ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 4 June 1926, Page 13

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.

THE RECENT CONFERENCE. A USEFUL GATHERING. . Mr H. H. Fraser who returned on Monday from Wellington, where be bad been attending the annual eonferci.'cc of the Royal Agricultural Society, as representative of'the Tiniaru A. and P. Association, says that the conference was,, a very useful one. It extended over two days, and was presided over , by Mr \Y. Perry, Mnsterton. Delegates were present from alt parte of New Zealand. Jii the course of bis opening remarks .■flic President had said that the breed -societies were supporting the royal society well, and the agricultural societies were increasing, and now numbered 15. To these societies, the Royal Society would have to look for support, as they were finding that they could not rely upon individual farmers to tiie same extent as. they expected when.-they first ,-tartecl. The cost of conveying stock to tins Royal Show had been heavy, but as the result of a deputation the Union Steamship Company had agreed to carry stock back from tbe show at half-price.- The Government bad donated ££UO towards the cost of tho Royal Show but, while this had helped, they 'were still a little behind on the years working. He did not expect to see .such a variety of stock at the Auckland,.-show, but they bad. to remember, that -Auckland was}-a, very, big province, and on broad lilies, lie hold that tbe society was doing the right thing in giving Auck'-'.u.l a bii’ance •to prove wiiat they cduld do. The Bqy..efiiineiit subsidy 'of :£SOO would again : .be available this year, hut it was'-m-cep-' ■sary .that those farmers who could af-. •ford, it. ■'should get behind tho Royal Society,} and put it on a sound finan■eisrl footing. ■ M.r.J. R Hewitt had brought up tho question > of the shipment of unregistered; sheep to thoZA-rpdntino. He contended that no breeding sheep should be allowed to go from New Zealand without being inspected. Tho president said that all sheep .in the block Book were inspected before being sent out of tbe country. Mr M. McLeod < Wairarapa) said that there were unregistered flocks in the Waitarapa which were as good and bettor than 'any in tho Flock Book. .It- looked as if-.this was tho thin end of tho wedge to prevent any but .registered sheep from being shipped' from the country. Mr. Hewitt moved that

11 1 o _ Government be asked to '-make,'"'it mandatory' .that nil breeding'sheep exported frohi' New Zeuland Shall bear a certificate of.; in-spec-filon. Mr H. 13. Stuckey said that it should be insisted that no breed ! 'society should bo allowed to 'export j sheep which had not been .subjected to a rigorous, inspection. Mr Hewitt said tbe inspection need not bo so rigorous ! in-the cage of Hock sbeep, but they, should bo. very strict in tbe matter of, the export of stud sheep. The presid- | ent suggested that the motion should j be amended to road that all stock for ! export from New Zealand should bo j made subject to inspection for quality! before an export certificate is granted, i In this form the motion was carried • and it was decided to ask the various 1 breed societies to support, it. . A suggestion was made that tbe Government should be asked for greater financial assistance, but it was said that the Government . had done ivory ] well in'this connection, and the president mentioned that he already had two promises of £IOOO each from Messrs. I ;\V. Perry and Son and J. A. Johnstone j (Dunedin) towards the permanent eri- , dowment fund. It was realised that if 1 they expbeted help from the Govern- , meat, they must bo prepared to sot a. good example. The idea, was that tho I’ -members of the society should put up a pound for every pound advanced by tile Government.

Mr eraser said that a very intercut ins; discussion iiad taken place on th subject of top-dressing pastures. “Tha' a.s top-dressing -grass land is fast be coming an economic necessity, this eon forenco is of opinion that a small number of comprehensive experiments, t< bo extended- over a period of years should immediately bo commenced by the Department of Agriru’ture,” • was J a remit which was considered. Mr A. { H. Cockayne, director of the fields division of the Agricultural Department explained that experiments in topdressing had been carried out longer in the Waikato than in any other part of the pom;moil. Some farmers up thero | hud within the. last twenty years experimented" with every fertiliser on j the New Zealand marked.. It had been [ definitely proved that lime and super ; was'the best fertiliser to use. Oil soils j of poorer quality a slow-acting plios- ! phnte gave better results. Ho was coni fident that the use of fertilisers would increase iu New Zealand within five years from 5 to-1.5 per cent. The president said it would be very helpful if experiments could bo carried out in different parts of both islands. In answer to a question, Mr Cockayne stated that the Department had not yet extended experiments with fertilisers to sheep'country. The remit was carried. The point had been stressed that .skilled labour is now a greater neccss- " ity on farms than in the early days when the land was being broken in from its rough state, and it was said that one of the greatest drawbacks to a large increase of production in New Zealand was the scarcity of skilled labour. To-day, it was said, a farm worker should thoroughly understand his work if lie was to earn the present rate of pay and cost of. keep, and it was agreed that this was a question that would have to be faced in the near future, as the trend of education in I New Zealand encouraged young people, to go'to the cities rather than to thecountry. Tho president expressed tho opinion that the establishment of an agricultural college was not going to solve the farm labour question. He was of the opinion that if a short course of intense training in practical agricultural work was made available at a small fee to tho youth of the Dominion it would be taken advantage .of by many 4 , and that the cost to the country would, not/be heavy. . . : A remit: —“That tho 'Railway .Board bo urged to grant excursion rates on

, (secretaries’ certificates to bona-fide j exhibitors and .'attendants with live stock for the A. and B. shows in the Dominion, and that the new tariff be ) amended to cover the concession” had been supported by him. He did not think that this would be a great hardship for the Railway Department. The number of tickets concerned would be small—-probably 50 for Mauawntu, half a dozen for Timaru, and from 50 to 00 for Christchurch. Very often a farmer was prevented from exhibiting an account of the heavy travelling expenses. I —The remit had boon carried, j A flirthev remit.—‘ That the Railway Bo;ird bo asked to grant railway I excursion fares in both of the islands ! for • the . Royal' Agricultural Society’s I Show patrons from any. part of the i Dominion,” was next considered and carried.

I Mr Conway stated that at .Home the Royal Shows were hold ill various dis;l tricts, and it was possible to , book at . ! excursion, rates to them from any part of England, : Scotland, or Wales. ! Other remits which were carried included the following That cheaper manures should bo made available to farmers by tbe Government; that vendors of fertilisers should be required to , give an analysis of tbe manures which they sell; that tho Government be asked to secure for New Zealand a larger ' share of Nauru Island phosphates ;.. that a fair share of the education grant should bo spent on agricultural education; 'that in-view of the success of the Feilding School, of Agriculture t-lio Government bo asked to establish simiU nr schools in other districts; that the Agricultural Department be asked to concentrate on research work, partic- ; ularly with a view to ascertaining the causes remedies of stock diseases, the destruction of noxious weeds and pests, and sheep sickness; That when ,] the Government takes over soldiers’ .farms it should-become responsible for ■■ the rates thereon; that the branding 1 of cattle bo made illegal, except on the shoulders or neck; that the Meat ..Control Board bo asked to award prizes for fat lambs over and under 36 lbs; that show .judges’ hotel expenses : be fixed at 20s per day, in addition to I actual locomotion expenses. I Mr Fraser further mentioned that ’ some very good addresses had been given at "the conference. Professor Pei cm, professor-of agriculture at Vici toria College, said that farming in the North Island was gradually cluing--ii,ig from extensive to intensive fanning, but it would bo idle to visualise conditions like those of Denmark in New Zealand. He did not wish to see a' nation of small fanners here, but would iiko to see tho full production , of all land.

The Director of Agriculture (Dr E. J. Rcakes), said that the Royal Society was doing much towards tbe advancement of .the agricultural and- pastoral .pursuits.,.One of the main objects aimed at by the society was tho main tendance and improvement 'of the standard of quality of the stock. A satisfactory feature of last year’s statistics was the substantial increase in tbe number of breeding ewes. With regard to the. restrictions placed on the importation of stock in connection with the foot and mouth disease, it was realised that tho farmers could not go on refraining from importing new bloo-d without running a risk to their own stock. Now Zealand lie believed, wa.s over cautious in tlie matter, but the Dominion was one of the cleanest countries in the world so far as animals were concerned. It would be wise to continue on cautious lines.