THE FARMER'S LOT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19731, 2 September 1927, Page 14

THE FARMER'S LOT.

Sir, —Writing as one who has had, soiflt' years' experience of dairying, '«knowing what it is to milk 25 cows by hand, ami up to 60 by machines, on my. own, 1 am convinced "that the constant complaint* of the farmer conceruing his lot are in many cases ovet drawn. Like many others, I have made a competency, and later dropped it all during" the slump through selling and buying in again. Yet it is my firm conviction that the farmer.-" who stuck to his farm, rs hundreds did, and is facing only a small mortgage, is miles better off than the wage-earner or small business man in the Cities, for I have tried both The constant cry of the farmer's hard work is not altogethertrue, for with the electric power and milking machines milking is an easy operation. Admitting that, say, from July tc October the conditions with cows calving and bad weather are unpleasant, and that the summer with hay making is strenuous, yet autumn and winter give easier conditions. Milking is a tie, so is business, so is working on wages, and every farmer knows that between milking he. has plenty of opportunities, and hs uses them to go to sales or the nearest township. The plain fact is that the man with an improved farm and a good hera and who is well financed, as the majority are, is the most independent man in the country, and has as good a life as a man could wish for. The extra cost of improvements does not touch this class offarmer, for his improvement work is largely completed. I have met many hard-working men on the land and some very lazy men. The type of farmer who is off to every sale and in and out- to the township, leaving the wife and family to carry on, is not uncommon. After having "worked on wages, been in business, and farmed, I say, given reasonable conditions, c:ive me the land every time for life in the best sense. F. A.C.