The Daily News THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1925. DAIRYING ETHICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 July 1925, Page 6

The Daily News THURSDAY, JULY 23, 1925. DAIRYING ETHICS.

There were several remarks of interest to the dairying community made by Mr. R. AV. I). Robertson, in the course of his address at the last weekly luncheon of the New Plymouth Rotary Club. First in order of importance, inasmuch as it is the basic .factor of the industry, was the question of land values, on which point he was on safe ground, inasmuch as he adopted the incontrovertible principle of economics that farm land is only worth what it will produce. Presumably his meaning was that the estimate of value must be based on an average of market prices for produce spread over a reasonable number of years, and not arrived at by the maximum or minimum returns for any particular year. The illustration Mr. Robertson gave of how high values of land resulted in losses may be considered exceptional. When he asserts that the true value of land for dairying ought not to exceed sixty or seventy pounds an acre, it may be taken that the higher of these two amounts should he the limit, and most expert authorities will agree with his conclusion. Mr. Robertson drew attention to a factor that is far too often not taken into account, and that is the important matter of depreciation. There are probably very few of those who have joined the ranks of the dairy farmers in the past who have taken any intelligent notice of this question of depreciation. They know, of course, that the useful life of a cow is of limited duration, even under the most favourable conditions, but the chief point in their estimation is that a dairy herd is continually mutiplying itself, therefore depreciation is well provided for by nature. The strong light which Mr. Robertson east on tiling matter should bring home to the average dairy farmer a new conception of the risks inherent to the business. While the ordinary term of a cow’s usefulness is put down at ten years, yet it was stressed that modern methods of forced production justified an allowance of twenty-five to thirty per cent, depreciation of the animal’s value from year to year, instead of the usual ten per cent. The wisdom of this higher rate is made manifest in view of the fact that in certain districts a large proportion of the cows are suffering from disease. It will | have been noticed that in several of the recent cases of bankruptcy of dairy farmers, one of the main causes attributed to fin|ancial failure has been the losses incurred by cows through disease. Certainly this phase of dairying has increased to such an extent as to be the cause of much anxiety, and leads one to doubt if sufficient interest is being manifested in it by the Agricultural Department. With our great natural advantages we should be more free than any country from disease. May be it is because of our natural advantages that we have, as a country, taken so little interest in the scientific side of dairying, and all other forms of farming. It is time, however, that we awakened to the fact that if we are to hold our position, let alone progress, we must tackle the problems confronting the dairying industry seriously and comprehensively, and devote, time and money to scientific investigation of the diseases prevalent, and, indeed, of every other phase _ of dairying. Success in dairying rests on the same basis as in all other avocations —the fitness of the human factor for the task. It is a business and must be carried out on business lines. The better the dairy farmer has been equipped for his work, and the greater his ability to estimate and guard against risks, as well as to possess the requisite theoretical and practical knowledge of all branches of his work, the more likely he will be to score success. There are, as is well known, a good many dairy farmers who have had no such equipment, but have managed to attain success, but the time has passed when the methods they used can produce the financial results they achieved. The value of Mr. Robertson’s address is enhanced by the fact that, not only is he thoroughly conversant with all the phases of the dairy industry, but he is also imbued with the necessity of regarding it as a business which present-day conditions make it imperative to treat as ft science. Hence the emphasis laid upon the need for a complete course of scientific research as well aS a thorough study pi all the subjects bearing upon the industry. The example oi the Danes in this matter is one that must be followed and, if possible, advanced. That can only be attained by a complete study of all the problems, and by

the co-operation of the Agricultural Department. There is no reason why New Zealand should not, in the near future, lead the way in all that relates to the industry of dairying, but a more definite lead might reasonably be expected from the department in charge of the industry.