EXPERIMENTAL FARM FOR . WAIRARAPA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 310, 24 September 1908, Page 5

EXPERIMENTAL FARM FOR . WAIRARAPA.

MR. BUCHANAN'S OFFER DISCUSSED. ' INTERESTING INFORMATION. .... v A meeting of .delegates from various local bodies (writes our Wairarapa correspondent) was held in Greytown yesterday to..receive reports regarding the dairying capacity of 'the idistrict .in connection with Mr.' W.' C. Buchanan's .offer of . £6000 for an experiment -'farm - '''for the Wairarapa .and to make-further arrangements to bring' the matter-under, the more immediate notice of the •Minister for' Agriculture. ' Mr. D; P. Loasby,. Mayor of Greytown, occupied the chair, ciid there were also present. Messrs.- A l .--Matthews, M. Ross. J. W! Kershaw, G.- Stevens, D. Reid, and J. S. Cundy.'- . At a previous meeting. it > had been -mentioned that there was some doubt-as to whether, Mr. -Buchanan wished : the experi-ment'-farm to be solely for dairying or for, general, farm , purposes also. - , The chairman now stated that he had since waited upon Mr. Buchanan with reference to vthis question, and Mr. Buchanan had stated -that his primary idea was -a dairy

farm ;■ but he-.bad also in view the advisaj ' blendss of farm .experiments, in ■ .other direc-

tions. In referring ,to his original idea of giving a certain sum of money for the establishment- of a' Government dairy farm, Mr; Buchanan had stated that he had read a newspaper-report wherein it was'stated that an anonymous donor had presented the .Government with £1000 for the establishment of -a; dairy, herd, and the donor had suggested' that-possibly" other practical farmers might follow in .the same footsteps for tho benefit'..of, the' country generally, if;' they 'could""afford' tho money. Mr, Buchanan weighed - the matter over in his mind, dfecided 'to,'make, a--substantial:offer to' the Government.'- But Mr. Buchanan l did not think -that the farm; should 1 be established

- oiit of'-*the AYairarapa, where -he had lived 'and worked nearly, all his 'life. .-One could very well sympathise with Mr. Buchanan on thi£ subject, said' Mr. Loasby. Continuing', thS ! , speakerMsaid that ' Mr. Buchanan had stated to him that he thought that a dairying experiment, farm would; be of. the greatest use to the district.-...The,; industry.' was most important,'butit had been largely.neglected in Newf Zealand!. .A -great deal-might .be •effected tf .by'.a system of education whereby the-dairy . herds of the country might .be improved, so that the' whole business. could be., recognised as a 'science, as. was the case with;the"fat l lamb: trade.',--In.the rearing and fattening;.of-; fat • lambs, thousands of acres, of different classes''of land had been carefully; cultivated and - .manured,*.", ffitb r.&ults important character to the ' whole colony. In : the case of the dairy industry scarcely anything had' been-, done in. that, direction.,: Hundreds of .good. dairy cows had been lost through'sheer starvation, ; a large percentage of them being among the best milkers, exhausted by- their, abundant .. yield ofi'milk.jvln.the springimany.of the survivors were walking skeletons.;.. : Aji experiment farm;.would:be> of great, value, for the purpose of '..testing : t!( pvarious kinds, of artificial, food" best;; adapted' to the climate' and soil of district.'., farmers were often in . .doub^ ( M' : defects of th 6 soil 'on' itheir sections, and, consequently, as to the. : variety and quantity of manure to use.' 'All this could be tested'to the best advantage," not.'.only' on the experiment-farm itself; but also in .other localities 'of .-.the district, the- conditions of the experiments being controlled.and guided from the experi-ment-farm'itself. Simultaneously: with the development of:dairying instruction by means of an . experimentifarmj'l'therejwould' be ,'the lessons which might be.tajiglit by the study of root , crops' "and. 'th.of" scientific treatment of the. soil. :"As.. I. remarked before," concluded Mr. Loasby;' "Mr:- Buchanan declares implicitly that. the. form, must -be established in'the Wairarapa," so'tliat it can benefit, in some,material the district where he has spent-the 'dass of' his 'life." (Applause.) .Dairy' 'Factories Interested. : . ■ j ";.;Th'e Secretary,, Mr.■ Hv 5.. ; Moss, then read out 1 a-statement' showing the; extent of -thi dairying • industry,;: vwhich' cove. Ed ' the, ; dis-' tri'et :from Mangaiainolta^■■ to Martinborough; a.'jdistance of;about, eighty-four miles. .•'Without Counting ismalier. private factories; . there were in all fully, .23. dairy, companies; interf .'estedj.;Comprising 15 :cheese and 8 abutter faptoriesj the total* output per.-year averaging 3780 tons of '.produce;' valued , at' To se'ciire this, result there were about'-.34j217 cowSj , owned, by. 1621 suppliers. This return does;'not'include the : town milk veiidors iii any .portion : of .the district mentioned,-. nor those dairymen ;wh'o rail their milk ''toJ.Wellington. • Appended is ,the list, of the butter and cheese-factories in the .-district; with' the -numbers' of suppliers, cows, and. average yearly weight, and value of the outputs for the past two .years;' In/the cases of-the private 'factories the-figures; are approximate', •but.well.'withinthe margin of a fair basis, ! BUTTER FACTORIES. . • -i''' Sup- .. '; Annual. 1 :''Name of' Factory. •• pliers. Cows, ; v output.. « : i'-'. ■■■ ' Value.

.•'Grand totals'.' ...1,621 34217, 3,780 307,981 ■ Mr! J. S. Cundy, resuming the discussion, said, "Apparently .Mr. -Buchanan does not confine his offer wholly.to a dairy farm?" ' The. chairman: No. A general farm experimenting with dairying as the chief feature. ;^V,\: Mr. A. Matthews: Has any communication been received; from ;■ the Minister for Agriculture ion the subject? Th^chairman: No;.but' the Minister has coimriunicatetl ' with Mr! Buchanan. The trouble, I believe, is as to the possible'cost of maintaining the farm, and its alleged proximity to the Levin 1 State farm. So far as Wairarapa ; is concerned, , wo. .cannot seo that we are at all in ,'closo proximity to Loiun; that is,', by the, railway. : Mr. G. Stevens . thought the . dairy farm might' be made self-supporting -t The chairman concurred with this opinion, and said that if any farmer'had the opportunity 'of starting m the business with a clear £5000 or £6000, he would be a peculiar man if he.did not make sonie sort of success out of it. •' . ■ Mr. J. S; Gundy said. that now that the ineeting had some good solid, facts in the flnape . of figures .from the. dairy ' companies to'go upon, the next thing was to form a deputation* to wait ' upon' the Minister for Agriculture,'. He.moved accordingly. In seconding the motion, Mr. C. Matthews thought that it was very desirable that the Government should accept Mr. Buchanan's offer, which ho deolarcd to be most liberal. The information which 'had just been read as to the dairying capacity of the district wherein it was proposed to set up the farm was most valuable,-and he thought that there should be no. difficulty in making the farm gelfrsupporfing. • i;Mr. D. Reid 1 strongly supported the proposal, which, he said, would do a great deal 'awards improving our dairy herds, a ;consummati'm which was urgently required: The Government should be .strongly urged to ac:ent Mr. Buchanan's offer,

The' motion was carried unanimously. , • It was decided that the following deputation should be appointed to wait upon ,the Minister for Agriculture:—Tho president and rice-presidents of the Wairarapa P. and. A. Society, Messrs. M. Ross and J. AV. Kershaw (Martinborough' Town Board) ;■ A. Matthews, A. o.' Considine > (Featherston County Council), W., Hodder, A. Donald (Foatherston Town Board), J. S. Cundy,' A. J. Toogood ' (Featherston Chamber of Commerco), D. P. Loasby, A. L. Webster (Groytowri Borough Council), D. Reid, J. Hart '(Cartorton Borough Council), 6. Stevens (Wiiirarapa County Council), J. Orr, and the chairman of the whole 'of the ■ co-operative butter and cheese companies. It was further decided that Mr. Hornsby, M.P., should-be asked to introduce tho deputation, and that the spokesmen of the party should be D. P. Loasby (Mayor of Grey town), H. R. Bunny (president of the Wairarapa P. and A. Society), W. Fisher (representative of the National Dairy Association and chairman of the Taratahi Dairy Company),'.and W. Fugo (chairman of the Featherston Dairy Company). • ■

. i! " Tons. £: • Hawke's Bay. 380 8000 6S3 68,000 Ballance ..I . ... •.... 220 G000 '450 50,050 Featherston' ... •' ... 180 4070 328 36,680 Eketahiina ... ... .', 117 ! >2890 255 '80,600 Master'ton' ' .'. 80 . 950 84 9,461 Alauricevillo ... ... 52 , 770 . 70 6,682 Makuri ■ 60 900 . 35 4,000 Pukio . ... •• ... 8 . 60 5 600 . , . CHEESE' FACTORIES. ! Dalefield'- ■ ... 64 " 1673: 358 19,332 i'eatherston■' .vSO 2000 . 277. 15,000 Pa'rkvale ... 37 974 191 10,325 Grey town ... -50 . 950 186' 10,000 Nireaha ... . . ... ... 45 980 150 9,000 Bolvcdero .. ... 42 800 165 8,964i'aratahi ..... - 38 '750. 163 8,958 Eongokokako? ....' ... .. 23 .600 85 ' 4,823 Mangaramarama ... 18' 500 75' 3,950 Ma'ngatainoka ... 20 400' -50 .2,700 Otaraia ...• 7 250 ' 48 ... 2,200 Ahiaruhe • i.. ' ... '15 . 200 .. 40 -2,059 Tawaha ... 35 300 33 1,957 Dry Eiver , 26' .' 200 25 1,390 Kaitana ... ... ... ' 24 ' 200 ; . 24 1,300