FARM RESEARCH

Evening Star, Issue 23038, 17 August 1938, Page 5

FARM RESEARCH

SOUTHERN DISTRICT'S NEED PROPOSAL FOR OTAGO FARM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE INTERESTED Strong support of the proposal to have an experimental farm for Otago and Southland was given by the council of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce at its meeting last night. Reference was made to the enormous amount of experimental work done in the North Island and the huge expenditure it entailed, and in comparison it was pointed out that the South Island was neglected when authorised expenditure for the work mas made. NEGLECTED SOUTH.

The Secretary reported that he had written to the University' Council asking its assistance in the matter of obtaining an agricultural experimental or training farm for Otago and Southland. He had emphasised that at the present time no major agricultural research work -was carried out in the South Island, if one excepted Lincoln College and a small farm at Winton, which received a Government grant of £IOO per annum. There were many agricultural and stock problems peculiar to Otago and Southland which could not be satisfactorily dealt with at Lincoln College or further north, and for some years pressure had been brought to bear on the Government to establish for this territory an experimental farm which could be a centre for such research work as crop and pasture diseases and experimental! work with wool and live stock. The Minister of Agriculture (Hon. W. Lee Martin) had definitely promised to establish such a farm for Otago and Southland, and a committee was actually set uip to consider a suitable site. It was understood that the Department of Agriculture would welcome such a development as completing the chain of such farms throughout the Dominion. Unfortunately, a further postponement in the establishment of this farm had how occurred, and the department’s estimate of £20,000 for this purpose had been deleted from the current year’s grants. Meantime agfurther expenditure during the current .year of over £IOO,OOO had been authorised for North Island farms and agricultural research stations; whereas the only South Island expenditure authorised was at Lincoln College, the Cawthron Institute, and the £IOO referred to at Winton. In addition, there had been authorised a further £IO,OOO for experimental work in connection with facial eczema, and all this work would he carried' out in the North Island. From this it would be seen that the South Island, and particularly Otago and Southland, had been badly neglected.

Principal among the reasons for asking the council for its support were that stock nutritional, chemistry, foitre, hydatid, and other research prolems, which were being dealt with at the Otago University, could be linked up with the work on a Government experimental farm if , such farm were, say, established on the Taieri Plain or in some other suitable locality; such a farm would be a convenient centre for practical instructional work for students, farmers, teachers, etc.; should a training farm be attached to such a station, boys at present going to Flock House might be trained there under conditions somewhat similar to those they would be working under later. In addition, if a veterinary school were established in New Zealand, the prospects of having it in the Dunedin area would be small unless there was a wellestablished experimental farm also. Otago was the largest province in the Dominion, and, according to the Direc-tor-General of Agriculture (Dr Cockayne), was capable of greater agricultural development than any other province in the Dominion. DISTRICT POTENTIALITIES. “ The letter to the University Council sets out reasons why, in the'opinion of this chamber, the various Otago interests should press for the fulfilment of the Government’s promise to establish a properly equipped agricultural and/or instructional farm for the Otago and Southland provincial district,” said Mr A.' C. Cameron.

“ An analysis of this Dominion’s expenditure on agricultural research indicates conclusively that Otago and Southland are being left well behind. “It would appear evident that the Government fails to realise the enormous potentialities of this provincial district, and it appears to me time that we emphasised our claims for at least some of the considerable funds which are being expended upon agricultural research in the Dominion. “ In all, there are now 11 or 12 experimental farms in the North Island receiving considerable grants from the Government for agricultural research, as against Lincoln College in the South Island and Winton experimental farm in Southland, which, as already mentioned, receives the paltry sum of £IOO per annum.

“ One wonders if the Government realises that approximately one-quarter of New Zealand lies south of the Waitaki River—in the provinces of Otago and Southland.

“ Admittedly a great deal of this country is unimproved and constitutes what is known as the high country tussock lands of the south. This is the cradle of the corriedale breed and the home of th© merino in this country. Otago is a pastoral country, with its 4,000,000 sheep, and produces over 10 per cent, of New Zealand’s wool. Southland, with its 2,750,000 sheep, produces an additional 7J per cent. Mr Cameron then quoted the following statistics, giving a comparison between Otago and Auckland, the figures for Auckland being given in parentheses :

Total area occupied, 7,975,674 acres (4,615,985) ; unimproved land, 6,448,173 acres (1,636,209); area in sown grass, 1,267,851 acres (2,319,866) ; area in wheat. 25.803 acres (449); area in oats, 68.986 acres (3,494) ; area in barley, 6.484 acres (543); acres of roots for every 100 acres of sown grass, 10.3 (1.7) ; area cut for ensilage, 345 acres (38,787) ; area cut for hay, 19,134 acres (163.991) ; area in tussock, 5,402,840 acres (136,390); area top-dressed, 82.300 acres (1,060,110) ; number of farms, 7,431 (13,387) ; average size of farms, 1,073 acres (344) ; total cattle, 138,129 (1,059,138) : dairy cows, 60,984 (620,575) ; pigs, 22,011 (279,144); sheep, 3,885,904 (1,876,692) ; sheep per 1,000 acres, 419 (359); horses, 29,720 (45,421).

TWICE THE SIZE OF AUCKLAND. In round figures the table showed that Otago’s occupied land (exclusive of Southland) was nearly twice the size of Auckland, and contained four times as much unimproved land. The type of farming was different from that of any other province. Central Otago, for instance, with its immense possibilities and low rainfall and potential development through

irrigation, was surely worthy of special consideration when it came to expenditure on research. Otago had a greater area in root, forage, and grain crops than the whole of the North Island, and, in addition, Southland had also a very considerable area in root, forage, and grain crops. In small seeds (grass, etc.) Otago produced about £300,000 worth of exportable produce. The chamber claimed that the problems in connection with ro'ot and forage crops could best be investigated in districts _ where they were grown, and not in the North Island. There was no special problem in connection with Otago dairying. Ihe foregoing would serve to indicate that the chamber had a substantial argument in favour of some expenditure on agricultural research in this province. AVhile he deprecated the introduction of parochialism into matters of this kind, a perusal of the tremendous expenditure upon agricultural farms in the North Island and the paucity or expenditure in Otago and Southland could not fail to impress one with the fact that this end of the country was being sadly neglected and that the North Island had received far more than its fair share of available funds.

EXTRA EXPENDITURE NOT ADVOCATED.

Mr J. S. Skinner remarked that the chamber’s first consideration must he one of expense. AVhile stressing the point that an experimental farm should be established here, the chamber should not advocate for the expenditure of an additional £50,000 to the money already being spent in New Zealand. The money spent here should be taken from the North Island. There was no doubt of the meed for experimental work here; it was possibly greater than in'the North Island. Another matter was the question of the site for the farm. The chamber should not advocate for any special site; that was a matter that would ultimately be decided by the Department of Agriculture. The chamber could make one of two moves, added Mr Cameron. It could urge the Government to honour its promise, or it could call a meeting of all interested bodies and put before local members of Parliament the case in favour of some estimate being made for the work in Otago. The latter method, he thought, would be the better to endeavour to effect the project. The president (Mr P. O. Smellie) said there might be some doubt as to whether the chamber was the right body to take this matter up. He would remind members that anything that would bring about increased productivity in the province must necessarily be of benefit to the city. Probably the best plan would be to make representations to the Government. The convening of a joint meeting should he clone by the Farmers’ Union, he considered.

Mr Skinner moved that the chamber support the proposal for the establishment of an experimental research farm in the Otago and Southland district, that strong representations he made to the Government in favour of the proposal, and that copies of the resolution be sent to local members of Parliament. The motion was seconded by Mr Cameron and carried.