NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2784, 24 July 1907, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

It will be a had things for the colony if farmers permit themselves, The by want of combination, to Demands. repeat the experience of manufacturers, and find that after their year's work tihey have kept a lot of men in comfort without securing any return worth having for their capital: With, some of the demands of the farm- labourer I am in complete sympathy. Proper provision is not made as a rule for their lodging.; they have to - rough it, although the food they get' is better than any other labourer's food in the world. Bat this "roughing it" is largely their own fault. Their huts are invariably hermetically sealed, even when plenty of windows are available. Such a thing as fresh air is not regarded as desirable, and has no chance of getting in anywhere else than by the open door. As far as their "bmrics" are concerned it is entirely their -own fault if these are not made comfortable. There is always timber lying about any farm, if required, and- the men have unlimited straw or hay to make as comfortjtble a bed as anyone could wish — that is, if properly attended to. But most of the men «do not take the; trouble, to stir it up and make it decently fit to lie on. Then at threshing time they can procure oaten busk chaff from the null, which compares very favourably with any hair mattress when properly arranged. Fixes about any steading are a continual source of trouble. There is so much stiaw and chaff lying about in the best-kept- farm buildings, and the men's hut is no exception to the rule, that the whole place requires as much care as a store of kerosene. When a fireplace is. provided the fire^ is usually left, to take care of itself when the men go- out to work, and always proves a fertile source of danger and anxiety. Our farm' outhouses are nearly all built of wood, and there is * no water-power available to keep any fire in oneck which might start. There is also a supply of straw for bedding the stock and chaff for horsefeed usually stored in the buildings, which makes the whole place highly inflammable, with the result that the first fire which starts usually sweeps the lot. The continuity of farm labour will receive a rude shack by the action Farm which is being taken by the labour. farm * labourers to form themselves into unions. Many farmers keep on men throughout the year and make work for them in winter simply because they have proved themselves valuable in times of stress, but if the wages are increased to any extent this will not be done. If -the demands such as those formulated by the Canterbury unions ar© conceded' the employment of farm labour will be intermittent — no more ' than can "be done without, and the result will be that the men will be worse off than they are at present. There is so little question, that this view will prove correct that -the Government would be quite jtwtified. in - the interests of the men themselves, in excluding farmers -from the operation of the Arbitration Act. Farm labourers with eteadv billets have been in a better position hitherto than their fellow-workers in the chief centres. Out in the country the same inducement to spend money does not exist, and steady men can easily^ save half of their wages and put by a nest-egg annually,~ which soon enables them to strike out for themselves. Scores of men have thus left a farm and done well for themselves. There are really only two or three times of the year when the farmer is compelled to employ labour if the price is not writable. Harvest, turnip-thinning, and shearing must all be done, but practically anything else is optional. The facility with which the farmer can change his system into one which can be managed by a shepherd alone should cause the Labour leader to pause, and consider whether the men are likely to get much benefit from their efforts. They ought also to consider whether the course they have taken is likely to bring, them any nearer to a free breakfast table in -town, or will it not rather have the opposite effect, "and make the edit of living, as well as aIL . farm produce, dener? Farmers certainly will not grow anything long unless it pays them, and the worst feature of the present position is that men who have provided most work on their farms and grown most grain have participated less than any other ~cla6s of agriculturist in the general prosperity which the colony ie now enjoying. I From any point of view it is a great pity that there should" be any lMterwltt«st disturbance in farm labour Wsrk. circles. The relationship which often exists between the master and servant should not be dis-

turned. We have little sympathy with the farmer who has no fixed opinion of hie own on matters of routine, but it is often wise to consult the experienced labourer who knows the previous history of each field, whose interests are his employer's, and whose opinion' is worth listening to. If the farmer feels that he has to pay such a man more than he can afford the result will be a foregone conclusion, and cannot be beneficial either" to the farmer, the employee, or the country. The practice of suspending or discharging- men on account of the Labour Bill who would otherwise be kept

on i& rotten to the core, not only for the labourer who does not earn enough to keep himself during- an enforced spell of idleness, but aW for the farmer, who would have to refbrt to- the mere labouring' machine for any necessary work. Intermittent work „ which would result from the scafe of wages which; has been suggested never did, and never will, increase the deposits in the savings bank, and labourers would' be wise to -moderate their demands to such an extent that farmers will have a free hand to develop the resources of the colony. The Farmers' Conference is not likely to induce the Government to itatten take any action which of Farmer*' would exclude farmers- from Fnitn. the operation of the Arbitration Act, -although they have moved in that direction. The opposition manifested by the farming organisations is not sufficiently intense to carry nrncfc weight. The farmer's vote is at present too divided! by the plausible pol'Hcian to make their actual fighting sirens. 1 respected as it should be. They have not yet realised 1 what the change will mean to them, but wnen they do* they will make things hum. from one end of the colony to the other. Petitions are being signed in the North. Island: praying- for the repeal of the act as far as it applies- to districts outside of the principal cities on the ground tibat.it is not required in the- country towns and electorates. It ie not yet too late to do likewise in the south. Any Government ••vliich enacts laws- which male it possible for the labourer to paralyse- the -chief industry of the country will, sooner or later, meet with its deserts, but not before it has earned the execration of the settlers. The demands made by the Farm Labourers' Union are such that no farmer can make a living if he employs as many men as usual and pays the charges demanded. These have been reviewed by the president of the North Canterbury executive of the Farmers' Union, who delivered an, address on the subject. He stated that representatives from the Farmers' Union for the' whole of Canterbury had! met and drawn up a reply, and they had. agreed to work in conjunction with the SEeep-ownera' Association m> thai there might be no friction and no division. A joint comjnitI tee had been appointed to gather evidence , and work the case to the best of their ability. That committee was of a thoroughly representative character, and they would conduct the case before the court. So far we can rest assured the case is in good hands, and: can be left there with confidence. But would it not be better to prevent it going before the xrarfc at all? Farmers could easily manage that if they met the Government with a solid front. In regard to the increased wages demanded by horsemen, if the rates Incrrmtd asked for covered harvest Wages. wages they are reasonable enough j the responsibility of the man in charge of a team of horses is considerable. A certain amount of skill is necessary in arranging the various machines properly, and they have to-"work after tea if their teams are properly attended to. No farmer would grudge a capable ploughman, working three horses, 25s per week all the year round. Some of them get that rate now, and are worth it, if they do not require to be taught their work and look after their teams as they should. But no self-respecting horseman who possesses proper feelings of manhood will fail to dry and groom his horses thoroughly before the "la«t post" sounds at 8 p.m. This is absolutely necessary if the horse is to be maintained in good health. , If the ploughman works more than three horses, and these are stabled and attended to at night, he is entitled to the extra, half-crown, demanded. But when this number of horses are used they are usually covered and turned out for the night, and' the man in charge has less work with them than with a team of three stabled for the night. The demand for one hour and ahalf for dinner — the time to be counted from ieaving work till leaving the stable to return, which practically moans one hour . and three-quarters, or a tittle more — dan I only be regarded as a waste ot valuable time, ar-ct dangerous for the horses. With I regard to the other classes of labour speci- I fled, the rates demanded are exorbitant, and such that no farmer can give and grow wheat at 3s and oats at Is sd, which has" been about the net average return for the. last 10 years. Farmers are not making such- enormous profits that they can afford to keep on men and pay them 27s 6d per week the year through. The farm labourer knows that he does not earn so much money as he might in other capacities, but it must be a comforting thought to him that it is all the year round. Again, he ie not slow to realise that fet times in the

winter he is not really earning Ma pay, and if he feels as he should— that his employer is finding- work for him in order to- keep him on, he ought to show «omo gratitude for it instead of asking for an exorbitant: rate which the farmer cannot afford to give him. At. the present rate of pay — VIZ.J 20s and. keepr-'fche- farm- labourer , is better off at the end of the year than ' his fellow-wflrker in. town, who is receiving double that amount. The casual hand; daylabourer, and: drainer at Is an hour will not require notice, as- they -will not be employed' if their demands axe conceded: The farmer, as a rule, does all hie draining with ' his regular employees, and can easily dispense with, intermittent labour. Ebese classes would be wise to be ruled- and guided by the supply and demand locally. Unless the rate expected— viz., 17s 6d — for boye is cut down considerably very- few of them, will be taught farm work. "Ehis will prove st great hardship to many families of working men. ana; strike at the root of successful settlement. The demand for one hour for dinner is reasonable and the present custom, but when an extra, half-hour, morning and afternoon, is demanded for lunch and afternoon tea it puts a different I complexion on- the matter. The lasjE clauses refer to a. fortnight's holiday throughout the year on full pay, preference of employment to unionists, and the stipulation, thaft no work covered by these conditions shall be I let by contract. Conceded in full, or even 1 in part, t&ese demands will strike a blow | at the prosperity of the colony and the I volume of our exports such as they have | never experienced hitherto. If not averted ■ in time the- value of our land will come tumbling down at a grea'fc rate, . and the , colony prove a good place for farmers to live out of. The Farmers' Gazette reports the result of some interesting experiS«lc«tion mentis carried on by eight ~ •* . county ■ Committees of Tur.lp Seed, Agriculture to ascertain the best swede and' yellow turnips to grow. -These were conducted on 14= farms, on which the soil varied from gravelly to atiff clay, so that practically all classes of land wtrt represented. "Nine different varieties of swedes were tested, as well as " four .varieties of Aberdeen or yellow, turnip*. The swode varieties may be taken in the order of\msrit in which they stood last year — i.e., Best of All, Triumph, Improved Purple Top, Magnum Bonum, Kangaroo, Monarch, Elephant, Bronze Top, and Stiiijng Castle. In the 1905 experiments this order was different, for although Best of All was first, Magnum Bonum was second, and ran the first one very close, whereas last year Best of All was an easy leader. Taking the general average all round for the past six years, we find that Best of All leads (though not first every year) with an average yield of 26 tons loAcwt per statute acre, while Magnum* Bonum comes second! with 26 tons 7owt per acre. We observe,_also. that last year's crop in the case of each variety tested was, with one exception, the best for the past six seasons; thus Best of All variety gave an average return, last year of , 29 tons Ucwt, beating the next best year i by 2 tons 4cwt per acre. The yields per acre at the 14- centres naturally vary eon- ' siderably. The largest return for Best of All" was 49J tons, while the lowest yield for the earre variety was 22 tons 3cwt. JThe .largest crop- at any centre, however, *was given t>v Improved Purple Top. which was third on the list in. 19G6, and amounted- to 50± tons, whilst the lowest yield per statute acre was 161 tons. The average result all round was 27 tona per - acre. Turning to yellow turnips, we find £hat pride of placeis taken by Centenary, which has given the greatest yield each year since first tried. Fosterton Hybrid waa second last year, and, strangely enough, has also been second for the past five years. Aberdeen Green Top and Aberdeen Purple Top came third and fourth respectively- last year." The average yield for a number of years is recited for Centenary, 33i. tons, and for Fosterton Hybrid 28 tons. The yield for the other two varieties i« not' given. The concluding remark is made "that it must be thoroughly i understood that the varieties standing first | in the average for last year, or even for the last six. years, may not necessarily be the best varieties for every clas? of soil. ' For example, Stirling "Castle, which stands j last in the average list for 1906, was equal to Best of All on one farm, and beat it 1 ollow on another. We would therefore strongly urge all farmers to experiment for therrselves by growing a drill, of each variety on each field until they have proved what is the best variety for their own, land."

In view of the rapid increase of disease of various kinds and the conTim sequent difficulty in securFredactioß sf ing root crops, fanners and Pesi. flock - owners might well

consider the advisability of augmenting their winter supplies by growing a few acres of peas and beans, and crushing them up into meal for their stock. Writing on this subject, Professor Pertins remarks : —

Farmers are slow to realise the profitableness cf a crop of peas. Last season there were only 6690 acres of this grain grown. inSouth Australia, as against 7078 acres in. the year immediately preceding. Six years before the acreage waa only 3842, so thai the practice i% gradually comiag into, favour*. Canada

raises this ciop in wholesale fashion. One State alone, Ontario, has averaged over 7O0;OOfr ceres during the past 20 years. The greatest- difficulty here in the harvesting; but suitable machinery is in use in North America." our Department iof Agriculture might well- impart samples ' of the flttrvesting implements. Peas can be put- iff after the wheat crop, and- before fallowing' is commenced. It in a- splendid- soil-enricher, as it stimulates nitrification, is a good yielder, and is one of the beat foods fox stock that can be grown. Not only the groin,, but the straw has & high food value, and is greatly relished by stock. As a. pasture for certain kinds of liver stock peasr may be made to serve an - excellent purpose. Professor Lowrie was a, strong advocate of the growing of peas; indeed, he said it was the most important crop- to grow for consumption on the farm. EU conducted » feeding experiment with some pigs. He- arsnged for four pens of three awine- to bet fed" as follows: — First, peas; second, wheat; third; college slaps; fourth, such green stuffs as- :ould be picked vp — viz., mangels, sorghum. kad&, etc. The animals were -weighed, on the first of every month and it was found that in 122 days the pifes -fed on peas had gained 5271b in weight, those fed on wheat gained 5101b, on college slops 4861b, and on greenstuff 1031b. In Canada peas are fed to horses, cattle, sheep, and lambs. They have been found peculiarly beneficial for building up dairy cows when out of condition, and for sustaining them in fine form, and they axe also excellent for milk production. When given along with o»t» and bran to .cows in milk they may usually form- from one-third to one-half of- the srain portion by weight. For pigs during the fattening period peas are unrivalled when fed as the sole grain food. They promote growth, while they fatten in excellent- form, and furnish a sweet, firm, and excellent quality' of 'pork '

AGEICOLA,