"Loose an’ Free."

Southland Times, Issue 19552, 5 May 1905, Page 2

"Loose an’ Free."

INTERVIEW WITH MR A. M PATERSON.

.. Tho genial and popular vet., Mr A. M. Paterson, returned to Invercargill on Wednesday, after' .enjoying a three months’ holiday. It is gratifying to know that he has quite recovered from the indisposition which.. ljad troubled him during the last two months of his stay here, and that ho returns quT? the same Mr Paterson who was known to every farmer in Southland. Mr Paterson left Invercargill at the beginning of February and during his three months’ absence has visited the farming portions of Otago and Canterbury, Palmerston North and the Manawatu district.. He spent the greater portion of his time in the North Island, attending at Mr Gilruth’s labor-. atory in Wellington, carrying on experiments in bacteriology and following them out. He noted tihat the Government was erecting a new .laboratory at Wallacevillo, about 20 miles from Wellington, and a shift will be made to the new quarters as soon as the residences for the staff lire completed. This laboratory is a wooden building, to cost £l3OO, which is a very snail outlay compared with the thousands, of pounds spent on the new mines laboratory in 'Wellington. Mr Paterson, as a man more interested in _ agricultural matters than in mining, said that the expenditure on the agricultural laboratory seemed to be very scanty as compared with the other, especially when it was considered that the bulk of our incOTne was derived from agricultural products. The laboratory as a laboratory is all right, but ho thought a little more money should have been disbursed to place it in something better than a wooden shed.

Mr Paterson is strongly uf ’ opinion that people interested in agricultural pursuits, when in -,Wellington, should strive to visit the Agricultural laboratory, and see the enormous amount, of work that is being done for agriculturists—work which, though elaborately reported, is not comprehended by the ordinary agriculturist. Ttio same might be said regarding the veterinary laboratory. An enormous range of work is being done—from tfii’e investigation of “ starters ” for dairy factories to a scientific inquest regarding the -death of the kiwis wjjic'h were to be sent to Lord Ranfurly. These birds were sent from the south, and several died from some mysterious ailment. The Department set its staff to work to find out the cause of their death, and Mr Paterson heard when leaving Wellington that tho investigators had under the microscope what would probably reveal the cause of death.

A great amount of agricultural research work was also being done in Auckland. For instance, the officers of the Department are examining and testing a number of plants which are supposed to be poisonous to stock, and are similarly treating a plant which is supposed tj cause honey poisoning. Mr Paterson was warm in his praises of the expeditious manner in which correspondence forwarded to the agricultural laboratory is attended to. No letter from any portion of the colony- is allowed to lie in the office for more than a few hours unanswered, and an average of 40 letters a day is received, many of them making, enquiries which could only be answered after research had been made.

Mr Paterson is Of opinion that the best agricultural land he came across in Iqs rambles was the Waikakahi estate, in South Canterbury; after that Southland came in as a good all-round second. He believed that tho North Island was the best place as far as temperature and climate are concerned. The farmers there do not need tif grow winter feed as those in Southland have to do, and that was a great help to men, starting with limited means. On the Waikakalii estate ho saw Mr W. McKenzie, formerly of Southland, iqho Molds -500 acres, and his wheat crop off this had enabled him tc pay off £2 per acre- of his purchase money. (Ho. is growing 250 acres of wheat this season, and the. seed is nearly all in. Mr Paterson thinks that the farmers there have an easy time. They i.avc nothing much to do during tho bulk of the year ; they put in. their crop in the, autumn and reap it the following harvest, usually get a splendid'Crop, and receive big prices for their output. Hq noted as an interesting fact that every farmer in the Oamaru district is a "farmer’s co-operative ’’ man, and In Christchurch he was greatly impressed wife the displays made every Saturday evening in the splendid buildings occupied by the Canterbury Farmers’ Co-operativo Association.

. Mr Paterson visited all the principal towns, and is of opinion that Wellington is the busiest centre of the colony. Dunedin seemed to bo falling back, as It had no agricultural country behind it. Ho was informed that the young people of Dunedin were leaving that city in large numbers, with the view of finding employment in other towns. Invercargill, he was thoroughly convinced, was going to the front, being splendidly hacked at all points by fertile country.