SOME PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 130, 1 June 1917, Page 7

SOME PROBLEMS

OPERATIONS OF THE AGRICULTURAL BOARD WHEAT QUESTION AND SHIPPING SPACE.

Several matters of first importance to ■ . agriculture were considered at. the ; initial "meeting of the Board of Agriculture, recently appointed in terms of the Board of Agriculture Act, 1913, The personnel of the new board is the same ■ as the previous one, with the exception-; that Mr. O. ,T. Hawken replaces Mr. A. ', R. Dingle (Taranaki district), and Mr. ,'' W. E. Way replaces Mr. A. P. Allporfc ; (Mariborough, Nelson, and Westland j district). The new members were wel- • coined by Sir James Wilson (president). I Three members of the board were uri- ' able to attend the meeting, on account! of their being engaged in duties con-' nected with the National Efficiency!, Board and the Military Service Appeal"i Boards. NEXT SEASON'S WHEAT It was decided to again writs to ths! Minister for Agriculture on the subject ', of the price offered by the Government; for next season's wheat,, and to inform ■ the Minister that the board hoped that,. after his experience Vof what it would i cost to bring wheat from Australia, he, could now see his way to make the ; price fox nest season's 1 crop 5s lOd psr ■ bushel o.tv, instead of f.ojb., which i would encourage the growth of a wid«r' area of wheat, and be much more equitable to those wheat growers a long dis- ; tance from port selling for local use,; seeing that the. miller would be. entitled^ to' deduct from 5s lOd the freight i charges to the port, «yen- though thfti'e; . was no'intention of exporting the wheat. ; In these conditions a farmer. 100 miles; from port would probably oujy receive j 5s 6d, whereas one who «ould deliver-] . the wheat himself at the port would re-j ceive 4d per bushel more. Such aaomi-; lies would be entirely obviated: if thej board's recommendation to, fix the pricei o.t. were given effect to. . QUESTION OF SHIPPING SPACE. : The question of the amount of re-j fi'igerated space for the storage of, the; meat, cheese, and butter in the Tk>- ' minion, and the probable number of i steamers available for the export of our I produce, were fully gone into by thei board, and all' the statistics which had I been obtained in connection with the; matter were carefully considered. After; a lengthy discussion of the post-: tion the board was of opinion that; it should . be represented at >thej conference which has been called'l to investigate the question of shipping, space, if,.at that conference, it is found! necessary to go further in the matter! and consider how production and stock; should be dealt with. The president was; empowered to make representations to* the Acting-Prime Minister to this effect,'. UTILISING POTASH. Mr. Asfon, Agricultural Chemist,,/sup«> plied the board with some valuable particulars regarding the amount of* potash contained in fern and in the;ashes at sawmills, which are now being; wasted. He informed .the board that: he was continuing these investigations! and hoped that some methods might bej devised to profitably utilise the pqtashj •that might be obtained for raaniiriaF purposes from these and other sources' in the Dominion. The results of these; enquiries it is proposed to publish at? •aa early date. IMPORTATION OF PHOSPHATES. Attention was called to the faot tliate some difficulty had arisen with regard' to obtaining necessary shipments o£ phosphate of lime from Makatea Island. Owing to the scarcity and high cost of tonnage since the war started shipments' have been maintained only with the; greatest difficulty. It was pointed outs that the production of wheat and other farm produce cottld not be maiibtained! without an ample supply of fertiliser; It was decided to- communicate with the> Minister urging that every facility bq| given to enable the ship now under charter between New' Zealand and Makatea to complete the number ofi * trips that- have been arranged for, ih( order to obviate a serious shortage o£ fertiliser ■ ; ' CONCERNING FLOCK ANI> STUD ;' BOOKS A letter was received; byth* board pointing out the importance of bringing | about uniformity in the flock 1»oks in New Zealand, and requesting the.board to endeavour to arrange for a conference of the representatives of the various breed^ societies throughout the Dominion during the forthcoming meeting of tha I Council of Agriculture to be hiiM in Wellington in the beginning' of July. ! nest. After discussion it was decided t<j ; adopt the suggestion contained in the I letter and to communicate with the stud book authorities as well as the various bodies interested in the matter. I DISEASES OF SOOT CROPS. : A lone discussion was also held witlj I Mr. Coeaayne, biologist of the Departs t ment of Agriculture, on the very, seriou^

spread of club- root and other diseases m the root crops throughout the Dominion. It was decided to request that the officers of the department should bring this matter up for discussion at the forthcoming conlerence of the A. and P. Associations, in July. PROPOSED LEGISLATION. The board had a..discussion with Mr. Pope, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture^ in reference to the- encouragement of the breeding of horses for military purposes, a Seeds Bill, and an amendment of the Fertilisers Act, 1908. It was pointed out that some of the bills that had been asked for by the Council of Agriculture, the New Zealand Farmers' Union, and other farmers' bodies, were of a non-contentious nature, and that it might be possible to get something done on the lines suggested even during the war, as it was of the utmost importance to do every, thing' tKat' was practicable to stimulate the fullest development of the natural resources of the' Dominion, which play an important part in keeping the war going,- and to -which we must look for meeting ,onr obligations after the war.