SIDELIGHTS OF AGRICULTURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3765, 11 May 1926, Page 12

SIDELIGHTS OF AGRICULTURE.

Now that the Exhibition had closed down, its educative features may well be summed up by those most interested in the commercial field. Here, however, we are tempted to draw attention to those primary factors which enabled Otago to stage a show which our pioneers might well be proud of, and which demanded those attributes which early colonists had in abundance—pluck and optimism. New Zealand has made great progress since those early days of pioneering efforts, when the first arrivals set out to make this Dominion the big farm of the southern hemisphere, planning to build it on lines of the stud farm of the Empire—viz., Great Britain. Necessarily the secondary industries bulked largely at the Exhibition, but were made possible by the wealth produced from the land — wealth represented by wool, meat, dairy produce, etc. Times have changed. Our virgin acres are few and far between, and it takes a man with both theoretical and practical knowledge of agriculture and pastoral matters to make a success of land which has risen in value and the produce of which must be sold in markets overseas. The time has arrived —indeed, it is overdue—when, in order to maintain the production of our acres, it is essential that modern agencies, such as lectures, visits to farms, winter classes, and experimental plots conducted by expert officers of the Department of Agriculture, may well be seriously entertained. The Exhibition reflected the progress made in connection with agricultural and pastoral edu* cation, cow-testing, dairy herd schemes, poultry-keeping, etc. Farmers who have tilled our virgin soils must surely see that it is imperative that their sons must be well grounded at school if they are to obtain full benefit from the teaching obtainable at winter classes. In this connection it is satisfactory to learn that the various demonstration plots at Logan Park, which have interested so many visitors, are to be maintained in good order until after the Otago A. and P. Winter Show—June 1 to 4. During the course of the show departmental expert officers will be in attendance to explain the why and wherefore of the various areas. These demonstration plots should be a great draw to those who take farming seriously. The knowledge required by the progressive agriculturist is of a complicated nature. He must possess a thorough understanding of all branches of his industry, including such important sections as the maintenance and improvement of land fertility; the arrangement of rotations of crops to suit live stock and market requirements; the cultivation, seeding, manuring, and harvesting of crops in an economical manner; the breeding, care, management, and marketing of farm stock; the purchase of farm requisites, such as manures, feeding stuffs, and seeds in their various f -ms and varieties; and the preparation and marketing of different kinds of farm produce. Finally, education of the right kind makes the student feel that he has a country of his own to serve in an efficient and patriotic manner. The acquaintance with all these and other branches of farming, with which the farmer requires to be accomplished is of a twofold character; it consists of a practical side and a scientific side. The fowner must be obtained by being broughf up in a thorough agricultural atmosphere, while the necessary scientific knowledge must be obtained at a school or college of a suitable kind. But the vast majority of farmers and farmers' sons cannot—under existing circumstances, at all events —afford to take courses which involve either too much expense or too much time away from home. The winter agricultural classes, then, form the medium through which scientific study can be brought within the reach of this major proportion of the farming community, and through which a permanent benefit can be conferred upon them. It is their duty to avail themselves of the opportunity. It is in the interests of the community that production per acre should be improved. The advantage of regular liming of soils, of care in the choice of a mixture of grasses in laying down land to grass, of top-dressing grass land, of growing catch crops and forage crops/ of utilising farm manure to advantage, etc., comprise a few of the factors which farmers cannot afford to ignore if they wish to make the most of their holdings and a home for life.