PRIME MINISTER AT MOUNT ROYAL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11629, 10 May 1912, Page 4

PRIME MINISTER AT MOUNT ROYAL.

This morning the Prime Minister the Hon. T. Mackenzie, paid a., visit to the Department of Agriculture's experimental plots on the Mount Royal: Estate,, near Palmerston. Mr Mackenzie left Duhedin -by the first "express and left the train at Wairunga station, and was driven to. the piece of land wdiere the experiments were made. About one hundred farmers and others interested had gathered there, and a few minutes later a party from stations north of Palmerston arrived in a drag, having been driven from Palmerston on arrival of the slow train. Those in this partv were the Hon. T. Y. Duncan, Mr 'E. P. Lee, M.P., and Messrs' J. M'Pherson (Totara), G. Livingstone (Windsor), Nicolsoh and Gillies (Hampden), and several others. . The party were taken : round the plots bv Mr Jeffreys,' manager of Mt. Boyal. and the different crops were explained by Mr M'Pherson, of the Agricultural Department. There were 27 varieties of turnips, numerous varieties of mangolds, kale, maize, beets, and a few new varieties of fodder, the principal of which was chou moellieiy, or marrow cabbage, a member of the kale family of plants. The Department has a number of experimental plots of oats in another part of the estate, but the time available did not permit of a visit being made to these. From the experimental plots the visitors were taken to another piece of land where experiments in sub-soiling with dynamite were carried out by Mr J. R. Leego, a representative of the Nobels Explosive Company. Ltd.. of Glasgow. Six charges were put down to a depth of three feet and fired by electricity. Then the result was examined bv the spectators. Opinions .as to the utility of the process were very diverse. Some of the subsoil was thrown up to the surface and on digging down to the subsoil the very hard substratum was found to be cracked in. all directions, radiating from where the charge was fired. The general opinion seemed to be that dynamite would be of great value in sub-soiling' land for planting trees, or in orchards. After visiting the experimental plots and witnessing the dynamiting experiments the party went up to the Mt. Boyal Homestead and partook of light refreshments provided by the homestead people Then Mr Mackenzie, and several others addressed the gathering of farmers. Mr Ritchie, trustee of the Douglas Estate, presided. Mr Mackenzie, in the course of his remarks, gave a great deal of information relating to the work of the Department of Agriculture, and amongst the. new departures that he saidi would be introduced was the distribution of stud cattle belonging to the Government to associations in different parts of the country on tho guarantee that the health of the animals would be looked after. MiMackenzie read a quantity-Of information relating to the experiments at Mt. Roval. re-grassing in Central Otago, and Other work of the Department. An expert had been appointed and sent to Germany and Denmark to investigate the treatment of the by-products of milk, such as casein and sugar of milk, and to bring back his experience to the Dominion. He read an extract froni the Dairyman on' this subject, and said that the idea was an excellent one, as in some places a net profit of £47 per day could' be made from these waste products of milk, which were now being poured down the gutter. _ Mr Mackenzie also said that a Mr Wylie had been ■ appointed to the staff of" the Department, and would visitCanada and the United States ;i and he had five years' practical experience in the Old Land as well, and he would come with valuable information to this country. -We" could hot wait until our own people acquired knowledge. Experimental stations would be established for the good of the country, and. the widest form of instruction in agriculture would be gone in for. Speaking of the experimental stations Mr Mackenzie said that one would bo established in North Canterbury, another in South Canterbury or between Dunedin and Christchurch, and a third in the south. They would not be on the same extensive plan as in the north, as he believed in having more stations but not so extensive, so that the information and instruction would be available for a greater number of people. Mr Mackenzie at the conclusion of his address was given a hearty vote of thanks from the farmers present for his work on their behalf.

The Prime Minister caught the second ox press for Christehurch a.t Palmerston, and went north with it.