FIELD EXPERIMENTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3035, 15 May 1912, Page 18

FIELD EXPERIMENTS.

VISIT TO MOUNT ROYAL. EXPERIMENTAL PLOTS. The Frime 'Minister and his party left Dunedin by the 8 o'clock train for the north on Friday, stopping at Wairunga to pay a visit ot inspection to the experi* immital plots being cultivated at Mount Royal under the supervisoin of the Agricultural Department. A large number of friends and others interested accompanied him, and these, together with runholders and farmers in the vicinity and arrivals by the south-bound train, made a total assemblage of somewhere near 100 persons. Mr W. Souter (governor of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association), Mr A. S. Orbell (the president), and Mr J. A. Roberts (vice-president) were among the number, as also were the members of the committee—Messrs G. H. Gilroy, RA. S. Cantrell, J. Allan, A. Fleming, and the secretary (Mr H. V. Fulton). Messrs E. H.. Clark and E. P. Lee, M.P.'s, tin* Pom T. Y. Duncan, and Dr Truby King, who is carrying on a number of interesting experiments at Seacliff in connection with the Mental Hospital, were also present The Prime Minister was met at the station by Mr J. Coutts and driven to the grounds, most of the rest going the I short distance on fcot. The plots were visited under the guidance of Mr J. D. Ritchie, Under-sccretary fox the Department of Agriculture, and Mr A. Macpherson, field instructor for the South Island: Mr E. Jeffreys, the manage* at Mount Royal, being also most willing to. impart any information required, and finding his services in great demand, THE FIELD EXPERIMENTS. For the benefit of the Dominion's greatest industry we place a high value, on the field experiments of the Department of Agriculture. The present system may not be ideal, but, as the Prime Minister said at Mount Royal, it is only in its initial stages, and it has potentiality for great benefit to farmers. It has already been useful to the Dominion, and we would -be glad to see the experiments more, availed of than at present, so as to hasten the time when something better will be imperative. Anything which adds to the information of the larmer will enable him to increase the yield of food at the present cost for outlay} and this is an economical gain *<rhich leaves a greater margin for comforts of life. It is only right that every farmer should study them, because a direct attempt is made in them to ascertain what varieties of seed yield the greatest return, and also what manures yield the greatest return for the expenditure made on them. As to the farmer on whose land they are conducted, he should learn the most suitable manure for his particular field, and in that sense there can be no repetition. At, Mount Royal the season this year has not been propitious, and many of the neighbouring crops of mangolds had run to seed, and turnips had failed. ' When in addition to an adverse season it is stated that the various croos experimented • with were grown under practicable farm conditions —i.e., they were not, forced with large quantities of manure- or received special treatment in any way, it was only to be expected that they would suffer along with the rest, and such proved to be the case. Owing to the want of sunshine and . summer warmth, the germination, and growth were not so good as. they should have been, and development was arrested.. But the observant farmer could not help noticing that some varieties of mangolds ran to seed badly, while others showed no signs of doing so. It was found last year in the' North Island that sheep would not eat silver beet; about 100 were placed on two-thirds of an afire at Mount Royal, and ate it readily. Part of the test in this case was to prove its feeding value, but there has not yet been sufficient time to know the result. Silver beet has been one of the signal successes of the field experiments. In this plant if the expectations concerning it are realised, we have a competitor worthy of a place beside rape. It is blight-resist-ant, and withstands frost, and may be eaten down repeatedly. At Belfast the first cutting of the leaves gave close on 52 tons, and the sheep did not wander over the field as with rape, but ate it straight ahead. It was also demonstrated that maize and millet are too susceptible to the influence of frost to be a reliable stand-by in the south. On present appearances no farmer of the 100 present would venture to grow it. The Hickory King was the only variety of "maize that grew at all, and it was •also cut down by the frost. In Canterbury the same varietv grew 10ft high, but, as Mr Duncan said, we have not had three weeks of warm weather at any time during the summer, and it is more than probable that Hickory King maize in a fine, M-arm season, would give an abundant yield. The thousand-headed kale, like all the other crops, did not succeed too well, and a fair estimate can hardly be formed of either its capabilities or those of Chou Moellier, which was very stunted in growth. At Belfast this'plant grew 7ft high, and vielded an enormous amount of fodder. The sugar beet was sown in November, but did not bulb well, and although this crop looked well across the drill, we can grow mangolds much more easily. The cultivation of this plant 'is difficult. If singling is delayed it cannot be completed with the hoe. ' It must be done on hands and knees, and requires cheap labour. Raising the crop, the bulb of which is all underground, is a terror—and _ costly. Shawing requires some training, and factories do., not pay for soil : under these circumstances it might with advantage be dropped out of the field experiments without great loss. Swedes and turnips make such rapid recoveries from climatic conditions that it

is not safe to say anything - about them till they have been tested over, the scales. .The carrots also, like the other crops, suffered from the wretched season experienced, and were very blanky. It would 'not be a fair thing in the season experienced to comment upon the varieties of these crops, which . have proved themselves suitable or unsuitable to the soil and climate, and we have purposely Tefrained from doing so. The wisdom of gathering farmers together to witness a comparative failure in nearly all the crops grown and tested may well be questioned, and does not tend to convince him that the work of the department adds much to his information, From this point of view the meeting of farmers at Mount Royal was a failure. Nor could it be said to be a desirable advertisement for the Mount Royal property. Fortunately everyone present knew that after the season we had experienced no one could expect very much, and these anticipations proved only too true. But in another sense the meeting was decidedly successful. It is a good thing • for the Prime Minister of 'the Dominion to meet the farmers frequently, to rub shoulders with them, and to learn their views and wants personally. No fault can be found with the zeal with which these experiments are conducted. They were always varied as much as possible, and although it is impossible to avoid questions which have been abundantly answered in general principle, they have not been answered on behalf of the particular field or neighbourhood they are tried in. So far as Otago is concerned, the main need at present is to prove to demonstration what can be done by irrigation in the Central districts, and this would be a fertile field of research all along the Central railway for the department to dip into. There is no use repeating manurjal tests on such things as potatoes, mangolds, and turnips. The farmer who cannot learn for himself what his own land needs is not worth his salt. But all the new and improved fodder plants are quite on a different footing, and grain also might be included under this heading. Experiments in regard to them are well worth continuing j but in any class of crop where the tests already carried out have been abundantly confirmed, and the results fully established for every class of land under the sun, the money hitherto expended on them might be profitably diverted into other channels. The experiments of the department, have multiplied so rapidly that supervision is becoming a serious matter, and it is quality, not quantity, such investigations demand. USE OF EXPLOSIVES.

An interesting experiment was carried out in conjunction with this visit. - Mr J. R. Leggo, representative for the Nobel Explosive Company, demonstrated what might be accomplished in the way of breaking up the subsoil by the use of explosives. The composition used was what is known as *' Monobel," which is supposed to give a shock in a more lateral direction than that accomplished by gelignite. Holes were bpred with an auger 12ft apart to a depth of 3ft, and into each was inserted three plugs, tamped up, and fired by an electric battery. Six shots were fired at one time; but, according to the strength of battery used, it would, of course, be possible' to fire many or few as the operator wished. Mr Leggo explained that each charge should have an effective radius of about Bft or 9ft, so that by setting the charges as he did the result should be as contemplated. On coming to examine it afterwards, however, it was found that the clay underneath was of an extremely stubborn nature, and it is doubtful if , the result below was what might have been anticipated. One thing, however, was most clearly demonstrated, and that is that for the purpose of tree-planting nothing could be better, as, instead of a hard round hole into which to insert the young roots, the ground immediately surrounding and directly underneath is splendidly prepared and extremely favourable to the growth of the plant. For the purpose for which the experiment was conducted it might be better to try closer charges of less power, but this, of course, is a matter for further experiment. Each charge as made worked out at about per shot, or £4 10s per acre, but by using ordinary fuse and caps the same result might be achieved for £3 5s to £3 10s per acre. Whether the charges were too strong or whether the tendency of the explosive is more upward than was hoped, it is certain that some of the subsoil went rather high, and Mr Leggo afterwards claimed that for stumping purposes the preparation is the finest thing going, being much ahead of gelignite, inasmuch as the lateral spread of the shock loosened the earth more about the root, and gave it a chance of getting away. He also explained that the system of blasting might be used with advantage in a growing orchard, care being taken that the charges are laid sufficiently far from the trees as not to damage the roots. THE SPEECHES. The party afterwards proceeded to the homestead, where a luncheon was provided. Before the guests separated, the Prime Minister and several others mounted a flight of steps leading to a platform outside one of the buildings, whence a good command of the crowd could be obtained. Mr Ritchie presided, and, after referring to the object of the visit, stated that he had taken a great interest in the experiments. The season had been greatly against them, but it was something to be able to look forward to the introduction of a more intensive system of culture than that obtaining at the present time. Mr E. P. Lee, M.P. for the district, expressed satisfaction that the Prime Minister's visit was a practical one in the interests of agriculture, which was the backbone of the country. He himself was not a practical farmer, but ho fully appreciated the good work

that could be done, and if he were abl« in any way to lend assistance to it he would be only too pleased to do so. Mr E. H. Clark, M.P., said that everyone must realise the value of these experiments towards the promotion of intenser cultivation, and trusted that the Prime Minister, in selecting a spot for an experimental farm in North Otago, would not forget the district he so ably represented some time ago. The Hon. T. Y. Duncan said that so long as he was able to go round and look after the farmers' interests they would always find him their friend, whether as a member of Parliament or just a country. settler. He was exceedingly pleased to see' such a large number of people present to ; meet the Minister, as it showed what an interest the people took in the agricultural tests. Although the season had been a very bad one —the worst he had known during a residence of 50 years—for the growth to perfection of such plants as they had been examining, he was sure that had they had but three weeks of hot weather in time during the summer months there would have been a different story to tell. There had been plenty of rain but not sufficient sun. He pointed out the need of a-permanent experimental station, and said that if they did not experiment they would "never get out of the old groove. This was only a flying visit, and yie men who bad been in charge had not received the training they would have had received had there been such an established farm. He was very pleased to be present, and he was sure jthat the Minister would see for himself that it was essential that the matter "should be attended to. , Mr J. Foote, at one time chairman of the Waikouaiti County Council, also spoke. The Prime Minister expressed pleasure at seeing such a large gathering of agriculturists. Mr Lee had said, and rightly, that they had met to see some practical work. Certainly it was on a small scale and it was not of the best quality, but it served to show what a poor season could be made to do. Mr Lee was on thoroughly sound ground in saying that it was far better to go in for this sort of work than for the wordy warfare only,too common among politicians. It~was a real pleasure to see so many old friends, and it heartened him in his efforts to do something for the farmers and also for the Dominion. With regard to the distribution of the valuable strains of cattle throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand, as mentioned by .Mr Foote, he had that object in view. It was a popular thing for people to decry the experimental farms, forgetting that they were only going through the initial stages, and not intended as institutions of pecuniary profit. In connection with the work, a great number of these experimental plots had been initiated, some 5000 in all. These the speaker detailed, giving lists of the experiments and the results arising from them with a view to demonstrating their great practical value to the farmers in the various localities. Mr Ritchie had'referred to the necessity/of bringing instruction to the country and extending it to farmers. They all realisett that this was essential to the work of the Agricultural Department. If they were going to hold their own they must have the best "instruction that could be given, and the Government could do for the farmers collectively that which, as individuals, the farmers could not-undertake. The speaker proceeded to state that the Government had sent Home a man to watch the condition of dairy produce as it arrived, as word had been received that it was not being landed in good condition. They had also sent to Denmark to inquire into methods of working up the by-products of milk in order that the dairving people might get all there was out" of what they produced. They could take it from him that the Government intended to continue a real forward movement regarding agricultural pursuits. They were bringing from the Old Country a Mr Wylie, who was coming to give instruction in experimental work. Mr Wylie had had a distinguished college career and five years' practical training at Home, and he had been instructed to go to Canada and the United States and visit the leading institutions.in order that he might become possessed of the latest information. The country could not afford to wait till the people at present connected with the experimental stations had acquired the knowledge such a man must have in his possession. The department intended to establish more experimental stations, and continue in every possible way to foster the interests of ists in the preparation, transit, and marketing of their products. It was run on lines that were going to build up that