HON. BUDDO ON AGRICULTURE.

Waipa Post, Volume I, Issue 18, 16 June 1911, Page 4

HON. BUDDO ON AGRICULTURE.

SPEECH AT NEW PLYMOUTH. Speaking at the New Plymouth Show, the Minister for Internal Affairs (the Hon. D. Buddo) said that as a grazing district he knew of no part of New Zealand to beat Taranaki, but he wondered whether Taranaki was doing her best (states the " News" from whose report these extracts are taken). Many of the farms which he had passed possessed excellent pastures, the plough and the sower having done their part well. But he could not help thinking of the change that could be effected in some of the fern-covered lands by a burn, some good seed, and a top-dressing of basic slag. There was more need than ever now for the farmers to keep in close touch with the experimental work in breeding, pastures, and so on, and to take every advantage of the money provided by the State for experimental purposes. Farmers were too prone to adhere to' the methods which had been good enough for their predecessors, but were they good enough for us ? Touching briefly on the primary products of the Dominion, the Minister said that they had had a record year in the matter )f exports of produce from this country, and there was more to follow. As yet, the surface of much of the best land had only been scratched. The farmer of the future would have to go in for more intense faiming, and the working of restricted areas should give better results.