PROBLEMS OF THE FARMER.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20098, 29 November 1930, Page 17

PROBLEMS OF THE FARMER.

0 SCIENCE MAY Hi: I.l'. s ADV,CR .--isinil the necessity for to the problems of tho : ii, 0 Governor-General (Lord speaking at tho opening of at tho Rnngiora i'- fa r. yesterday, showed bow was that the farmer should ineed that the application of meant a monetary return • His Excellency also spoke ot f farm economics to tho infJVlt,', . all know that Denmark js a. J toco competitor for tho markets 7oar primary products, and unless s nnlv science to tho farmers' tasks re ',.j a chance of being left behind "S race," said Lord Bledislue. fl,«iras'a time when the farmer 25Vith suspicion on the scientist, H t am bound to confess that oneo i k«d reason to do so. It was &JL that, by applying a little to the soil, the farmer was fjw to neutralise its ills. The work chemist alone was emphasised *,il Rothawsted come forward to w that the work of tho biologist, Afgjast, and economist was at least •Jj'ißportant as his. Ins of Supply and Demand. «gome of v° u farmers know that -a may produce the best and make because you are at the inen.-y Jtlffl laws of supply and demand. {L retnrn is governed by economic Lap, over some of which you have , grater control than you imagine rile, over others, you have very little. But, if the scientist is going to gped, he must prove to the farmer dri the results or science can bo caltslated ia terms of £ s. d. A Fallacy. '■When I was at 6chool, I was taught ist if fertiliser costs £6 a ton, a tit costs 6s. This was the rule of •W fallacy because, while we know zis arithmetically true, it is commercially fake. Again, if wool falls 4-5 ra cent, in price, what reduction may « expect in tile price of woollen ;oods? The rule of three won't answer iht, but students must be acquainted iri these problems of economics and fejp in their solution. Then there is •it fact that monetary values depend aiirely on the purchasing power of Kffley, and I look forward to the time Am 15s is going to buy as much as £1 has bought during the past four or ire years. "Then, only this morning, I saw n pig eating potatoes—l am not sure lilt raw potatoes are good for pigs but in it an economic proposition to i«d pigs with potatoes't Under present conditions I say that it is."