SCIENCE OF THE SOIL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 9 August 1928, Page 3

SCIENCE OF THE SOIL.

EDUCATION IN EMPIRE

NEW THIRST FOR. KNOWLEDGE World progress' in farming, and the factors contributing to it, were briefly reviewed by Sir John Russell, af a luncheon tendered (him 'by the Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral AssocMition. Tribute to Sir John Russell as the great Empire leader of soil research was paid toy Mr Massey, who l said New Zealand was endeavouring to build u.p institutions. of experiment and research, staffed by scientists of ability. Advances in the .past bad been retarded by the short-sighted policy of a Government which, .reluctant to pay adequate-; ly 'the '.a.lblest nien, Quad lost many of •them to other countries. Now the.importance of training young men to give the Dominion future agricultural guidance was more fully irecogiiised.

MODERN FARMER “WIDE

AWAKE!.”

“It is a delight for any Englishman to come to New Zealand, i'o.r he has known your produce .all his life,” said oil- John Russell. 'The world over, one found fanners not contented with then position, and while that might be common to humanity, it was patent that the •farmer' in most oases was not getting what lie should, out of the would. To-day, however, the farmer was a wide-awake person. He had come to rightly regard farming as a business. No longer 'was it considered' that fie should have, the aniinimum of education “lest too much of it cause him to get away from farming”; and so agricultural colleges were springing up ail over the Dominion, attracting able young men to study within then’ walls tli.e sciences of agriculture. In England the change of attitude toward faiming education was remarkable. Not so very long ago it was a matter of extreme difficulty to secure a good audience for an address on advanced methods; now the converse was the ease, and the number of farmer visiters to the Rotl nuns ted Experimentail Station, of Which he was director, incireiaiSied annuiailly.

QUICKENED INTEREST IN science:

Interest in scientific fanning bad been quickened, anti knowledge liau been increased by the agricultural press and the higu-cikvss daily papers, which devoted pages to agricultural topics dealt with in ,a style winch the farmer would read. Wireless talks were an educative medium of growing value in Britain. . Sin* John (P’rophesTed. that- m the ne-.t 50 years some of the greatest tunning advances would result from mechanical improvements. H>e instanced tlvo rotary cultivator, in the case of winch the motor-tractor no longer merely served the purpose of a horse, . but save a rotary movement to the implement touching the soil. , ~ Chemistry, so much advanced by the Great War, had now taken an infinitely greater place in agriculture, while crossing, manuring, top-dressing and methods, of pasture control by grazing had received much study and were helping on the wiave of progress. A great deal could be achieved by the pooling of results of research through the proposed Imperial Soil New Zealand already had a good start, possessed efficient co-ordinating bodies, and enjoyed singularly favourable farming conditions. _____