HELPING THE FARMER

Press, Volume C, Issue 29643, 13 October 1961, Page 17

HELPING THE FARMER

Early Work Of Association Before extension, services of the Department of Agriculture, farm improvement clubs and other rural services came into being the agricultural and pastoral association played an important part in the development of farming and education of fanners. Pasture competitions, ploughing matches and crop growing trials were as important to the associations as the shows. Demonstrations of machinery would be arranged on field days and evenings would be set aside for lectures and discussions on farming topics. Trials of new varieties of grain and other crops would be sponsored and, if necessary, the association would foot the bill if the farmer taking part in the trial lost money by it. At present there is strong agitation in South Otago for a sugar beet industry and the same proposal has been mooted several times in other parts of the country. In 1920 the Ellesmere Agricultural and Pastoral Association devoted a lot of time to a proposal for a sugar beet industry to be started in the district but it was not proceeded with. In 1923 the association staged an “Educational Demonstration, of Tractor Ploughing” which was well attended. Two tractors took part in the display and one of the commentators present emphasised to the farmers the need to look at the efficiency of the machines as well as the number of furrows they pulled or the ground covered in an hour. The Peterboro utilised its 40 horsepower to pull four 12in furrows and was said to be capable of ploughing an acre an hour. Under favourable conditions it had ploughed 23 acres in 16 hours using l’/4 gallons of kerosene an hour. The second tractor, a Fordson. was owned by Mr W Bowls, of Doyleston, and driven by his son. Pulling three furrows, this tractor used 1 1-3 gallons of fuel to the acre. The machine also carried an “ingenious and valuable invention” of Mr Bowis which was a lever and Siring attachment which raised and lowered the plough, according to a newspaper report of the display.