LABOUR SHORTAGE ON THE FARM.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1735, 28 April 1913, Page 8

LABOUR SHORTAGE ON THE FARM.

GRAIN GROWING CU.'KTATLKD, (By Telegraph.—l'resa Association.) .... Waimaie, April 2fi. At tlid annual moclitiy of ilie Waimnle branch of Iho l'annors' Ujiion this afternoon, Wk> president, Mr. A. GurJiiml, in to-the ao.uto position brought about by tho shortage of farm workers and also tho t'h reals from tho Shearers/ t'odemtion, advocated tho technical iiiHiruchon of farmers' kius in -shearing, filaughtcruig, rte., as (he only means of effectually combating tho unreasonable (lemnnds on tlio pari of the uorkci\->. and at the vSiinio time -carrying the farming over tho approaching pm'od of ■v-ery serious restriction of outputs. Personally Mr. Garland did not think tho 'thrcslnn-g question would be so acuto next season, as there would not bo much grain S/i! i • . r * G-nrl«ml added that "tho difficulty in obtaining ploughmen last year had the effect of restricting the area tor grain. Tho same difficulty is prorenting itself .again this year in a- minor degree.. As soon as potato digging starts fnV'- n • s P' o,, ohmen. leave their jobs. J Ins is natural enough. Tho only remedy jor it is the orcction of cottages on or near the farms, and married men employed inMoad of single. Under prcbcnt circumstances formers are getting sick of the work > ftlt , aehod to grain growing, and nro restricting their operations, in foot so much so that New Zealand will probably nave to import wheat to feed her own people. This will mean, .another rise in the cost of living, while at the eame time work will bo harder to' obtain. It will ahfl affect the implement makers and the iinsn. employed at thorc works. No doubt the aversion of tho Labour leaders to immigration is due to the mistaken idea, that the lower men available tho higher will be the price of labour. They do not seo that the result will be to turn arable land into sheep walks, reducing the work available proportionally to the labour available. .In the meantime it is useless opening" up agricultural land'.for settlement, when there iS not enough labour available to work it. The number of applications for grazing country at recent ballots, against the number for agricultural, proves the correctness of what I am saving/' % J

Iho meeting voted 10s. to the Technical School Board on condition that a shearing icluss is started. The Technical nchool lias already turned out a scoro of expert rounjj wool classers working in the ivoolskcds.