British War-Time Agriculture

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 66, Issue 1, 15 January 1943, Page 1

British War-Time Agriculture

Early this year a party of six New Zealand agricultural scientists arrived in England on loan to the British Government for the duration of the war. Mr. G. A. Holmes, B.Ag., M.Sc., formerly Crop Utilisation Officer, Department of Agriculture, Wellington, and leader of the party, recently broadcasted in the Pacific Session of the 8.8. C. In his broadcast, reprinted hereunder, Mr. Holmes referred to the work his party will be doing and also gave his impressions of British War-Time Agriculture.

“T AM speaking this evening as the lAM speaking this evening as the senior member of the party of six men who came to Britain from New Zealand at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, and with the object of assisting in the Food Production Campaign. We travelled on a cargo steamer, and, although fears to the contrary were expressed at the time of our departure, we had a very pleasant voyage, and, what is more important in war timea speedy and uneventful one. From a certain north-western port of England we ran through industrial towns with their forests of chimneys, through gloomy and bustling railway junctions, over many canals and rivers, and on through the glorious English shires at the height of summer to reach Euston, and make our acquaintance with the world’s greatest city. During our first few days in London we were privileged ,to meet the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. R. S. Hudson) and also to. have a conference with Sir Wm. Gavin, who is Chief Agricultural Adviser to the Minister. Our first visits' to English farms were paid during the course of a most delightful and memorable day in the county of Kent-when we joined a party conducted by Lord Cornwallis on a tour of inspection of areas which are now being farmed by the War Agricultural Executive Committee. ’ ■ ; As you know, Kent is most renowned for its cherry orchards, and you can imagine what a welcome

change- it was for us, after leaving New Zealand in mid-winter, to sit down for lunch in a field, and to take our dessert from baskets of luscious cherries. A few days later our party was split up, each man being sent to an Agricultural College or Research Institute determined according to the work to which he had devoted most attention in New Zealand. For the benefit of relatives and friends, I may say that recent letters I have had advise that my team are all very fit and well, and that they are finding the work in all cases of absorbing interest. _— l count myself fortunate in having been able already to visit some of the southern counties, the Midlands, the Welsh Plant Breeding Station at Aberystwyth, and all the counties of North ’ Wales which come under the Agricultural Department of Bangor University, as an Advisory My first impressions of British farming may, be summed up by saying that, while much . has been done since the outbreak of war, a great deal remains to be done to bring the standard of farming on the whole up to the level of efficiency as would. be economically practicable. Colossal Organisation Much has been done, and this reflects great credit both on those who have planned, and on those who have carried out the policy. The change-

over from a peace-time to a war-time economy has necessitated colossal organisation. Britain developed since the industrial revolution mainly as a manufacturing, a maritime and trading nationher farming lands were in many cases left to become derelict, and the production of milk, and of meat was maintained to a considerable extent by the importation in pre-war days of some .7 million tons annually of concentrate feeding-stuffs for stock. Now all this has changed, and a new enthusiasm is seen on every hand to make farms self-supporting in stock foods and productive of the maximum possible yields of grain, potatoes, vegetables and sugar beet—crops which contribute directly to the human larder. The supervision of this campaign has been de-centralised by the appointment of County War Agricultural Committees. ' These : Committees have been given wide powers to serve and enforce ploughing-up orders, and to direct the management of any land, including such improvements as clearing,- ditching— under-draining, and destruction of pests. The greatest credit is due to these Committees for the manner in which, while maintaining the goodwill and co-operation of the general body of farmers, .they have exercised the necessary firmness to the occasional careless individual who neglects to comply with instructions. This ; firmness may, and frequently does, extend to the summary dispossession of the offender. ' ' I should like to. pay a sincere tribute also to the officers of the County Committees who have worked early and late on their multifarious duties, and to the advisory agricultural scientists whose . ordinary work has been vastly extended to cope with the problems of the rejuvenation of agriculture. Landowners, tenant farmers, agricultural labourers and members of the Women’s

Land Army have all played their parts in changing the face of the countryside —as lam assured it has been changed during the past three years. Impressive Achievements The achievements are impressive. The area additional to that of pre-war years under the plough in the past season reached a total of nearly 6 million acres, the output of . agricultural lime has increased from 400,000 tons in 1937 to nearly 2| million tons for this season, while the area of potatoes now being grown is in the vicinity of 1 million acres— an assurance of plenty for all requirements.

You may ask how, in face of such accomplishment, there can be any major opportunity for the use of Dominion farming methods. To this I can only reply that a great deal remains to be done, and I consider that our efforts will be concentrated along three main lines:— The reclamation of derelict, and semi-derelict lands. The introduction of labour-saving methods. The demonstration of economies in the farmer’s purchased raw materials. Land Reclamation Dealing firstly with the question of land reclamation, I was astounded to find quite fertile land within 50 miles of London growing dense, waist-high bracken. There should be no great difficulty in the control of bracken, even on unploughable hill land, while much of this growth occurs on easy country, and is now in process of . conversion to good cropping land under the direction of County Committees. Hill country of a mossy or peaty type presents a more difficult problem than does similar country in New Zealand owing to the more severe winters, and the shorter growing season here. Salt marshes also are not easy reclaiming propositions on account of the very high rise of spring tides round Britain’s coast line. Apart from these special cases there are millions of acres of indifferent pastures scheduled to be ploughed, many of these being virtually non-productive on account of the high percentage of weeds, thorn bushes, gorse, and ant-hills. Such land must be treated as a pioneer farming area and broken in by the use of powerful tractor-drawn machinery. Labour-saving Methods Turning now to the introduction of labour-saving methods, I find that practices which are common-place in the Dominions seem to be virtually un-

known here. As a small illustration of this, I have recently seen thousands of fields of oats or of wheat cut by the binder, but without a sheaf carrier, the use of which would save half the time now spent in stocking. . I think that the general introduction of the motor-lorry type of lime and fertiliser distributor would reduce the labour of spreading by at least 80 per cent., while the same might be said in regard to the sowing of ridged crops in favour of the introduction of. the New Zealand ridger. Economy Lastly, on the question of economy of purchased materials, there can be little doubt that the use of the combine drill and the ridger would save 60 per cent, or more of the fertiliser by comparison with broadcast sowing, and this should mean a saving of very large sums annually to British farmers. Better methods of sowing land down to pasture could economise on the quantity of seed necessary, while better strains of grasses and clovers now available, and better management of pastures, could economise considerably on the provision of supplementary stock foods. There has probably never before been a time when the farmer was so ready as at present to accept revolutionary changes in his naturally conservative outlook. He is now convinced that the agricultural scientist has something to offer him, and he is prepared to do his part in bridging the gap formerly said .to exist between science and practice. I feel that now is the time to ‘cash in’ on the accumulation of scientific knowledge in all branches applicable to agriculture.” Don't neglect internal parasites in poultry. Full information is available in the Department’s free bulletin No. 19.