AGRICULTURE

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14712, 29 July 1921, Page 2

AGRICULTURE

RETURN OF DR. REAKES. AUSTRALIAN TRAINING COLLEGES AND FARMS. Dr C. J. Reakes, Director of Agriculture, returned to New Zealand by the Moeraki, after a two months' visit to Australia. Interviewed by a representative of the New Zealand Times the directorsaid he had improved in his general health as the result of Ids trip, and spoke with much appreciation of the assistance accorded him by Government officials in New South Wales and Victoria, from whom he gained a plentiful supply of information in regard to the administrative methods in the Department of Agriculture and Stock over there Dr. Reakes was associated with Mr. A. E. Mabin, the special commissioner on the "Bawra" wool question, during the latter part of his mission in Australia, and collected genera information in regard to the woo position, as well as on pastoral and agricultural matters..

Farmers and Their Prospects. The' Vustralian fanners, said Dr. Reakes, are, like Ihe New Zealand farmers, suffering very much from the effects of the lowered prices for meat and wool. As a consequence of tlie continued .dry conditions, Australia seemed to be understocked as regards sheep, and this, he thought, might have some effect on the frozen meal, export trade. During the period of his Visit, however, plentiful rains feil. and indications now pointed to an adequate supplv of feed for the coming season. As a matter of fact the rainfall was so heavy in some of the wheat districts, that farmers were experiencing a temporary difficulty in being unable to sow, owing to the ground being so thoroughly soaked. fc Agricultural Instruction.

Dr. Rcakes was asked whether lie had paid visits to the agricultural colleges and experimental farms in New South Wales and Victoria. He had, he replied, spent an interesting time, in a visit to the Hawkcsbury Agricultural College, about 50 miles from Sydney, and expressed himself as impressed with the expansive methods employed there in imparting a knowledge of practical agriculture to young men resident there as students. He also visited the Wcrribce Training Farm, near .Melbourne, where he found farmers doing well on small holdings. His visits to the Goulbourn Valley district which :s irrigated by the southern tributaries of the Murray, was most interesting, but his tour was much interrupted by heavy rains, whic.h made travelling on the roads very difficult.

Itinerant Farming Experts. The activities of the Governments of the Eastern States with regard to agricultural instruction were closely studied by Dr. Rcakes. The system of itinerant instruction in vogue in New Zealand was being worked on much the same lines there, but the advantage in favour of New Zealand lay in the fact that, owing to the greater density of population, instructors were able to get through more practical work without the loss of time attendant on long journeys through the sparsely populated districts of the Commonwealth. In Victoria the Government has disestablished a number of State experimental farms, which have now been reduced to three. Small experimental areas arc worked by departmental employees.' and the farmers in the surrounding districts seem to be making the best use of them. The director expressed commendation of this phase of practical agricultural instruction, which depended, he said, for its success on the quality of the work and the amount of expert supervision available.

Improving Farm Stock. In reply to further questions, the director said that tho matter of herdtesting was now very strongly taken up by the Agricultural Department and the agricultural and pastoral associations, particularly in New South Wales. Farmers and dairymen were taking a great interest in the matter, and the practical work of herd-testing had shown much progress since his last ■visit. He had arranged to forward the authorities there full information in regard to what the department and the farmers in New Zealand were doing in the matter of hercl-tesling. Another progressive step, in relation to horses, that he noted was the satisfactory result of the stipulation by the New South Wales Stock Department, that stallions exhibited for show purposes must have the Government veterinary certificate of soundness before being exhibited. A reciprocal arrangement had already been in force between New Zealand and the Mother State, in that the Dominion veterinary certificate, in regard to draught stallions, was accepted by the official authorities there.

Lucerne Culture. Dr. Heakes' attention was drawn to the propaganda of the New Zealand Department of Agriculture, which was a feature of the recent. National Show —the encouragement of lucerne culture. Asked whether he had anything to say on the subject, in the light, of facts he would have gathered in regard to the lucerne districts of the Hunter River and the Goulbourn Valley the director replied that he did not wish to make a statement on the question at this stage.