The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1914. THE STATE AND THE FARMER

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2129, 22 April 1914, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1914. THE STATE AND THE FARMER

It is quite certain fcUni il the land industries o£ New Zwlittiul are to be kept up to the highost standard, and thus enabled to compete sueccssfullv with the products of other countries in the markets of the world, they must have the benefit of the best scientific knowledge, both- theoretical and practical. We mai'iot afford to kg behind in a matter of .wieh vital importance to aur national

p x*os pe vi fey Soittcthiti g ?lin s jbecii duriiig.fre«Mit. ; years -(•>."proiim(<;.".and improye ' tho agricultural, and !ipns'toriilnactivities of tin; but much.more/ stillr.rcniainssto. bc ! done. In,-a speech-nt' : Auckmiid.:on Saturdn tl Pi an; Mimvhu admitted that in the mutter of providing agricultural education'ior; us young men New Zealand is behind some, of tho countries "' with which it has to compels. -Most people probably were already aware of this, and. they will be more interested in the announcement that the -present Government has definitely promised to take action with the object of placing within the reach of the farmer!! all the help that modem agricultural science can give. New Zealand agriculturists have already done a great deal by means of organisation and co-operation to increase the quantity and improve, the quality of fa-rrti produce. They know the value 6f self-help and self-reliance; but tWrci are some things which call be done much more efficiently by the State than by voluntary co-operation, and the provision of at) up-t-o-dato system of agricultural education is one of them. We can learn a good deal from New South Wales and Canada in this matter, and the Prime Mijfrsten favours the idea of having an institution similar to that i!i New South Wales, which is supposed to be .'the best agricultural college south of the^ine,

Tho old idea that ho special knowlodge or training is necessary for a itan who desires to make his living off the land lias long been abandoned. To stand still "while other nations are going forward is equivalent to going backward. Agriculture owes an incalculable debt to scieofifie research, arid the ultiraalo and unexpected consequences of any line of experimental investigation may at any time prove of momentous irtipoftancoi .tn. a. recent Address os "Industry and Research," Prix cjwj> E. H. Gium-nts, of Bristol University, poiats out that no one could have- imagined that when Thompson and- in 1845, were engaged in determining the fall in temperature of a gas under high pressure when issuing from 'a fine orifice, they toot otilv Enabling ' mankind to secure a greater efficiency in all heat engines, but were also laying the foundations of those mdrtst-ri.es by which we are now able to apply almost unlimited stores of oxygen to many ahd varied manufactures. and rendering it possible by mechanical refrigeration to deliver. the meat of Australia and South Africa, and the fruits of the tropics at tij doora of the working men of Great Britain. Agykultural organisation sttid the use -of the latest scientific knowledge and mechanical inventions have given a- new life to rural Ireland, and a.rfi. putting a check on that great, exodus of population which has caused so much regret to those who have (he best interests of the country at heart. A similar movement has now iiiado si promising start in England. Its leaders are adopting the methods that hare proved so successful in Ireland, and it is hoped that before many years go by English agriculture will he placed on a much more satisfactory footing than it. is at the present time. The present position of the dairying industry in Canada v is particularly interesting and instructive-, For some .exports' fcaWKfigjoi falling off; hut the reason is not that the production has been less, but that there has been a surprisingly large increase in domestic consumption, due to the growth of the urban population, and to a great increase in the average individual consumption. The yield per cow per year has increased from 28501b. in 1901 to 35031b. in MtJ (83.5-per rent). Ift the course of a. vceenfc 'report, the Canadian Dairy Commissioner (Mr. Rtjddick) remarks that in 1000 tho home consumption was less than 64 per cent, of the total consumption, in WW it: was 75,7 pcy cent., and in 1913 it probably exceeded 80 per cent. In 1912, for the first time since 1549. ■ Canada- exported no butter to. Great.j Britain, and in 1913 also the ex-i sorts of butter to the Mother Country were practically non-existent. These facts have a hearing on New Zealand's trade, for if Canada is no longer to be a competitor in the English and other markets, it may mako openings for our produce. Great Britain will probably always he our principal market;, but. as the. Pimm Misistep. states, the Panama Canal will be of great use, in open* nig New York and other ports on the eastern seaboard of America to our products. Here, too, Canadian competition is fading away, for Mn. Ruddick is of ooinion that there is not any immediate prospect -of a -large quantity of either butter or cheese being- exported to the United States. "The cireiimstanees are sitebi" he- says, "that 'New Zealand and Australian butter is far mors likely to supply tho demand than Canadian" As the international value of butter is lower than the ruling nrice nromises to be in Canadc, it niay be taken for grantee that Canadian butter exports will practically cease,, at any rate for-tlio nresent. New_ Zealand must, make the- best- use of its nresent. opportunities. and to do this it is necessary to take advantage of all that education. seience, and organisation, can do for the purpose of. keeping our products up to the hiirliest standard of Quality at tho emalkst possiblecost of dutpuf-