THE FARMER'S FOES

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 148, 25 June 1938, Page 8

THE FARMER'S FOES

It is a common, indeed, almost a universal, experience that intensive production from the land brings with it problems that were unknown or unnoticed under more primitive culture. New Zealand, where production from the land, particularly in the dairyandustry, has doubled in a generation, could hardly hope to escape visitations which have accompanied similar development elseSvhere, though fortunately some of the worst pests have not yet made, and, it is hoped, never will make, their .appearance here. It is well known that both plant and animal diseases are factors in farming that cannot be neglected. The outbreak of facial eczema among livestock in the Waikato district was a recent conspicuous instance, due to abnormal conditions which may not recur for years. There are other stock diseases and also a variety of "insect and fungoid pests affecting plant life which add to the farmer's

troubles and, if allowed to spread unchecked, might do serious damage to New Zealand's primary industries. One of the principal tasks of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is to help the man on the land to combat his enemies in this form. The fight has its triumphs and its checks. One of the most remarkable successes has been the discovery by departmental experts that a deficiency of cobalt in the soil is the cause of the notorious "bush sickness" of certain districts. Progress is being made in other directions towards a remedy for soil deficiencies and consequent malnutrition. Insect pests are being countered by the dissemination of their parasites, and noxious weeds have been found to yield to insects introduced to prey on them. The study of animal health and disease is throwing light on obscure maladies, and the establishment of a new laboratory at Wallaceville veterinary station is expected to improve facilities for assistance on these lines to the farmer. New Zealand is well to the fore in this continuous campaign on a wide front to protect the industry on which so much depends.