WELLINGTON LAND COMPANY 171 



There seems to have already been a certain 

 amount of speculation in the transactions. The 

 value of land has gone up since the original purchase 

 of the estate, and I was told that a good many lots 

 originally bought by local farmers or tradespeople 

 are now being sold or let out at enhanced prices. 

 One working man bought 5 acres for 250, and 

 has since resold 1 acre of frontage for the same 

 sum. 



Only a very few bona fide small men have pur- 

 chased holdings. At the same time there is a very 

 great demand for such holdings to rent. In the 

 cases where land had been bought by men with 

 capital and let out in plots of 5 to 6 acres there was 

 keen competition for these holdings. One man 

 had twelve applications for a 5-acre lot recently 

 to let. 



Want of capital and want of housing accommo- 

 dation appear to be the reasons why the bona fide 

 working man cannot make use of this chance of 

 acquiring land for the purposes of market-gardening, 

 an occupation which the men on the Sandy side of 

 the district have all been brought up to. Many of 

 the men, if not all, who hire the lots above men- 

 tioned bicycle out from Sandy to work their land, 

 and could no doubt derive much more benefit from 

 it if housing accommodation could be had on the 

 place itself. The land can be rented much cheaper 

 here than immediately round Sandy. In Sandy 

 itself 8 an acre rent is paid, and 4 and 5 just 

 outside. This land has been under market-garden- 



