NOT FOR FOOLS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20164, 6 February 1940, Page 11

NOT FOR FOOLS

CAREERS ON THE LAND BRAINS COUNT NOWADAYS COMPLICATED BUSINESS ADDRESS TO ROTARIANS “Fifty yeai’s ago in England and also in New Zealand a man who had a son without sufficient brains to enter a profession or to take up a business training would simply put him on the land as a farmer. Times have changed since then, and to-day a farmer, to be successful, must be a good business man and use his brains all the time,” said Mr. W. G. Sherratt, addressing the Gisborne Rotary Club at its weekly gathering to-day. In the days of 50 years ago, Mr. Sherratt explained, the conduct of farming was simple enough, for the wool was the chief source of income for the man on the land. He would have a small ewe flock, and would carry a large dry flock, for there were no freezing companies handling an export trade in meat. Fat stock would be boiled down for the tallow, and a cart would be sent round with legs of mutton at Is each. The establishment of freezing works throughout the country had changed the whole system of farming in New Zealand, however,

Fioneer of Lamb Industry

Mr. J. N. Williams, father of two well-known Poverty Bay pastoralists, had been a pioneer in the growing of fat lambs for export, and this aspect of the business of farming had now assumed remarkable proportions. It was, in fact, one of the main outlets for the production of New Zealand pastures. Half a century ago, there were only Lincoln flocks to draw from, and they were not particularly suited to the development of the industry. They were of ungainly proportions, and without the constitution needed for the rougher portions of New Zealand. Mr. J. N. Williams was again a pioneer in introducing Romneys, and subsequently the Leicester and Southdowns added their distinctive contributions to the lamb production of the country. Farmers to-day worked on the principle of quick returns, turning over their stock quickly, and enhancing their production per acre by closer subdivision of the pastures. Taking Everything From The Land They had been aided, in the case of Poverty Bay, by a particularly beneficent climate and soil; but there was plenty of evidence that these advantages had been taken too cheaply, and that the farmers had been taking everything from the land and putting nothing back. The inevitable result was a falling-off in production, despite improvements in farming practice in other directions. The speaker quoted as an example of what could be done with farm lands in the Dominion the vast improvement made in Waikato lands. There, 25 years ago, the production had been almost nil. The advent of supplies of superphosphate, and a spirit of enterprise on the part of the farmers, had changed the outlook radically. It had, indeed, revolutionised things both in the Waikato and right down the Main Trunk railway line. Five Ewes to the Waikato Acre Some years ago he had sold 4000 ewes to a Waikato buyer, said Mr. Sherratt, and had been surprised to learn that the buyer proposed to depasture them all on his own farm of 800 acres—at the rate of five ewes to the acre. Carrying-capacity of that kind was a thing of the past for Poverty Bay. He knew of a Taihape farm which carried three ewes to the acre all through the year, as well as dry sheep, mainly as the result of careful top-dressing. "Here in Poverty Bay and along the East Coast, we do far too little top-dressing. We import about 3600 tons of manures a year, whereas in the Waikato they probably use 20,000 tons,” continued Mr. Sherratt. In the case of one of two large freezing works in Auckland, 57,767 head of cattle, 6600 vealers, 276,383 bobby calves, 107,654 sheep, and 430,689 iambs had comprised last season’s kill. Here in Poverty Bay, with only one works operating, the kill had been only 216,000 lambs last year.

Figures Show Decreasing Production These figures showed that farmers were not treating the land as they should in this district. Taking everything out and putting nothing back simply would not pay in the long run. Sub-division and top-dressing would pay handsomely, however. Supporting his contention that the production of export stock was declining badly in Poverty Bay, Mr. Sherratt said that in 1919-20 the Kaiti kill was 474,978 freight carcases, there being tw|i other works operating here at that time. This year the Kaiti works, the only one operating, killed only 374,000 carcases. These figures spoke for themselves, even though it was known that a lot of stock left the district on the hoof. The trend must continue as long as the farmers continued to take everything from the soil without making any restoration.

Intelligent Planning Needed

“Here is a point which calls for the exercise of brains,” concluded Mr. Sherratt. “The Romney sheep is here to stay. It is a good sound animal with a good commercial wool that has paid the district well. But there is a danger that it will develop too fine a wool, something too light for the purposes which Romney wool has fulfilled in the past. This and other problems cannot be solved without the use of intelligence.” The speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address, on the motion of Rotarian K. B.~Garland, who commented that what Mr. Sherratt had said was sufficient to prove that farming was definitely a business that must be run on sound lines to succeed.