Will Farming Pay ?

Waikato Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 2552, 17 November 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

Will Farming Pay ?

Owing to the fierce competition in business, the general d.pres-ion in trade, the pressure felt by the majority of those enpaged in manufacturing industries, and tho ever-increasing difficulty in finding openings in the ordinary vim Iks ot business for tho employment of tho rising generation, the foregoing question in various forms is often asked by those who feel the attractions of a healthy country life, but who at tho same time do not care to risk a certainty for what nriy prove an uncertainty. The numbers of those who cannot obtain steady remunerative employment, and of others who find the greatest possible difficulty in payintr their way, is continually increasiny, some of the results "beiug seen in tho abominable sweating system which has obtained a fooling in our large colonial towns and in the numbers receiving charitable aid. It is satisfactory to note, from tho latest returns of the Grown Lauds Department, tha' the settlement of the country is steadily increasing, and that the Crown land's are boiii" taken up for beneficial occupation and not for speculative purposes. Nearly 40,000 acres were taken up last month under tho perpetual leasing clause, and a considerable an-a umicr the deferred payment regulations, or sold for cash, the total area taken up during the last four months being over one hundred and thirty thousand acres.

To revert, to our opening l question, an old settler who took up his land in the oft-despised North some years ago may be taken as an example of what can be done. The land selected by him is in a district that has never been considered good, in fact no one could describe the land as other than second class, but he was full of energy and determination. At the beginning he devoted a considerable portion of his time to the preparation of an orchard and vegetable garden, and nearly all his cultivation was done with the spade; but he was made of the right material for a successful colonist, and ha 3 prospered beyond his most sanguine expectations. The result may be summed up in a few words. His returns for some years for fruit sold in Auckland have averaged about £200 per annum, after paying freight, carting, and auctioneer's commission. He has settled his sons on farms of their own, and now, surrounded by all the comforts and necessaries of life, an orchard of apples, pears, plums, lemons, etc., in full bearing, the returns from which will far more than suffice for all his wants, and a garden full of the choicest early vegetables for the table, with poultry, pigs, cattle, etc., on the farm, his position is one that many of our struggling business people may well envy. We saw some of his last season's apples this week, they were perfectly sound and free from blemish.

Another illustration which came under our notice is that of a settler who arrived here under what was known as the fortyacre system. He had barely enough money to keep him in actual necessaries during the first year. Taking up his land grant in the north, his first work, after providing a temporary shelter, was to fall a small piece of bush, burn it off at the proper time, and sow grass seed on the ashes. This took well, and yielded a good return, which he reaped with a sickle at the harvest season. He thrashed out and cleaned the seed very carefully, and, owing to its being a gcod clean sample, obtained the top price in Auckland. The cash thus received gave him a good start, and tided him over many difficulties. He gradually brought his land under cultivation, purchased a few sheep and cattle, which increased and multiplied, so that in a few years he was practically independent.

It must not be supposed that these are isolated cases, for many similar ones, with some variation in tho details, aro to bo found in nearly all our country districts. The carlj' settlers in the bush, who enjoy a competence now, aro not those who sent to Auckland or the local storekeeper yearafter year for potatoes and flour, Canterbury bacon, arid American tinned salmon and beef. They aro men who with steady aim cultivated their farms and produced all the annual necessaries of life in tho shape of food that they required, and those who havo not tried this plan can hardly realise the freedom and practical independatice of the farmer who can sit down to a bountiful ropast consisting of healthy, relishing, and appetising- food" and proudly say that it is all tho produce of his own land. Who at this season of tho year could wish for anything bettor than roast turkey or fowl, with a littlo boiled ham. or a slice of roast lamb with some well-flavoured peas and kidney potatoes, finishing- up with rhubarb tart and homo mado bread and cheese, tho flour having been ground from his own wheat in the neighbouring gristmill, or if too far away from ono'o'f the ordiuary stoara mills with which the majority of settlers aro so familiar. Lemons are now so generally grown that many people enjoy "a refreshing drink of home-made lemonade, and others new milk, in preference to mnuy of the varieties Qf drinkables that modem oustotn

leads people to indulge in. A chango from town life to that of a pioneer settler involves plenty of hard work, self-denial, and careful management, nil of which should be fully considered before the change is made. Those, however, who have a taste and longing' for country life, who are now only earning a precarious livelihood, having the greatest difficulty in keeping out of debt.'and with no prospect of saving anything for the time of sickness or old age, to those who are becoming premaluroly old by the worry of business and who value health, wholesomo food, independence, and the prospect of sonic comforts in their declining years without appealing to the Charitable Aid Board, to these we may make tho replyfarming does and will pay, providing a judicious course is taken. Anyone who expects to make a fortune by tilling the soil will be disappointed ; fortunes are lost or gained by the merchant, and by the speculator in land or on the Stock 'Exchange, but those who prefer health before fashion, comfort before external show, l>»pincss before anxiety, ami comfortable independence in preference to a fluctuating income, may have every prospect of realising their expectations by taking up a seel ion of good land and doing their best to turn the wilderness into a fruitful field.—Now Zealand Herald.