Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1930. EXPERIMENTAL FARMS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 261, 18 August 1930, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 1930. EXPERIMENTAL FARMS.

There can be no two opinions regarding tke need for strict economy in public expenditure, at this particular juncture more than ever, but the use of the pruning knife should be directed with discretion and with a view to the ultimate needs of the country. The decision of the Government in regard to research work at Lincoln College is open to criticism, for the result would be to deprive the agriculturist of a valuable aid in his task of increasing- the production from his land. As the president of the. Mid-Canterbury executive of the Farmers' Union stated on Friday, there never was a time when there was more need of research that will help production. More output by all the producing sections of the people and less expenditure by everyone is the urgent requirement if the Dominion is to overcome its difficulties with the minimum oi delay. . Everyone has to take a Dart in the work, but as the farm is the source from which our income from overseas comes in the first place, the need for increasing the yield of primary produce "takes pre-eminent place. Much has already been done in improving the land by proper handling, keeping better stock, and improving the methods of disposing of our products, but a great deal remains to be done. A lamb of the right breed and properlv fed will sell at six months old for more money than a half-starved mongrel sheep will at anv age. A good cow on the srme feed as a bad one will return three or four times the amount of money in a season. A farm properly cultivated and manured will keep two or three times as much stock as one that has been neglected. Farmers as naturally as those of other businesses take great account oi the prices they obtain for their produce, and in some cases they concentrate on this aspect to the neglect of careful control of the cost of production. As a rule they can do little to affect the former, for monetary returns are o-overned in great degree by factors world-wide in operation. But as regards the latter, while admittedly there are uncontrollable items, there are others in respect to which considerable improvement can be effected. For instance, a cow that produces only 1501bs of butter-fat o-ives no profit, whereas one that produces 3001bs at the same expenditure of feed and labour gives a good increment. By the correct treatment of land in the matter of manuring, increased yields may be obtained. It is by research and experiment that the proper methods and treatments are discovered, and while the individual cannot carry out the necessary tests and trials the State can do so with success. It has been argued that the operations by the official experimenters are carried out on such a scale as to be beyond the means of the working farmer, but it should not be forgotten that the principal value of the work is not so much the achievement of any given result as the affording of an indication of the effects of certain treatments and methods. All progressive farmers can derive great assistance from the work of the experimental farms, and while doubtless economies can be introduced in these, as in other Government departments, the work is so vital a factor in assisting the prosperity 'of the country that it should be maintained at the highest reasonable standard.