CO-OPERATIVE FARMING

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 28, 2 August 1932, Page 3

CO-OPERATIVE FARMING

1.. • (To1 the Editor.) !i Mr:-..G.-Mitchell is to be congratu,lated for his excellent report to.the Rotary ! Club and tJie Y.M.C^.. It is by such efforts as these by clear-headed and farseeing individuals that progress is made. linave" no mtention of criticising Mr. Mitchells, remarks, except in a constructive way. It must be evident to all thinking people that: the whole problem of unemployment is bound up with the land question. -.The problem of taxation of idle lands-whilst it may strike at the very root of the^ problem .is impracticable at present when one considers the natural antipathy to any form of land taxation of the farming community. Moreover after a few" years of active interest in farming work coupled with more years of town life I have gradually come to question in my own mind the practicability of settling more men on the land under our present competitive system. It is true that one can point to individual farmers on small acreages who are making' a competence, but these-men are usually exceptional, in some way or other. Because one man can do this it is assumed that any number of men can do so. Men who make a success of small farms are usually very resourceful and of marked practical ability— such men would not probably be in the ranks .of the. unemployed. Because of the rise and success of. co-operation in farming (for -example, the co-operative dairy factory) I am of the opinion that successful individualistic effort in farming is fast coming to a close. We are at the end of an epoch .without quite reali^- ; ug it, and to suggest more anU. smaller farms run by. individuals as individuals is to spell failure under modern conditions. Comparisons with Denmark are useless because of the different conditions due to large markets close at hand and to differeat living standards.

Generally speaking small farms are uneconomic when consideration is given to the, results:of the labour power expended, on them. The proof of this is that there are so few of them and that land aggregation is constantly proceeding. The use of machinery • and power and better organisation has had its effect on farming ; as:much as on any other industry. I would be the last to.condemn any' "small iarrn pkn" idea, because I fully realise that..jthbse. exceptional men who can make a' success do exist. I condemn-it as utterly, useless for bringing; any: relief either at the present or in the future to the maia.body of unemployed or the coun-' try generally; ' . . >.... ~ ■: . . u ; . .

,'■'■■ In tlip not Sap.-, distant future* we- are going to. see the rise of co-operation in farming. .Sy that I mean that progres-' sive farmers who realise the imperfections of their farms and themselves; (as farmers) will pool their holdings, stock, and Dlant for the purpoie of greater production at a more economic cost in labour power and goods. Go round any dairy farming district you like and you will find every farm with its' milking machine, its ill-man-»aed piggery (or none at all), and its idle horses and tractor, and other machinery deteriorating through non-use. Moreover fanning as a science is becoming too big a subject for one man to know all its branches thoroughly. Specialisation is therefore going to be more economic, and this will be the more easily accomplished under a group settlement, scheme. Better working hours and conditions will be gained. The group settlement will not consist of so many farms, but will consist of a whole community intent, on the purpose of obtaining the maximum results with the minimum :• effort by .means of specialised farming. . . ■ ' ,'. . : Cani we not anticipate this natural development by the establishment of labour settlements for tlje relief, of unemployment? A-group of,.'say, six farms or one or two very good large farms could be purchased. These farms would be in the nature of colonies of unemployed workers (married and-.single), iwho would work under the direction of- skjlled experts in their particular branch of'farming. Farming knowledge would then be broadcast to numerous individuals who would see farming in-a better light than if forced- to work for a farmer under adverse conditions. If these labour settlements were established throughout New Zealand in suitable positions handy to the larger towns a large measure of relief could be given to the unemployed at a minimum of cost because the labour - expended would give actual results in. goods which would be of use to the, workers, thereby reducing expenditure on maintenance. The surplus products could be supplied to.the needy sufferers in the cities who for various reasons could not undertake such work. —I- am, etc.,

H. G. RICHARDSON.