FIELDS DIVISION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26774, 18 May 1948, Page 3

FIELDS DIVISION

VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS OFFICERS FROM OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND New features marked the conference of the Department of Agriculture fields division instructors, held this year at Invercargill for the first time. Officers were present from Oamaru, Palmerston, Dunedin, Balclutha, Alexandra, Gore and Invercargill, while a number of specialists from Wellington also attended. The Southland centre offered particular advantages in that it is surrounded by a number of readily-accessible farms, it can provide adequate accommodation, and, in addition, the Winton experimental farm, where a number of important projects are under investigation, is not far distant. Indoor lectures and discussions were alternated by field days, and throughout the cpurse contributions were made by local fields division officers as well as by officers of the agronomy, entomology and grasslands divisions of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. In addition, local officers from the horticulture and live stock divisions of the Department of Agriculture presented material. Others who attended and contributed to the discussions were the acting director of the fields division, Mr J. W. Woodcock, formerly fields superintendent in Dunedin, and Messrs P. B. Lynch, crop experimentalist, S. H. Saxby, agrostologist, R. E. Owen, editor of the Journal of Agriculture, and J. A. S. Miller, seed certification officer, all from the head office of the department, Wellington. . The subjects dealt with during the lectures and discussions covered a wide range of farming conditions. Officers from the associated divisions presented papers on each of their respective activities, and local officers of o.ther divisions Collaborated with the fields division instructors on particular problems. The first field day was held on the property of Dr A. Ritchie Crawford, of Otatara, where-problems of drainage, pasture establishment and supplementary crops were discussed in detail. Investigations into turf-forming plant species and appropriate fertiliser dressings were later discussed, after which a series of trials using hormone \weed-killers were inspected. The second field day, on the Winton experimental farm, also proved interesting. Mdssrs R. A. Calder, director of the agronomy division, and J. O. Wallace, seed production officer, Dunedin, conducted the officers over a comprehensive, series of trials with turnips, swedes and associated fodder plants. A number of pasture experiments, a lucerne stand, and an ensilage stack were later inspected and discussed. The innovations at the conference at Invercargill this year produced excellent results. Previously, the conference had always been held in Dunedin. The idea of changing the venue of the conference, in order to enable both local instructors and visitors to gain a general knowledge of the territory, was recommended. It is possible that the conference next year may be held either at Oamaru or Alexandra, depending on the availability of essentia] facilities.