FARMING AFFAIRS

Chronicle (Levin), 7 August 1948, Page 7

FARMING AFFAIRS

W (This column is supplied weekly by Federated Farmers of New Zealand. The infjormation g-iven is official but any" viaws expressed are those of the Federation and are not necessarily those of this newspaper.) Aid for Britain. An increased wkoat acreage is being sown as a result of the Aid for Britain campaign, said the Dominion presidenf of Federated ' 'Farmers, Mr, W. ' N. Perry, at the annual Dominion conference last yeek. It appeared that the inerease woul/l be as rnueh as 33 1-3 per cent., givina au approximate area of-200,Q00 aeres in wheat. Alr. Perry paid a' special tribute to Mr. F. P. Walsh, cliairman of the Aid for -Britain National.Council, for tlie vigorous* way in which he prdsecuted the campaign. The Federation appre eiated the help received frotii Mr Walsh and his fellow menibors of the Aid for Britain Couneil. The Tractor Position. Promises of aniple supplies of 'efficient British crawler tractors next year raised little interest among delegates at last week's annual Bominion con ference of Federated ' Farmers. At a speciaj. nieetiug oue evening of heavy tractor users, it was made clear that farmers clainied for themselves the right to be able to lmy proved tractors of known ciiieieiicy standards. They woultl brook uo interference from other bureaucrats or importers, nor would

they pay the inflated prices British importers were askiug for new and untried niodels. The fact that Great Britain herself fouird it necessarv to import so manv crawler tractors from tlie U.S.A. was evidence of the Jack of Britain 's heavv tractor output. and ample additional evidence was on hand to sliow the preferonce whicli British farmers theni selves shovved for tlie heavy Americaif veliieles over the new and. unproven hom('-[)i'oduced jobs. The meeting felt it would be wliolly contrarv to the expansion of farming in Kew Zealand if farmers were forced to Lmy high-priced, iintostcd British crawler tractors whicli on sliowing to date were not suitable for Xow Zealand conditions, • Every satisfaction was expressed at Ihe meeting witli tlie British twofurrow tractor although considerable crit'cism was levelied at the prices cha-ged. In the heavy class, the demand was delinitelv for the American velucle. Information received within the last month from Britain aiul supplied to the meeting indicated that oue British manufacturor claiming a high potential output for next year iuehuling supplie.t to New Zealand was in Juue, onlv then experimenting with the adaptation ot its norma! wheeled machine to a lialf track job. Only then was consideration being given to the production of a prototvpe on Tui] tvacks for fche existing model. Delegates felt that such eviuonce was sufficient indicatioh of Britain 'Aatatus in the manufacture oi heavy $ is yet an industry, undevfiTopetl- atld. untried a'ncl New Zealand l^iiers/preferfed ' not' to be the ''^uiuei ^gs''' for practica, experi mdiitatiou.- Mri K. G. Buekleton, Fliair imtii of the Action ( onunittee, said that farmers claimed for themselves the siU^eyi;igljt'-ffs did rthe, Puhlic Jgprk* 01?ptMWem^W1)hy'";fn:ei' tractors'1''' And farm equipment which best suited them withoiit interference from either bureaucratic .or vested interests.