FARM WORK IN AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22195, 11 September 1937, Page 16

FARM WORK IN AUSTRALIA

CONDITION OF LIVE STOCK ■" i MR J. MOORE'S REPLY TO j CRITICISM A reply to the criticism of Mr D. C. Aubrey, Cattle Flat, Wanaka, concerning the statement given by Mr J. Moore, Ashburton, to a Wellington newspaper on the recent visit of New Zealand farmers,, to Australia, was made to "The Press" yesterday by Mr Moore. "I see no occasion for Mr Aubrey to rush into print, as I have already given a statement almost word for word to that of Mr Aubrey concerning the good points we had noted on our tour. That these were suppressed and special emphasis placed on the thinness of some cattle we had seen is not my fault," said Mr Moore. He added that he had made complimentary remarks about the hospitality received, and he had praised certain aspects of Australian farming methods. For instance, a herd of Hawkesbury College cattle was one of the best one could wish to see. "I realise it would have been much easier for me not to say anything of the unfavourable conditions which we saw, but to farmers who have the interest of live stock at heart, surely the possibilities of irrigation would appeal in Australia, where the results would be a tenfold increase when compared With New Zealand, as irrigation is not quite so necessary in this country,", stated Mr Moore. He was quite prepared to leave it. to the party of Australian farmers who would shortly tour New Zealand to make their own comparison between New Zealand cattle and the poor-conditioned cattle seen in parts of Australia by the New Zealand party. His party quite realised that it was travelling through a great deal of what was not Australia's best dairy country. He realised that Australia's powers to recuperate were such that when the grass grew the country would have a different appearance from that which he had observed. Australian Newspaners "It seems unfortunate that while Australian town and country people seem to be keen for closer co-opera-tion with New Zealand, both in trade and social intercourse, a section of the Australian press seems to exaggerate certain news about New Zealand with misleading headlines, in a way which is not exactly complimentary," said Mr Moore. He continued that some, newspapers had emphasised that New Zealand sheep owners were importing Australian sheep and re-exporting them to Japan. There was not the slightest truth in that statement, yet it might create friction between Australian and New Zealand sheepmen. "I can assure Mr Aubrey that I have travelled with other parties, and I am quite conversant with the rules of courtesy, though I feel hurt that a different interpretation from that which I intended has been placed on some of my remarks. I had no desire to implicate any one of the party in my statement, which embodied purely my own opinions," he concluded.