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Yet, for all his social and cultural activities, Ngata remained preoccupied with the land reform movement. At home he arranged a subdivision of Ngati Porou consolidated holdings in the Waiapu valley so that his people could move into dairying. His eldest son, Makarini, a graduate of Te Aute College and Hawkesbury Agricultural College in New South Wales, took over one of the holdings; Ngata hoped that he would lead the new dairy farming movement. Makarini's holding made impressive progress, thanks to the introduction of graded cows, new milking machines, and the establishment of a co-operative dairy factory at Ruatoria. As ever, Ngata had larger aims in mind: to encourage other Maori communities to follow Ngati Porou's lead, and to persuade the government to support Maori land development. His first success with other tribes came in 1922 when he persuaded Tuhoe to consolidate their titles. Others soon followed suit, as, on Ngata's initiative, teams of consolidators, usually younger educated men, took up the work. But consolidation of titles was only a beginning; it was necessary to break in the land on a large scale in development schemes, as they were called, prior to the establishment of pastoral or dairy farms.
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