The property is one that will lend itself admirably to closer settlement, and it should prove peculiarly adapted for occupation by returned soldiers. It is a property of which the subdivision should present none of the difficulties usually associated with the cutting-up of country that has been devoted to pastoral purposes. The hilltops, such as they are, might be dealt with quite separately from the alluvial flats, which might be disposed of either in sections of a size suitable for agricultural farms or preferably in smaller sections of a size sufficient to enable the occupiers to carry on fruit-farming. The climate and the soil of the district are so favourable to fruit cultivation that there is no reason whatever to doubt that the Teviot estate would provide a comfortable living for a considerable number of industrious orchardists.
Pupil teachers slated
Pupil teachers came in for a rather bad time at the conference of the New Zealand Educational Institute, states the Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times.
They were variously described as "one of the tragedies of the service", "a nuisance", and as being "quite unfit to do the work asked of them". One lady said that none of the female pupil teachers intended to stay in the profession. They were just using the schools as somewhere to stay "until they went to be a nurse in the hospital or something else."
Improved Ford tractor
Mr Henry Ford, the well-known motor manufacturer, has been devoting himself to the production and improvement of the farm tractor, which, by facilitating cultivation, is to help England to defy the submarines.
"It can be used either as a stationary engine or to propel ploughs, mowing machines, and reapers and binders. The 1917 pattern, which Mr Ford is building for England, is 25 horse-power. It is literally true that a boy or girl, with neither mechanical nor agricultural knowledge, can drive it. I mounted the tractor," says Lord Northcliffe.
Women linguists
In the censor’s office, London, there are, it is considered, the most remarkable women linguists in the world. One woman is conversant with almost every known language. Some of the women are clever enough to discover secret codes with neutral countries, and one has been commended at the War Office. — ODT, 7.1.1918
• COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
