FARMERS AT HOME

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 191, 14 August 1931, Page 9

FARMERS AT HOME

TOUR OF GREAT BRITAIN HIGH COMMISSIONER’S WELCOMB The members of Alossrs Thos. Cook and Son’s party of New Zealand farmers who are at present visiting Great Britain were officially welcomed at New Zealand House by the High Commissioner, Sir Thomas Wil ford. The High Commissioner offered the visitors the hospitality of New Zealand House, which, indeed, with any assistance his officers could give, was I theirs, by right, as New Zealanders. He asked them to make full use of this privilege. Sir Thomas then went on to say that no tour of Britain would bo complete for any New Zealand farmer without a visit to the Low Temperature Research Station at Cambridge. He was pleased to see that it was included in their itinerary. There had been valuable results from the research •■arried out there, especially in regard to tho carriage of fruit and butter on ocean liners. At the Wool Research Institution at Torridon, and the Leeds I’niversitv. remarkable discoveries had been made in tho direction of improx - ing the quality of wool, and the visitors would find that at both these in stitutions the principals would be onlv I too pleased to show them the experiments and their results. The problem of tho world to-day. continued Sir Thomas was how to lessen the cost of production—the cost of overhead charges. Tn New Zealand the task ahead was to increase wool production and improve its quality where possible. At the two institutions to which he referred, research was devoted t.» other uses for wool, am] the production of patent leather was one successful result. Then, at Aberystwyth to which were being made of the results attending the feeding of sheep on different kinds of grasses. Records also were taken there of how many hours a sheep would eat. masticate, sleep and walk about, and the results wore extraordinary. Touching on other topics, Sir Thomasaid that New Zealand was. in many ways, a lucky country. Every country had been hit by the present economic troubles. The fact, that wo were alongside Australia, had prejudically aff.cted our exchange. Unfortunately there was great ignorance in regard the separate entities of the two Dominions—indeed, in the Oxford Dictionary of 1931 one would find reference to Australia and to Australasia (the latter being defined as “Australia and the adjoining islands”), but no mention of New Zealand. Y<’t the Ox | ford Dictionary was the greatest recognised authority. Apparently it waj not realised even by this great sourc? of informtion, that jtew Zealand was a separate Dominion, as far from AusI tralia as Malta or Leningrad wore from England. Producing a return which he had just, had prepared. Sir Thomas sail that in tho year 1928 New Zealand had paid the shipping companies for th. transportation of our-dairy products to England the sum of £1,332.000. yet Denmark, virtually at the door of Britain, and our chief rival in dairy produce, had to pay for artificial foo istuffs for dairy cows and pigs. £8 000—an item New Zealand escaped because of our constant supplies of green grass. It was as well to remember this fact because it made one vol der sometimes whether the Danish farmer, with his greater cost of production, was really getting a higher equivalent in price than the New Z<m lander, and whether at the end of the year he had more money in the bank, considering the higher proportional cost he incurred in feeding his cows and pigs. In conclusion, the High Commissioner again welcomed the partv to England and to New Zealand House. In thanking Sir Thomas, Mr W. Runeiman said that their party, because of tho economic stress in NewZealand. and the Hawke’s Ray earthquake, was not a large one, and very much smaller than had been originally intondoil. They were very much indebted to Sir Thomas for his welcome, and ho gave.their assurance that they would have boon greatly disappointed to return to New Zealand without meeting the High Commissioner.