M. COBBIERE'S IMPRESSIONS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16415, 8 January 1919, Page 8

M. COBBIERE'S IMPRESSIONS.

AGRICULTURE AND STOCKRAISING. One of the members of the French Mission is M. Henri Corbiere, who at his estato at Nonant-le-Pin, Normandy, is a great breeder of thoroughbreds, and also of Percheron horses. M. Corbiere is also a highly-trained agricultural engineer, and during tho war. like most of his countrymen, he has been a soldier, serving with the artillery for four years, partly in France and partly in the Balkans —in Serbia and Bulgaria. Yesterday afternoon M. Corbiere, with Dr. C. J. Reakes, Director of Agriculture, paid a flying visit to the Canterbury Agricultural College at Lincoln, where ho had a necosarily short view of the home farm and of some of the stock. Coming back he called in at the Riccarton racecourse, i where Sir Geo. Clifford showed him j over the course and appointments. ~ Speaking to a representative of "The Press," M. Corbiere expressed a good

deal of admiration for what he had seen at tho Agricultural College. "It was a fine place," he said, "and I was glad to learn that the students—who were away at the time—did all tho work on tho place. This is the correct principle to work on. In Franco the Government does a very great deal to encourage agriculture. The State has established many agricultural colleges, and assists largely with the shows, giving prizes and premiums and so on, but at most of the colleges theory obtains moro attention than practice, and at row, if any, is there any large extent ot ground on which the students havo to do all the work. I believe porson- . i they should do the practical work at a college as well as merely learn the principles and theory of agriculture, and animal husbandry." Owing to the rather hurried passage i i '°. r^'« ?s > oT } through the North Island. M Corbiere was not able to make as detailed an inspection of the country as he could wish. What he lias seen <io admires. "It is very different to Australia, here," .he said, "and Now Zealand :,s much more like England and parts of Franco. Everything looks so green hero, and there aro plenlv of trees." The mention of France brought up the question of the rehabilitation of tho French farms in the war zone whif 'i been devastatod by the fighting. M. Corbiere said that luckily the area covered really a comparatively narrow strip. In that aroa, of course, immense damage had been done. It was extremely probable that the thousands of Gorman prisoners in French hands would be made to restore the country, and. of course, Germany would havo to foot tho bill. Already huge gangs of prisoners wero busily " employed filling up all the trenches and shell holes; tliey had been employed at this work while hostilities were in progress, but the French did not employ the Ilun prisoners near the fighting lines, as tho Germans did 'with the prisoners they captured. M. Corbiero pointed out that though the German prisoners might bo employed to carry out this work, there was an enormous amount more to bo done. Wells and water supplies had been polluted with dead horses, trees razed to the ground, buildings absolutely destroyed, stock taken, and plant destroyed. For all this Germany would havo to pay, but it would fall to the French to ao tho actual work of replacement. It does not appear from what M. Corbiere says that New Zealand farmers can do very much directly to assist. Tho'long distance botwen New Zealand and France would preclude any trade, or any. extensive trade, in pure-bred stock, and what was wantod would probably bo procured from England. 8o far as meat was concerned, France would want meat for some year 6to come, until she had built up her own flocks and herds again. "We were a great cattle country," said M. Cbrbiere, "and'wo had 20 million cattle, half as much again as Australia. Wo exported cattle, chiefly to Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Before the war tho people of France did not oa£ much meat; .they -went in for poultry, •fish, eggs, and things like that, but cjuring the war the soldiers have got used to beef and mutton rations, chiefly j beef, and I expect more will be eaten in the future than in the past. It may he that we shall build up an additional source of supply of meat in Northern Africa—Algeria, Tunis, Morocco—and from the latter place we may get a wool supply, but. of course, very little as compared with our nbeds. Your wool we fihall always want, and we shall he able to take a great deal of it. We would like wheat, too, but I understand you do not grow sufficient to cx- , port in any large quantities."

The suggestion that has been made to import Percheron draught horses into' New Zealand was met by M. Oorbiere by the reply that now would be a bad time to do it, even if the French Government allowed it. "The drain on the Percheron stock has been enormous. All Percherons, except inares> in foal, were requisitioned by the Government at the outbreak of war, to be used for artillery and other war purposes. Then again, there has been very extensive buying by English breeders, the Commission under Lord Lonsdale purchasing a large number, price being no object. It would not have been so bad if our breeders. had sold stallions only, but the high prices tempted many to sell their marea, and this would have a very severe cffect upon the industry, which will have to be built up again.. To show tho scarcity of Percheron mares, an English breeder who had bought a stallion , actually sent to Canada to. buy twenty mares for shipment to England, as he could not get them in France." To-day. M. Corbiere will go to Longbeach with the other members of the Mission, but he starts shortly after 7.30 a.m. with Dr. Roakes, so that he, can have a look at Mr Leonard White's Corriedales on the way. (