NOTES BY THE WAY

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 17 August 1929, Page 16

NOTES BY THE WAY

One >Ol the striking developments in the dairying industry was pointed out by a. speaker at the recent Joll celebration, when ho said that in the early days of the industry the schoolmaster acted as secretary, doing the work in his spare time. Nowadays, so. great has been the growth and so keen is the competition with other countries, and as a result so great is the need for the very best returns that secretaries are experts and in most, cases advisers to the -directors. Similarly, it may be added, that managers wore men who had

to do a good deal of the actual work themselves, while now they have such huge concerns to control that they also are advisers and have to be men ot ! great organising ability and power to manage men so as to see that very big operations are carried out. They do not do much of the actual physical work of the factory, their time being fully occupied in directing others and in planning to carry out the policy of their directors. The growth of a very successful pig export trade from the Auckland province is reflected in the number of pigs killed at 'the three works of the Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company, Ltd., during the past three seasons. A satisfactory season was concluded at the end of June. During that season the number of pigs slaughtered was twice the total dealt with in the 192 S season. “Conversational discussion’' is the term used by a dairy company secretary when reading the minutes of a previous annual meeting recently, before reporting the carrying of a. motion. Apparently he considered that some latitude was given to suppliers and that the discussions did not always follow the rules of debate. Writing to a- friend in Hu we in, Mr E. J. Harrison, formerly of Hawera and now living at Aberdeen (N.S.W.), says that many necessaries of life for the farmers are .very dear in that country. He quotes sugar, 27s 9d per bag (Gd by the pound); potatoes, 27s per ewt.; butter, 2s 2d per lb (the producer getting, lie .says, only Is 3d to Is sd); horse rugs, 45s Gd (-would cost 32s Gd in .Hawera) . The Harrison boys, formerly of Hawera, who proved such champions In buck-jumping and steer-riding, have

kept up their interest in their new home in Aberdeen, New South Wales, and have made a reputation as amongst the best in Australia. Their prowess has won them many admirers and, incidentally, secured for them many trophies and prizes. In the course o-f a desultory discussion on the question -of realisation of the new season’s output at Kakarainea, a supplier ehafiingly asked the chairman whether he would accept if an offer of 9g-d came along to the company. ‘ ‘ Quick and lively,” said the chairman, “and without calling a special meeting.” A factory chairman, in the course of

his remarks at the annual meeting of his company, said that the absence of offers for the new season’s output was due> partly to reserve put on produce by consigning factories and also to the fact that (there were very large quantities- stored in London. This, he said, curtailed buying. In addition, he said, big retail firms 1 had some time ago bought large quantities and had these stored till they matured. He said he understood that so soon as these were cleared offers were likely to be made.

“There -has been,” sard a. young Italian recently in this district, ‘ ‘a very marked step forward in the matter of agricultural research in Italy. The chemists have been working in an endeavour to grow a larger kind of wheat and also to improve the cultivation of olives, which forms the livelihood of very large numbers of people in the country. There arc research stations m many parts and '.ill are doing valuable work.” It is interesting, too, to know that Italy makes some of her own ships, motor ears and aeroplanes. It is generally recognised .that the great increase in top-dressing has been responsible for better and more lasting pastures-, with au earlier growth in the spring, and that, tins will more and more be the aim of the dairy farmer. It is here that science and research will enter to eo-operato with the practical farmer. There are many institutions in the Old Country working towards this end, and the expert scientists at Massey College and at Lincoln College in the south arc all striving to secure' this result. It will have ai marked effect on production.

In Central Africa, near the South Sudan, said a visitor to South Taranaki who had lived .several years in that area, there are big herds of native humped cattle, in addition to imported cattle, and large amounts of butter and cheese are manufactured. The farmers are rapidly becoming up-to-date and research is being carried on more and more every year. The production must steadily increase. Cultivation is being pushed ahead as rapidly as the weather will allow (reports the -Southland “Times”), and throughout .the district land is to bo seen in the course of preparation for crops. The area being tilled is perhaps not _so large as usual, but most farmers prefer to make ample preparation for winter feed in the event of a. bad sea-

son eventuating. Testing is definitely on the increase in -Southland, and the calf marking I movement, to which greater attention j will be paid during the coming season, will further increase its popularity (says “The Exporter”). Better bulls, ' better herds and -continuous testing are three features- of the work in Southland. There is room for more testing still, -of course, and it is- (to be hoped that more cows (than evei' will be under test at the. start of the coming season. Under the heading “Two Best Among 700,000,” an American paper gives tire photographs of Miss Helen Drinker of Hcnrieko County, Virginia, and John C. Jackson of Baton Rouge, La., with the Secretary of Agriculture trophies awarded annually to the boy and girl best typifying 4-H Club work among the 700,000 members in the United States'. This strikingly bears witness to the enormous growth of the boys’ and girls’ clubs movement .in that country. A massive Shorthorn bullock was sold at Addington market. (Christ church) last week for £sl. Its dressed weight was estimated at .1500-lbs.