THE PRIMARY INDUSTRIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16962, 23 September 1918, Page 4

THE PRIMARY INDUSTRIES.

Beekeepers are familiar with the complaint now voiced in Auckland thaUthe salaries paid to officers of the apiary branch of the Agricultural Department are inadequate. For many years the industry has attempted to secure an improvement in this respect, but it is claimed that the salaries paid are still too low to attract or to retain the best men. If this is so, the Department is obviously doing a grave injustice to a growing industry, and it is to be hoped the Government will give more than casual attention to the complaint. The future of the primary industries depends largely on the calibre of the officers who are entrusted with the duties of instruction and inspection, and it is intolerable that small savings should be made in this Department at the expense of efficiency while hundreds of thousands of pounds have, been buried under the Southern Alps and wasted on other unprofitable South Island railways. The beekeeping industry is already of considerable dimensions. It is preeminently suitable for returned soldiers who, though incapacitated for more laborious work, desire an openair life. The fact that the Auckland Beekeepers' Club has attained a membership of nearly one hundred within a week is an indication of the interest in this industry, and of the public demand, strong although often mute, for opportunity of learning rural occupations. At such a time as this the Government should be increasing the technical advisers and experts of the Agricultural Department, not risking reduction by false economy. The principal need of the Dominion is increased production, and there is, fortunately, a growing public appreciation of the importance of encouraging all who are willing to go on the land. It is satisfactory to find that the Government offers facilities for training returned soldiers in general farm work, but it is a sad commentary on departmental energy that the Auckland Returned Soldiers' Association has only now been informed of a practical measure which ought by this time to have been in extensive operation.