VISITORS FROM URUGUAY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1378, 2 March 1912, Page 8

VISITORS FROM URUGUAY.

AN AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION. The six members of tho special commission of agricultural engineers who aro touring under the auspices of the Uruguayan Government, passed through AVellington yesterday morning on their way north from Christchurch. The commission consists of Senors Carlos l'raderi, president; Juan A. Alvarez, Hilario A. Urbina, Jorge Mullin, Carlos M. Saralegtii, and Samuel Moreira Acosta. The members of the commission aro all young men, the eldest being 20. They have all taken high degrees in agriculture at the University of Monte Video, nnd are selected students who havo been sent out by the Uruguayafi Government to gather nil tho information they can, in order that it may be. used to advance tho political, social, and economic interests of their country. Each member of the commission is required by his Government to furnish a separate report of what ho has seen in each country visited, and the deductions he has drawn from his experience. _ _ Spanish is the native tongue of the visitors, but they can all sneak French fluently, and the majority can converse in English. Uruguay, it is stated, is very similar in niany respects to New Zealand, and specialises along much tho same lines. The members of the commission are desirous of studying all the methods employed in agricultural and pastoral pursuits iu all countries, in order to perceive in practice and on a large scale as national industries thoeo operations with which they are perfectly familiar theoretically, but only by means of text books, and on the small scale possible in experimental farms, with which the university is well supplied. They have spent eight months in Europe, and havo visited France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. They have just arrived here from Australia, where they spent about a month, visiting private and Government experimental agricultural stock nnd dairy farms.

Australia, they consider, is ahead of them in fruit culture and in irrigation, which is one of their big problems, but not in stock raising. New Zealand they consider a much finer and mor« progressive country than Australia. In New Zealand, the visitors Bay, the psople havo realised the ideal that tho Uruguayans are striving for, that is, the progressive development of the agricultural and pastoral industries side by side and intcrdcpcndently. With the experience gained in. their travels they hopo to give a stimulus to these industries in their own country that will place fhem in a similar position. The potentialities are there. They have thirty million sheep, chiefly merinos and' Shropshires. and ten million cattle, principally of the Shorthorn -and Hereford breeds. • Their chief agricultural product is wheat, and they have a big acreage under cultivation. Iney havo already a large export trade. They have frozen meat works, and iii their special line of export, which is beef, they do a big trado with all American and European countries. Tho visitors were shown over several farms in the South Island, and also over the Belfast Freezing Works, the Sunnydale Farm, and tho Canterbury Agricultural Collego. . After touring the North Island as indicated on Tuesday last, tho commission will leave New Zealand on March 8. going on to Canada and the United States, they are due back in Uruguay about June.

During yesterday the Uruguayan delegation made good uso of their time. In the morning thoy had an interview with Messrs. F. Pope and Clifton, of the Agricultural Department, who gave them a great deal of information as to what tho Government was doing to foster agriculture. _ Those of the delegates who are. not proficient in English were able to converse in French with Mr. Clifton. In the course of the day thoy were shown over tho Pctono Woollen Mills at Korokoro, and the Geor Meat Company's works at Petone. To-day they are to visit tho State Farm at Wereroa. They will be accompanied to Levin by Mr. W. J. Prouso, local ViceConsul for Uruguay.