The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, DEC. 1, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2402, 1 December 1887, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY , DEC. 1, 1887.

Equal and exact justice to all men, 01 whatsoever state ot persuasion, religious or political.

Dii Cowib must litivo hud an oyo to tho temporal as well as to the spiritual application ot' his toxt chosen for tho continuation sermon at lust Sunday evening’s service at S. Peter’s, for none could have been more appropriate in tho present times for tho consideration of the settlors of Waikato, or for tho colonists generally, “ Bo strong, all ye people of tho land, saitli tho Lord, and work.” Tho time Inis come, and we have pointed this oul before, when Waikato farmers, ii they aro to hold their own in the struggle for existence, must gird np their loins and address themselves in earnest to the working of their farms. Not only does there need also a thorough reorganisation of tho old system of farm management, but wo must one and all comedown to a lower plane of living. There must bo loss wasted time, Joss social extravagance; mure work, more thrift. We must ho content to “Porogoaol't ease, and live laborious days.” Tho ‘‘roar” for retrenchment must llnd its echo not merely in tiio Houses of Assembly, but in every farm homestead and dwelling in tho colony. Tho truth is, rich and poor, speculator and worker, wo have all been living in a fooi’s paradise, conjured up by tho magic wand of reckless colonial borrowing and a still more reckless expenditure. Tho illusion has faded away, and wo have now to face the stem reality of recommencing tho steady, plodding, work of settlomont.whieh tho Public Works scheme of 1870 interrupted with its fallacious promises of progress by leaps and bounds. And Waikato settlers, wc arc proud to say, have very many of them shown themselves equal to the occasion. Depressed as tho times may he, the coming harvest, thanks to tho enterprise in grain growing which lias been shown in Waikato this season, will place this district in a far better financial position than it has stood for years. Where one acre was sown with wheat last year four have been sown this. Last season there were grown in wheat in Waipa-and Waikato 2,293 acres, which yielded 01,109 bushels, and this sold at Is per bushel gave a gross value of £12,821 IGs. Now. if we reckon that only three times as much land has been planted with wheat this year that the yield is the same, and that the price realised at harvest is only 3s Gd per bushel, we shall ibid that the money paid for wheat to Waikato fanners this year will lie £33,G0". Will such an increased sum of money circulating in tho district, passing from hand to hand again and again, make no difference in Waikato? There is not a man amongst us, we venture to say, who will not prolit more or less by it. In Pinko county there

inis 1 icon oven a more; marked int.Ti'asc, in wheat "rowing. Lust, year's ri'turns give 11)1 acres ot wheat, lirodneing 892.1 bushels. This year, on two estates alone, Matamataand I.nekerbii., there, arc sown (dose upon 20UU acres, and the, smaller areas of individual fanners will I.riii" the gross total up probably to 2100 acres. So much has been cllcctcd by a single step forward in the right direction. But if wo arc to have general prosperity—that abundance of the productions of the soil which may bo expected to bo found in a district owned and cultivated by its inhabitants, we must have a much more general attention paid to the management of thn farm. The land is distributed in too large holdings. How many amongst us cultivate their farm to the last acre ? How many, indeed, cultivate the half of it? Bettor by fur sell the ouo-half or more, reduce the mortgage which handicaps the farmer’s efforts, and throw the whole force of his capital and hi.s labour into thoroughly working and cropping the remainder, than to hold on to double the number of acres, which ho has neither tho money nor the labour to till properly and profitably, merely for the sake of gratifying that earth hunger which has brought so many to grief, and is the curse of tho colony. If our rural districts had more small settlors, more men living out of as well as on their farms, spending their own and their families’ labour in milking every acre produce to tho utmost, of its capacity, rather than growing the sumo quantity of produce on live acres, winch scarce pays for tho outlay—lf we had a larger class of settlers such as this, wo should have a stiffor and a better backbone to bear up with against low prices .and general depression. Such men will always have plenty in their homes and a few pounds in their pocksts, and would fear neither tho fourth of tho month or tho half-yearly balance Let the people of this land “be strong and work,” and they have a contented and prosperous immediate future before them. Lot them give up tho illegitimate employment and demoralising waste of time which attend tho cattle-jobbing of the sale-yards, and turn their attention to the real work of the farm, and the cry of hard times in Waikato will soon pass away. If the coming harvest in Waikato but teach them this, but cause them to follow up their now departure with increased zeal and energy and load to such a state of things us we have shadowed forth, thou wc shall feel that it is not in vain that this journal has risked odium and unpopularity iu presenting their case to tho settlers iu its true light. Tho lirst stop in the march of rural progress has been taken. Having once put their hand to tho plough they must not look back. Be strong and work !