FARMERS' METHODS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20104, 24 March 1928, Page 6

FARMERS' METHODS

ABSENCE OF ENTERPRISE NEW ZEALAND AND COMMERCIALISM. “It is indeed surprising to know that there is still opposition to the Massey Agricultural College,” said a AA’anganui farmer to a “Chronicle” man, in discussing the remarks of the Hon. O. J. Hawken, made at the opening of that institution. “It is incredible,” he added, “that in this country which depends, in the main, on its primary produce, there should be people with so narrow a vision that they cannot approve of what is an honest attempt to better equip New Zealand for her fight to maintain a high place in the commercial circles of the world.”

He pointed out that of all people in the community the farmer was the slowest to respond to the demands of modern times. The business man, ever with an eye to the future, was quick to appreciate advancement and to know just what steps to take to ensure that retrograde movement or stagnation were not permitted to interfere with his plans; the educationalist, ready to impart greater knowledge to those willing to learn, was himself alive to his position, always moving forward with the times, modernising his methods and storing up a wealth of knowledge available for the use of his fellowman. Yet the farmer—the slow canny farmer—preferred to study his business on the surface only, showing little inclination to delve into scientific methods to aid him in the i most important industry in the Dominion.

Not only that, he appeared loth also to see others doing the delving for him, and in his criticisms he regarded them as belonging to a different sphere, one totally apart and not within the realm of commonsense so far as farming was concerned.

“Times have changed since the day of the old ‘stick-in-the-mud socky,’ ” the farmer stated. “Farming has become a more vital part of the world of commerce. The smallest dairy farm is just as much a factor in the world of business as any bank or commercial firm, only the trouble is the average person fails to grasp the fact.” Though modern development was rapidly bringing the farmer into closer touch with the centres, and by degrees reducing his hardships, the old methods of farmiug were in vogue in the majority of cases. It was simply a matter of buying the stock, putting them on the land, using them while they were t ere, or selling them again and trusting to luck. Little heed was paid to the land and the strain placed upon it by constant years of working or to the development and encouragement of the breed of stock. Naturally there were exceptions, but for every one farmer who tried to keep pace 'vith the onward inarch of commercialism there were many more who made no move to raise themselves from the groove in which they were placed by their forebears of a, now, almost forgotten age. But the greatest disgrace of all lay not so much in this apparent languid outlook of the men on the land towards their immediate problems, but in the fact that that they should number among them so many who wore ready, even at this early stage of its existence, to level adverse criticism at an institution. tho establishment of which gave tangible evidence of an enlightened mind as to what was required in the agricultural effort, of this country, to hold its name high in a world dominated by commercialism.