COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16268, 19 July 1918, Page 8

COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE.

IMPORTANT SPEECH BY THE MINISTER. OUTLOOK FOR NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. Amazement at finding tho 'splendid Etate of production existing in the country after just on four years of war was expressed by the Minister for Agriculture at the conference of the New Zofir land Council of Agriculture at 'Wellington on Wednesday (says the "Post' ). Mr Mac Donald added that the work of the Agricultuial Department had been carried on under a great deal of difficulty, and they had not beoii ab.e to as.ist the farmers so much as they .»ouid have liked, but, nevertheless, good work had been done by the stall'. Commencing from to-day, there was to be a reorganisation of the Agricultural Dep.utment. For the past niue years Mr 1? . S. Pope had been Secretary of Agriculture, and although a change was being made, he wished to say that Mr Pope had been a strenuous and good worker in the interests of the farming communily. It had becomo. however, abundant'y clear that one head of tho clerical division was not sufficient to carry on with, and it had bean decided to promote Colonel C. J. Reakes to be Direc-tor-General of .Agriculture in the Dominion. He felt sure Colonel Reakes would prove a most valuable officer, and that the appointment would be of great benefit to the farming community. Mr Brown, of the Fields Division, was trying to assist producers in the matter of fodder plant-breeding, etc., but he had not been able to do as much as he w:uld have likod. No Government Department was doing so much for the farmer as was the Agricultural Department, said the Minister, and he referred to the benefit accruing through the Government grading of produce. The experimental farms, too, were doing good j work. They did not profess to teach established trades, but they did profess to teach beginners who had no other place to get instructions. men could go to the experimental farms not as a privilege but bv right. The Minister also defended trio proposal of the Government to sell bulls from the farms by auction.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL NECESSARY.

During the past four years, continued Mr Mac Donald, the Government had had to interfere with the farming industry as well as others. The shortage of shipping nnd labour had made it impossible to allow things to go on in the old order, and the Government had to take some measure of control of tho p:oducts. In regard to beef, mutton, lamb, and ■wool, the arrangements made had, he claimed, been of immense benofit to the country. While some people seemed to he anxious to get the uttermost farthing, ho believed the great majority of farmers were satisfied that all possible had been done in their interests, and ho could only say that lie heped they would not be any worse-off in regard to shipping.

IMPERIAL PURCHASE OF WOOL. Concerning wool, ho felt sur© the majority of farmers were satisfied. There was a certain amount of agitation bein<* raised on this question in New Zealand and being rai :ed unfairly, and they must remember that the agreement with the Imperial Government for the pure' asoof New Zealand wool for the period of the war and twelve months after had not yet been fully concluded. The question of slipe and seedy wool was being oonsidered. At th© Paris Convention certain arrangements had been entered into which oould not be altered unt : l tho termination of the war. . . . He would not go bo far as to say that we should hand over all our projdu-ts to tho Imperial Government. Britain had dono magnificent work in the war by financing her Allies ana the' Dominions, and she had cut down her industries to all but the very essential. It would take a very long timo to reinstate these, and he believed that every right-thinking man would agree that it was a perfectly fair, proposition that the oversea Dominions whose products England took should agree that sho should have control of their raw materials until ehe was able to re-establish her industries. If she were only asking a period of twelve months after the war, was not that perfectly fair? And yet some people wanted the period to be three months! At present there was a very large quantity of wool in the Dominion paid for by the Imperial Government.

"SORDID COMMERCIALISM." We had for so long been imbued with sordid commercialism that we had allowed England to bear the burden of the protection of our shores and the Pacific routes. Were they to go back to the old order of things after the war, to the old line of rushing to the highest market, and thus helping to build up other nations to be in a position to annihilate us? Who was it that had helped us to build our railways and roads ? Was it not cheap money from Britain? Who provided us with a market for our produce? Was it not Britain? The final arrangement in regard to the wool purchase, he again reminded his hearers, had not been made, and u .til it was they should reserve their criticism. Tho purchase by the Imperial Government was, he contended, a very good thing indeedfor the people of this country. lL Continuing the Minister regretted •u Li 0 , °°k ' n regard to the perishable products -of New Zealand was not so satisfactory, but there was no question that the Imperial Government and the leaders of the New Zealand Government at present in England were going earnestly into the question of obtaining transport facilities. In this direction, however, he must say that they wero in a more difficult position than they had been in before. Tho Government, Mr Mac Donald added, is at present circularising all tbe freezing companies in the Dominion to ascertain what power they had in view of additional accommodation which might have to be built. Something would have to be done; the outlook was not too good. He believed they would have a fair number of ships during the next oouple of months, but after°that he could not say.

VALUE OF FERTILISERS. The Minister went on to refer to the value of fertilisers for the land, and stressed the difficulty of obtaining them. He referred to the report which is being prepared by officers of the Geological Division on the lime deposits of the country. It was a serious question, that of fertilising not only the flat agricultural land,- but also the hilly country. Farmers should lay down a concrete proposal as to what they were going to do, and then approach the Government; not just with a series of bald resolutions in regard to cheap railway freights, etc. All had got to realise that when the war terminated New Zealand would have a big burden to carry. He believed that tney would get fair and paying prices for their products, but it was all dreaming when people spoke of 4s per lb for wool, 2s 6d per lb for butter, and very much higher prices for landEven if it were to be so, would they be much better off? Would not wages rise accordingly t and land be taxed in proportion? country, he added, was a better producing country than New Zealand, and so far as general products were concerned he did«not think farmers had much to complain about.

THE WHEAT QUESTION. Turning to the wheat question, the Minister said the outlook for New Zealand prod-icing sufficient wheat for her own requirements was not very bright. The farmeis in Canterbury—a wheat growing district —had had three bad seasons Growers had done their best

I under mosfc difficult conditions. They j had hoped for a surplus, but instead of | that tJiey were faced with a. shortage, i wnich would necessitate importation from Australia. Wheat from Australia could probably not be landed in ~\ew | Zealand inside a year, but something must be done to try and get some as , soon as possible, 'lhere should be, as , elsewhere, a guarantee of prices, and , another difficulty was that New Zealand . had not faced the question of control- , ling all the means of production. New Zealand should not have to depend on j any other country for her wheat. Then, again, they could hardly expect the farmer, to go in for an unpayable proposition. There was a necessity for the Government to give every encouragement to the farmer in this direction. Referring to freezing companies, ne said that a great deal had been said of , trusts and "all that kind of business, | and probably legislation would be introduced next session dealing with tlie question of the control of the freezing works of the country. A good deal had been said about regulation at the other end, and of the free or biirplus meat getting into the hands of trusts, but lie contended that there was no need for any farmer to sell a single carcase to any trust if he would take advantage of the opportunity existing to sell to the Government for the Imperial Government. A very large quantity had been sold in Zealand to tlie men representing the very trusts which were being condemned. Many works had been built with borrowed money, and legislation could not be introduced which was going to inflict hardship on anyoody. fbey must safeguard the interests of the lending institutions, and not do anything to prejudice their security. There woufcl have to be, too, a measure of • Ministerial control. OTHER SUBJECTS. »

Touching on the rabbit question, the Minister said it was a most diiflcuit one, which would have to be gone into, witii a view to more drastic action bo- . iiiir taken than had been the case | iiiuieito. He thought the final solution | would be to try anu stop altogether thej export of raboits from tiie couutry, ana ; use every eilort to kill or poison or ex- ; terminate them in the best way pos- j Sl lte Minister concluded by referring I to tho aavisableness 01 the control or tne sale ol sheep dip. He trUsted that when next they met tho war would bo , over It was now established that, Ameiica had over a million men in the field, and he felt sure that they had ( turned the last dark corner of the war, , and wore on tlio road to victory. (Ap- j G. Wilson then read the fol- I lowing resolution carried by tho Board j of Agriculture yesterday: From the , lull information that has tjeen placed afc j the disposal of the Board of Agnelli- j ture regarding the wool position, the j Hoard wishes to express its satisfaction X the terns offered by the Imperial j Government, and to state that it considers that tho acceptance of this offer by our Government is m the best mtnrofits of the Dominion. . the suggestion of Mr George Hunter, the conference, passed a motion expressing the.hope that the Government be completed on the hnes indicated as in the best interests of the Buchanan suggested that to the motion should be added an indication that conference has no sympathy with the agitation to amend the Imperial Government's- ' a certain section on the East Coast. | Mr Hunter thought it would be more dicnified for conference to ignore the Station, and to this members agreed.VARIOUS RESOLUTIONS. (PEESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WJfiLUiNGi'ON, July 18. The conference ol the Council .of Agncultme passed the following reaoTj'noSdt °%2fJfnfSLrSon.iders it ad™ ~ i account of the shortage of i&ers that all iheepoivner. Bhouil be /led to engage «"»"* one learner to every tour shearers or the' Department of Agriculture be urged to certify , to the value or otherwise of all sheep-dip mixtures offered for sale in the Dominion, with fchb view of ascertaining whethei the • J' » rnt up may be deemed a satis£cwr{c£p for killing ticks and lice on in view of the want of uniform treatment by pastoralists of iout-; rot which has seriously increased in llawke a Bay this year, the Government be urged to make exhaustive extents and advise as to the best further steps be taken to urge upon the Government, to have investigations made into the cause and prevention of dry rot in turnip* » "That the Government be urged to conscript for national work all eligible enemy aliens and persons of enemy descent' who might claim exemption from military service by reason of their enemy parentage. ! It was fflecided to urge the Government to make mandatory those clauses in the Rating Act giving power to local bodies to exempt _ bona fide show grounds from taxation. | A motion that conference, at its rising, should adjourn sine die was. withdrawn, after, discussion. j The following Council was elected:—; North Island: Messrs Q. Donald, 12. j A. Campbell,* and E. Hall. | South Islan£; Messrs F. Macpher-; son, G. A. Macdonald, and W. D. Hunt. The conference has concluded. J