EXPERIMENT FARMS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 154, 24 March 1908, Page 2

EXPERIMENT FARMS.

ARE THEY USEFUL 7 '. _ An- important point ■ was opened up- by the' Leyin- people in their meeting on Saturday, when tho Mayor of Levin, Alr.'B. R. Gard.cnor,. declared .that the AYeraroa Experiment J arm had not been'of much benefit to the dairy: farmers ■of the district. The'remark suggests the- whole question of the valuo that the country is getting out of this and the other experiment farms. It does' not necessarily follow bccause important work is being' done at- those institutions that the country is benefiting. 'It is nccessary. that' tho lessons learned should bo carried* homo to the farmers, for whose interests'alone tho places exist. The fact that Levin is with tho experiment ' farm is perhaps evidence that'the farm has failed in this respcct. And possibly it docs nc-t differ, from the other experiment stations of New Zealand. These are days of hurry, when farmers want-their information quickly. Today the farmer wants somo tips as to working .uh tractable soils, to-morrow he ncods some assistance in choosing the \kind of crop to help him in weathering tho coming win-' ,ter ; he wants, at another 'time, to be told exactly how : to] make silage, or to be shaken up 011 the culling question. When all-these points are collected and published in a big annual report bearing last year's date, the avera'ge farmer puts it by on a shelf and forgets all about it. Even . the- monthly reports, such as are issued in Australia; would not quite go all the way in getting into close and. immediate touch , with the men on tho land.. If the Department of Agriculture'could, by the issuo of a constant stream of advico in : the way suggested, make the farmers depend on this assistance in planning their weekly work, the Department would secure a powerful hold 'upon the farming people'. _It is.not sufficient to tell the- farmer to visit the experiment farms or to read the annual reports. If the farmer does not do this be must be taken and dealt with in somo other way, and success' will be in proportion to the extent to which the Department acts' on those lines. The columns of newspapers are always open to cjrculate information if it is valuable, concise, and not too late, so that the-. question of cost does not arise in the matter. There is an old saying that "what is not needed is dear at a penny."- One might say that experiments that the farmors know' nothing about aro also not worth a penny. Possibly it is tho farmer's own fault, but- that is not a part of tho .argumont.