RECORD OF MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 223, 17 June 1936, Page 18

RECORD OF MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT

Splendid Contribution to Wealth of Dominion

DIVERSIFIED PRIMARY PURSUITS

(By

Cultivator. )

With a wide expanse of fertile farming land comparatively void of rough country, the Manawatu district has gained much prominence from the diversification of its primary pursuits. Within the confines of the district are carried on a wide range of primary industries, both agricultural and pastoral, which contribute their full share toward the wealth of the Dominion. Soundly planned enterprise has had its reward in the building up of a notable record of major achievement. Much of the success attained is due to the efforts of the pioneers who placed primary production on a solid foundation; but those who have followed farming pursuits in the years that have since passed have also played a part in building up a record which must be written down in the pages of history.

THE principal industries given a place in the district’s primary production, are dairying, sheep-farming (both for meat aud wool), stock-raising and fattening, cropping, fruit-growing and flaxmilling. Pastoral pursuits predominate, but nevertheless Hie other industries form an avenue for profitable returns. In the six counties included within the boundaries of the Manawatu there is a total of 868,406 acres of land, close on 700,000 of which have now been put under cultivation, either being sown down in grasses or under crops of various sorts. Most of tlie remainder comprises waste area of river-beds, lakes, swamps and coastal sand dunes. Fine Dairying Reputation. According to the latest figures available, . there are approximately 226,000 cattle beasts in the district, these being about equally divided in beef and dairying animals. Butterfat production is one of the chief sources of revenue, the areas around Palmerston North and Feilding in particular being strongholds. The strength of this industry may be gauged from the fact that there are in tlie vicinity of 40 dairy factories operating in the district, both butter and cheese being well divided. With such a large number of dairying animals in the district, one may reasonably expect a large output of dairy produce as the case, but quality has by no means been forsaken for quantity. This is evidenced by the tine reputation achieved by some of the companies operating in the district with their produce on the outside markets, both internally and overseas. Indeed, only within the past few weeks there was a fine tribute paid to the quality of the district’s produce when the Queen Mary sailed from England on her maiden voyage with Cheltenham butter on the table.

Dairy-farmers in the district have never been slow to recognise the value of the testing of their herds, and it is noteworthy that the Manawatu HerdTesting Association is ranked among the strongest in the Dominion. The most recent figures to hand—those for April—are interesting. They show that the association during that month had 15,611 cows under test in the 29

groups under its jurisdiction, the averages being 4781 b. milk and 25.871 b. fat —figures which compare favourably with all other associations. Furthermore, the farmers there are at all times eager to improve conditions, not only on their own properties but in tlie interests of the industry as a whole. A striking case in point was the movement set up last year directed toward the elimination of overlapping of cream collection in tlie district, which resulted in the execution of an economic survey of the industry by two investigators appointed by the Executive Commission of Agriculture at the request of the industry in the district. In the beef industry the district’s breeders have played a prominent part in assisting to build up the reputation gained by New Zealand’s beef exports overseas, bj’ the careful breeding of animals most suited to the trade. For long they have paid much attention to the frozen meat trade, and with the advent of tlie chilled beef industry have also diverted some of their attention in that direction. Some of the

finest beef animals of types suitable for both freezing and chilling ai i to be found in the Manawatu. High-Quality Stud Stock. Just on 1,000,000 sheep, including about 225,000 lambs, are to be found depasturing in the district, so that the income from primary products is contributed to largely by mutton, lamb and wool. The flocks generally are of a high standard, and some of the leading breeders, especially those of stud stock, produce animals of a quality unexcelled elsewhere in the Dominion. The principal breeds favoured are tlie Romney and Southdown, which-are to be found mainly on the higher country along the foothills of the Tararuas. One of the district’s strongest claims to fame is the high reputation gained by its stud stock-raising industry. This by no means applies to sheep alone, for the quality -of the stud cattle, both dairy and beef beasts, is well known throughout the Dominion, and, in fact, to many overseas breeders, who have from time to time sought Manawatu

blood. This reputation lias not been achieved without hard work and years of careful and judicious breeding, and breeders of sheep, dairy cows, beef animals and pigs have carried out an important work in breeding types of animals which have played a vital part in the establishment of the reputation of Dominion-bred live stock and have contributed in no small degree to the improvement of live-stock standards in the country. Their work has fortunately not ended, for they are still pursuing a wire course.

Along with the Waikato district, the Manawatu has led the rest of the Dominion in the pork and bacon industry. Pig-breeders have shown in no indefinite way the value of recording in the attainment of a higher quality article and in infusing greater interest into this important subsidiary industry. The Manawatu and Oroua_ PigRecording and Development Club is doing a wonderful job, which is ever increasing in its scope. There are now about 45,000 pigs in the district, this being a figure which has increased very considerably in recent years. In the years of depression dairy-farmers were by no means slow to recognise the increased profits to be derived from this valuable side-line, and in consequence there was a marked increase in the interest manifest in pig-breeding; so much so was this that -it has now become more than a mere side-line in quite a number of instances—it has become a full-time business. Here again' stud stock-breeding plays a prominent part, and some of the best-known pigbreeders in the country have their herds in the Manawatu. Striking evidence of the-interest built up in this industry is now given by the very fine section the bacon classes have become during the past two or three years at the National Dairy Show at Palmerston North. The Manawatu is also the scene of the largest flax-milling area in the Dominion, the areas around Foxton in particular being a hive of activity in this direction.

While the rural development of the Manawatu has now attained a position of which the district has every right to feel justifiably proud, there still remains plenty of room for improvement. That the farmers are fully alive to this is a matter for deep approbation.