FARMERS ON TOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 3899, 4 December 1928, Page 13

FARMERS ON TOUR.

EMPIRE VISITORS IN GREAT BRITAIN. ( PIIOTOGKAPII IN THIS ISSUE.) The advantages of travel cannot be questioned. Its value cannot be questioned whatever the object or whoever the traveller might be. In all walks of life there is something to be learnt from the other fellow, whether he be on the other side of the work! or in the next state. The principle of learning by comparison is a sound one that is not new in a great many callings, but as far as farming and husbandry are concerned it is only in recent years that organised touring for the purpose of studying the methods and practices in use in other countries has been carried out. However, it has proved successful in everyway, and there is every indication that much more will be done in this direction in the near future. One of the most ambitious schemes of its kind was brought to a close in Great Britain in August when the tour of Empire farmers through the British Isles was completed. For 11 weeks about 50 farmers and their families from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa toured the country- under the patronage and guidance of the British National Union. The hospitality extended to the visitors and the eagerness of every- county and shire to demonstrate what the Old Country was doing with her primary resources make an interesting story that would fill many columns. Mr Donald McLennan, of Dunedin, one of the two Otago farmers with the New Zealand party, kept a diary- of his tour that shows in the smallest detail how well the visitors were treated everywhere they went. In the following article a resume of the material contained therein is given. The tour was commenced on June 4 and -was concluded on August 17. The New Zealanders in the party numbered about 15, of whom two were from this end of the Dominion, their names being Mr D. M'Lennan and Mr J. M. Rose (Waitahuna). The diary commences with a visit to No. 10 Downing Street, where the tourists were well received by the Prime Minister of Great Britain (Mr Baldwin). That was in the morning. In the afternoon a reception was held at St. James Palace, where the Prince of Wales was the host. He took the keenest interest in the New Zealanders, and was_ very anxious to know how things were faring in the Dominion. In the evening the visitors were tlie guests of the Hon. L. S. Amery (Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs). A dinner -was tendered them at the Mayfair Hotel by the Empire Marketing Board, Mr Amery presiding, and the arrangement of the guests was such that all the visitors had an opportunity of meeting someone who could help them to understand conditions in England. Most of the first "week was devoted to an exploration of the historic buildings and institutions of London, bat on- the Friday the visitors were treated to an agricultural field day at the Rotham-

sted Experimental Station with which Sir John Russell is associated. Farm manuring, top-dressing, animal husbandryand the propagation of all kinds of new seed were only some of the experiments that were being carried on and which were demonstrated wherever possible. Perhaps the most interesting visit of the week was that made to the Royal Palace at Windsor, where the Castle was thrown open to the travellers, and every facilityprovided for them to see the home of Britain’s kings. The Windsor Farms were also inspected, and here the farmers were shown the widespread nature of his Majesty’s rural Interests. There were a magnificent Scotch Shorthorn herd, the best of sheep, and a model dairy farm. Later the. party was received at Buckingham Palace by his Majesty the King. A whole morning was spent at the palace, the King making a point of having a word with every- one. He exhibited a keen interest in the countries represented, and was more than pleased to find that many of those in the party- remembered quite well his visit to the Dominion in 1902. London’s markets, the Derby at Epsom, and some of the most celebrated theatres were also included in the itinerary. The week beginning June 11 was a most interesting one from a farmer's point of view. A long day was spent at the Smithfield markets, where London’s meat supply is bought and sold. The manner in which the produce was marketed was demonstrated, and the visitors were shown the effective methods by which overseas meat was advertised at Home. On the next day a visit was paid to the Hertford agricultural show, a highly successful, and notable exhibition of stock. From there the party moved on to Cambridgeshire where local farmers took charge of the tourists and motored them all over the county to the many fine farms and studs to be seen there. The visitors were surprised to find how important a part of the Cambridge University the School of Agriculture was. Its research institutes and farms seemed endless, and it was felt that a great deal more time could have been spent there. Among the places of interest there were the Institute of Animal Pathology, the great farm at Huntingdon, the university farm, where seed propagation is one of the main features of the work, and the National School of Agriculture and Botany, where the work of the university- farm is put to the test before the new varieties of seeds are put on the market. The manager of this farm proved to be a son of the Hon. G. Parker, a former owner of Mount Pisa Station, who is now chairman of directors of Dalgety and Co. in London. *

During the third week some of . the great factories in the provinces were visited. The Chivers Jam Factory- Company, with its hundreds of acres of orchards, employing 1000 farm hands and 2000 factory- hands, rather staggered the visitors. A day was spent at Sutton’s seed farms at Reading, where another place of interest was the National Institute of Research in Dairying. Large agricultural implement makers and motor car manufacturers also appeared on the visting list for that week, which was concluded in Wiltshire, where local farmers billeted the whole party- and took them on a tour of the farms in that county. The end of the third week of the tour found the travellers in Bristol, where the Otago members of the partv found many- things to remind them of Dunedin.

The following week was spent in Sussex. Here dairying and pig farming were found to be in a particularly- flourishing state, two of the most successful and profitable farms being run by women as a hobby. Jerseys appeared to be the fancy in cattle and Middle Whites in pigs. Fruit farming was also found to be a very paying proposition in this locality, and some of the orchards ran into veryhigh acreages. Currants and all sorts of small fruits for the early London market were very popular crops, and were culti"vated with great success. Great interest attached to the Sussex visit, as it was found that that county- was the home of the Southdown sheep. Here they are bred to perfection. One of the outstanding flocks was that of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, some of whose stock has already- found its way into Otago studs. He also has a very fine herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle. Another of the numerous experimental stations to be found all over England was encountered at Chichester, where the breeding and improving of seed varieties is a very important feature of the work.

Among the studs visited wehe those of the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. Walter Guinness) and Mr John Langmead, who is reputed to be the owner of the finest Southdown sheep in England. A similar reputation is assigned to Mr W. T. Quested as far as RomneyMarsh sheep are concerned. When the visitors arrived he was just assembling his Royal Show team, and also a consignment for an Argentine buyer who w-as on the spot selecting his own animals. Later, the visitors saw the Quested sheep all but scoop the pool at the Royal Show. Dairying, poultry farming, fruit farming. and fat cattle raising were all investigated in the South of England, but although it was obvious that the breeding of high-class stock was much more

common and taken much more seriously /han in New Zealand, Mr M'Lennan states that there was little in farm methods and practice that could be adopted in New Zealand, or which was better than the methods in use in thia country. For instance, he considered that the farm labourer in the dominions could teach the man at Home a lot about getting through a day-’s work. At one dairy farm here the visitors were shown a remarkable milk-bottling machine, which was worked in conjunction with the milking machines. The milk was hardly seen by the milkers; it was bottled before it w-as released at the rate of about' 1003 bottles an hour. It was all used for town supply. At Nottingham the Royal Show and the annual conference of the National Sheep Breeders’ Association were attended. At the show the visitors saw all classes of cattle, horses, and pigs which they had already encountered-on breeders’ farms on the tour. An ingenious device for keeping the public out of the show grounds on judging day was the charging of 10s for admission. The visit to the show was a great experience which few of the farmers present will ever for-

get. Nothing had ever been seen like it before. Not only- was there a display of stock that could not be appreciated in less than several days; there was also an attendance of the public on the second I day that would make glad the lieart of most New Zealand A. and P. societies. A busy time was spent in Bradford and tlie manufacturing town of Leeds. Here the annual conference of the British Wool Federation was attended and the great mills were closely inspected. The smoke stacks of Yorkshire were in marked contrast to the country- freshness of the South of England. In Yorkshire, too, the tourists encountered foot-and-mouth disease, of which there was a serious outbreak while they were there. Mr M’Lennan says that they do not seem able to stamp out the disease in the northern county, and whenever an outbreak occurs the losses are terrific. Throughout Yorkshire and the North of England the same hospitality was accorded the visi--I'armers everywhere were only too willing to take them over their farms and show them how they did this and that. Hie tour in these parts was a mixture of manufacturing and agricultural interests. Many fine stud farms were seen, and everywhere the primary industries appeared to bo reviving after a very lean period. Scotland was full of interest for the party. From Sheffield they went via Edinburgh to Aberdeen. Here the features were Aberdeen Angus cattle, Ayrshires, Clydesdale horses, and bagpipes. Ihe Rowett Farm Institute and the Craibstone experimental area occupied the attention of the travellers for some days. Hie Rowett Farm, the largest experimental farm in Scotland, was founded with money (£10,000) left for the purpose by Sir William * n founder of the famous Collynie herd of Scotch Shorthorns, a strain that has found its way out to New Zealand and can be found in the Bushey 1 ark herd of Mr J. A. Johnstone (Palmerston). The Highland Show at Aberdeen produced the finest display of Clydesdale horses that could have been seen anywhere. Aberdeen, Perth, and Stirling and the surrounding country provided tlie visitors with plenty to do and see. after which a move was made towards Edinburgh and the East Lothian district. Here the home of the Brunstane- Clydesdales was visited, a stud that has its representatives in Otago also. Another stud shown the party was one of the finest Holstein dairy- herds in Great Britain, that of Mr John Mitchell, who gave £2200 for his foundation sire. Tlie next day the Polled Angus stud of Mr N. P. Donaldson at Ballindaloch was visited, and here the chief sight was a yearling bull that had only just been purchased for 3000gns. This was certainly the land of high prices for stud stock’. Breeders would pay almost any price for an animal they needed badly enough. The next week was spent in a tour of Ireland on the same lines as that carried out through England and Scotland. The hospitality and interest in the tour that was displayed in every district was the same as had been met with in the other countries.

The last three days of the tour were spent at a conference in London. Representative farmers from the counties, wool buy-ers and manufacturers, and provincial representatives of the National Farmers’ Union were present. Arrangements were made for the visit of about 100 British farmers to New Zealand and Australia during the summer of 1929. Wool packs and sheep branding oils were discussbd at great length. Several samples of wool pack material were produced for the inspection of the visiting farmers, but the general opinion was that they would not stand up to the stress of colonial conditions. A special- woolbranding fluid, which will scour easily and

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immediate trial. The tour was voted a great success, and all the members of the party- thanked the British National Union for the manner in which they- had been looked after since their arrival in Great Britain.