The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1877.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 743, 22 March 1877, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1877.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political # # # # #

Here shall the Presi the People's right maintain, Unaweil by influence and unbribcd by gain.

The Waikato and Piako country is already beginning to prove a serious rival to Canterbury as a place for settlement. Scarcely a week passes but we hear of some purchase by Middle Island men, such as that the ooher day of Mr. Reynolds'farm at Cambridgei by Mr. Pantham, and later still, that of Mr. Jenkins* land, at Piako, by Mr. Cholmondeley. The reason of this tendency to migrate, on the part of the old settlers of Canterbury, is twofold—partly the superior climate, but chiefly the difference in price of land in the two localities. Seven thousand pounds for a farm of little more than seven hundred acres seems a large price to give, but it is nothing compared with the motiey value of such a farm were it in Canterbury. Thus it becomes a question there with those whose holdings have becometoo small for them, whether it is not better to migrate at once to good land in a progressing locality further north; and a temptation to others to sell out .at Canterbury prices and reinvest in land of as. good quality here, with a better climate and at lower rates.. What is Canterbury's loss is our gain, arid our settlers need scarcely be told how much depends' upon their own action infurther inducing this movement. There is little doubt but that the publicity given to the p'rocedings of the Cainbridge Farmers' Club has done much to make .the district known outside the boundary of the Province from an agricultural point of view. Good annual exhibitions of stock and produce, race meetings such;as /the, last summer races, and all gatherings. of the kind will largely assist in the work. What, however, will most bring the district into favourable notoriety will be the regular production of large crops of grain and other produce, and this we hope to see, before a third season l is; past, the regular practice of our settlers!. The extension of the railway from Ohaupo to Te Awamutu will ensure this. It has been asked, of what use to construct a railway into a district which exports so little bub fat meat, which transports itself to a market ? But the answer of all experience is, "the railroad first, then .the produce." And this will be our case simultaneously with the opening of lha railway. The lands of upper Waikato can fairly compete with those of the South in their productive character. The only drawbacks to cultivation has been the impossibility of getting produce to a market when gro ivn. The railway will change all this with us as it has done ;in Canterbury, and just as Canterbnry has, by increased production, riot only shut out Victorian grain, but actually shut up oat growing l n V ictoria J so in turn Waikato will be able to shut out, to a very large extent, Canterbury produce from the Auckland market. Referring to the 'Lyttelton Times' of a late date, we find it stated that "The railways are now becoming very busy in the conveyance l of grain, which is coming to hand with perplexing rapidity. The railway extensions which have been opened since last season have added very greatly to the traffic, and the num ber of trucks not being increased in anything like the same proportion, the strain will be very severely felt. Ere lopgv the/lines will have to be worked night and day, and it is doubtful if the .grain can be moved away even then as fast as could be desired. To give, some idea of the amount of grain traffic, it may be stated that: last week one train arrived in Christchurch with 65 trucks loads of grain j while on another occasion no less than 92 truck-loads; of grain were brought in from a single station (Longbeach) in one day. As the trucks would on the average hold 70 sacks, containing over four bushels each, the 92 loads might fairly 1 be said to make in all 26,000 bushels of grain." Here is an answer at oripe to those who say

that a railway will do nothing to j advance agriculture here as the traffic would be too costly-. It is not too costly in Canterbury, and the line, we presume, may be worked as cheaply here as there. Once let the line be opened, and everywhere within easy distance of it, the plough will be busy at work preparing for the harvest, and many a rich grass paddock will be broken up that will yield only oats and potatoes for the first two or three seasons, till the rankness of the ground has been sufficiently taken out of it to enable wheat to be grown with safety. There are thousands of acres of this class of land in the upper part of the district, and there is a vast quantity of excellent land on either side of the proposed line, which the plough has never touched. It is the railways' which have made farming the profitable occupation it has become in Canterbury, and which have raised the price of land there to its present value. That its effect will be the same here, there is no reason to doubt.

But what about the Piako, with its miles and miles of rich level lands? Till it is tapped with a railway junctioning with theKaipara and Puniu line, its productiveness can never be fully developed. Like Waikato, it has water carriage, but like Waikato, a water, carriage broken before it reaches the capital, and valueless as compared with railway traffic under proper management. Is the question of a Piakp and Waikato railway to be allowed to die out? Possibly, the owners of such of the lands as lie contigious to the Thames river may avail themselves of water carriage, to ; Grahamstown, but, between the Waikato river and the Waihou or Thames river are miles arid miles of country which could no more be served with a broken and mixed water and rail traffic, supposing even a line were constructed to the head of the Thames navigation, than the Waikato district at. the present moment could afford to transport produce to Auckland by the mixed rail and water communication it now possesses. Like the Canterbury farmers, 1 it must have the railway communication direc': to a port, and,when the grain or other produce is once put upon a truck, it must need no further handling till it reaches its destination. A minimum rate of freight can never.be obtained under any other conditions, and when we have this, like Canterbury, we can keep the line " working night and day, till it "is doubtful if, even then, the grain: "can be moved away as fast as " could be desired."

Farmino itself, we don't speak of the mere occupation of land, but of farming, has already been reduced, to a science, and science is quickly- aiding the labour machinery of the farm in keeping pace with increased production. We have to chronicle the introduction into' the colony of another labour saving machine which, as we take' it, ; frqm what- the " Littleton• Times" says has turned out a: decided success : " On, Monday last," say that journal,; "Mr .John Rennie started one of JPoust's hay loading machines to work on his farm, .Castlefcqn, near Doyleston, the result being highly satisfactory. The machine is of 'A'me-' rican manufacture; and gained warm commendations from all judges at the Philadelphia exhibition. Mr Reniiie saw the machine ab work in the Eastern States while travelling through America, and being strongly impressed with its labour saving/ capabilities, ordered one which, but for a mistake,.would have been.delivered here in time for the last hay harvest. The hay loader, is attached to the rear of the - waggon, and as the waggon moves forward the loader rakes up the hay and places it on the waggon, where it is arranged by manual labour.' The rapidity of loading is regulated by the rate at which the waggon moves forward. When' going.: at a moderate pace one man is able to arrange the hay as fast as it is hoisted on to the waggon, but, if speed is an object, then two men are required, and with this number at work a ton of hay can be: loadedin five minutes. This,it is needless to say, effects a great saving in, labour, and, what is of still greater importance, enables the farmer to get his hay in rapidly if bad weather appears imminent. During the trial at Mr ilennie's the loader picked up the hay nearly as clean &s a rake, and loaded a dray in four minutes. The machine is certainly a valuable addition to the agricultural labour saving appliances now in use. . ■- -