The Waikato Times. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1031, 1 February 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1879.

Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatever ijjtate or persuasion, religious or political. ♦-t * » ♦ Here shall the Press the People's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain. j

The colony owes oinch to Sir Jalins Yogel, for the presistent wanner m m which he ha# advocated its interests qt home. The office of A gent. Greneral has been administered it) no pQrfunotory manner. Its holder has worked m season and out of season m placing before the people of England, at scientific gatherings, at public dinners, through, the columns of the Press, the special advantages as a colony which New Zealand possesses. The influence which these exertions on its behalf have exercised has already been felt by the.colony financially and socially. Tl?ey have attracted both labor and capital to the colony, Lave placed its credit on a firmer and broader basis, dnd have caused New Zeabnd to bo looked upon as certain of becoming the future seat of empire m this porb'on of the globe. The la^b source from whence we quoted ttye efforts of Sir Julius on behalf of the Colony, was the 1 Scotsman.' That will be fresh m the recollection of our readers, This time we find the * Times' made the vehicle for disseminating the advantages of New Zealand as a field \ for colonization, and m a recent copy of that journal appear ex. tracts from a letter received by Sir Julius from a highly respectable firm, wh<v?e business and experience m the colony enable them to spenk with authority as to the value of the land- If the writer sneaks favorably of the colony he does not hesitate to point out its deficiences, as m the case of the | capabilities of the land. That m the North Island is, he says, when laid down with English grass, as fine grazing pasture as there is m the world, but nntil it has been cultivated a few fears it is not aaofa good grain-growing laud as tbe.ro |fl

m the South. " Last year the writer was on n farm of 500 acrea m th«VVaikat>» which had curried 1600 longwoolled sheep, IGO head ofsattlo, and 60 head of horses the whil.j year, and the sheep clipped 9,\lbs. wool." " fn Canterbury," the writer goes on to say, " all the la-.d will grow vrhoat, and 30 buabeU per acre without any m inure is quite an ordinary crop, while GO and even 70 bushels per acre are frequently obtained off really choice land. We have purchased a farmer's oa's, which have yielded 102 bushels per acre. As an instance of what is done here at times, we purchased last season the produce of 98 acres from a farmer m the Ashburron district, and the yield was 4G£ bushels per acre. This man had purchased 102 acres of land 18 mouths previously from the Government at £2 per acre, and with only two ploughing^ and within 18 months has obtained the results above stated ; aud as he received 5s per bushel, it will be seen he grossed .£ll lla 3d per acre, and at a cost, as he estimated, of some £3 per acre This, of course, is an exceptional case, but we know of many similar, and, m fact, it is only necessary to look at oar prosperous and increasing class of farmers to ba satisfied that farming here paya handsomely since the development of the railways under your successful/ public works scheme has enabled to be taken to market at a reasonable rate. In addition to wheat, oats, and barley, the land m Canterbury grosvs roots prolifically, For instance, 20 tons of turnips or 15 tons of potatoes per acre is a fair yield on good land. , Cattle do remarkably well here, and i the land carries stock so well that a [ handsome return is made when butter realises 9d to lOd per lb. and cheese 6d. The paying price realiseable for product is, perhaps, the best test ot the soil's capabilities. Thousands of tons of potatoes are grown hei'e for export to Australia, and £2 per ton leaves the farmer a very haiidsome margin." We, certainly, m the North cannot come up this, we believe m no way overrated grain producing power of the better lands of the North Island, but with such pasturage as that described m Waikat3 we have little cause to envy our Southern fellow colonists The question of the real value of the land is next discussed. " That land here, nothwithstand. ing the rapid increase of Lite m its selling price, is far below its intrinsic value is unquestionable," says the letter m the * Times,' "as we are wanting m capital to keep pace with the rapid development of thecountry. The result then, is that, instead of having capitalists willing to buy land and farm it, to get say, an income of 6 per cent, on the cost, or who will let it to a farmer on a 6 per cent, basis, every farmer buying new land here hopes to make the cost price out of it m from three to 6ve years. I*arge tracts of land are taken up by farmers who have ploughs, teams, Ac. from land speculator.-', ou what are termed purchasing-clause leases. The farmer bas no cash, and he merely covenants to pay a stated rental for three to 'live years, and with an agreement to purchase at a fixed price at the end of the term. In every instance, the farmer hopes not enly to make his rental (based, by the way, on a 10 per cent, valuation, but also to make enough out of the soil to pay the whole or major part of the purchase-money at the end of the term. In nine-tenths of the cases he is successful, if a prudent and industrious man. Thus, then, it must be evident that land here is below its intrinsic value, and, as the colony increases m wealth, there will be buyers who will give a value for it that will not stand more than a moderate rate of interest." It is only since the railway scheme has been successfully carried out that our farmers hare been able to make any great progress, and m a very few years, at the present rate of progresss, we shall hare capitalised sufficient wealth to buy land at something nearer its value ; but, m | the meantime, there is a fine opening for all classes m this favored land, and we really believe that, taking climate and soil into consider- ! ation, it is the most fertile and pleasant country to lire m on the globe.