RESEARCH AND FARMERS

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 222, 19 September 1928, Page 21

RESEARCH AND FARMERS

AN ALTERED OUTLOOK. THEORY AND PRACTICE. By ANTHONY HURD, Farm Editor of the "Field." Tlie last 20 years hae seen a complete change in the attitude of the farmer toward agricultural research and a no less remarkable change in the outlook of the scientist. There was a time, not *o long ago, when a farmer would win the approval of his fellows in the market place by deriding the scientist for a futile theorist. The scientist wae quite as convinced that the farmer wae a blundering fool. To-day all that is changing and there is to be found generally an easy tolerance on both sidee which allows a free exchange of opinion between those who till the land for a living and those who work in the laboratory with teat tube and crucible. The great majority of enlightened farmers have come to realise that the scientist, when he is kept on the right lines by practical advice, can help materially to invent waye of increasing the output of crops and livestock and also means of reducing losses through disease. The work of Rothameted in experimenting with artificial manures and giving proved advice about their use most alone have helped the farmer to the tune of many million pounds since Lawes and Gilbert laid down, their classic plots in 1839. In another sphere the work carried on at Cambridge University has now given the farmer a sound and economical basis for rationing the feed of his stock. There are plenty of such instances of quiet, plodding research work continued year after year, the results of which are gradually being made use of in farming practice without anyone remarking particularly on the changes. The better understanding now established is perhaps chiefly due to the guidance of the agricultural officers. They have succeeded in translating the findings of the scientist into everyday practice. Also, an ever-increasing number of farmers have the advantage of a college education of some kind, and eo they are naturally more ready than their fathers to appreciate the possibilities of new methods. A new force has come into the sphere of agricultural research with the advent of the Empire Marketing Board. It hae now been arranged to subsidise certain kinds of research work that are hindered by lack of funds, and which properlj endowed promise to yield useful results. The research stations established in Britain are, of course, financied by Government grants, though perhaps not so generously as those in some foreign countries. The extra assietance now available for the development of special lines of work is likely to prove especially fruitful. Once the general spade work of fundamental research has beertdonej concentration on particular' lines will give the practical results that the farmer looks for. Mineral Deficiency of Pastures. A most interesting piece of research i.s no-w being undertaken by the Rowett Institute, near Aberdeen. Here an experimental stock farm has been established with facilities for testing and applying under practical conditions those results of research in stock feeding that appear to be of economic value. One investigation ia concerned, with the mineral content of grassland. This promises to lead to definite information that will be of importance to all farmere. In such cases there ie every reason to think that the herbage may be deficient in minerals, the natural salts having been carried away in the bodies of the countless animals which have grazed there. At the Rowett Institute a great number of herbage analyses from grazing areas at Home and abroad and tho chemical results show that there are marked differences between the mineral content of good and poor pastures. Common ..alt hae, of course, been given to stock for many years, and they generally appreciate this, but research has shown that something more than sodium and chloride may be lacking. At present, feeding experiments with sheep axem progress to find out whether the supplementing" of poor pastures by mineral feeding will give noticeable improvement in tho rate of growth and general wellbeing. Already there are on the market several makes of mineral licks, put up in convenient brick form. Proved advice about such matters is what the farmer wants. Ue himself has not the means to carry out reliable tests.

Animal breeding is another subject that needs thorough investigation. Very little is yet known about sex determination, sterility, inheritance of milking Qualities, improvement of wool and many other breeding problems that are of the greatest interest to the farmer in his business. A etart has been made oi- the investigation of these problems at Edinburgh and at Cambridge. There are other research activities that are being assisted by the Empire Marketing Board from its annual income of £1,000,000. The claime of the younger countries in the Empire overseas are perhaps even more insistent than oure. Fortunately all agricultural research, whether carried dut here or overseas is highly valuable and contributes, to the common fund of ecientific knowledge that is accumulating for the benefit of the farmer.