A PLEA FOR "MODEL" FARMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1550, 20 September 1912, Page 8

A PLEA FOR "MODEL" FARMS.

SOME SOUND SUGGESTIONS. I'll? question of ttio establishment of ci> pevimont farms, agricultural colleges, anil schools is receiving a good deal of attention in.Canterbury j'uscnowy and the following interesting contribution bearing 011 tho subject is miufti by a successful dairyman. ... ~

.the farmer in question, in stating his views lo:a-representative of the 'Tress/' fcaid: * v !"' . : •

.i wsonally ,1 flni 'strongly of the.opin-. Jon thut.it would 'be a great mistake if jnoro.experimental'fawns aro established in -Canterbury, It would moan a considerable, expenditure. of. public money, and ? .'think ..tho'exptMuliture,would be justified. 'A« -it is,, an enormous number or .experiment' are"carried ' out on cooperative lines by tho Agricultural Deportment every season, and surely enough data should be gathered from this work to,rentier tho establishment of an .experimental farm unnecessary. If this is not tho case, then 1 think tho co-op&ratjvfr experiments are < more or less of a failure. . If thd-co-operative experimen{c? are'.doing I all that-thoy should <|o, aiul nre expected to tlo, then the' work on a special farm ! •*vo"ld bo mere- duplication and wasteful., Any. intelligent farmer should bo able-to cairj out experiments. The Department is very helpful'in the matter, and is willing to supply seeds of all kinds,^manure 4 :' niul a schomn work on,.hud .if the larm<ir .will • <lovliis--part :, nii(rc-nrry out the. instructions faith'fiilJ.v,': tho e'xperi-' nicnts-»liou;!d 'He - eveii ■ more Trtliiabld' t hnji work; that wonM bo done on nil experiJoeiitaf farm, becau«' th(. results would bo applicable to the district in which they wer» _ rantoa,' irHerca?. the results on. the htate-farms might 1» of littlo nso to'a raau whosfi. soil ..nud; climatic conditions lire, diffsrout. • Farmer*, from ror nice, don t take niuclv interest in 'oxnerijnonts,■ and a lot'of the work that is-done. ln : i.district is wasted, .except in'the rathfT raro instances where a man takes tho. troll bio to go aud look at-'it.'. V.. ■ , -Yy. I ' (^Pa i s 'hat the Governmentshoulrl establish- not an experimental farm, but, a model fnr.m. By. a model farm T do not meali'a pla'ce run.*on cxfrovaff.'int.li'iips • /. ■ but. a form run b.v jv.thoroiiirhlv capnblo and practical mail,' who; with iio better soil or implements'.,and with lib. more labour than the average farmer can n fiord to use, will show aI: the ond of th» rears working that he has inonev oft the place than ninotv-nine.ont of a hundred of the farmers in tho Doininlon call do. Dairying, i>-going to be a hie thins, .in Canterbury/ ... . ■. and Ithink that.if the 'Government established a model dairy farm on the lines I-have mentioned,' and a model cropping farm, w here it was proved: by reail practice and hard facts, that by the improved syshm of working used, and with no more ifaeilitles than are at tho disnosal of auv 'fai--Jner, a much biwer profit could -1w ma,le. it would be worth a. dozen, or a gross for that matter, of purely experimental farms. As regards the suggesied wodsl dairv 'if liec '' ' }0 ' °f a greater area tlittn fifty acres, and shnnlcl'be situated on reasonably good land, handy to a main J, . n 9. station where all trains stop, so that visitors amid easily walk to it from tho station. . Tito .manager should be aviiiln! .°, at all times, so that farmers who visited, the .place could be .taken over the farm, .and, t.Jie why and where/or of every operation, fully.cxijlainod to ,the-ii„if. they cared ,to ask., >Hic Ao operations and . methods, including, matters, of • finance, should be freely open to incinirers of tfie farming commimitv, so that they might bo inforjned ritrht'dowh to. the mmntest details. - -Tho farm conld bb started with such implements and labour and with a herd of such a quality that the average farmer uiightTeasoiiably ..l)o expected to be' in a oositidii" to'.'geV as pood.fjJjeCausa.tlie.gradtial grading up.of. the 1151-4., would .prove >,0. .>mo=t valuable ob j ectrZesson It. would . spoil the valuo of the plac_e to a. great extent if the herd was . specially selected'from'.record milkers in the first place, the results would only shoir what could he <lono limler circumstanees so favourable that the majority of farmers would.not bo'able' to go and do 'likewise. * Jf, .in the course of a few years, tho manager of 1 thß farm not-ablo.'-to-slio'w conclusively that he wrts gettiug' a 'hiUch"better l'oturn. by Jus supposedly better system, than other dairy farmers in the province, then, «o far as;l'-can see,'the farm would bo serving no good purpose, because, .it would snow- that Ins methods, when put to the great and only reliable test of actual financial results, were ho better than those in vogue-at the present time. On the fhini there should,be little difficulty in showing dairv fanners that their methods can be improved greatly.