VICTORIAN FARMER STUDIES MID-CANTERBURY METHODS

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28435, 15 November 1957, Page 7

VICTORIAN FARMER STUDIES MID-CANTERBURY METHODS

A member of the Young Farmers’ Club movement in Australia who is visiting New Zealand on an exchange basis, sponsored by the Bank of New South Wales, is at present in the MidCanterbury district, where he has inspected farms and irrigation research projects in the last eight days.

He is Mr K. C. Duthie. of Mallee. Victoria, who has been staying at Mr H. Calderwood’s farm at Eiffelton since his arrival in the district last week. The tours are the basis of an ai.nual exchange scheme sponsored by the bank to enable members of Young Farmers’ Clubs in New Zealand and Victoria to study farming methods and rural activities in the respective countries. Mr Duthie. a member of the Woomelong senior Young Farmers’ Club in Victoria, was selected after being interviewed by various panels, including representatives of the Department of Agriculture and the sponsors. He was selected from 12 other entrants from districts throughout Victoria, each of whom was nominated by his club district council. Mr Duthie has stayed on farms at Tauranga. Masterton. Hastings, and other North Island centres since his arrival in September, and attended the Young Farmers’ Clubs’ Dominion executive council meeting in Wellington After leaving Ashburton next Tuesdav [Mr Duthie will stay on farms i in Mosgiel and Gore, and will leave from Christchurch by air |to return home on December 8 | He has given illustrated talks [on farming in Victoria to organisations in New Zealand, and on his return to Victoria will give i similar addresses on Now Zealand farming Water Shortage a Problem “The biggest farming problem in Australia is the provision of i water for stock and irrigation i purposes.’’ said Mr Duthie. There was not enough water available to serve the large areas of farmland which could be brought into production under irrigation, production in New Zealand was high compared with the Mallee region of Victoria —where capacity averaged about one sheep an acre —but a *~’*ge increase in sheep r id grain crops could be made if sufficient rain was available The rainfall in the Mallee av?iaged 14in a year. Climatic conditions were much more favourable to farming in

this country, with no great extremes of temperature, and no real drought conditions as experienced in Australia, he said.

Water for stock and domestic purposes had to be conveyed through a system of channels for more than 200 miles from the supply reservoir to serve the Mallee region, which was 240 miles inland. More than 6000 miles of channels had been constructed to provide water for these purposes to properties in the area. There was no irrigation in the district, and the nearest irrigation system in the State was in north-east Victoria—a scheme supplying 700.000 acres of farmlands—where dairying and fat lamb raising was carried out. Mr Duthie expressed interest ir the Winchmore Irrigation Research Station, near Ashburton, which he visited last Monday. He will visit the Canterbury Agricultural College next Monday He said the Young Farmers’ organisations in New Zealand v « similar to those in Victoria and pursued similar activities. There were 107 clubs in Victoria with a total membership of 3500 A third of the members were girls, there being no separate organisation such as the Country Girls’ Clubs which functioned in New Zealand The hospitality I have received in New Zealand has been really wonderful, said Mr Duthie The exchange tours were an excellent scheme for promoting a better understanding of farming methods |and problems in the two countries.