LEVIN AND THE DAIRY SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 154, 24 March 1908, Page 2

LEVIN AND THE DAIRY SCHOOL.

INDIGNATION MEETING. ' IS WERAROA FARM WORTH KEEPING? A meeting of about 150 people was held -■ at Levin; 011 Saturday night (telegraphs oiir, •.... correspondent) to' 'discuss the position' cror - .- ated by the of. tho Goyernment to oreetthe Dairy School in ; Palmerstoii North. Mr. .H. Field, M.P., and members of the various local bodies, were present.. Tho audi-ence-was addressed'from'tho-balcon-y of tho Levin Hotel. _ The Mayor, Mr. B. Rv Gardner, in oponing .- the proceedings, said that Levin had always been led to expect .that the. school . would be established on the experiment farm 1 site: - The farm in the past liad not been of: very ■ great benefit to the. district, experi-.. ments of a sufficiently practical nature to be of liso to farmors not having been carried . out by the Government. •. They had lipped to _be recompensed by the erection 'of tho dairy school on tho farm).and. tho time had now como for the Government to announco ■ definitely what policy it intended to pursue in regard to the future work of the/farm.Tho people of Levin, wanted to know - what . . was to be the future of ; the experiment farm. Nobody would, lie said, complain .'of . tho £20,000' spent on the farm if it was brought up to date, and they had a right'to know what the policy of'the Goyernment on ', the subject was to be, seeing Ithat £40.000 worth :of valuable land was standing idlp.. Ho urged the need ..for experiments, of;, a. more practical nature being carried-out, andthe expounding of a definite policy. 1 He -moved' tho following 'resolution:— ; •;! '' - " Seeing that the Agricultural Department's experts reported strongly in favour of ;tho Levin experiment farm as the site for tho dairy school, this ■ •meeting regrets that the' Cabinet had v not' submitted.for publication the. infor- -. motion and" material upon which-it re?' ;. ject-ed its'oxpert officers' reports'in/plae. ing : th> dairy school at- Palmerstoii North." y Mr. J. M'Leary seconded . the motion, which was-carried.'... ; , I v ' Mr. H. J. Richards, '.Chairman' of '■ tho ./ County Council, moved:—• , '"That this meeting ask the Minister for Agriculture' : tho'. intentions ■of tho ' , Govomment as- to tho future) destiny of the State experiment farm, ns somo more; definite 'and extensive experiments I .;',' should be carried out and tho farm r'eri-v-: dered of snore benefit to the Dominion-: : as a whole. Failing this, it would be of ' rnore advantage, to siibdivido tho , farm ■ into small farms." .. . . : ; Mr. F. Roe seconded, and the motion was carried. -•'■ • .'■•' y. . ' . Mr. Field, M.P.,nvbo liad come up from . Wellington, to address thor mooting, : said 'a- ' great mistake had been rnado in tliorlength; of time that had been taken by the Govern- . ' 'mentfin deciding the question of the;site of. /' tho dairy school, anda good, deal of feeling ~! had resulted: owing to the : fact, that/for. , a long time it had been generally understoodthat Levin was "to he. the, site. 'Ho thought tho site was to bo near a town—the sito near /Wellington suggested by- Mr. Gilruth I was the most advantageous for the Dominion as a whole. There had been .two ideas in regard to tho dairy 'school/' Ono was 'that it should be connected with a farm arid lised for extensive practical 'experiments.'/ That- • view w*as held by :many" people iiv'arid out of Levin. : The ' Government had dbcided, however, that the school was to bo'of-a' more- technical nature, and' on that basis Palmerstoii had certain advantages.;'. Still,', ;■ Levin -poople..had.ground for disappointment, ' as- they' had" always - understood, that.' tlia dairy school should'bo established on the V State' farni.; .'That farm had. not been as beneficial to tho farming /community, as it ought ,to have been made, and he'hoped'a definite policy would: be decided oh 'by tho'' •' Government for . the'''fUturq.'--' ; Tli'e':TaTm ; *Was : '7 ; . ? not: a rate-producing land;: for., the local -bodies,' and that was' another reason wliy they should be •given consideration/' Mr. • Field regretted that the Hon? Mr. M'Nab had not seen , fit to answer tho inquiries'that had been made, concerning tho -farm from Levin, and : lie- repudiated statements' mnda . in the Press, especially of Wellington, -that T,evin had become hysterical over tluAmatter. They had boon told' that tho dairy 'school' would go to them,.and therefore.had;cause' for disappointment. Tliero" wore. 011 ,th<i State farm 800. acres' of .the.'most'magnificent land iu tho district; and it was a/questioh whether ' it would not'b'o. bettor for ;the district and the Dominion to subdivide''it, ..and disposo of it privately,' if. it'was not going to'be'put to the use to which it should be piit—th'o : teaching. of' dairying and agricultural mat- .' tors generally, such as / breeding : of dairy/' herds, feodiiig of cattlo. prevention arid euro, of diseases, and educational and administrative work of a generol.characte;-, He regretted' that, matters' had been angravated somewhat ; - by the Hon. R. M'Nab ■ declining to say .the Government had been guided ;in its 'choice by exnert advice,-and .also; by his: declining, quite lnniecesscrily. to say what was : the future policy of the,. Government ro. - : garding the farm. . . ■ 't,: ; v( .