"STEADY DECLINE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24968, 15 July 1942, Page 2

"STEADY DECLINE

NEGLECT OF HORSE BREEDING CONTRAST WITH GERMANY A contrast between the neglect of the breeding of horses in New Zealand and the extensive use of horses by the German army was made by the District Superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, Mr C. V. Dayus, in an address to the Otago branch of the Royal Society last night. In 1911 farm tractors were unknown in New Zealand, Mr Dayus said. Thirty years later, there were 11,278 agricultural tractors. In 1930 there were two header harvesters in operation, and by 1939 these had risen to 500, and had since been further increased. That all these appliances had proved a great boon to agriculture there was no doubt, and the advantages in war time, especially when there was a sudden demand for increased output, could scarcely be estimated. Mr Dayus pointed out that the life blood of these machines was oil, which had to be imported from overseas by tankers, which were now subject to enemy attack. A Neglected Unit "The only other means of motive power on the farm is the horse, a livestock unit which is being neglected today." Mr Dayus said. "The peak number of horses in New Zealand was reached in 1911. Since that year they have declined numerically. All types of draught horses have dropped by nearly 100,000. There is now practicifty no demand for horses for farm work. The number of breeding sires is declining, and last season only a comparatively few were in use. There may be a few more horses in use in the urban areas, following petrol restrictions, but these have been drawn from farms which have become wholly or partly mechanised. "It takes as long to rear a bullock as it does to build a battleship," Mr Dayus continued. " Similarly, it takes four years to rear a horse to working age. In Great Britain the draught horse has come into his own again and the prices paid last year were the highest since 1920. The main reason for these prices is the scarcity of working horses. It has been found necessary to put more draught horses on the road than ever before, and at the same time there is an increased demand for working horses on farms. Government grants for the encouragement of heavy horse breeding have already been renewed in England, and the same matter is under consideration in Scotland. Several States in the Commonwealth of Australia are also interesting themselves in the problem.

"In New Zealand, however, the breeding of draught horses is neglected to-day," Mr Dayus added. "In 1938, the Remount Subsidy Regulations were introduced for the purposes of encouraging the replenishment of numbers and improving the type of horses suitable for remount purposes. These regulations, however, have now been suspended. During the Great War of 1914-1918 there was a constant demand for horses of all kinds for army work, but the army of to-day has been mechanised to such an extent that the market it offers for horses is negligible, and no attention is being paid to development for this type of work. Germans' Use of Horses " Strange as it may seem, when I was Home in 1939. German agents were in England buying discarded British cavalry horses, discarded on account of mechanisation," Mr Dayus said. "They were at the same time combing Ireland for suitable horses for military work. " In 1939 Germany used 200,000 horses in the Polish campaign, and nearly four times that number in the attack on the Low Countries and France," he concluded. "At present, more horse? are in use by the Germany army than at any time during the war of 1914-18. In a large measure these have been requisitioned from conquered countries. All stallions suitable for army remounts have been systematically collected in invaded countries and sent to Germany."