YOUNG FARMERS’ VISIT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21987, 23 June 1933, Page 5

YOUNG FARMERS’ VISIT

EDUCATIONAL COURSE CON- . TINUED SOME INTERESTING ADDRESSES The educational course for; young farmers which has been in progress for the whole of the week was continued yesterday. At the morning session addresses were delivered by Mr Janies Hogg (president of the Dunedin Manufacturers’ Association ), who spoke on the subject of “ The Romance of Industry,”' by Mr C. V. Smith (sales manager of Messrs Cadbury Fry Hudson), who took as his subject salesmanship and marketing generally, and by Mr A. C. Cameron (secretary of the Farmers’ Union), who spoke on aspects of the Dominion s export trade. In the afternoon an_ interesting visit was paid to the Mosgie! Woollen Company’s works, and in the evening the visitors were given an insight into the production of a modern newspaper whma was illustrated by a tour of the Daily Times office during the process of publication. The visit was prefaced by a short address on “The Modern Press by Mr J. T. Paul.

THE ROMANCE OF INDUSTRY.” j Mr Hogg said that he would speak on the romance of industry and commerce, both of which were definitely linked up with the romance of Empire and world , history. The discoveries of the seven- ( teenth and eighteenth centuries had ; done much to open up new markets m the world; for the distribution of manu- ( factured goods from the older countries. ( If we went back to the last century we would see how Great Britain had come to the fore in. manufacturing, particularly in iron and steel products. ( Great Britain’s growth had been , largely due to the explorations and ( courage of our sailors, and it was the . development of trade and commerce that , had helped to keep the Empire together. , Mr Hogg touched on his visit to Ottawa and went on to say that in other parts ■ of the Empire the tide of the Imperial , spirit ran just as strongly as it did in i New Zealand. Business romance was around them on every side, and it represented a growth that hqd taken place ■ in all parts of the world, particularly in Canada and the United _ States ; Canada’s export trade was the fifth largest in the world, running into an annual quantity worth £278,000000. An | interesting description of Canadas great waterway on the St. Lawrence was given by the speaker, who quoted figures to show the huge shipping trade that was carried on there and on .the Great Lakes of America. „ . . Power schemes in Canada were also touched on, with special reference to their romantic development. In dealing with the United States, the speaker paid a tribute to the systematised methods that were used to develop industry, both in the cities and the country districts. In Chicago the meat works a model of efficiency. ; Altogether 3600 head of cattle were killed per day in Armour’s works, and 'there was also a huge number of pigs'handled every d y. Interesting details cm the Exchange of America included the, information that there were 3000 miles of telephone wire underneath the building. Wheat was one of the greatest industries in North America. Next to the Corn Exchange in magnitude came the great Wall Street Exchange in New York, which of its kind was second only to that in London. , ; , , Dealing with individual industries, Mr gave ample evidence of the stupendous growth of various firms in Great Britain fand America. ihe destinies of these concerns had in most cases been organised and carried on by one great brain, representing men of the type whose names would go down to posterity as examples of the unquenchable faith that led to the establishment of industries whose usefulness was known and appreciated in. all quarters pf the globe. If one wandered along the Thames embankment to-day one would see that served as memorials to the ability of individual men who had organised the industries carried on within their walls. Modern industry was also noteworthy for the romance,of materials which was part and parcel of it. Into many obscure corners of the globe business j men had to go for the different : materials necessary for the, carryi ing on of their trade. This was , jthe internationalism of trade. All I this romance and growth of commerce had met. with a setback as a result of the Great War, but there was I evidence to show that countries suffering from the economic depression would eventually come out of the troublous periods that always followed wars. When they glanced ■ back over history there 1 was every reason for a feeling of j optimism. , ,In the present case there ! was much hard work to be done before j economic stability was secured, but they I had every reason to believe that the greatest good .would come of the World . Conference now sitting in London, i In conclusion, Mr Hogg said that there was a better moral code in busi- : ness to-day than ever before, and New Zealand’s standing with other parts of | the world was high. He hoped they would all do their share in the recom struction of the national stability, and : be prepared to fit themselves for leadership in their own;industry. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded ' the speaker on the motion of Mr J. M'Lachlan (Purakanui). Mr Hogg urged his hearers not to believe all the propaganda about the condition of secondary industries, but to seek to judge for themselves by what i they saw. Manufacturers were sym- | pathetically disposed towards the j farmer and his troubles, and were, like | the farmer, working for the general i good. Both sections of the community ! must pull, together.-—(Applause.)

“ SALESMANSHIP." Mr Smith at the outset endeavoured to show how similar were the methods of salesmanship and marketing adopted,by both farmers and manufacturers. In ( New Zealand most goods were sold through companies, and a great deal of the research ' work was carried out by various boards. The three steps which they had to take were represented by market research, manufacturing, and selling. Market research work could be done in a very big way or in a very small way, one ingenious instance of-the bigger kind being illustrated by a large chain-store company at Home, which sent out representatives to the cities in which it intended to set up a branch, these representatives to utilise a device which automatically recorded the number of passers-by at any particular point, and thus supplied them with information regarding the best place to build their premises. Market research could be divided into three groups, including that which dealt with lines already established and those whose establishment was being considered. In putting on a line one always had to be sure that one filled the bill in every way, especially with regard to meeting I the efforts of competing concerns. AdverI tising agents were very useful in carryI ing out investigations in the matter of ! market research work, while another method was by use of one’s own trayelI lers. Still another way was by using | statistical information, i Some interesting details regarding the ! sending out of “tasting panels” in re gard to the manufacturing and marketi ing of a new food beverage were given 1 by the speaker, who went on to refer ! to the utilisation of observation shops,

advertising campaigns, methods of selling, and the latest business methods generally. On the motion of Mr D. Kane (Hawea, Flat) Mr Smith was cordially thanked for his address. “ THE EXPORT TRADE. In dealing with some aspects of Now Zealand’s export trade and the handling of its products overseas, Mr Cameron said that practically 90 per cent, of New Zealand’s exports went to Great Britain. The idea appeared to be prevalent that New Zealand exporters were not exploiting other markets, but that was contrary to fact. Mr Cameron referred to what had been done in the way of attempting to get a foothold in foreign markets, and illustrated some of the difficulties. Taking butter as an illustration, he showed that small quantities had been shipped to 10 different countries. Some of the dairy exporters had sent their own representatives to those countries, and in the case of one concern a man had been resident in the East for two ypars, with almost negligible results. Mr Cameron gave some interesting information regarding the difficulties. The colour of a label, for instance, would be quite sufficient to damn the article as far as Siam and some of the Eastern countries were concerned. For China articles had to be done up in decimals. In many cases the knowledge of the languages and particular customs of the country were absolutely essential. Mr Cameron said that he believed a great future was ahead of New Zealan l products in some of the countries mentioned, but at the moment they were hampered by lack of adequate shipping facilities and lack of specialised salesmen with a trained knowledge of the requirements of each country... In the case of butter they were hampered by the Australian Paterson scheme, which Mr Cameron briefly explained, and the lack of a direct shipping service. In some places there were no adequate cold storage facilities. ■/ Mr Cameron went on to deal witn some aspects of the—handling of New Zealand products in Great Britain, dealing more particularly with butter and frozen meat. Although wool had at one time been New Zealand’s largest export, butter now took the foremost place,. It was estimated that there were 1,750,000 cows milked in New Zealand. Mr. Cameron gave his hearers an interesting idea of, how butter was handled in London by explaining the work, of the London Produce Exchange and the methods of some of the leading importers. He also referred to, the competition of Denmark and to the advantages which Denmark had oyer Great Britain. He referred to the difficulties of shipping butter to other markets. He emphasised the necessity of keeping up quality, the importance of milk grading, and herd testing. Mr Cameron then gave an interesting description of Smithfield and the handling of meat in Glasgow and Liverpool. He also referred to the difficulties of placing New Zealand meat in the East and other places. Mr . Cameron gave a brief description of the tallow market, the purposes for which tallow was used, .and the methods of selling; He gave a short description ; of the handling, of sheep and lamb pelts, and illustrated his talk with some interesting samples of the products produced by splitting, etc. He also gave his hearers a very interesting description of the Baltic Exchange. Mr A. B. Struthers, who had spent some months working in a woollen mill in Bradford, gave some interesting information regarding the handling of New Zealand wool, aud spoke at some length on the extent of the trade of the Port of London. Messrs Janies Begg (a member.of the Meat Producers’ Board) and W. E.Reynolds (a member of the Dairy Produce Board) also. gave some interesting information. The speakers were accorded a hearty vote of thanks. VISIT TO WOOLLEN MILLS, ,

During the afternoon the party were the guests of the Mosgiel Woollen Company, who conveyed them to their works at Mosgiel. When the mill was reached, the party were ' escorted round by the manager, Mr J. M. Lyon, and a group of assistants who showed them practically every process in. the manufacture of the numerous products turned out by this company. The boys were very greatly impressed by what they saw and were particularly interested in the intricate machinery. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr Russell Gall, Otekura, I expressed the thanks of those present, /and asked Mr Lyon to convey to, the directors and management the party’s sincere appreciation of their courtesy in providing transport and showing them over the mill. • V " THE MODERN PRESS.” Mr Paul said he wished to give his audience some idea of the variety and character of the operation entailed in the production of the daily sheet which most of them read. He referred to the old methods of hand-setting type which were in use when he made his drat acquaintance with a newspaper office. It was an arduous and difficult work, and the first day he spent at it was the longest day in his life. The speaker then’ proceeded to describe the course of news from' its entrance into the office till the time of its appearance in the daily papers. Commencing wdth the gathering of news by reporters, he traced the passage of local copy through the sub-editors’ hands, to the linotype operators, whence it appeared in proof form to be corrected by readers, then reappearing in the forme which went to the stereotype department to be reproduced as a semi-circular plate which finally appeared on the huge rotary press which turned out the actual paper. But in addition to local news there was overseas and Dominion news to be handled. All over the country and in fact all over the world people were working to provide the news that wmild appear in the next morning’s paper. The speaker then went on to deal with the advances that had been made smee circulation relied on a hand press which required two or three printings compared with the modern type of machine which turned out thousands of copies per hour. He spoke of the marked advances that had been made in illustrations, which could now be reproduced at the shortest possible notice every day. The most interesting machine they would see in the Daily Times office mat night was the linotype. It had evolved ffom crude and difficult machines to the delicate, complicated but wholly reliable mechanism which played such an important part in the production of the modern newspaper. He described in general terms the working of the machine and paved the way for the personal inspection his hearers were afforded later on. The speaker detailed the special features which should be looked for in what he regarded as one of the most remarkable achievements in the development of printing. Special reference was made to the assembling of matrices and their final delivery back into their right places in the chamber, all of which was done automatically. After a brief reference to the methods adopted in the reader’s room, where the necessary corrections were marked, tne speaker traversed the making up _of pages on the “ stone ” and the taking of an impression in the “stereo” room, where the actual forme from which the paper was printed was made. These formes were clamped on to the cylinders of the press, which turned out complete newspapers at the rate of dO,OOO 1 per hour. All that was required at this stage was the pressing of an electric button. The speaker explained the processes I of illustration, dealing particularly with the manufacture of half-tone blocks, all of which were the result of the photographing of actual photographs through a screen, an operation which was absolutely necessary to the reproduction of a successful picture.

In conclusion Mr Paul urged his hearers not to get the idea that the jobs they would see being done that night were better than their own. That was a habit with everyone more or less, but he would say for his part that the rural life, apart from being the most natural existence,, offered the greatest possibilities of security of any calling. Notwithstanding the farmers’ difficulties and trials at the moment, the life on the land offered more to a man than life in the-city. Too many people in the city had lost' the faculty of entertaining themselves or relying upon themselves to get the best out of life.

The speaker answered a number of questions hnd’was accorded a hearty vote of thanks on the motion of Mr J. Crossan (Goodwood). After the conclusion of Mr Paul’s address the party was conducted on a tour of the Times Office premises, in the course of which the various methods and processes were fully explained and demonstrated. TO-DAY’S PROGRAMME,

This morning the first feature of the day’s programme will be an address by Dr G. E. Thompson (professor of modern languages at the University of Otago) on “ The Meaning of Education,” This will (be followed, by short talks by Mr A. H. Strothers and Mr A. C. Cameron. The afternoon will be spent at the Art Gallery, where special points of interest about the collection, there will) be explained. Although the evening is officially free a number of the visitors will take advantage of Mr J. C. Begg’s invitation to visit the observatory. The course will conclude with to-day s meetings.