to send to the Taieri And Tokomairiro to meet the demands of their customers, and this at the very time that the best prices may be had for butter; these, instead of going into the pockets of our settlers, go to support and enrich others at a distance. We are not in circumstances to say whether, for one year's produce, it would pay better to have all cereals threshed, and the straw sold or to have it directly converted into uhaf£ and leave the cows to starve x>n the tussocks; or whether it would be better to retain part and feed the dairy cowg, and obtain the price in butter. But we do feel persuaded that in the course of a secoad year the advantage would begin to appear, were the contents of the fold-yard to be carted out /and scattered over a portion of the farm for the production of green crops. The best cure for sorrel, we believe, is to nourish the land weji, and give it something better fcrao than grow sorrel. That may pot destroy the evil, but it will hold jt in check, and then the quality of Jbhe soil will be kept up. We have often wondered that so few of our farmers have directed their attention to a winter dairy. If the reason is that it requires some outlay^ and that they do not obtain all the profit from the dairy which would repay it immediately, we would i remind those who reason in this way, that they must look further than the first returns. Farmers in the home countries rarely reckon on obtaining profit from the stock they take in to feed. They look for the return in the 1211 proved crops — 'the result of the rich manuring furnished by a well-supplied fold. And, if so, surely the farmers here could afford to do a little better for their dairy stock, and thereby have both tb& advantage of better prices for their dairy produce, and their soil enriched for future seasons. Moreover, whatever extra labour may be required in leading out the manure will be saved in harvest. In the reaping one has to pay nearly as much for a bad crop as a good-one: If, therefore, there can be obtained as much from one acre as from two, it would repay the extra labor in carting out the manure ; adding to that the returns for the dairy during the winter, we feel persuaded the result would be improved farming, improved returns, and a check to the suicidal policy now pursued of exhausting the soiL