AUSTRALIAN VISIT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23057, 7 June 1938, Page 13

AUSTRALIAN VISIT

MINISTER'S KETUBN NEED FOR CO-OPERATION STATE SAWMILLING PROJECT HON. W. LEE MARTIN'S VIEW. The opinion that Australia and New Zealand must in the future not be mere competitors, but co-operators in the overseas markets was expressed by the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. Lee Martin, when he returned by the Awatea yesterday after attending the meeting of the Australian Agricultural Council. He said that in this way the Dominion had nothing to lose and everything to gain. At the invitation of the Federal Minister of Commerce and the State Ministers of Agriculture, Mr. Lee Martin extended his visit anrl travelled by car through Victoria to Adelaide. The Victorian Government detailed a pasture improvement officer, Mr. R. L. Twentyman, to accompany the Minister and the Director-General of Agriculture, Mr. A. H. Cockayne, while in South Australia Mr. C. Scott, of the Department of Agriculture, was appointed guide.

"In Victoria Mr. Twentyman indicated large areas in the vast expanses of sheep country which are capable of enormously increased production and which are suitable for conversion into dairy farms, the all-important factor of rainfall being quite satisfactory." the Minister said. "It was obvious that if the farmers in this area turned their thoughts to dairying, New Zealand would have a most formidable rival." Irrigation Project On certain irrigated areas in South Australia phenomenal production was being achieved, said Mr. Lee Martin. Along the Murray River some 30 miles of stop-bank had been built and 30,000 acres between the river and the hills were watered from the river. On one farm of 300 acres there were 15 sheep being carried to the acre all the year. The growth of pasture was almost incredible and it was interesting to learn that it consisted entirely of New Zealand certified pure ryegrass, white clover, cocksfoot and prairie grass. In South Australia the Minister inspected the sawmill established by the Department of Woods and Forests at Mount Burr for dealing with the pinna radiata crop from the State plantations in the vicinity. Systematic replanting of the areas that were cut was being practised, he said, and the mill was expected to continue in operation practically perpetually. The timber was all kiln dried. The Minister added that he intended to recommend to the Commissioner of State Forests, the Hon. F. Laugstone, that an officer should be sent to Mount Burr to obtain the benefits of the South Australian experience before the proposed State mill in New Zealand was established. Citrus Growing Areas

From Sydney, Mr. Lee Martin taken to inspect citrus growing areas in the Gosi'ord and Windsor districts. These orchards were remarkably productive, 10-year-old mandarin trees yielding 1500 cases of fruit to the acre. One property owner said he had received a gross return of £3500 from his 20 acres. He employed live hands at from 8s to 10s a day without keep. The Minister said the importation af * fruit from these districts into the Dominion was prohibited on account of the existence of the Mediterranean fruit fly. It was represented to hinj that no real danger was to be apprehended, as the fly was not in evidence during the export season, but on this point he had declined to express an opinion until he had consulted the officers of the Department of Agriculture in New Zealand. Spirit of Harmony After referring his visits to tha experimental station at Werribee, ill Victoria, the Hawkesburv Agricultural College and the Glenfield Veterinary Research Station, in New South Wales, the Minister said that at the Australian Agricultural Council it was very pleasing to see the spirit of harmony in which the different Commonwealth and State Ministers approached th« problems with which they .were confronted. Many of these problems, which were happi'v absent from New Zealand, seemed to be inseparable from a continent irv which there were six State Governments with an over-riding Federal authority.

The Minister was accompanied on his tour by Mrs. Lee Martin and his private secretary, Mr. W. R. King,, and Mrs. King. They expressed warm appreciation of the hospitality which had been extended to them.