AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13367, 17 August 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

"Of all the executive Departments." said President Roosevelt, "there is «<» other. nut even the I'ost Uftiee. which comes int.r more direct ami beneficent contact with tha daily life of the people than the Department of Agriculture, and none whos--vi-ld of practical benefits is greater in proportion to tho public mom y expended. lh" New Zealand Department scarcely cimiv* up to this description yet. For a population of only a little over SOO.OQO people to export nearly £20.000.000 worth of produce yearly :•; something to be proud of. The value of New Zealand exporis does not represent by any m.-ans the total product of Sew Z-ealandeis' energy, for during tVe last ten years the value of improvements on land i. : . well over JGII.CCO.COO. The to L aI value of land and its improvements for th.; whole of Sew Zealand <-sthjiated for March Cil was £218.422.552; the value of tlu- counties, which represents alinot entirely agricultural land, being £144X05.158. and of boruuitlis £74.419.394. How can a lot of seeds- b. tested tu determine their vitality or germinative power'' There are numerori. methods, but h.-re is one which is very simpK Secure your seeds some weeks before planting time. Take IGO secd-i from the lot to be tested. Do not pick nut the. biggest or the smallest, but tak-.- an average hundred. Now get a paine of ghv.s and two soup plate-.-; fill the bowl of one? with moist sand ; smooth the surface, scatter your ICO seeds, put the pane.- of glass ovter the plate to keep in th*. moisture, and place the other plate bottom side up on the glass to shot out ihe tight, and put yonr " seedtester '* wh.-re it will be warm. In a few davs the good seed will have sprouted, and these -.should bo counted, ff 75 to 100 are visible the lot of t-:e>l ii alt right for planting. But more seed will usually sprout undrT the conditions described than will grow if planted in the iietcl. and this, should to be kspt in mine.. If your sample* runs much lower than 70 to 75 per ceut.. you had better bay another lut of seed from a different source, and test that also. Dr. Cherry, in th.> course of a lecture in connection with the- Bendigo agricultural classes said:—" Yon will have noticed that a dijcui'sion has bsen carried on as to whether' wool-raising or wheatgrowing is the more profitable. There is only one answer and that is that neither wool nor wheat pays better. The two ought to be combined. That is to say, by means of the wheat you grow material, both directly and indirectly, upon which the sheep are going to graze and thus by mans of the ahe-p you are better able to grow the next crop of wheat." Dr. Cherry said that on a 400-acre farm, or thereabouts, one-third of the area should be put under wheat, a portion: should be used for growing oats, and th; remainder r-hoold bee applitd to wool and lamb raising. The wheat should be marketed, but not the oats. The oats siould be used for feeding the sheep. In summer, rap? and peas should also be grown for live stock. It was a mistake for farmers to increase their holdings, and go in entirely for growing. He would urge on the young men of the present generation that it was easier to handle successfully 520 acres of land than 1,000 acres. They should be content with a moderate-sized farm, and keep it up to a high state of efficiensy. MAKE FARM LIFE ATTRACTIVE. Tie President of the United States addressed some sound and statesmanlike remarks to a meeting of agriculturists at lansing, Mich., a few weeks ago. He contended: that the permanent greatnesu. of any Stafca. mast depend upon th? character of its country population more than upon anything else* " Ambitions native-born young men and women who now tend away from the farm mnst be brought back to it, and therefore they must have social as well as economic opportunity's."' Need of encouraging, social movements in the rural districts—libraries, assembly halls, and .social organisations of all kinds-—was elaborated by -Mr Rocreetvclt, who said that another great task before; the National Department of Agriculture, and the similar agencies of the various States, must be to foster agriculture for its social results, or, in other -words, to assist in bringing about the best kind of life on the farm for the; sake of producing th? beet kind of men. The Government must recognise the farreaching, importance of the study and treatment, of the problems of farm life aliko from the social and tb? economic standpoints-," Pointing out that the di iffc toward the city is largely determined by the superior social opportunities to be enjoyed tbsre. Mr Roosevelt -said the problem, of the farm is as mcch one of attractiveness as of prosperity. To double the average yield of wheat and corn would be a great achievement, but it weu mors important to double the desirability, comfort, and standing of tha farmer's life. Turning to tha farmer's home, Mr Roosevelt spoke especially, in bihalf of ~ the one who is too pftea the'very hardest worked labourer on" the- farm—the farmer's wife." "Reform, like charity, while it should not *.nd at home, should certainly begin there," Mr Rooyevelt declared. There is plenty" that is hard and rough and disagreeable in tie necessary work of actual life; and under the best circumstanccu, and no matter how tender or considerate the husband, the wife -will have at least her full share of work and worry and anxiety; but if the man is worth bis salt he will try to take as much as possible of the; burden off the jhoclden; of his helpmate. CHEWING'S FESCUE. Thii gnwe receive:! a bad handling at the bands of several delegates at the Agricultural Conference. When the sesd was first put on the market by the Southland farmer whose name it bears it rapidly came into favour, and so great* was the demand created that the man who had the foresight to shut up the grass, as he found it growing on his property, has -since retired on 'the fortune he made out of - it. {Something like the excitement created in the Manawatu by tall fcucue was general for many ytars in regard to Chewing's fescue, but it is proving just as great a weed in good soil as tall fescue. One speaker at the conference said he had heard it referred to as " Chewing's Curse," and his expsrienct- led him to thoroughly agree with this difignation. Tho object of this reference to the grass i; to warn farmers taking an opinion oti it unless the informant has a long experince of it. It was clearly proved by several d-.tegates, who could" speak with authority on the grass, that while it grows rapidly and well, it crushes out all other grass-.-s, and hart little feeding value. Tin's was the experience in Canterbury ;.- welt as in Auckland. Hut it was generally agre. d that it took some Tears to discover these facts, in fact one delegate sprrte well of the grass, but he onlv had it in in":* pastures for thrte or four years. Mr K. Clifton. Director of Experiment;':! Stat tor.:?, ha..! ;■• good worn to s:iv for l'l'e wing"... .. «a: ;>. good grass —to 'fcrcp down rubbish, and where good grat.se> wru'd wit g'.""'THK .V ASD t\ SHOWS. MMITISG KSTDFr'-S. (FSv " (.'ariirter."' in il:e '" I'astorat:: f> V- v: w." Tli- S \r South V.'ale Sheq.bre- dei:-" \.->'.< i':?o-t. :ii their la-t ■'■ "";'I meeting. reso've I to !b:U ev :y l.t--ed..i- in the Merino Motion to i.nf. r.:ry in -. "-h class, s.. that in fctrr- vr>. :;::<e: ft;i bvee.rl.r could not, K.nrex rh t'ir • :• wards, 'tlie matter «iw hn-.rr ,! :U,.•:-•■< •■' r.i-et iug. :i:id was

nut ili-ci:i.s.d with anything like the thoroughness Mid. an important subject demanded. M tir-t sight, it seem-.-d iat her an miLMi.nms attack i.h a phcnomcnally successful breeder, who scored wherever lie entere-l, but closer inspection of tne resolution n veals a great ileal in it* favour, and much that should I):- in the best inkiest,; of the association. It is, to every fair-minded man. very abhorrent to penalise » successful breeder -imply to allow exhibitors <>f inferior stock to get awards. However, on going more carefully into the question, it .-.eems. a fair arrangement to all concerned, and one that should tend to popularise tlie show. In the first place, it should be r.inembcred that the competition is reallv between breeders, not sheep. The bast breeder should git first prize, but th .second br.eder should get second, and so on. and to ensure this working ou'j right there must only be on.- entry from each breeder in a ciass. It is no injustice f«r hardship to those at the top of tho tree, because they win the first prize, which proclaims them to be the best. But if they have two or threo entries in they may win both second and third, and how, then, are/ wo to leant who are the second and third host breeders in that particular class? Again, one breeder winning two or three prizts in a class reduces the awards to an absurdity, and how can the same owner be the best exhibitor and the third best at the same lime? I would repeat, it must be borne in mind that ills th.- aim of the society to encourage competition among exhibitors, not among sheep. Under the pre-ent schedule it will be no hardship fcr br.-cdciu to be restricted to one entry i:i each class, for in the Merino te.-lhri there are at least forty-eight classes in wh:i !i one breeder can enter, and he therefore has forty-eight chances of beating bis competitors for the various awards. Tliat ought to satisfy any man. ■Some breeders argue that frequently tbey have two sheep which they c;uinot Yerjarate., as regard; quality, so they send both down to the show. This being so, it is not surprising that if the judges think one worthy of a first prize the. other will getsecond, and the exhibitor who has proved himself the next btst breeder is not fuliy credited with his achievement. It must be -said on the other side that any restrictions on the number of entries of the few breeders who do exhibit must necessarily reduce the number of good sheep at the show. However, there it good in tho resolution passed-at that meeting, and it is to be hoped that what is detrimental in the new rule will be more than niacin up by a great increase in the number of exhibitors. AGRICULTURE AT SCHOOLS. OBSTACLES IX THE WAY. In the course of a discussion between the Gisborne High School Board, and Mr Isaac, Technical School Instructor, Mr DeLautour said : The children, looking to the future, have to b? prepared for these higher examinations, and have not much time to give to practical subjects which mar have the greatest economic value; if they do not attain the object of the' examination tie teacher is against you. Ii you teach a girl cookery and a. boy woodwork and physiology and chemistry, know ledge of course of great economic value, and knowltdgc of grasses, wool, and the manufacture of butter, you must encroach seriously upon his or her time. Our difficulty is to get over Iwo or three thing::, tho inertia of parents' for one,. and another th.- opposition of teachers who are looking for results in the higher examinations.' Theee things have all to bs faced, and unless tho Department' cau see some way by which practical education can be- made to help in the higher examinations w j are v.-ry much handicapped, spend"n;i nrtoney for which to a large extent we can only get inadequate results. If too much tima w-;u: taken from that for ■scholarship work they would not be able to get paes-".; In 'reply to Mr Morgan, Mr Isaac said that woodwork and cookery properly taught would be so much time gained. Mr Morgan : But lost time as . regards tbe> primary work in schools; to bring th? child to a. certain point of perfection it may benefit him, but affects him and the teacher in not getting any credit in tlie examination. Mr Isaac: That is for the inspector to t-ettle, not me. . Tlie. Board of Governors met after the Conference above quoted, and on. the motion of tba chairman, Mr DeLautour, a resolution wa*s passed as follows.—ln the - ; opinion of the Governors the appointment of a .-director for technical. education for the Hawke's Bay Education. district -will be most beneficial. Practical., scientific, training- in th? schools can. only, be. permanently successful when the teachers- are able to impart such training in the ordinary school course. Without a director of high utariding it is impossible for the tea-chei-7, hmrtver willing they may be, to obtain a knowledge of the training they are, now being called upon to qualify for. In a pastoral district such as our own the services of an expert man in organising adult classes for instruction, of utility to ourindustries and manufactures, would also be of.the gratcst benefit. The economical production of wool, butter, cheese, and, etc., must, in the opinion of the Board, hi greatly stimulated by such an appointment. Tlie Governors would recommend the County Council to support 'th* appointment with a liberal annual grant." The Ontario College has been making experiments to ascertain the relative value of different kinds of grain in a mixtun.- in comparison with the same grains when grown separately. Tlie results go to show that it is difficult to make a mixture which will produce a heavier yield of grain than a combination of barley and oats. Barley shows a surprisingly increased yield as the result of the combination. It has been observed that barley and oats grown together nearly always give a larger yield of grain than when the cereals, are grown separately. One of the most encouraging features of the ne.w agricultural science movement in America and Canada is the manner in which it is being supported by the more intelligent of the fanners. There are farmers* institutes and club-< in every State aggregating a membership running into millions. These people take no part in politics, but content themselves with organising lectures, promoting social gatherings in which their wives take part, visiting the agricultinal colleges, distributing experimental bulletins and pamphlets, and keeping them-:elvo> and their neighbour:; informed as to what is going on. Think of this : Forty thousand farmers' " Institute rs"' and their wives hired special trains 'and visited (lie Ontario Agricultural College last June. There visitors come in " bunches "f rom their several localities: •lie lunched on arrival, -rhown through the 20C0 separate experimental plots and alt the features of the college, and return home with their thinking apparatus in fi.il! working order.