A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8535, 13 September 1907, Page 5

A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA.

SOME INTERESTING IMPRESSIONS.

Mr O. C. Cooper, Manager of the Masterton Brancn of Messrs Abraham and Williams, Ltd., together with Mr A. Reside, of Masterton, returned yesterday after a trip to Australia, extending over six weeks. In the course of a chat last evening with a Wairarapa Age reporter, Mr Cooper said that the voyage had been undertaken solely for a holiday, and health recruiting purposes. "I journeyed to Sydney by myself," said Mr Cooper, "but when I arrived there I met Mr A. Reside, uf Masterton, Mr Thos. Brown, of Wangaehu. and Mr Williams, Manager of the Glendonald Station, who were also on the other side for a holiday. From Sydney we went to Brisbane, and then on to the Darling Downs." "That is a great country, I understand," said the reporter. "Yes, it takes the eye of all New Zealanders, and there are a lot of people from this country farming there. It is a country that is only in its infancy. The land is rapidly rising in value, and there is a great future before it. The soil is very fertile, and has a depth of about thirty feet." your opinion will be its future?" "Well, I think it's going to be another Chicago really. The pork industry has been started and dairying is carried on to a large extent. A remarkable feature about the Downs is its lucerne hay, of which several crops a year can be cut. They have a good rainfall—in Brisbane it aveiage* from 20 to 30 inches per year—but when a drought sets in, as it did for about 15 months at the latter end of the last great Australian drought, the farmers on the Downs depend upon their great artesian water service, and then the lucerne hay, which is stacked all over the country, is used as fodder for the stock." "What is the tenure of the land there?" queried tb.2 pressman. , "Principally freehold," replied the speaker. "The Government are resuming large estates there. One large estate was taken by the Government only a few days ago at a price of about £4 per acre, and the general impression was that the Government paid 'through the nose' for it. Large syndicates, like the Government, are also purchasing extensive areas and cutting them up into small holdings. Land can also be taken up, if the applicant wishes, on the leasahold tenure, the terms of which vary. One thing that struck us very forcibly was the manner in which Australians generally speak of land. They talk of square miles uf country," and we, who were used to sneaking'in New Zealand only of acres, had the 'seed knocked out of us.' " "The fat lamb trade," Mr Cooper went on, "is just beginning to develop on the Downs, and as far as I can see, it has a good future before it. The farmers are importing English Leicesters and crossing them with Merinos. This, as you might know, is really the commencement of prime Canterbury mutton. No matter what they take up the farmers seem to have a market for all their produce. It doesn't matter whether it is the growing of maize or barle> or dairying or pig breeding. In dairying matters over there the labour troubles are practically nil as compared with those in New Zealand. There you can get a whole family to milk, and they receive, besides their ordinary wages, a percentage on the profits. And from dairying, they get the same returns there as in New Zealand on land costing from £4 to £B, while in this colony it runs from £2O to £3O. While on the Downs, I might say that I stayed with a Mr F. G. Couper, who is a brother-in-law to Mr F. C. Lewis, of Masterton, and hails from Hawke's Bay. He is engaged in dairying, horse-breeding, and sheep-farming, and has some good stud Leicester and Southdown sheep, the latter having te3n purchased from the famous flock of Mr J. Stuckey, late of Te Rangitumau. While there, I also visited the show at Toowoomba, which is the principal town on the Downs. At that show Mr Couper obtained several prizes for his sheen. The sheep we breed in this colony for fat lambs are looked upon as an experiment there, and Mr Couper, who U is a very enterprising farmer, is regarded as an authority in the matter." "How" did you like the country in New South Wales?"

''When 1 saw it, it was looking very parched and dry. They have not had any rain over there for some time. In exemplification of this, 1 might say that I was absent from New Zealand for six weeks, and I never raw rain until I was within a day's steam of Wellington on the return journey." The conversation then drifted to politics. Mr Cooper said that the principal topic discussed in Australia was the new taviiT. This was considered on all hands as exhorbitant. The wire-netting incident was also being freely discussed, and this, together with the tariff, was stirring up public feeling against the Federal Government. The rabbit pest was a big thing over there, and, with the new duty on wire-netting, it would cost fanners about £6 per mile more to build their rabbit proof fences. "There is no question," said Mr Cooper, "about the feeling of New South Wales and Queensland, especially the former, towards the Commonwealth. They would draw out from the Union of States tomorrow if j they had a chance. In fact, a motion to that effect has been tabled in the Queersland House of Parliament. New South Walts says she stood to lose everything by the Commonwealth and she has lost. Mr J. Carruthers, the Premier, has the support of the people, and the prevailing impression when I was in Sydney was that he would get a large majority at the general election. He is very popular in the country especially." Mr Cooper went on to say that a local option poll was also to be taken at the general elections, but the general impression seemed to be that prohibition had very little chance of being carried in New South Wales, although reduction had a big chance. There was no doubt room for reduction, especially in Sydney, where there seemed to .be a hotel on every corner. "How did you like Sydney?" the i pressman asked.

"Splendidly," replied Mr Cooper; '"it's a wonierful place, and the beauty of it is that a man in business in the ;ity can get into the country for relaxation for a few coppers. The harbour is a treat 'and the ferry traffic is surprising. The city is also possessed of excellent tram and suburban train services. It is a great business city and one could stay there for a month and then not know it properly. The Federal tariff has had considerable effect on prices in Sydney. It was a remarkably cheap place before Federation, but now it is about as costly as Wellington or Masterton." "Did you visit the Homebush saleyards?" asked the interviewer. "Yes, I saw about 40,000 fat sheep and 1,200 head of cattle put through by auction in one afternoon. Tha auctioneers are very smart there; in fact, they have got to be. They are given a certain time to sell the contents of a fixed number of pens, and when time is up, a man, who is standing by with a watch in his hand, blows a whistle. The yards are public and are splendidly managed. A feature of them is the flagstone floor?. The sheep in the yards when I was there looked in good condition, but the cattle secm?d to be suffering through the dry weather." Mr Cooper said the prosperity of the whole country was wonderful, and was noticeabls everywhere tha traveller went. Apart from its sheep and wool, the country had its mines —silver, tin, and coal —to rely upon, and these were also producing an abundance of their" respective metals. "I went over,for a holiday," said the speaker in conclusion, "and had it, and I am well satisfied in everv wav."