THE ENGLISH FARMER.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 155, 6 August 1914, Page 11

THE ENGLISH FARMER.

FAR MORE COMPLETE. THAN THE COLONIAL. Writing to the "Sydney Daily Telegraph" an Australian farmer visiting England remarks that the progressive Australian whe'atgrower or dairyman usually speaks in patronising tones about the practices of the farmers of England. Our men on the wheat belt or the north coast, accustomed to big paddocks and labour-saving machinery, ; feel a sense of superiority to the oldfashioned farmer of these islands, who is still at work with the single-furrov plough,' and who looks upon a machine much ask does upon an aerd J plane. ' Bu£ if the' English farmer is restricted by his hedgerows and his oldtime- implements, lie can still give lessons ih; most,branches of .his calling #0; his rival in the Commonwealth. He lip far more eomplete. He still clings .tb.. the belief that good fruit can be grown ; J upon diseased trees half a century or| k ' century old, but, apart from his orchard-!,, ing, he is an all-round master of hip craft. He is, as you might expect, 'kh ,;' incomparable judge of live stock, and ii this direction he carries his interest ajuT knowledge far beyond the average far-, mer in Australia. When he shows over his farmyard you are delighted;salt' . the range ; of his enthusiasm. He dwells ' on the points of a draught eoltj.and is enthusiastic about a big three-year-old,' which he hopes will develop into a promising hunter, and so fetch him £BO. Then he shows you his bull, and teiis' you how he is bred, and 'what he has won at the shows. After the'cows and the calves you are asked to admirj the pigs, which, like everything else on irlajs place, are to the Australian eye 'lis- ! tinguished by their evidence of J ari4-'.' toeracy. The sheep, as tame as a lot : of fosterrfed pet lambs, come next, fLp.il ' again you are impressed by the owner's close expert knowledge. He looks ait a flock of 80 ewes, and tells you his cjld shepherd can diptinglish every one *!of • them and say off-hand when her lamb, was born, and all that is interesting about her. It has been remarked \ih Australia that the sheep has no individuality, and that you never hear '&■■. good; story • about a sheep. That., is beea'use w£ can't yet know our millions, , of merinos lish< : ".: shepherds cafcten you stories of , sheep just as'oUr bick countrymen; can df horses and forking, bullocks. ,' ! ! ' MORE CAPITAL REQUIRED^ jj :\\ Of course the system of housingraind, hand-feeding in general tends to ; make a live-stock expeut: of j every farmer. Fattening is accomplished very largely on food-stuffs which must be bought. The Australian farmer or has merely to look overplus animals on the natural pastures and decide when they, are in fit condition for Homebush or Flemington. The jEnglish farmer has to study closely whether the growth and fat of his animals show him a profit over his bill for feed. He has to try all the foodstuffs on the market, and discover which gives the best business results. And in this purchase of oilcake and other special diet you have the necessity for a substantial bank balance. The amount of money invested in the average English farm is much larger than on the Australian farm which gives an equal return.. The English farmer has a heavy and regular outlay on rent, foodstuffs, and manure. It is necessary if he is not to work at a loss that he must possess and exercise a sound business sense. He must keep books and frequently take stock. Then all the stall-feeding means the making and disposal of. much farmyard manure —a business in itself. Artificial manures are in general use, but only as a supplement to the product of the stables. j NOTHING TOO SMALL. When you walk about an English farmyard the thing which perhaps impresses you most is the farmer's intejrest in such little things as poultry and butter-making, and, if it is the West Country, cider-making. He will pick up a purebred pullet, and discuss its points just as keenly as a few minutes before he was discussing the points of the young hunter or the Devon bull. He tells you how he has tried this breed and that breed; he can say to a day when chickens of a certain stock should reach a given weight. " And the birds know, him as well as the large stock, and make no struggle or noise as he lifts them gently, almost affectionately, from their pens and crates. Nothing on his farm is too small for his attention and concern. He presides over the whole, from the chickens to his children and is casual about none of it. You walk about with him and learn in half an hour why England is the world's most famous home of domestic animals. At cultivation he is not perhaps so thorough, but. still even here he is on the average a long way ahead of his kindred in Australia. His heavy crops are largely, the result of generous manuring, a proper system of rotation, and an extraordinary amount of cultivation. The English farmer has infinite faith in the honesty of his soil. He will frequently spend £5 or £6 an acre in manure and cultivation, and rent is on top of that. He farms on the principle that a heavy crop pays better than a light one, after making all allowance for its cost. Nothing is kept for show on the English farm. There is no flash buggy and pair, no motor car. The farmer jogs along the roads in a plain dog-cart, drawn by a useful but not expensive cob. The young hunters or carriage horses are sold as surely as the wheat and fat wethers. The Australian farmer, with all his dasji and success,•' is still A-ery superficial and incomplete as compared with the old yeomanry of England.