PEAT DRAINAGE

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20742, 28 February 1939, Page 8

PEAT DRAINAGE

WOODLANDS APPEAL ! | DEPUTATION TO MINISTER SCIENTIFIC METHODS NECESSARY The drainage difficulties confron,:ng the settlers in the Woodlands dir.- j irict were brought to the attention of i the Minister of Public Works, the j Hon. Ft. Semple, this morning when ua j received a deputation from the Wood- 1 lands Settlers’ League. The deputa- j tion was introduced by Mr J. M. 1 Allen, M.P. for Hauraki, who outline'. ! the trouble caused by the drainage of | the peat lands. The farmers in the area were payin S high maintenance rates from which they were not getting any benefit, said Mr Allen, who added that the settlers needed machinery which would break in the land and bring it to a high state of productivity. Mr R. Maunder, a member of the i Settlers’ League, stated that the ! present drainage system merely took j the water from the lower strata of the ground, leaving clacks and ere- ! vices oil the top. The peat land was like a sponge and could not be properly handled by running ordinary j drains through it. The top had Lo be i worked, and the speaker was sure Ih.it if the Department, of Agriculture and j the Public Works Department ci - I operated on the matter the farms in the area could be brought into a hirh state of productivity. It was unfa’.r | that the svyamps should be condemned as useless, for if scientific methods were employed great things could be done with them. Appeal For Assistance The president of the Woodlands Settlers’ League, Mr W. J. Bridgman, also appealed for assistance. The Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. AY. Lee Martin, stated that after seeing the area he had undertaken to have a report prepared on the proposals and he hoped that the departments concerned would be able to co- • operate. It was a vast extent of country and should be capable of accommodating thousands of families if it were properly treated. “At present we are preparing a demonstration to show the public of New Zealand just what can be done with the land, and we hope that :t will be held on the West Coast in about a month’s time,” said Mr Semple. “We are interested in your problem and we want J,o help you. The peat land needs to be properly grubbed, scarified and ploughed, out machinery is necessary to do it. At present we are not sure what type of machinery will be best on the land, but our demonstration should show us. “The peat lands are like a sponge, and to run drains through them is no solution, for the water would just stay on the top,” continued the speaker. “Thousands of acres of land in New Zealand have gone out of production just because the farmers cannot work them. In the past the farmer has had to struggle along with out-of-date machinery and has worked from daylight -until dar* against great odds. The result has been that he has prematurely worked himself to the grave. In fact, the most pronounced thing in his life has been a mortgage. Half-developed Land “There are thousands of acres which are half developed and half drained, and it is our idea lo grub it as it should be grubbed, scarify it. plough and hand it to the farmer to work,” continued the speaker. “He will then be responsible for the maintenance. . The fact of land going out of use causes suffering to 1 lie nation through the loss of production, and the progress of the country depends on the annual pool created by ihe hands, brains and skill of the men and women in the Dominion. “We live in a scientific age and we wish to use the products of the Times fo% the good of the people. You would not call that Communism, would you? Some people might have a nasty name for it, as they often uo when we introduce something new.” . After dealing with the great advances the Government had made by using up-to-date machinery, the speaker stated that he wanted to find oiit what machinery was necessary to give the peat lands the propel*# treatment, and then to make the machines available to the farmers who needed them. “We have a nation to build and we should do all we can to benefit by the experiences of other parts of the world,” concluded Mr Semple. “We cannot hope to build our nation properly on out-of-date machinery.”