FARMERS' AFFAIRS

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20243, 22 May 1931, Page 15

FARMERS' AFFAIRS

NORTH CAJ^TERBURY - •- ANNUAL , CONFERENCE. : ' Tho thirtieth annual provincial conference of tho North Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Farmers Union held in the Chamber of Commerce Conn* cil Chamber yesterday lasted throughout tho day and evening. The president, Mr C. Mcintosh, of West Eyroton, was in the chair, and there wits aft attendance of over thirty delegates representing 16 branches ija North Canterbury. Tho Annual Report. Tho annual report, which was adopted, stated that so far as farmers' excursions wore concerned, the year had been .vory quiet, the only .tour being that of a-Bm,all party of Hawke's Bay farmers th 6 South Island. The depression hs»d 'been largely responsible for the cessation, and also for the abandonment- of /the projected Empire farmers' tour, which was to have taken place in May. It -was to bo hoped that when conditions improved thoso . excursions would bo revived, for there was no better way of* educating the farmer and of broadening his outlook than to afford him the opportunity of 1 seeing what other farmers could do, and what they had to contend with. Much good had already resulted from the association,, with tho Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, as there ware many problems of. common interest on which it was to mutual advantage to combine, and which the Chamber'*, organisation was niore especially adapted t'o 1 attack "and investigate. The Agricultural Bulletins, prepared by the Chamber inconjunction with Lincoln College were serving a very useful purpose indeed, and those already issued covered a wide range of subjects, all of which were of interest to the farmor who .wished to make a success of his operations.

It was pleasing to report the' steady progress of the Women's Division in North Canterbury. There were now eight branches—Amiiri, Christchurch, Darfield, Dunsandel, Hor'orata, Motukarara, Springfield, and Tai Tapn, and all were functioning well. Tho movement was developing along sound lines, and the energy and enthusiasm which the womenfolk put into their work 'should be an incentive to the meii to put their weight into their own organisation and not, to leave the work to a few. Who could measure tip valuo of the social side of the meetings of the Division, ajiart altogether from its humanitarian work of providing housekeeping help for the relief of country mothers in need of*such, and nurses for the back-blocks under the bush nurse scheme! /there was no doubt that the Division was doing a very, fine work, and yopld 'prove a greats source, ofstrength -to tho Union. ,J V., - V Election of Officers. ' f The election Of officers resulted as follows:—President, Mr , C. Mcintosh; vice-president," Ift J. R. Cullen; hop. ireasui-er, Mr Jf. D. Hall; auditor, Mr W. H. Nicholls; Executive Committee, -Messrs- P. :0. Amst*b#B, |f. Ashworth, •B, •&. Bishop,, A. i Msbe*,* ft. H.' Hassall, E. G. Keith, T. Morton, W. W. Mulholland, D. J. Hawke, R. T. McMillan, H. Oliver, H. G. Parish, F, Quigley, E. S. Eoper, William Smith, G. C. Warren; delegates to the Dominion Conference, Messrs J. E. Cullen, W. W. Mulholland, and G. C. Warren. . , Hospital Taxation. A remit that"the present method,of contribution to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board is inequitable, as. it ie that a fifty-fifty basis would bq fair and reasonable, was carried unanimously. Mi* B, T, Mejtfiilan, in moving the remit, said that the most equitable arrangement would beone based upon 50 per cent, valuation and 50 per cent, population, ai he maintained that such would provide somo relief to rural ratepayers. ■' ' • It was further decided to forward the femit to the Dominion Conference to secure its endorsement. , Bail way Weighing. : A. remit from the Amberley branch that the Bailway Department be asked to take all responsibility in the weighing of all farm produce "Spaa carried unanimously. v w Mr F. Pawson, business agent for the Department in .Ohtiftchurch, attended the conference, and explained that the Department's Weighing was for its own use; and if the farmers used those weights for their purposes it was their Awn eoncetn. TFhere wps no such thing as a weighing service for the producer, in existence, and; if that was desired representations would have to. be made for s«ch. - i ... • - 1 > - Weather Reports. , A remit Was forward from Horo rata that the Government be asked to send out weather reports during the farmers' busy seasons—fccmbing, shearing, and harvest. " The delegate from Hororata, Mr R. .G.' Ke*th,urged that reports' : Should be distributed- to farmers from local post, offices by Other delegates maintained that it? would be too to ask the telephone officials to ring up farmers,' but it was suggested that radio stations "be requested to broadcast reports at midday. . . , ' The remit was carried, and it was decided tp request radio stations to broadcast weather reports at mid-day in • the busy seasons. - ; Annual Subscription. / A remit from Cheviot that in view of the prevailing depression the annual membership subscription be reduced was carried. Seed Certification. That the Department of Agriculture be asked tot. endeavpur to complete the Banks Peninsula cbcksfoot certification scheme as early as possible—a remit from the Banks Peninsula branchr—was carried unanimously. Delegates criticised the policy of the Government in taking the seed to Palmerston North to grow it for certification. That method, it was maintained, waii too round about, and the reasonable thing to do would be to certify the seed on the farms of the Peninsula. It was further decided to draw the attention of the Government to the loss of efficiency and the; inconvenience caused, by the transfer of Messrs J. W. Hadfield and A.: W2 Hudson to the Palmerston. North plant breeding station of .the Department , of' Agriculture. That the Department of Agriculture be. asked to co-operate in evolving schemes for the certification of . our grass-seeds and clovers, with a . view to early exploration of the possibilities of overseas markets for such, was a remit from the. Ellesmere branch which "was carried unanimously. 'Kffidoiis and Diseases;, A remit from the Ellesmere branch that .in vie# of the fact that the | noxious weeds and diseases already in this Dominion are responsible, for a, . huge annual loss, the Government bo impressed with the absolute necessity

for seeing that produce from overseas is free from disease'and noxious weeds, was carried. ' Barley from Australia, iThe following remit from the Ellesinere district was carried:—s "That, as it is of first importance that farms be kept in" production, this conference again urges the Prime Minister to take immediate steps to protect the barley-growers of this country against the unfair competition of Australian barley, which has made the position, of large numbers "desperate." It was decided 1 to send thl remit to jtho "Government. ■ * Agricultural Research. The executive forwarded the follow- * ing remit: — " v "That it is desirable,'in the interests of farmers, that research work should b,e prosecuted in connexion with soil fertility, stock breeding, and fattening, suitable machinery and fuel for farm purposed, and for, . this purpose that farmers' interests should have stronger representation oin the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research. At the, present'tittie there is only one farmer on a Board of eight." It was decided to send the remit to the Dominion Conference;, f Secondary Industries. "That this conference is of the opinion that before our secondary industries will be. able to compete • successfully with outside manufactured, and obtain that support which it would be to the interests of this Dominion that they should have, their costs will require to be very substantially reduced, and it is I suggested this might be accomplished by I some form of rationalisation and a reduction in wages and interest charges. | remit, sponsored by the executive, was carried. Another remit carried was as follows*—from the executive: "That any principle followed' by tha Arbitration Court in , the fixing or wages in any industry that is, not based on the value produced by tho labour in question is economically unsound." - decided to send the "following remit to the Dominion Conference. From Mr E. G. Bishop:—"That this conference draws the attention of tho Government to the serious menace to our producers by Eussia's economic policy and nrges that representations be made to the Imperial Government With a view to meeting this' position." Mr J. E. Cullen was appointed the Union's delegate to meet the Canterbury Agricultural and' Pastoral Association in its consideration of a gift sehemo to assist the unemployed.