GUIDANCE FOR FARMERS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4694, 16 May 1935, Page 7

GUIDANCE FOR FARMERS.

ENLARGING THE VISION. In clays gone by, when agricultural progress along scientific lines was in its infancy, the announcement in a country township that an agricultural expert would give an address on a certain date aroused some curiosity, but not a great deal of genuine interest. The farmers in those times were not eager to extend their knowledge or change their methods. What had been good enough for their fathers was generally considered to be quite good enough for them.

What a transformation has occurred in the intervening years. Indeed, those whose memories take them back half a century, and even less, find it difficult to realise that such innovations could have been made, and that there could have been such a remarkable alteration in the general attitude of the farmers toward the conduct of their various activities.

That education has played a notewoi’thy part in bringing this about cannot be doubted. It has enlarged the vision of the people, stimulated their imaginations, demonstrated the advantages of knowledge, and rendered them more ready to examine and adopt ideas calculated to enable them to improve their results. It must, however, be remembered that there are still too many farmers who, notwithstanding the better facilities now available for the dissemination of knowledge are characteristically slow to change their methods.

It is generally understood that excellent work has been accomplished at the various experimental farms, and that much useful data has been accumulated through the medium of the plots conducted by the department on private farms, but it would be foolish to suggest that the information obtained has been exploited to anything like the fullest value.