The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 2 (June 1, 1929.)
A Fertile District
A Fertile District
Mr. A. McNeil, commercial agent of the Railway Department, made some interesting comparisons at a meeting of the Masterton Chamber of Commerce (says the “Wairarapa Times”). He said that the Wairarapa was one of the most important districts in New Zealand, not only from a railway point of view, but as a primary producing district. The annual volume of primary products from the Wairarapa was immense. The wool alone taken from the district would fill a train seven miles long; sheep, a train 40 miles long; dairy produce, a train five miles long; and meat, a train four miles long. Mr. McNeill mentioned that the business people of Masterton depended for 80 or 90 per cent. of their trade on the farmers, and he advocated that they should support the railways which served the farmers by carrying produce, fertilizers, and other goods, cheaply.