FARMING IN VICTORIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 6

FARMING IN VICTORIA.

A gooct' idea of~ the position of agriculture in Victoria is gained by a peru&al of *he reports of the proceedings of what is "termed "The Farmer'^ Convention" — an annual conference, of farmers and agricul-tural-experts organised by the Victorian Chamber of Agriculture, and which has been held within the last few weeks. The programme was of a more purely practical character than is that of the New Zealand Agricultural Conference, which is being held this week. The questions discussed related almost exclusively to the principal rural industries, and being participated 1 in by practical farmers a vast fund of valuable experience and opinion was opened up. The object of the gathering, in fact, -was to endeavour to level up the farming practice^ of the country, and therefore free discussion and criticism were invited of the methods adopted by the Government Department of Agriculture in promotion of that object, and also of the results of. operations conducted on the lines recommended by the officers of the department, -so that it could be seen whether any improvement on. the ordinary methods and practices had resulted. The Victorian law, it appears, forbids the dehorning of cattle, and an amendment was unanimously desired. The taxation not only of stallions, but also bulls, rams, and boars, was proposed, but the delegates would have none of it. Amendment of the law so as .o facilitate the drainage of private lands was treated as an important question, and unanimously demanded. These were the chief matters on which legislation was asked. There was a general demand for concessions or the removal of anomalies in the railway tariff, including half-rate travelling for show judges and quicker transport for fat stock to markets. Strong dissatisfaction was manifested with the new conditions attached .o the Government grants to agricultural societies = many of the smaller institutions exist on this grant, and it would appear that they cannot comply with the stipulations regarding the soundness and quality of prize-taking stock and the restrictions on the manner in which the grant is to be expended, besides organising classes for instruction in agriculture. It would be thought that under such circumstances it would be better for agriculture that the society cease to exist ; but the convention asked that the amount of the subsidies should be greatly increased to enable them to make the experiment of complying with the conditions'. The subjects of the papers by experts included pig-breeding, regarding which the information given was very elementary ; dairying, in which farmers were urged to deliver the cream in better condition — the home separator being officially recognised as having become an indispensable part of . the dairying industry ; orchard pests and rabbits, advocating the prosecution of those who failed to adopt suppressive measures ; treeplanting, instances being given of the increase of the grazing capacity of land by the planting of shelter trees, besides enhancing the attractiveness of the homesteads and providing timber for farm purposes; and irrigation was considered as a factor in closer settlement. Intensive farming is evidently the aim of the Victorian authorities, their efforts being to promote dairying, pig-keeping, fruit-grow-ing, and the production of the best quality of fat stock. This is just the line in which Victoria will come most directly into competition with this colony, and that State enjoys the most favourable conditions in the Commonwealth for success in this direction.