FARMERS IN DOMINION

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17885, 4 December 1929, Page 13

FARMERS IN DOMINION

TASMANIAN PARTY’S VISIT IMPRESSIONS OF THE COUNTRY. TOP-DRESSING AND DRAINING. On their return from their tour of New Zealand the party of Tasmanian farmers, who were in Hamilton towards the end of October, expressed themselves in enthusiastic strain concerning what they saw. “The effects of their visit will no doubt be reflected widely in improved conditions in Tasmania,” remarks the Hobart Mercury. Mr K. J. Ileazlewood, giving his impressions of the tour, in the paper quoted, says— Farmers are usually considered to be the most conservative of people, ready to condemn nearly every new method and to declare that what was good enough for their grandfathers is good enough for them. But to-day there are keen, progressive spirits among those who seek their wealtli from the and these people are alive to the importance of using and learning about the latest and best ideas in connection with their work. With this end In view 28. Tasmanian farmers left Launceston on October 7 for a comprehensive tour of New Zealand, that country being considered one °f the best farming countries in the world. After a most pleasant trip the parly landed at the Bluff, at the southern end of the South Island. Right from the moment of landing we were cordially received, and all through the tour the people of New Zealand laid themselves out to give us a good time, and show and tell us about the things in which we were interested. Our first day's tour was round the shcep-pro-ducing centre of Southland, the western district. There we were all impressed by the large number of sheep carried to the acre, four sheep all the year round being the average. Wherever we went sheep met the eye. It seemed almost that they had been driven into the paddocks by the roadside for our beneiit. The sheep for the most part were Romney and Romneycross, and all had a high percentage of lambs —well over 100 per cent. Despite the large number of sheep feed was plentiful. Upon inquiry we were told that until a few years ago Southland was considered to be very poor country, carrying only one sheep to the acre. The change had come about by using fertilisers, and all over New Zealand they tell the samo story. In Southland lirne is considered to be the essential top-dressing material, and tons per acre is often put on. After this the land is top-dressed with super —from lowt to 3cwt yearly—and tne results justify this top-dressing.

Importance of draining.

Another factor contributing to the success of these pastures is draining. This part of the country is low, and used to be very wet, but now miles and miles of underground tiled drains have been put in. The ground is also drained by the use of a mole diain plough which will make a circular drain about 3 feet below the surface. Such a drain will not All in, but. will drain the land for years. The drains are often put right through a paddock, only a few yards apart. The.land is a heavy loam, similar to a lot of land in Tasmania. 1 feel sure that if a lot of Tasmanian land were treated in this way the carrying capacity per acre would be doubled. Of course, in New Zealand lime costs only 10s per ton, delivered free, while in Tasmania it costs about £3 per ton—a big difference. New Zealand farmers told us that a light dressing of lime was of no use; it Iflid to be done heavily for good results. Shelter Belts. AH through New Zealand gorse hedges are plentiful. These have been planted mainly for shelter, and for the most part are'kept well trimmed, although in some parts the gorse has been allowed to grow unchecked and become a nuisance. All of the South island is subject to severe winds, and to combat them hundreds of shelter belts of trees have been planted. Everywhere one looks one can see small plantations of trees, mostly Pinus insignis. It would be well for Tasmanian farmers to copy this and plant small plantations of trees about their farms. Some splendid specimens of stud stock were shown to us in Southland, including Romney Marsh, Border Leicester and Southdown sheep, Clydesdale horses and Ayrshire and Friesian cattle. Very little cropping is done in Southland, and most of the ploughing is done by contract, the larmers themselves keeping very few working horses. Big teams are the order of the day for all work requiring horses. We hardly ever saw fewer than six horses attached to any iinpicment. The climate of all the SouJi Island is very similar to our own; only they do not have the extremes of temperature that we do. Their rain fa 1 also is more general. In the south they are about six weeks later than Tasmania as regards the season Most of the sheep produced in New Zealand are exported by the frozen mutton trade. This trade is a wonderful thing for the New Zealand sheep-raisers, and is what is wanted for Tasmania.

Rotational Grazing. From Southland we travelled through Gore and Otago, where the dairying industry is largely practised. Here, again, extremely good pastures we seen, all being due to top-dressing and rotational grazing. Rotational grazin 0 is extensively practised in l'.ew Zealand. The farms are subdivided into small paddocks and the stock moved from paddock to paddock every few davs On one farm of 100 acres, 40 of'which was ploughed the roUowmg stock were carried—3o head of cattle 200 sheep and 3 horses, this is just typical of many other farms J 1 ** claimed for rotational grazing t.hat the feed grows better, and that the stock like it better. As soon as a paddock is eaten down it is harrowed. T New Zealand farmers are great believers in harrowing grass lands. Deep and often is their motto. From Otago we came to the Lanier bury Plains, the home of the celebrated Canterbury lamb used by the freezers. Here a monument was shown us erected to the memory °f the man who sent the first frozen mutton from New Zealand. Cropping is also extensively carried out on the Canterbury Plain, and some splendid crops were seen. These crops are all heavily manured, and up to 70 bushels oi wheat per acre is not uncommon. In many cases clover is sown with the wheat, and next season a first-class pasture of clover is secured. One or the best clover paddocks we saw was sown with a wheat crop that yielded 79 bushels per acre. Taking the South

Island as a whole, we were greatly impressed by the up-to-date methods employed and the wonderful pastures to be seen. The soil does not seem to differ great'y from Tasmanian soil, but the methods employed make the difference. Heavy top-dressing has produced fields of grass and clover, and made the country prosperous. The price of the land varies from £2O to £4O per acre. In the North Island there is more intense production still, and land is much higher in value, reaching up to £IOO per acre. Through the Palmerston and Hamilton districts we saw the best pastures in New Zealand, mostly ryegrass and white clover. This combination seems to be the most favoured all through New Zealand. Very little subterranean clover is grown, the only place we saw any being around Hamilton, We were all struck with the large number of butter factories seen in our travels all through' ' the Dominion, especially in the North Island. Very interesting grass and clover experimental plots were seen. These plots are planted all through Ihc various districts by the Government experimental farms. These farms seem to be doing good work ;u New Zealand, and differ from most Government farms in that they show a profit on their farming operations. Near Rotorua we were shown thousands of acres of forestry plantations, all the trees being well grown and healthy, the growth of flve-year-old Pinus insignis trees being remarkable. Rural Mall. The New Zealand farmer Is well looked after by the Government in postal matters. There is a rural delivery of mails once a day to all farmers, and their post boxes are to be seen outside all their road gates. Letters left in these boxes are cleared by the postman, too. This is a splendid idea, and no matter where a farmer lives lie is sure of his mall once a day. A different system of taxation is also practised. The farmer docs not pay income tax, but pays a land tax on the value of his land. All the stud sheep we saw were or a slightly different type in comparison with our own, the New Zealand breed being developed along mutton lines that is, shorter in the leg and neck, and were all heavily woolled. The type of cattle and horses were similar to our own. , Right through the tour splendid weather was experienced, and travelling good roads made the various trips extremely pleasant, apart from any educational value. The roads in New Zealand are good; for the most part they are of a loose gravel, which as soon as it is worked to the sides is brought to the middle again by a grader. Dozens of graders were seen at work during the tour. Altogether ‘he tour has been most successful. We left New Zealand feeing we had left many friends behind us and knowing that we had all profited by seeing modern methods applied successful J to the primary industry. One of the keynotes of success was the intelligent use of fertilisers for top-dressing, coupled with rotational grazing proper planting of pastures, and draining. In conclusion, I would like to pay a tribute to the splendid organisation of the tour, and the wonderful kindness and hospitality of th New Zealand peopie.