THE CONFERENCE AND DINNER. I 95 



pertinent questions in regard to the matter of cost. We have 

 yet, as you know, only had the first report of the Board of 

 Agriculture, and we have not had the financial statement. I do 

 not make a statement, but will give you what I believe, and it is 

 that when we get hold of the statement of the increased number 

 of individuals resident on an agricultural farm, that is the 

 number of families by which you will be able to increase the 

 existing families on an agricultural farm, they will work out at a 

 cost to the State at something between ;!^8oo and ^^5000 per 

 family. I wish, first of all, to qualify my statement by saying 

 that I am a supporter in principle of small holdings, and that I 

 believe forestry can never interfere with agricultural land. I 

 would never plant an agricultural acre. I believe, moreover, 

 that on the West Coast forestry is almost impossible on account 

 of the wind and the proximity to the sea, so that small holding 

 work must always go on there. Regarding the increase of popu- 

 lation and the work of settlement on the land, there are other 

 methods which can be carried out at a cheaper rate than those 

 adopted, and which can go along with arboriculture. 



" It is easier to put the matter in a concrete form than to give an 

 absolute statement of fact. I have seen no departmental docu- 

 ments, and I am speaking from constructive views. Regarding 

 the retention of some of these farms, there have been sums up to 

 ;2^i 5,000 and nearly ^^20,000 expended, and if you take the differ- 

 ence between the farmer who has to go and the agricultural 

 workers who have to go, and the number of small holders placed 

 on the soil, the difference in certain cases will work out as high 

 as ^5000 per additional family. If I am more than ;!£^4oo or 

 ;£s°° ^^^ ''^ "^y estimate, I shall be extremely surprised. On the 

 other hand, I believe you can make settlements, and very often will 

 make settlements in the future, as low as perhaps ;^8oo per family. 

 Taking the mean, let us imagine for a moment that upon the 

 mainland the average division of an agricultural farm will cost 

 you a plusage of ^2500 for a family. We shall know if that is 

 so in a year. If you expended ;^2 5oo in planting, you would 

 plant at the rate which is generally recognised, and which is 

 certainly not higher than ;^5 an acre, including fences, so that 

 for that sum you would plant 500 acres. Accordingly, right away 

 we can hope to settle more families with forestry ; we get nearly 

 five times the people for the money expended that you will get if 

 it is spent agriculturally. I do not believe it is ever right to plant 



