NATIONALISATION OF FARMING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20701, 26 April 1929, Page 15

NATIONALISATION OF FARMING.

LECTURE BY SIR JOHN RUSSELL. (From Our Own Correspondent.) T , . LONDON,. Hatch 5. Sir John Russell (Director of the Kothamstcd Experimental Station), who recently toured the dominions, gave an address on Australian and New Zealand farming at yesterday’s meeting of the Farmers’ Club. , describing the methods adopted a? the various types of farmers in New Zealand, he said it would be interesting to discover, if possible,- how the Australian and New Zealand farmers contrive to send their produce ' 10,000 or 12,000 miles to our markets, and sell at prices with which our farmers cannot compete. The following facts, he said, seem to emerge:— As compared with our farmers, the Australian and New Zealand farmers have the advantages of single aim and unity of production over rather largo areas, and passage through a few great ports; This permits of, indeed it necessitates, bulk handling, grading, packing, marking, bulk transportation, and marketing, and expert representatives at this end to deal with the retailers arid see that they give "the produce a fair chance. In a word, they have made some progress towards ‘ Nationalisation. They are such firm believers in these advantages that wherever I went I never found farmers entertaining any doubt as to their inability to undersell the British farmer. They recognised that they might themselves glut the market, but they looked to the improvement of their marketing arrangements to avoid this. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANT- ' AGES. “ They have the further advantages of widespread use of labour-saving machinery designed expressly to suit their conditions; and the wheat growers have the advantage, of being able to thresh as they reap. Their output per man per day is therefore high. On the other hand they (especially the Australian farmers) have the disadvantage of shortage of labour, which is less skilled and more expensive than ours, hurther, ’they have the disadvantage that they are six . weeks’ distance from our markets. “As against this our farmers have the advantage of better labour, supply, and of being able to buy many of their goods in an unprotected market. They have the disadvantage df small scale individual producth n, and of trying to combine production and marketing, on one man. Our farmers have the further disadvantage of not using big laboursaving machinery. One final advantage remains: Our fanners have a retail trade at their door, and are in the unique position of being able to supply absolutely fresh food.