BRITISH FARM DELEGATION

Timaru Herald, Volume CLVI, Issue 23082, 22 December 1944, Page 4

BRITISH FARM DELEGATION

Tour Of Dominion One Member In Timaru Yesterday One of a party of six United Kingdom fanners who have come to New Zealand to confer on mutual post-war agricultural problems visited Timaru yesterday. He was Mr S. O. Ratcliff, a former president of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, present chairman of the Seeds Production Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture in London. The arrival of the party at -.uckland was, for security reasons, practically unannounced. Temporary headquarters were established in Wellington, from where the members dispersed throughout the country as guests of prominent farmers in various districts. Before their departure for Australia, which they will visit next, they will hold a two-day conference in Wellington with Dominion executives of farming organisations. Members of the party had been very impressed with that portion of the New Zealand countryside which they had been able to see during their hurried tour, Mr Ratcliff stated to a reporter yesterday. They were greatly indebted to the Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union (Mr A. P. O’Shea), who had promptly mapped o t for them a programme which had greatly exceeded their expectations in its scope and warmth of welcome. They were made to feel at home immediately, he said, and could not find words to describe the warm heartedness of the New Zealand farmer on and off his own property. The speed with which arrangements had been made for the Dominion tour, at a time when the annual holiday period interferred greatly with travelling and accommodation, was a revelation to them.

Co-operation Sought The purpose of the delegation’s visit to New Zealand, Australia and Canada, Mr Ratcliff continued, was to discuss with fellow primary producers in the Dominions those post-war agricultural problems which confronted all farmers of the Empire, and of the world in general. During the war the Empire and all the United Nations had worked together as one unit, and to that close co-operation was due much of the success being attained by the Armed Forces. It was equally necessary that co-operation should extend through the years of peace, to solve many of the problems brought about by war, and to ensure that primary production and trade made its fullest contribution to the future well-being of mankind. The delegation hoped by its good will mission to pave the way for that lasting peace and security for which all sane men craved The delegation represents the personal and united views of the National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales, the Chamber of Agriculture of Scotland, and the Ulster Farmers’ Union, Mr Ratcliff continued. The fact that those three separate unions had combined to find a solution of post-war problems was an indication of the earnestness with which United Kingdom farmers were facing the future. On a world basis, it was felt that all countries were more or less interdependent, and that prosperity in the one was provisional on the others being economically healthy. The problems covered a wide range, from types and natural zones of product: n to orderly marketing, so that, in the words of the Atlantic Charter, mankind should have freedom from want.

Leader of the delegation is Mr James Turner, vice-president of the National Farmers’ Union. With him are Mr William Young, senior vicepresident of the National Farmers’ Union and Chamber of Agriculture of Scotland, Mr George Ervine, denutypresident of the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the following members of the Union of England and Wales: Messrs S. O. Ratcliff (president in 1934), Giles Tuker (representing horticulture), and G. S. Browne (head of the Farmers’ Union economics and statistics departments