OUR FARMING INTERESTS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 229, 25 September 1903, Page 2

OUR FARMING INTERESTS

EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN

METHODS

MR: EDWIN HALL INTERVIEWED.

The return of Mr. Edwin Hall from his Lour of observation in England and numerous other countries in the. Old World has been awaited with keen interest by fanners throughout the North Island of New Zealand. Mr. Hall is a gentleman ot wide funning experience, and iv his capacity of secretary of the Auckland Agricultural Association and secretary of the Auckland Provincial Farmers' Union he was well qualified for the work of examining and reporting on

the agricultural systems of the Old World. Mr. Hall left New Zeauntarily, and at his own expense, mainly for the sake of the holiday and for the benctit of his health. He left New Zealand in February last, and travelled via Canada and the United States, and after visiting England and other countric. of fan-ope returned by way of South Africa. Mr. Hall was interviewed by a ".Star" reporter at his Onehunga residence last evening, and asked to give a concise outline of his impressions. The reporter found .Mr. Hall so full of information that he scarcely knew where to begin.

'■The principal object I had in view," ihe said, "waa 'to wthat step., were being adopted in 'the miosl progressive- countries to' improve the poisdtdom of agricul'tiu-sts. 1 visited eleven countries aud States, and always made it imy first business to csa_l upon die leading agricut-lira 1 experts and officials to learn t!he_r methods of dealing wiit-i the problems that, are exe-.i_.ng the (minds of the fairmers in this colony, in every instance these gentlemen mot-only gave me the fullest information on tihe questions in which we are espec_a>lly •intoresteid, but fil_> placed at my disposed a quantity of their painted reports and bullcit.iiis envbodydrag the results of their .scientific rescareOies. These, 1* think, wall prove of great value to the m_nbeir_ of our assodiaibion. I was mudi struck with .tihe efforts made By the Governments of many of the State. t. O stamulaite ancl foster the agricultural interests, to incneasc the agri__tni_tf omifcput and i.o open up new markets. The ('overnmen-t have equipped dairy factories in promising districts, mannfaotuxed and marketed the bir-tar, and then, when they had demonstrated how sa'tflsfaeto-dly they wore working, 'handed itnem over to tin. farmieirs. In Denmark the Government expend a large sum annually in determining the best strains of dairy cows. i They are subsidising no less than 300 ''dairy control ..in-ewlties'' that have been formed to ascertain, by pciniod'cal testing, the quantity and quality of the raiiQk produced by the individual cows, as compared with tlie cost of 'the fodder they consumed. These sooiafcies last year tested 174,000 cows. '•'What was tht-'g-cnera] result of these tests ?" "It was aPCCirtairied tSiait some cows were producing butteT at a cost of Gd per lb, while that of o.thems was as hligh as 2/0 per lb. Substantial piTrndums were offered for the herds that produced the largest quantity of milk per cow at the least cot- per lb. No expense i_ grudged by the Danish Governm«Tit to provide the Daws with the finest technical agricultural educntio_, and the result its tfliait tiheir agricultural exports have increased iby leaps and bo'inds." In Ontario the Government actively assist an experimental union, that has been formed for the purpose of testingnew varieties of cereals, etc.. and ascertaining which are the most, suitable for the various districts throughout the province. Over HOOO settlers are engaged in this work. Twelve hundred varieties of farm crops have been tested for five years in succession, and the results carefully tabulated, averaged and recorded. As an example of the good results of this work a new variety of Siberian oats was tested that yielded 2$ bushels per acre more than the best oats previously tried. But, apart from the valuable information actually obtained from these experiments, it is claimed that the educational advantages to the farmers conducting them are inestimable, leading to close observation, careful handling, accurate calculation, and more economical methods. Professor [Robertson, of Ottawa, also initiated a movement to induce boys and girls to undertake the growth and selection of seed corn. Eight hundred young people took up the work, and it is stilted that in three years they increased the yield of the samples of wheat and oats tided by 27 per cent. If an increase of only 10 per cent, in the yield of the wheat, oats and barley could be obtained in this colony it would mean that the New Zealand fanners would have 2,000,000 (two millions) bushels more grain to market, and his increased spending powers would benefit nearly every section of the community. Professor Robertson also organised a national system of cold storage by rail, port and steamer, so that the products of the small shipper, can be carried witho_t deterioration from the farm in the interior of Canada to the London market almost as cheaply as it could from Ireland or Scotland. In America £140,000 Avas allocated last year by Congress to be spent in agricultural experiments, and much good work is also being done in this direction by tho Australian Government. Mr. Potts, the principal of the Hawkeshury College, grew quite enthusiastic as he recounted how the Victorian Government devoted £250.000 to the development of the dairy industry, grantfng £ 1 for £ 1 subsidy towards the erection of butter factories; ancl 3d per lb subsidy on the butter exported, thus establishing a rapidlygrowing export trade in two years. These are but a few instances of many that might be cited. I* steps could be taken in this colony to do for the fruit | industry what has been done, for the butter "industry, what a boon it would prove to the fanners of this province, and what a large amount of money it would circulate amongst B lot of our Northern settlers—money that would soon find its way back again into the city. The countries that are doing the most in agricultural education are the countries that are going ahead the fastest. The county councils of England sent out delegates to Denmark to inquire into the farming methods adopted there, and the results may be summed up as foll ow 3; —"The prosperity of the well-to-do farmers is largely due to the fact that the farmers own the land they occupy, combined with the educational assistance given by the Government." "Did you notice anything concerning mutual fire insurance matters?" "Yes. On reaching Toronto I called on Dr. Hunter, the Government inspector of insurance societies, and he discussed, clause by, clause, the draft of

the proposed Mutual Fire Insurance Bill drawn up by Mr Kirkbride. The similar societies in Canada have proved au undoubted success. They carry sixty million pounds' worth of risk in tlie two provinces of Ontario alone at an average cost of about 5/ per £ 100, or onequarter per cent, per annum. I might add that in England the best insurance companies are taking risks at 1/6 per £100 on brick dwellings, 2/ on household furniture, 3/ on farm buildings, a somewhat higher rate on wooden buildings, and 5/ on farm stock."

In further reference to butter factory matters Mr Hall said that he obtained from Mr Potts, principal of the HawkcsLury Agricultural College, details of their -tests of the butter-producing capacities of sows, and learned that as a result of the consequent weeding out of unprofitable cows the percentage of but-ter-fat in the milk sent to the Euro Butter Factory was increased from 3.0 to 4.1, which mean that the suppliers received an increase of £ 2600 per annum.

Mr Hall is convinced that what the New Zealand farmers must pay the greatest attention to is higher agricultural education, for he fouud that wherever this kind of education prevailed, there prosperity prevailed also.