BOARD OF AGRICULTURE FOR WAIKATO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9086, 21 June 1888, Page 6

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE FOR WAIKATO.

[by telegraph—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] Hamilton, Wednesday. The adjourned meeting of the committee' o > the proposed Board of Agriculture for Wai. kato met to-day. Several settlers, in a ddi tion to a quorum of the committee, were present. The Chairman (Mr. A. Primrose) referred to the importance the movement was to the agriculturists of Waikato. He deprecated the negligence and apathy of his brother farmers, who growled but took n, measures to bring about a remedy of their difficulties. They needed a recognised l,c,iv through which they might make their voices heard. The names of Messrs. R. Nairn™. Seddon, O'Neill Knox, Barugh, kuorpp' Von Sturmer, G. Mgcumbe, Radiboue Westney, lurnbull, J. Brookes, Hut! chmson, F. D. Rich, J. Hume \Y a Murray, J. Fisher, J. L, Grant, C.' M* Brunskill, Gordon, and Captains AlePherson and Rutherford were proposed as a Board. Mr. Graham said there was a want of heart generally in the district, but all admitted the movement was a j;ood one. There were numbers of specialties, such as vine culture olive growing, and a score ox others on which Waikato could fall back if only there was a source whence authoritative information might be obtained. He nimself wished to go in for vine growing, but he was ignorant as to what special sorts he should grow. Of one thing he was certain, the farmer could not live by selling milk at 2£d per gallon. The wine made last year by some amateurs in Waikato had been pronounced superior to what was produced in Australia. It was to the growth of specialties such as these that they must look for a prosperous future for Waikato. He asked those present to look upon the movement as started, and to hold regular meetings and interchange of ideas and information. He moved that the committee meetings be monthly at Hamilton at the Waikato County Council Chambers' the day and hour, pending alterations in the railway timetable, to be tixed by the chairman and secretary. Mr. McDonald seconded the motion. The farmers, he said, were fleeced all round, and they had been the prey of all the sharks in the country. It was time they asserted themselves. The farmers were being milked to fatten the middleman. The only remedy was to have a body established in the country to look after their interests, as commercial men in the cities had their Chambers of Commerce. The motion was carried unanimously. Mr. McDonald proposed that the members for the district be requested to vote against the tax on agricultural requisites, including salt, preferring that a tax be levied on sugar and tea. Seconded by Mr. Salmon, and carried.