FARMERS' OUTLOOK.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1419, 22 April 1912, Page 4

FARMERS' OUTLOOK.

PHENOMENAL YIELDS OF GRAIN. THE LABOUR QUESTION. Ashburton, April 20. In moving tlio adoption of tlio report ami balance-sheet at tlio annual meeting of the Ashburton branch of tlio I'nriners , I'nioii thi.s afternoon, I lie eliairiiian (Mr. G. \V. Leadley) congratulated tlio fiirniing community on the position they found themselves in Unit day afler tlio clomi of another year. Tin.-, position was lairl.v satisfactory, and this could not be, said at the same time last year, when a partial failure of the crop.-; and scarcity ui feud made the position of the. farmer a very trying one. When sprinjj ciinio they were carrying iiisiijlicient stock to consume tli« feed, and this was resjionsiblo for tlio light wool clips. The;season just ended had, however, boon very successful, and tile Plains farmer had never had a year like it. The yields of grain had been phenomenal. The labour question was again before them, and he referred to it ljocnu.se of nn article that had appeared in the "Guardian" calling attention to the bud workmanship in building stacks. What was said was quite true, ami what was worse was that the same, things applied to other branches of farming wurk. lie had that morning seen soino ploughing that was disgraceful. It seemed Unit the men had lost their pride in their work, and with regard to stacking they could not get that efficiency and knowledge in a workman that was necessary. Jle knew of n man of 73 years of age who had had to build his own stack because he could not get a competent man to do file work. It was not the fanners' fault that tlio work was dono in such a perfunctory way. Prices of staple products wero good, and there wero prospects, with n probability of Continental markets being thrown open, of oven better prites. With regard to tho dairying outlook, it was distinctly good, and ho believed that in u short time they would find more fanners devoting their attention to dairying. Speaking of the political situation Mr. Leadley said he did jiot think it quite fair that the new Ministry should have, been subjected to bo much earning criticism as lvad been levelled at them. He saw no reason for tho sneers at the Hon. Thos. Mackenzie, whom ho thought.should bo commended for his courage in stepping into the breach. Some things that were being said of him had been said of .Mr. Seddon, who hnd falsified all statements modo against him. One thing stood out pre-eminently, and that was tho maintenance of the standard of exports both in quality and in quantity. The fact that our exports had fallen away by -Cu',ooo,ooo called for serious attention. Another matter to be considered was the largo proportion of people who lived in towns instead of helping to fructify the land.