PRIMARY-INDUSTREIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17234, 9 August 1919, Page 1 (Supplement)

PRIMARY-INDUSTREIES.

THE PLACE OF AGRICULTURE.

MT MATA2MU,

The disquiet feha* -_ -. . J prove a godsend vet i» m „w„ • CT£ ?M * WSTA ««* thelitis ff"? ° f *• e^ shortage wft£j interference of tha another S a ™ g developmentthings go in New ZeaW ,-£ and"** Tn PPlie6 **° ******* £duX ™ to injure agricultural and naetorl ■ terpr*e ia to undermine the adifica our material prosperity Ibis youag and ferii country cm^ki, population, cannot afford to neelect Si population, cannot afford to naelLT rtprimary source, of material wffi <£ vve may do something worthy in bo™, uu» of manufacture to Sr fr,^ aLrlf y «n««*t> paid for by our export of element than having a War ut4y n of demen^l «*- of BLSJHS uJVT'* on * this week treed nfn MlD,3ter . ttttOTed his ™ fH; » the P»-«iiß«nt importance of fofSfe. "? 6 ti™ tk£ th ° war has ma de imperative this matter must have a large place That m New Zealand something done may be cordially admitted; that well done may bo M 'cordiaUy Wesia in Hatma! Resources. Arc tie moat of our natural fXnT I s , t nofc a fact «»»* have fallen far abort of the excellence of the tK^P? B " &f , " G » ! Travels" in the ordering of our national interests? *Ie gave it for bis . opinion," Gulliver S lB V\° giant *»*' that Soever could make Iwo ears of com, or two Wades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politician* put together." S^ W % no A been ,- breeSin politicians --Bavaate of the polls, the citV-rather .than savants of the soil? We W e left gardenmg for governing, and nature's wealth for the precarious existence got by living on each other. We have been so eager to work up and market the materials w have gained from the, land that we have not had the patience or the sense to pursue to fullest iracceaa our winning of primary products. We have been like foolish divers in a rich pearl nsherv, leaving untold wealth unexpioited in the depths they visit and preferring to carry out themselves the tasks of sorting and selling the mere handful of specimens won in a single descant. It were better for them and for everybody el*} that they should become proficient and diligent in their primary occupation and leave to others the making and marketing of the pretty wares in which the pearls are set. When smts&sa and pedlara increase at the undue expanse of divers there is lessened reward of labour to share round among all concerned. : '.:

I Top-heavy Gammsaities. ? *• The preservation of the right proper- • Hon between the winners of raw material ■ and the transformers of it into remote S finished products is one ofthe most vital considerations in a modern community When a commm%- ;.J;e*s;, top-heavy through extravagant development of , in|nstries;.'lt invites' do'wnialL hen' it neglects opportunities of primary production for avenues of salesmanship & i still more rapidly conrta economic disaster. ; If we were all commercial travellers or cheap-jacks the whole nation would soon be in the. bread-line—with, no bread to be got. , > Why the drift from the land in our . country, so suitable for agricultural pur- . suite? A large measure of blame lies at the door of those responsible for our > education system. We have, to a large . extent, neglected the possibilities of in- • teiligent agriculture. Compared with the , attention given to detailed study of town ; handicrafts, the scientific tilling of the , soil has been given scant attention. Educational. Attempts. A smattering of agricultural knowledge has been got by .pur children in the garden plots of the primary schools. A little mochas been done in the agricultural chemistry of the District High Schools. The technical schools have had agricultural instructor* and agricultural plots; yet most of these schools have been remarkable for the relatively small number of their pupils choosing this particular vocational course. '■'.■■■- In one such school, well equipped with staff and acres, there have been for years not more than half a dozen bona-Sde (students in agriculture. Many, endowed High Schools have taught agriculture to j a limited number of boys— it must jbe confessed, indifferent results. Our Education Boards have organised occasion.?.! visits by scholars to the experimental farms of the Department of Agriculture—visite too brief and. haphazard to be more than school, picnics. Our one Agricultural College has attracted but a negligible handful of students. l We have not taken the situation seriously enough. This ancient and honourable calling of agriculture has been beset by chronic ignorance. As long ago as the days of the Book of Ecdesiaeticus this ignorance was proverbial: "How can he have wisdom whose talk is of bullocks?" In most countries the land is so responsive that it will yield some of its wealth in answer to a mere tickle. A little scratching of the surface, the promiscuous dropping of a few seeds, and, lo! bread enough and to spare. It has been therefore taken for granted that agriculture can be undertaken by ignorant people. It can be. It has been. Such people j have made sometimes a great deal of money; but it has been more by good hick than good management. Their measure of success is but the faintest hint of what might have been accomplished by scientific skill. Heed fox a Setter System. We need to set agriculture in the midst in our scheme of education. It has been an " extra," it must become an essential. Nature study and practical gardening in our primary schools may well be developed somewhat beyond their present scope. They wijl provide training in Observation; they will help to keep education in touch with fascinating reality. As part of the broad, simple basis of a good general education, they will be invaluable. But as soon as vocational training may safely begin certainly at no earlier age than it is now attempted—agriculture should be seriously and thoroughly taught. Instead of pottering about casually in a laboratory and doing perfunctory spadework in a garden bed, the pupil should be instructed in large-scale farming. He should know how to plough and harrow and sow and reap an average field. Farm ' organisation and management should be more generally taught. Instead of such technical work being done in the towns, it should be taken to the country. It has been already proved in New Zealand that here and there are intelligent farmers, conspicuous among their neighbours, who are willing to co-operate with Education Boards in the provision of land and implements for such instructional methods. This willingness waits to be harnessed more systematically. Agricultural scholarships ehould be widely instituted and made tenable on approved large-scale farms. All this should have as its cope- I stone the University Chair of Agriculture, j in connection with which there should be I both the most expert teaching of scientific ' principles and the most adventurous j laboratory rcsoazsih. !<