BOARD OF AGRICULTURE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2641, 11 December 1915, Page 3

BOARD OF AGRICULTURE

LABOUR FOR THE HARVEST,

A meeting of tho Board of Agriculture was held 011 Thursday, Sir James Wilson, president of the board, occupying tho chair.

Amongst the correspondence dealt with was a letter referring to the amendment of the Fertilisers Act in regard to the differentiation of unit values in phosphates of varying solubility. The method of valuing fertilisers was discussed with Mr. Aston, tho Chemist of tno Department, and the hoard decided to recommend that steps be taken in the direction of amending tho New Zealand law so as to bring it iuto lino with similar Acts in other countries; also that the question of tho fineness of ground phosphate rock should bo considered. An offer to sell to tho New Zealand Government tho perpetual lease of a number of phosphate-oearing islands in tho Pacific engaged tlio attention and consideration of tho board. Careful inquiries were made in reference to the matter, and it was finally decided, after reports had been obtained from officers of the Department, that the present was not an opportune time to enter into any such negotiations, and' tho board could not therefcro recommend the Govermrietn to. go any- further in tho matter. A letter was received in reference to the collection of the sheep returns. After tho question had been considered it was decided not to make any further alteration in tho conclusion already arrived at, viz., that the returns should bo collected by the Department of Agriculture at April 30, as provided by the existing, law,' and that these figures should bo checked with the shearing tallies to be taken by the Government Statistician whon collecting agricultural and pastoral statistics as at January 81. A letter was also received from the Stratford A. and P. Association urging tho necessity for tho establishment of a model dairy farm in Taranaki. Tlie matter was, however, .deferi'W until the next meeting, to enable the board to confer with its local representative, who was unavoidably absent from the meeting through illness. Considerable time was occupied in the final discussion 1 of tlio report to tho Minister of Agriculture as to the best policy to be adopted in connection with' tho Experimental Farms. All the members of the board having • visited tho farms and presented exhaustive reports in reference thereto, the final report was drafted, and will be forwarded on to the Minister in due course. The board had an interview with Mr. Brodrick, the recontlj-appointcd UnderSecretary for Lands, with whom the question of forestry ivas discussed. The board expressed the hope that, even under the present financial strain, there would bo no curtailment of the usual planting in the face of the rapidly-ap- ■ proaching depletion of our timber sup- ! plies. . ■ I The question of experimental farms | and tho education- of cadets at these j institutions was discussed . with Mr. Pope, Secretary of Agriculture, and Mr. | Brownj Director of the Fields Division of the Department, and the hitter's views on the subject of. rural education were also fully detailed to tho hoard. Mr. Pope intimated to the board that top-dressing experiments had been started at Wallacovillo on the lines which had been suggested by the board at an earlier meeting. Unfortunately the members of tho board had not timo on this occasion to visit the plots, but they hoped to do so later when the experiments' were in a more advanced stage. The board also had an interview with Mr. Collins, of the Labour Department, lin referonco to the. subject of farm labour, particularly in view of the harvesting Mr. Collins read reports from officers of, his': Department throughout New Zealand, from which it appeared clear that the shortage of farm labour would not' bo so serious as at first contemplated, there being tfnly two or three districts whero a more than; average crop was expected: in other l districts owing to tho weather conditions causing tho crops to be light farmers, had in many cases decided to mutually assist ono another, and so it is hoped to cet over the difficulty of the shortage of labour-caused through the abnormal condition'of things existing at the present time. Messrs. Harcoufi and ' Co. advertise _ a 970-acro sheep-run for sale, in a good' district. Buyer will be given immediate pos--session, as -the present owner has enlisted. . , In tho oapital the'ltalian and Austrian Legations stand close together, only separated by a little garden whioli has been named "Isonzo."