A FARMER ABROAD.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14513, 20 December 1912, Page 10

A FARMER ABROAD.

• ! MB J. LAMBIE'S OBSERVATIONS.! Mr John Lambie, of Kyle, who re- | cently returned from a trip to the Old ! Country related some of his observa- ■ tions to a "Press" reporter yesterday. ! "This was my third trip to the Oid World," remarked Mr Lambie. "since I first came to New Zealand. This time I journeyed by way of South America to England and then visited many parts of Scotland and other places. I found tho country much as it was on the occasion of my former visit seven years ago. Tho rural populations were steadily drifting into the towns and cities. A similar regrettable state of affairs has now been going on for some years, with the result that the country populations are decreasing, and are ceasing to realise tho undoubted advantages of a healthy rural life. Farm holdings are increasing in size, and the days of *mall farm holdings seem to be gradually passing away. Farmers at Homo are realising tho fact that unless their holdings are large enough in area to pay them to use the most up-to-dato agricultural machinery, they can never liojjc to compote with the products of other countries. "In many parts of visited I found they were still a long way behind tho oversea Dominions in respect to the . uso of agricultural machinery, but reapers and binders are now being introduced. One of my relations made a boast that they had with a, modern reaper ard binder cut and tied a ten and a half acre paddock of grain in two long days! "When I informed my friend of tho amount of harvest work* got through in one day on tho average New Zealand farm, my statement was treated as a bit of New ■ Zealand romance." < ] With reference to general fanning, Mr Lambie said: "They practically j employ more labour at Home, and it costs them more to get their results than it does in New Zealand where farm labour is scarce and wages are high. For instance," Mr Lambie stated, "on somo of the farms I visited they uso a singlo furrow plough with two horses, and novv pay trom los to £1 per week to their good men, while I in New Zealand one man will work a three furrow plough with five or six horses, get through an infinitely greater amount of work proportionately, and i for which he receives an average of 30s per week and found. It is obvious that tho Homo farmer really pays more than tho New Zealand farmer, and the Homo farmer docs not get such a good net result for his labour." On tho question of dairy farming Mr Lambio stated: "Tins profitable branch of industry is progressing, but very slowly, milking machines are being gradually 'introduced on some farms, while the demand for milk, especially in the largo towns and crowded cities, is so great that the supply is not equal to the demand. Tho municipal corporations in most of tho largo centres have introduced useful and desirable I regulations for tho milk supply, and are taking steps to ensure that ihe milk supplied shall be pure. The methods used for the manufacture of dairy produce, such as butter and cheese, are decidedly behind those adopted in New Zealand, and the establishment of bvttor factories are now only in tho initial stages." Chatting on, Mr Lambie gavn the reporter much other valuable information on tho methods of farming in many parts of Scotland, and his comparisons were all largely in favour of New Zealand.