ASPECTS OF ADVANCED FARMING

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 111, 6 November 1935, Page 23

ASPECTS OF ADVANCED FARMING

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS

(ByR. B. Tennent, Director, Fields Division, Department of Agriculture.) IT seems fitting to mention at this special juncture—the jubilee show of the Manawatu and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association—that this powerful association, which has always fostered trends towards better farming, is now giving more attention than ever to' the task of inducing the farming community to translate as rapidly as possible the fruits of research into practice. In view of the large amount of important research centred at the home of the association this is indeed most fortunate. Though agricultural research has been intensified during recent times it is far from a new or untried undertaking.

Indeed in its widest meaning agri-1 fe cultural research and education.are as old as agriculture itself. The unknown pioneers who, near the beginning of history, first turned from hunting to the systematic keeping of livestock and cultivation of the soil, must have at least, in some crude fashion, observed and experimented. But when we think of agricultural research and education in its modern aspect we visualise something very different from this slow accretion of empirical improvements. It can be truly claimed that agricultural research had its foundations in the experimental work of Gilbert and Lawes about 1840, although long before that year numerous experiments and speculations into the nature of plant growth had taken place. Much writing had been published dealing with agricultural subjects, and probably the best known among the earlier writers was Jethro Tull, who in 1730 published his book on "Horse-hoeing Husbandry." Tull was a remarkable, man in his way, essentially a farmer and a keen observer, and to him can be credited the fact that farmers became cognisant of the value of sowing crops in drills, thus permitting of inter-cultivation. He himself invented a drill and the first horse-hoe, which, incidentally, was drawn by bullocks, and to his everlasting fame can be laid the introduction into farming of the turnip and clover crops. He first grew turnips as a field crop in Great Britain, but little notice was taken of, his example, and its value was ■ not generally appreciated until Lord Townshend,, the founder of the Norfolk four-course rotation system, which became famous all over the world, brought the turnip crop into prominence by his successful methods of cultivating it. So far as Lawes and Gilbert are concerned, they can be looked upon as the - founders of agricultural research; and the general introduction and use of artificial fertilisers with which their names' are' associated constitutes one of the' most' outstanding achievements in agriculture, f/H-h transformed the old agricultural practices of the past and may yet still transform them further. One cannot refrain from mentioning the names of some of the stalwarts of those days who well and truly laid the foundation: upon which' we have built our modern agricultural research. Names in this connection which occur to me are Theodore de Saussere, of Geneva, who in 1804 published a small volume dealing with "Chemical Researches in Relation to Plants," one.of the most fascinating books on the subject ever published, and the very able Frenchman Boussingault who by a brilliant series of experiments ascertained some of the main food requirements of plants. Liebig, the German chemist, and Humphrey Davy, of England, were both men who contributed materially to our knowledge of manuring, and translated such knowledge into terms that chemists could understand. Within more recent times advances came rapidly and the engineer came to the forefront in assisting the farmer. Inventions such as the binder, the steam thrashing plant, and refrigeration machinery can be mentioned as outstanding examples of the application of mechanical science to agricu ture, and the veriest tyro in agriculture today fully appreciates the tremendous boon which was conferred on Dominion agriculture by the introduction of refrigeration. RESEARCH IN NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand as a whole, on account of its equable climate and good rainfall, is one of the world's favoured countries for the production of livestock products and crops, and in this Dominion farmers have been fully alive to putting into practice those findings of the research workers which appear to have a practical bearing on their everyday work. In addition to Massey College and the Plant Research Station at Palmerston North, our main educational and research institutions devoted to agriculture are Lincoln College, Cawthron Institute, and the Department of Agriculture in its general activities throughout New Zealand, and to these organisations the New Zealand farmer looks, and has not looked in vain, for education, advice, and direction in methods of improving farm practice. The success attendan on the activities of the Department of Agriculture in the past has in the main been due to the close contact of its research workers with the farming community and their appreciation of the fact that agricultural research, to be of value, must first and foremost have some practical application. This emphasises an important point which should be borne in mind by all research workers, no matter to what college or institution they belong, and they should not be diverted along the by-paths of abstract research, but keep their feet on the road of practical agricultural necessity. One of the invariable weaknesses in regard to much research is the length of time which invariably elapses and the difficulties which are usually experienced in getting research- findings translated into practice. So far as the Dominion's farmers are concerned, however, as a rule they are only too eager to accept the findings of the research workers, and during the past few years some remarkable instances can be recorded where this has been done. For instance, in districts where bush sickness has been prevalent, and where it has up to the- present largely limited grassland utilisation, as a result of research investigations, limonite in large quantities is being used by farmers with great success. Nearly all the lucerne sown during the past few years, amounting to close on ten thousand acres, has been inoculated with material provided by the Plant Research Station at a cost to the farmer of Is per acre. Again, approximately 400 tons of sodium chlorate was used last season in ragwort destruction, and the amount is limited only by the price. When we view the research work which has been carried out by our own workers in regard to the improvement of ryegrass and clovers, and when it is realised that all over New Zealand farmers are growing certified strains of grasses, clovers, potatoes, and other seeds, no one can accuse the Dominion research workers and the farmers of not getting together, and I this, it will be agreed, is as it should be. Such outstanding examples as have been mentioned, and mention could be . made of many more, carry with them important principles which would appear lo govern the rapid implementing o£ research into practice, the first of these principles being to impress the

farmer that a certain practice is sound by actually demonstrating it to him on the farm; the second,. to simplify the practice, making it uniform without' any alternatives, and the third to provide the essential materials- or equipment relating to the practices advocated in a simple, readily-obtainable, and cheap form. MANAWATU MIRRORS PROGRESS. Experience shows that the ManawatuWest Coast reflects reliably and prompt-1 Jy the permanent trends in progressive farming. Hence it proves interesting to recount, not necessarily in the order of their importance, some of the Manawatu developments during the past ten jears or so. With the advent of official certification of seeds Manawatu revived its interest in seed growing and now ranks as one of the major seed-producing districts of the Dominion. And rightly associated with the production of certified seed is the free use of the certified •eed by farmers other than seed growers—a fact which already is being reflected in the appearance of our grasslands. Manawatu. can claim to be leading me Dominion in evolving a sound ■ystem of pig-husbandry suited to the recent developments in marketing and in farm economy. While the full details of the system cannot yet be enunciated, it is clear that the use of pastures and of special arable crops is going to play a much greater part than formerly in pig-keeping. The earlier interest taken by the pioneer farmers in stock of the best available quality has never flagged, and Manawatu continues to be one of the leading stud-stock districts of the Dominion, all types of farm stock being remarkably well represented. The eminence of the Manawatu in the stud stock industry is to be attributed in part at least to the quality and management of its pastures and to the attention given by breeders generally to arable forage crops. In respect to the pastures it has been demonstrated that, on practically all types of soil, topdressing with phosphates has been distinctly profitable even during periods of depressed prices of farm produce; on many farms topdressing has become a standard practice, and the number of farms to which this applies promises to increase. Again, in respect to pastures ensilage during recent years has been widely employed with excellent results. as a pasturemanagement measure. ~ 1 Especially in recent years is attention being given to the growing of lucerne and subterranean clover.^The former is of known outstanding, value for the provision of summer feed, and over wide areas the latter *is 'being found of great value for winter forage. Both are likely to be much more freely exploited in the future. THE FUTURE. There are many things which the farmer can.do for himself, but there are equally as many things which he cannot do. He must use the results of scientific experimentation more and more if he is to maintain his standard of living and at the same time compete with the low price labour of other countries in marketing his surpluses. It is obvious that agriculture needs not less science in its production but more science in its economic life. It has been well said that "we might just as well command the sun to stand still as to say that science should take a holiday." Science has turned scarcity into plenty. Merely because it has served us well is no reason why we should charge science with the responsibility of o.ur failure to apportion production to need, and to distribute the fruits of plenty equitably. We need economic machinery corresponding: to our scientific machinery in precision, in power, and in delicacy of adjustment. Science has done the first job and done it magnificently. It has shown us how to produce—now it must show us how to distribute what we produce. It must go forward and not back. To production science we must add economic science without ceasing for a moment to advance the former.