Letter to the Editor. FARM PRODUCTION IN WAIKATO.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 549, 25 November 1875, Page 2

Letter to the Editor. FARM PRODUCTION IN WAIKATO.

'Sib, — After an inter ral of some little time I hare passed through jour district from end fo end, and though I savr much that affords ica'ter for congratulation in the fertile appearance of the land, especially in the upper portion of the Wai« kato, I diuil add that there is much to condemn. Thousands upon thousands of tcrea are still lying waste that ought by this time to hare beencarrjingeropa of grain and potatoes, or, -flocks and .herd*

of sheep and cattle. Some o( your itock is very good, I mußt admit, but there is not enough of it. I was scandalised to think that J was eating potatoes, cheese, and other produce imported from Auckland, and in many cases that the tread used* was made from lour of wheat other >! than the growth of the District. This is not as it should- be, and shows a want of energy and lpirit on the part of many of the settlers, very different to that which characterised the efforts of tb» pionee" settlers of this But it <is cren more marked when compared with the *tate of things down south. Waikato is as 'fertile and fitted for cultivation as many parts >of the Middle Island I have lately visited, and 'yet itris*a fact that it is not to Waikato but to Canterbury that the people of Auckland have 'to 1 trust for a .supply of butter, oheese, ham, bacon, {potatoes, ''flour, and grain generally. Why •should this be so? why should the settlers of Waikato -let this market lie uncared for at their Tory doors ? In ham and bacon alone there ii a very large consumption in Auckland, yet in some '■parts Of Waikato, a pig is almost as" scarce, and as seldom to be seen as an -honest man-in parliament G^e leaib-at' any rate that should be done would be to supply home wants. 'The district should at taut <be -independent of Auckland supplies even it it does aot turn the -tables and supply AuckXjand. Years ago the Maories who held these lands-kept Auckland supplied with both wheat and flour, and during one pinch, in 1855*6 if* I recollect rightly, there would fop-some time have been 'little -bread 1 -in Auckland but for the °fl<rar sent from the Waikato mills, the carriage of which kept the Betsy and Sea • Belle constantly running between Waiuku and Onehunga. Surely what ♦he aboriginal owners of' the soil did then their white successors can -de* now. 'What "is needed jis to rdy less upon external support and resources than is nowdone. *Bffark my words, Mr Editor, the ' time "is not distant -when the crutches will be taken |*way and Waikato with ■ other North' I-land districts 'Will have to walk : alone. >You must hit out and prepare » for such . a time. A little more energy, and the Waikato i lands especially about 'To Awamutu and the * upper country, might well claim to be the granary •of New* Zealand, and maintain their olaim by the supply at any rate of the local \md Auckland markets. — I am, &c,.QBfIEBVEB. -Auckland, November-23, 1875.

-Now i« the' time* to- subscribe to Sattjedat "ifctOHT. Two-s ewing machines to be given to ; Subscribers, valued at Seven and Six Guineas, fors<iblving a rildle, or writing the best essay on th« msstt. enjoyable «\»ay of spending Christmas in i th* Colonies. Agents everywhere.— Adtt.

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