The Daily News MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1934. AIDING THE FARMER.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 September 1934, Page 4

The Daily News

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1934. AIDING THE FARMER.

OFFICES; NEW PLYMOUTH, Currie Street. STRATFORD, Broadway. HAWERA, High Street.

The annual report of the Department of Agriculture has been for many years an important State paper. It is true that its statistical records suffer from the fact that most of the information they supply has already been published, but the review of the primary industries which the report contains makes a valuable work of reference for those who wish to study the effect of experiment and research in the various phases of farm husbandry. In regard to certain evils that afflict the stockowner, and the dairy farmer in particular, the department has to admit that research has not yet found the way to elimination. Such disorders as mammitis, abortion and sterility in cows still continue to harass the owners of milking herds, while the spread of ragwort, gorse and other noxious weeds has not yet been checked by methods that science has discovered, though considerable help in that direction has been accorded. The department can, however, claim with some justification that research into farming problems was never more thorough and consistent than it is to-day, always remembering that efforts in this direction must be limited or extended as funds are made available by Parliament. In some respects the cost of research has been repaid many times over. The treatment of grain before sowing at a cost of a few pence has been found <to have rendered almost negligible the chance of plant disease attacking the crop, though without treatment of the seed the likelihood of a fair return was highly problematical. Taranaki knows as well as any portion of the Dominion the value of field experiments to the pastures of the province. It was the Department of Agriculture that gave the first aid in the establishment of herd testing, and there are many who consider that if the Royal Commission recommends that all dairy herds should be tested regularly such action would be an important step towards the industry’s economic recovery. Without accurate records of production no farmer can be said to be conducting operations on a sound basis. When prices were good or the holdings were in process of development the rule of thumb methods were not of such moment. It is evident, however, that in future high quality raw material produced with a minimum of expense will be necessary if the dairy industry is to flourish, and one of the surest methods of reducing costs is the elimination of waste. That unprofitable cows on a farm represent wast£ no thinking person can question, and the way to overcome the difficulty is no theory or experiment. It has been found satisfactory by many, and should be placed within the reach of every supplier to a dairy factory. Another satisfactory feature in regard to the past year’s administration of the department is that its regulatory functions have been far less prominent than its advisory ones. The time has gone.since its officials were regarded as a sort of police force whose duty it was to see that regulations were carried out. Those duties must persist, because it is sometimes necessary to protect the community from the incapacity or wrongdoing of the individual, but speaking generally the Department of Agriculture is now regarded as the friend rather than the supervisor of the farming community. Certainly that feeling exists in Taranaki and has been given public expression by those most qualified to judge, namely, the farmers themselves. Unfortunately the annual report presented to Parliament last week could give little information in regard to the future of the dairy industry, and particularly in regard to the future marketing of New Zealand produce. So much has happened since last March that any forecasts based upon information available then would be of little service, the fact being that the question will be settled in London rather than in Wellington. Though there was no event of Outstanding importance in last year’s work of the department, it was one of continuous activity in an endeavour to minimise the difficulties of the primary producer. Some success was achieved, and in all the circumstances it would have been unreasonable to expect anything more than this.