THE WINTON EXPERIMENTAL AREA.

Southland Times, Issue 19435, 26 December 1924, Page 9

THE WINTON EXPERIMENTAL AREA.

To the Editor. Sir, —As the Winton Experimental Area has been the subject of a good deal of interest this last week, I should like to make known the aspect of the case from the Winton A. and P. Association’s point of view. Remarks made by some members of the Farmers’ Union make it appear that there is a fight between Reform and Liberal. The agitation for a Red Poll herd has been going on for some time, but was always on the lines that the Government should supply the herd, look after and maintain it and run the area on present conditions, and no objection was taken to that, but when an offer comes along from the Government to the A. and P. Association to supply a few Red Polls if the Association would take over the whole management of the farm, erect the necessary buildings and relieve them of all responsibility, you must admit the matter assumes a quite different aspect. It is easy for those who are incurring no liability or responsibility to’fciake assertions regarding the attitude of the members of the Winton A. and P. when talk costs nothing. The Winton A. and P. purchased that ground by a few of our members guaranteeing the money and afterwards giving our teams to ditch-plough and drain-plough the land and bring it to its present state, and now we are being asked to incur another liability of about £l5OO, which would put the Association in quite a different position. The remarks made in the columns of another paper are made without sufficient knowledge of the position, as their reporter was not present, and also shows just a little tinge of what he attributes to other people. I have before, and at the meeting in question, advocated that what is wanted is something that is going to improve the dairy herds of the district in butter-fat production and thereby increase the earnings of the dairy farmer. When you consider that average but-ter-fat production per cow is about 1701bs and that a number of farmers have by the introduction of good sires raised the return of their herds to an average of 3001bs. per cow, you can easily imagine what the return of some cows must be; I should say not more than 50' to 601b5., which docs not pay the cost of milking. My contention that what is wanted on the Winton Area is a few sires of the best procurable, different breeds to suit different tastes, Red Polls included, if desired to be at the services of the dairy farmers, a few females could also be kept for breeding purposes and their progeny gold. To show that I am not shirking any personal financial responsibility in this matter when I am satisfied that we are getting something that is going to be of some practical benefit to the district, I am prepared to pay £lOO to assist in the purchase of animals for the purpose stated above if the others who appear so interested will provide a like amount. The Government I feel sure would do the same. They would be the property of the Winton A. and P. Arrangements could be made to have them grazed and looked after on the Winton Area and in this way some practical assistance would be given to the dairy farmers whom, I presume, we are trying to assist, and many of whom are not in a position to procure animals for themselves. The point made by Mr Anderson at the Winton meeting, which is a good one, that of testing the relative feeding value of the different grasses as regards food for dairy Cows, has already been demonstrated and proved by the Agricultural Department. You have only to read or listen to Mr Cockayne’s lectures on the feeding of the dairy cow. He can show what the feeding values of all the different grasses are, and also what constitutes a complete or concentrated cattle food. That point seems to me to be already settled, therefore the value to the district of having a dairy herd milked on the area seems a purely sentimental and not a practical one. Anyone who attended the meeting at Winton could see that a majority of the members were against the A. and P. taking over the control of the Experimental Farm from the

Government and that is what the offer stipulated. It is straining matters considerably when responsible members of an Association cannot express their opinions or anything of importance and decide their own affairs without having remarks passed such as have been made regarding this matter. It is up to those who are so anxious to have a Bed Poll herd or any other herd of cattle for milking purposes established on the Winton ground to show in what way the dairy people are going to benefit more by it than by the offer I have made and am prepared to carry out. I am, etc., JOHN R. HAMILTON.