RELATION OF MAN TO THE SOIL

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21243, 15 August 1934, Page 11

RELATION OF MAN TO THE SOIL

♦ FARMING IN THREE COUNTRIES LECTURE BY MR o'. JOBBERNS The geography of primary production was the fundamental study of geographical science, said Mr G. Jobberns, introducing the subject of the final lecture in the series on human geography at Canterbury College last, evening. Mr Jobberns outlined the relation of man to the soil in the Argentine, in Germany, and in Russia, stressing the geographical factors involved in agricultural work in area? presenting such wide divergences of soil and climate. The address was entitled "The Geography of Primary Production." In the Argentine, said the speaker, agriculture was based on a system of large holdings of land. The middle, or "pampa," portion of the Argentine was a most important area, largely because its climate approximated most nearly to that of Europe. In 1840. Gen - eral Rosa had apportioned various areas of the pampa land to his supporters in his military campaign, and these areas had been held by the samf families ever since. Largely through the application of English capital, tno natural resources of the Argentine had been developed, railways had beeif constructed, and, with the advent of refrigeration methods of export, (he Argentine cattle-barons had become extremely wealthy. A significant factor in the development of the Argentine had been the displacement of the native grasses by lucerne, or alfalfa. Though we were accustomed to think of the Argentine as a cattle-raising: country, it was rich in capacities to produce every kind of crop, and itff potential resources were tremendous. The chief difficulty was that experienced by all agricultural countries, or finding an adequate market for products. In addition, the interest on overseas loans had to be met. The Argentine was in the anomalous position of a country enormously rich in natural resources, and in productivity, yet at the same time financially embarrassed. It presented a typical example of the relation existing to-day between the farmer and the soil. German Agriculture The conditions of agriculture in Germany, and the life of the German peasant, presented an entirely different picture. The German peasant, at the present time, was living extremely close to the soil. There was very little opportunity of his making a profit, and he would do all in his power to pay off the accumulated debts on his piece of land, which probably had been handed down to him from his fathers. That attitude of ownership towards the land, which had been in the possession of the same family for generations, was not met with in New Zealand. Of the 180,000 square miles comprising the area of Germany, 63 per cent, was cultivable. There were 5,000,000 German families living on farms of five acres or less in area, so that the intensiveness of agriculture in Germany was vastly greater than that in New Zealand. The present conditions, political and social, in Germany, were largely dile to agricultural factors. Up till 1914, Germany had been one of the most successful industrial countries in Europe. And with the growth of industrial activity, the produce from German farms had increased. Thir i increase was the result of the applicaj tion of German scientific methods, and i German skill, to agriculture. The war I had diverted the nation's energy to ! military affairs, and agriculture had [ suffered accordingly. The farmers were drafted into the army, agricultural machinery was not cared for, and the artificial fertilising of the soil was neglected. By 1918, German wheat production had decreased from the 1914 level by 150,000,000 bushels, and this poverty of agriculture had helped to break the spirit of the people since the war. Conditions had become so bad, that, in the last few years, a state planning of agricultural resources had been undertaken. This planning was for similar undertakings in other countries, in that scientists, economists, bankers, and all who could contribute anything to a study of agriculture. had been mobilised with the typical German thoroughness to make a complete survey of the country's entire natural resources. The Russian Experiment One of the most remarkable agricultural experiments ever performed in the world's history, said Mr Jobberns, was the collectivisation of land in Russia. The lime had gone by when the topic of Russian economy had to be avoided, or confused with political doctrines. The importance of Russia to the geographer was that it occupied one-sixth of the habitable globe, and supported 180,000,000 of the world's population. Russia had to be taken into consideration as a geographical fact. i To understand the Russian economy, it was necessary to consider the poverty of the human material with which the Soviet had had to deal—a poverty in marked contrast to the intelligent farming community of Germany. Further, Russia had to meet geographical handicaps vastly greater than those encountered in Grea' Britain, America, and New Zealand. The country embraced a huge area, soil was generally of poor quality, and the climate militated against easy development of the land and a comfortable life for the farmer. The Russian peasants had to spend as much as six months of each year confined to their small hovels by the rigours of the winter climate. The physical and mental weariness and intellectual dullness resulting from this confinement had to be considered as geographical factors, as they resulted from the geographical quality of the country. The difficulties experienced in the furthering of the five-year plan had largely been concerned with th<* basic geographical factors —and the geographical interest of the Russian system lay in the fact that Russia had instituted an entirely new system of land management. Mr Jobberns concluded with a brief survey of land settlement and development hi America and Western Canada. In these areas, he said, the fall in the price of the products of the land had resulted in the dispossession of half the original holders, and the farmers were confronted with a great disparity between prices for produce and the accumulated interest charges The same conditions prevailed in New Zealand and in every country the economy of which was based on primary products.

Remarkable figures showing the growth of New Zealand's exports to Canada are contained m a cablegram recently received by an Auck - land exporting and importing firm from one of the largest manufacturers in British Columbia. "A perusal of your trade figures for the first quarter of 1934 compared with the same quarter of •1033." states the cablegram, "reveals a i increase in your imports lion .Canada o£ 9.33 per cent., a;;;unst a 'jncroase in your exports In C.nuxil ' of 148 per cent." The cabiegrari adds - . "Surely this bespeaks reei- | proeny