THE QUESTION OF PRIZE FARMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1957, 23 May 1889, Page 8

THE QUESTION OF PRIZE FARMS.

i" Ovis" la the New " Zealand Country Journal.") .The proposal to offer prizes for wellmanaged farms is one which must commend itself to all those who have the welfare of agriculture at heart, and the fact of the Canterbury Metropolitan Agricultural and Pastoral Association having taken the matter into serious consideration is in itself a mark of progress. There appear to be certain, obstacles, many of a financial character, in the way of so desirable a scheme being carried out, but its importance having been once officially recognised, it is scarcely probable that a body possessing so much vitality as the Metropolitan Association will allow it to lapse. Probably a somewhat more than usually vigorous appeal to the public would result in the necessary funds being forthcoming, although some little time may elapse before the public mind may become educated on the subject up to that point at which the public parts with its money. 1 The agriculture of the colony is gradually settling down upon a sure and sound basi§, and is beginning to assume the form of husbandry in the truest sense of that good oldfasjhioned word. Farmers are beginning to realise that the soil is the thing to be husbanded and taken care of. The first settlers in., a new and fertile country are apt to overlook the fact that the large amount of available fertility which they found ready to hand represents the accumulation of an untold period of time, and that if they squander their stores of wealth they can only be replaced by the expenditure of labour and money. Most fortunately this has been recognised in this colony before any considerable portion of the land has been reduced to a state of exhaustion by continuous cropping; but as time goes on the agriculture of a country must necessarily assume a more systematic and intensified, character. The rotation of crops must be more carefully attended to, and fertilisers in their various forms must gradually come into use. In farming there is no such thing as standing still. A farmer may be very reluctant to depart from the simplicity, and even crudity, which characterises the operations of farming in its earlier stages in a new country, but the time comes when he must be prepared to take a new departure, or allow his land to fall back, into a state of comparative sterility. It may fairly be said that this is the position at which the agriculture of Canterbury and Ofcago ,has arrived. It must be obvious to, evsry thoughtful man that the farming of the future must, be of a more scientific character than it has been in the past, although the term " scientific " must not be taken to mean farming by book or by the laboratory. , Bo|;h books and laboratory may teach much, but the ' knowledge so gained will be of , little practical value without a just and rational appreciation of the natural resources to which suph knowledge is applied Th,e course pursued by the Eoyal Agricultural Society of England with regard to prize farms is this:' The competition is limited to the county, or sometimes two counties, immediately surrounding the locality in which the annual show is held, the show being of a peripatetic character. The farms are classified for competition according to the acreage, but .the number of classes into which they are divided is to some extent ruled by the natural features and general character of the agriculture of the country; but there are usually four classes, the limit ranging from farm's not exceeding 100 acres up to farms not exceeding 550 acres. The prizes are substantial, reaching as high as £100 for farms of the first class. The farms must be occupied by bona fide farmers. The judges pay their rounds of inspection in the course of the year, these visits being considered necessary in order to follow the management of each individual farm from cause to effect, the effect pr result being seen in the summer round of inspection in the crops, some secured and others nearly at maturity; while the cause is seen in the autumn and spring visits. These periodical visits are also as j necessary in judging the management of the j live stock as of the arable operations. It will \ thus be seen that when the competing farms are numerous the office of the judges is no j sinecure. i In arriving at their decisions the judges , are instructed to " take into consideration any special advantages that one competitor may possess over another," and the list of special points to be considered are as follows :— 1. General management with a view to profit. 2. Productiveness of crops. 3. Quality and suitability of live stock. 4." Management of grass land. 5. State of gates, fences', roads, and general neatness. 6. Mode of book-keeping followed (if any). 1. Managment of dairy and dairy produce, if dairying is pursued. •This is a tolerably compehensive programme, and yet it does not appear to cover the whole ground. For instance, there is no speoial mention of implements or machinery, which is a most important matter, and would be' especially so in this country, where labour-saving implements' must necessarily play «o important a part in every successfully managed farm. It might be thought, too, that the management of live stock is of no less' consequence than "quality and suitability," unless quality is supposed to supply evidence^ of the management. Probably, however, 1 the judges, being practical and competent men, do not bind themselves altogether to hard and fast instructions, but regard them in a broad light. The judges, in addition to the inspection of the farms and awarding the prizes, also furnish a full account of each prize farm, and the system of management pursued in

' each case. These reports are published in ■the 'journal' of } the society, and'ate'i.tne means of. diffusing an immense amount of the most Valuable information. ' One good farmer always exerts a most valuable influence in his own neighbourhood ; but if an apcount of his operation's are made public through a reliable source, his, influence is greatly extended. It is the frequent experience of farmers to hit upon what they consider quite a new thing, but which they find upon inquiry to have been 1 known to others long before they thought of it. The system of management followed out on one farm is seldom wholly applicable to any other farm, but it may be, nevertheless, highly suggestive. In the same way there is no. • doubt that the line taken ,by the, Boyal Society with regard to prize farms cannot be 'exactly followed in,. New Zealand.,- Considerable modification would be necessary, and perhaps it would be . as well for. the colonial society not to attempt anything of a very ambitious character at first.