EXPERIMENT FARM.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 322, 8 October 1908, Page 8

EXPERIMENT FARM.

MR. W. C. BUCHANAN'S OFFER. MINISTER INTERVIEWED. GOVERNMENT CANNOT ACCEPT. Tho offer of Mr. W. C. Buchanan, of Wairarapa, of £6000 towards the establishment of an experiment farm in that district was brought again before the Minister for Lands yesterday.' A representative deputation interviewed the Minister (the Hon. R. M'Nab) in tho Parliamentary Buildings. Mr.Hornsby, M.P.,' introduced the party, which consisted of Messrs. D.'P. Loasby (Mayor of Greytown), D. Reid, G. Stevens, W. Fisher, !A. J. Toogood, Allen Donald, G. \V. Deller, and W. Fuge, representatives of the Agricultural and •' Pastoral Association, . local bodios, and the farming community of the , HYairarapa. SOME REASONS. Mr. Hornsby desired to impress upon tho Minister the necossity for the establishment of an .experiment farm.in South Wairarapa, consequent upon tho acceptance of the offer of Mr. Buchanan. Mr. l Loasby. believed that this offer was the first of such magnitude to the Government by a private gentleman. If, for any reason, it-was not accepted, such action might ha\ r o a very detrimental .effect upon offers in the future., The establishment for tfhich the money was offered would be of ' great benefit to tho Wairarapa, and might do the, means of inducing several other gentlemen to assist in, tho same direction. The dairying industry must play' an. important part in tho development of the Wairarapa since tho Government intended the: land should be cut up into. small areas. , In tho Wairarapa, and in a portion of the. Bush district, about 2000 tons of cheese was manufactured annually, and 1000 tons of butter. Thero wore about 30,000,c0ws supplying factories. No. better use could be made of this money than in showing the dairy farmers how to get the best results, from their stock. To use the only other experiment farm within possible distance would take a young farmer threo : days, which was too long an absence from duty.; Mr. Buchanan desired to benefit those people amongst whom he had lived. Mr. W. Fisher (a dairy farmer) said, that the establishment, of an experiment farm would enable them to discover the best cow for cheese production purposes. Winter feed could also be studied/ At present in the Bush districts they were experiencing difficulty in ascertaining the kind of winter feed to In this respect Wairarapa could not proceed upon the experience of Taranaki.For these arid other reasons an .'experiment farm in the Wairarapa would be very valuable. Farmers found'experiments, too costly. Mr. W.. Fugo (dairy farmer) supported these-remarks. . ' 1

THE MINISTER'S REPLY. The Minister said that the subject matter of the request of the deputation had already been before the 'Government, and perhaps their representations had been prejudiced in that it had been dealt with by Cabinet at the beginning of* tho year. Ho held in. his hand tho correspondence which had followed an interview in December. A reply had been sent to Mr. Buchanan on January 16, forwarding the decision of the Government—the decision the deputation now desired to have reviewed. Before giving the answer',of the . Government, he wanted to say he agreed with , all that had been said as to the advantages of'an'experiment farm. He went on to point out what the Government had had to do in the past, because this had. an important bearing on the attitude of tho Department in connection with Mr. Buchanan's offer. .At present there ; were very- fully equipped experiment farms in the ■ North Island. But there-was not one suckanstitution in the South ilslarid. Since he had'"given his "Scotch answer,',' at Palmerston North, laughingly continued' the Minister—when he had urged the wealthy men in the country to help on the experi- • ment-work by donations,, .valuable, contri- ■ buttons of various kinds had been made. Messrs. Donnelly, R. D. Maclean, Harding, and L. S: Short,' had all made valuable presents to the Government in stock, arid there were other gentlemen of whom he knew, who contemplated, making gifts. • Mr. .Buchanan had. approached him just, at that time, and ihad promised by word of mouth what had been . afterwards confirmed- by letter. 1 Tho objection the Minister had raised iat the time was that the proposed farm would have to be established in comparative proximity ' to another of exactly the same description. He did not agree with the suggestion that these institutions should be' self-supporting if the object' of their; establishment were fulfilled. Therefore, since they' had to Dear the cost'of experiments farmers hardly real- ■ ised what their establishment meant. He had obtained from Mr. Clifton (Chief Stock Inspector) an estimate of what it would , cost the country to accept tho offer of Mr. i Buchanan. ' Tha Cost. Mr. Clifton showed tho cost as follows :— Bay 400 acres at £6000; permanent improvements; £4000;' stock and implements, £2500; total, £12,500. Annual expenditure: —On interest, at 5 per cent on the capital, £625; general expenditure (wages,. etc.,), £1500; . special (maintenance, etc.), £1500; total, £3625, less receipts £1400; net estimated; total,. £2225. This return had been made up from the results of. established farms. With this information beforo it, tho Government had decided that, ,in view of the demands ',of the South Island, ,it was ' not advisable to incur the extra cost of • another experiment farm. ' It. was therefore with' extreme regret that ho had had to . write to Mr. Buchanan the following letter:— ' . ' "Dear Sir,—Referring to my letter' to you of September 17, in ■ regard to your generous offer to provide'a sum of £5000 for the purchase of land, and an additional £1000 for cattle, provided the Government establish an .experimental farm in tho Wairarapa district, - • I have the honour to inform you that your offer has received careful consideration from the Government. In .viow. of the great cost of such an experimental station now in full working order, I regret to inform you that I am unablo to accept your generous offer. As I mentioned to you on a former occasion, if you could see your, way to grant £1000 for a- strain of cattle to improve tho . herds of the Dominion, without any restrictions as to its location, the grant of £1000 would, from the point ,of view ' of the State, be a more liberal one than tho largo sum of £6000, which you have', made subject to conditions. I would again urge on you, as I have dono on more than one occasion verbally, to look ' wto_ tho question again and carefully consider whether you cannot see your way to forego the conditions you havo imposed.—Yours faithfullv, "ROBERT M'NAB." The Dominion Point of View. Apart from tho advantages to the' particular locality of a farm there, ho had no hesitation in saying that, considering the extra cost of tho farm, the Agricultural Department could produce as good results from the Dominion point of viow if tho extra expenditure wero put upon the Levin State Farm. None of the other gifts he had mentioned had been subject to conditions. Ho would be particularly pleased if the members of tho deputation could induco Mr. Buchanan to give a thousand pounds for cattle. :It would bo of immense value to tho Dominion, so far as tho raising of the class of stock was concerned. This might also be done—that tho progeny of tho stock be available only for tho Wairarapa. (Hear, hear.) Tho benefit of tho increase in high-class stock raised would then fall to Wairarapa. This condition might also go with the gift, that in future years with the oxtension of tho Agricultural Department, tho wholo of the gift strain might bo shifted over to any farm that might bo established in the Wairarapa district. As to Mr. Buchanan's kind offer, he desired again to say ho had seen the difficulties of the conditions at the start, and he now had desired to show why they could not accept it. But he believed their wishes, and those also of Mr. Buchanan, could bo very largely met if what lie had suggested were dono by tho donor. (Hear, hear.)