FARMING IN OTHER LANDS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2362, 19 January 1915, Page 8

FARMING IN OTHER LANDS

[ ( - PAHIATOA: RESIDENT'S TOTJR.. : Mr. A. M'Fariane,- ex-chairman of !■. fcho Ballance:Co-operative Dairy Com- !". : pany, Ltd.y who left Pahiatua last May i on a visit to/the Old Country and other. Hands, and-; returned to Pahiatua. last j-..' iweek', made .'Borne interesting .observaI . .tions'onhis'tour to a "Herald" reI porter. Both as a dairy farmer and |. -as a member- of : the Wellington Har- ,•■■■ ■ jbour Board,; Mr. H'Farlane was much !■'.. interested in the facilities for the hand- [ ■ 13ing of New Zealand.produce at Home. [■ JThe new ;Bristol service, regarding [•'.-,. W. D, Lysnar, of Gisborne, !■■•'' iaddrcssed a meeting in Pahiatua. some S [time ago, was described by Mr.. M'FaT- * ■ Jlane as being; a •-very, fine •one. ' The L— {Port of London was better than he had !' expected, considerable improvements no ; jddubt having been brought about by the |', /establishment of the rival Bristol Comi The barges in .which the frozen i-.- meat was placed seemed nice.and clean,; iand.ho saw very. few."broken..shanks. New Zealand butter,,he found, stood f in excellent favour at Home, "and the iprospects for both . our butter and- ;.-' cheese were exceptionally bright-4n L fact, they were never better.- Owing' ["' *to the war, supplies from various ■ sources had been'cut off. ' Moreover, !■ 'Denmark had experienced a dry season, t'...,. 'and this would prove annothor factor in I ■'"'' the New Zealand trade. I '-Large quantities of produce,were need-. ; ed to feed the troops. ' Each soldier ! Vwas allowed four ounces of cheese. peT !■■ 'day, so it looked as though cheese would i..' -do remarkably.well this season. Margarine, however) was a. serious competiV .tor to butter. It was. sold at sd. and I 6d. a lb., and many people hardly rel: cognised any diffeernce botwe'en it and ) abutter.

In Ireland, Mr. M'Farlane found that ithere were no very large .'suppliers to ithe dairy factories. . One. factory, 'which turned out 200 tons of butter, iihad 800 suppliers. Although so close .to the market, the price paid to snp■pliers for butter-fat was only Is.: per jib., and tho cost of,manufacture was ss.

jper cwt. Women ' were' employed in She factories, and, strange: to say, ;no jmilk was delivered on Sundays. Mr. ■■■ 'M'Farlane admired the .green field? of ■the Emerald Isle. Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and .Hamburg were'visited. .In. Denmark he found intense farming, greatly in yegue, and the Danes appeared to do very well on their small .*' holdings. There were no fences, and no hedges of :any size. The stock were all tethered in lines, horses included. The Danes liad a special herd of their own, a dark ■rod cow, but in Holland, and Sweden the Holsteins.iwere kept.; ;The Danes "bought'a great quantity of winter feed for their herds,-. They; had "a good cusitomer in America for-their.butter. He stated that :.';thr'ee';: firms 'in London •bought two-thirds of the' Danish output. "A very fine people" is Mr. jVl'Farlane's description- of tbe -Danes. :Tu Sweden, he-attended a largOxhibition, and also' »aw something' of the numerous water-power schemes in that country. .;•;;;' Referring .to his visit to Hamburg, ,'Mr. M'Farlane said that Germany was /the only country in his travels where he '■'saw in navvying. ,'iWomen weroialso;to be seen in tho "fields, while the men were drilling in barracks. . 'Mr.-M'Farlaiio's .observa 7 :«ons of cultured Germany were mostly from a railway oarriago. There secnitd to have- been excellent seasons, for ho noticed some splendid crops.