FARMERS IN THE DOMINIONS

Southland Times, Issue 23178, 20 April 1937, Page 6

FARMERS IN THE DOMINIONS

Difficulties Being

Faced

ENGLISH EXPERT’S

VIEWS

(Special to The Times)

AUCKLAND, April 19.

A council of agriculture which could remove many of the difficulties at present being faced by farmers in the Dominions was a recommendation made by Sir Herbert Matthews, a prominent English agriculturist, who arrived at Auckland by the Aorangi from Sydney on his way to Vancouver. Sir Herbert was recently in New Zealand when he made some expert observations of the country’s agricultural position. Sir Herbert instanced competition between New Zealand and British farmers as one of the matters which might easily be solved by such a council as he recommended. There was no real need for this competition, he said, because, whereas New Zealand could produce the finest butter in the world, most of the milk in Great Britain was needed for daily consumption. Similarly British beef was superior in quality to New Zealand’s, but Dominion lamb could command the world market. It would be an admirable idea if each' British Dominion concentrated upon producing those lines for which it was best suited. This would mean that New Zealand would pay undivided attention to dairying instead of beef. « The disposal of stud stock by British countries to foreign nations was another matter which could be investigated by an Imperial council of agriculture, said Sir Herbert. He was strongly against the export of British countries’ best stud stock to foreign countries, and he had noticed recently that New Zealand stud sheep were being shipped to Russia and Japan. Similarly England in the past had sent some of its best stud cattle to the Argentine. Now this country was able to compete against Great Britain with high quality beef. New Zealand itself would always need British stud stock, he said, and it was widely felt in England that the New Zealand Government and farmers had shown rather unnecessary alarm about animal diseases. Jersey cattle were a breed he excepted from criticism. On his last visit to New Zealand he had noticed a deterioration in the Dominion’s horned stock. This breed had kept its type very well. When he was visiting Auckland at the beginning of the month, before going to Australia, Sir Herbert commented strongly on the protective measures for Home agriculture advocated by the British National Fanners Union and by the chairman of the British Milk Board (Mr Thomas Baxter). Sir Herbert said he disagreed entirely with the suggestion that any duty be placed upon dairy produce from the Dominions and advanced an Imperial council of agriculture as the surest means of obtaining a sound agricultural policy throughout the Empire. So long as one part of the Empire was asking for other parts to be penalized by discriminating tariffs, he said, so long would Empire agriculture fail to attain the position that was desirable.