THE LEVIN STATE FARM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11058, 9 May 1899, Page 3

THE LEVIN STATE FARM.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—Sovere strictures, caustic criticisms, startling disclosures onent t-lio Lovia Stato farm hftvo recently appeared in your columns, lladiant with hope, big with _ expectation, prurient for ocular demonstration, tho Victorian delegates put in an appearance on the said farm. Possibly they expected to find a paradise, with blossomed trees, beautiful to look upon, bearing fruit, and good for food; but alas 1 thoy discovered in lieu thereof a wilderness, which, in spite of the expenditure of a considerable amount of capital and labour, had not yot begun to blossom as the rose. This spectacle, in tho bitterness of its disappointment, would fall heavily on the buoyant spirits of these ambassadors, who came hither to bless and bo blessed, but whose object lesson I fear would cause them to curso and bo cursed. Thoy found no green pastures, no luxuriant gardens, no ambrosial fruit, no idyllic picture to please, no poetry to inspire, no success to chronicle, no utilitarian triumph to laud. In fairness, however, wo must not regard tho present development as a criterion of tho full benefit and advantage which may yet flow from this institution. Timo, experience, and good management may effectuate a marvellous improvement, so that tho present unsatisfactory prospect may bo succeeded by a desirable change foi the bettor, and tho inauguration of an era of prosperity. Personally, heroin I am inclined to bo pessimistic, becauso in throwing back one's thoughts for half a century, I remember well the signal failures 1 that attended the efforts and operations of many of tho country noblomen in England. Those magnates instituted modol farms, in order that they might toach their tenants how to farm scientifically and successfully, but I hesitate not to state that in nearly every instance they proved abortions' and miserable failures. Theso noblemon selected the most fruitful portions of their domains, the fertile lands, eligibly situated, flowing with milk and honey. Tho glebe was woll drained, correctly manured, the best implements for tillage were adopted, and the most apnrovod modes of farming laid under contribution. Wheat was £3, barley £1 15s, oats £1 8s por quarter; wool Is per lb, mutton, beef, pork and poultry commanded high prices. Favoured with abundant capital, cheap labour, good communication, and reliable markets— notwithstanding these felicitous conditions, it was tho exception, not tho rulo, for those well-appointed farms to pay. Thoy were, moreover, located in Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, counties in which tho land for grazing and tillage is not excelled in any part of tho United Kingdom. In tho Jight and logic of theso facts, I think we ought to halt before committing ourselves to further expenditure in the rofion of Stato farms; for assuredly in this colony the conditions for farming cannot bo regarded as equal to those districts to which I have alluded, and if success could not bo wooed in these quarters, how can we rationally expect prosnoritv when handicapped by bad roads, unreliable markets, inept methods, crude labourers, and expensive superintendents having infinitely less interest in the venture than those noblemon, who wore whole-hearted in their desire for success, but who were subjected to galling humiliation and hopeless failure. . Alderman Mcchi (of razor-strop fame), however, thought he could,teach these splendid teachers the high road to agricultural success. Ho inaugurated at Tintree a model farm. For years the balance-sheets appeared favourable. and excited the envy of worsted competitors. But alas 1 his gigantic experiment closed tin with a terrific crash, and he, too, fell headlong into a crevasse of irretrievable failure and misfortune. Model farms, however fascinating to gaze upon, are the syrens which lure us to a fatal shore.—l am, etc., Jno. Abbott. Hurstmere, May 8, 1899.