DAVLIGHT SAVING AND THE FARMER.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16448, 31 May 1919, Page 8

DAVLIGHT SAVING AND THE FARMER.

When we were informed, observes the Scientific American, that a rider had been attached to the Agricultural Appropriation Bill aimed to kill the Daylight Saving Act, wo experienced a distinct shock. It did not seem possible, after having thoroughly tested out the benefits of daylight saving last year, that anyone could be so reactionary as to wish to return to the former condition of wasted morning light. When we learned that the opposition to daylight saving was mainly due to the fanners, our astonishment grow apace. We had always looked upon the farmer as one who delighted in early hours and who would love to have the rest of the world routed out, of bed with the sun. And so in our perplexity we hunted up a farmer friend, and besought him for an explanation. His reply was surprising, to say the least. He informed us that fanners really prefer the afternoon to the morning for work in the fields. They do rise early, to be sure, biit the early morning work is taken up with chores. Much of the field work cannot be done until after the dew is off the ground. For instance, hay cannot be cut while it is wet with dew; the farmer must wait until the sun has dried off the moisture. Weeding also is done better when the scorching sun is high and when the weeds will wither immediately upon being pulled out of the ground. Weeds that are west with dew may actually take root again, unless they are promptly withered by the sun. Last year farmers had difficulty with hired men, who insisted on quitting work according to the new summer time, thereby cutting off an hour from the afternoon labours in the field. And, strange to say, the cattle did not take kindly to the new hour. The. cows stubbornly refused to come home when the sun was high in the skies, and as hired hands refused to wait upon the whims of the cow the farmer was in a quandary indeed.