FARMING & COMMERCIAL

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2821, 12 July 1916, Page 10

FARMING & COMMERCIAL

NFWS AND NOTES,

COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURE

ANNUAL.CONFERENCE OPENING DAY'S BUSINESS - Tha New Zealand Council of Agricultnre opened its...annual conference in ~Wellington, yesterday. Mr. W. l'erry, of . Masterton, presided at the commence- . ment, and subsequently Mr. W. D. Hunt, - - Southland, was appointed president, u/id -took the chair. . - The conference was opened Ly the Min--ister of Agriculture (Hon. W. D. S. _ Mao Donald). He .expressed pleasure at - seeing 6uch a tine representation of tlio producing industries. The A. and I'. .-'".Societies had been doing a great work, ■and tlb industries of the land were advancing and-progressing. This was a —very comforting fact in these times, when -food for the arhi'ies' was so urgently —needed.;; Those/who had paid close attention to farming had made a great suc-■-cesa of it, but there were some branches -ot agriculture which needed greater care. •Ho doubted if sufficient attention was 1 - given by the A. and P. Societies to the -dairying industry. Effort was being made -by the Agricultural Department to de--vclop the manure resources of the Do-. ' minion. Prices for our produce were now - higher .than ever before, but after the ■ .-witr the taxation would be so heavy that • the farmers would, need to be thoroughly .-.•well versed in the best methods of pro"duction and development. Never in the - history.of New Zealand had it been so ..'"necessary that the. Agricultural Depart- ■ ment and the A. and P. Societies should 'give advice and instruction to those who ' were going on the land. Among those . : entering the farming business would'be v ""many returned soldiers. After the conference, if tho members wished legisla-, tiye efffct to bo given to their, decisions, '"their repersentations would have every consideration, but he would remind them "■'that i little except war legislation would J:>e dealt with this year. He trusted that "before the conference met again ,the .war would be over, but while the war lasted ' "jjvery effort miist be made by the farmers to do their part. The Work of the Year. In the course of a resume of the work "of the council for the year, Mr. Perry said that up to the present time the; ":bulk of . the tarmers of New Zealand had s /"Been simply taking from the, soil what ■'Nature put there.: That; could not go. bn" for long without serious results, and there were some parts which showed deterioration already, through the too frequent growth of dry' crops.'■'_"We of to-day," he continued, "have nocohcep-, ,tion of the amount'of produce New Zealand'will yield under.intense cultivation. :'Professor Creelman, of Canada, is credited with saying, .when leaving New Zealand in 1914, that his people would not , believe' him when he fold th'em what some of the land in Nejy- Zealand could? produce) and up to the present the soil had only been scratched. Every effort should be made to obtain an abundant; supply of manures at a'reasonable pricefor New Zealand; there- is nothing,, to i I my _ mind, which , will 'increase ,the. pros'■parity of the country, to the same ex-, tent. Farmers generally are very; much; in the dark on the'- question of. what manures to use. This information can only bo obtained by practical. experiments, with careful records of results. This work has not been carried out in .. the past by the. Department of'Agrcul-' . ture to the extent it should have.'been.' Had the money which has been spent trying to breed stud stock been used on the above, New Zealand would have Seen far., better off to-day, but thero is -every. promise of a complete change for the better before long. Excellent work is being carried out on the experimental farms in plant selection. One of the difficulties is to grow enough selected seed to be. able to sell commercial quantities. : This, no doubt,''will be overcome." :

.. .. Board of• Agricultures Repack ?'Mr. .-Perry also, read 'a long,, report from "the Board of Agriculture covering a num;b6r of the .subjects dealt' with: by the •Jast conference. 1 Extracts from" this re•portare:--' . . , ""Analysis of Sceds.-rln connection with tho analysis ,oi. seeds, the: fanners and merchants have been taking much greater

advantage latterly of the biologist's work in getting their samples of seed analysed, and the germinating qualities determined, and the board has recommended the Control of Seeds Bill, but at the present moment there stems to be liKle chance of anything being done in connection therewith owing to the war. , ■ ' Afforestation.—AH the remits passed at your council in connection with this important subject have had our careful consideration and support. The board has realised to the fullest extent the utmost' necessity for continuing re-affores-tatiou. We lißye urged liiuo and again that the Minister should extend this work, lie has, however, always pointed to the war as a reason for not planting a greater extent than has been done, •'•he board has a ' number of resolutions in connection with this subject which have been passed on to the Government. One of them is as follows: "That the board recommends to the Eight Hon. the Minister of Agriculturo that the Rev. J. H. Simmonds be asked to write a pamphlet xV 1 * }i r trees suitable for planting in New Zealand for both timber and shelter purposes; also to give his opinion as to how the trees should be planted. The printing of the pamphlet to be paid for by the Forestry Department, antl a suitable remuneration made to Mr. Simmonds compiling the pamphlet." We are i ii.* that the .Minister agreed to this proposal, and Mr. Simmonds has visited most of the eucalypt plantations.

Sand Dunes—The board asked the Minister to establish a small experimental nursery alongside the sand dunes in the Kangitikei district, but this has,not been acceded to on the score of want of funds for that purpose. It might mean' the expenditure of .£IOO, and trees would be ~ plfint when money was available to plant the dunes. Phosphates and Other Manures. Phosphates and ArtiHcial Manures.— The board fully recognises the great importance this matter is to the flew Zealand farmers; nearly the whole of the . aI T ! n ' New ZealaU£l , according to Mr. Aston 6 analysis, is wanting in tnis plant icod. fc'o long as the board is in existence it will never lose : an opportunity of securing or suggesting, whero possible, means of supplying the fanners with the cheaper phospnatio manure. There is some hope that the. islands which have been tafcen from , the Germans may assist us in this direction, but that matter must bo left until after tho war. All offer has been made -of a. deposit somewhere near that in Sofaga Bay, but the board hao no information yet on 'the subject. An offer of an .island somewhere in the ( Pacific was also made through, an agent in New Zealand to the Government, but; on inquiry and consideration of the reports at its disposal the board did not think it advisable to recommend the ' Government to go any further in that matter. ; of Sheep Lice.—This question was referred by your council to the ■board, and, after a report was drawn up by the committee i of the board on the sub•ject, the following resolution was passed:—(l) That as systematic, an inspection of sheep of farms as is possible be carried, out by inspectors, in order to see 'that tho provisions of the Act regarding dipping are properly carried out. In this duty inspectors to'act .as far as possible on the lines of advising farmers and making them realise tho necessity and advantage of proper dipping, and only to adopt serious measures'when they are not amenable to reason. It is -recognised that before this can be done a larger staff of 'inspectors is needed. (2) For. fulfilling the legal requirements of the Act in the matter of dipping, only dips approved for, the purpose to be •used, these approved dips to be poisonous. (3) Saleyard inspection of sheep to be continued. (4). Advice to farmers ill tho form of lectures, leaflets, and Press articles on proper methods of dipping, the right kind of water to use, etc., to bo freely disseminated, and a general vigorous educational policv on the whole question to Ire adopted.

The Value of Lime. •« r " uu t read '« paper on ."Lime and Its Application to Soils."'Hr. ,Hunt said that the'first to use lime in connection with agriculture on an extensive scale in. this .country was the New Zealand and Australian Land Company on its Edendale Estate in Southland." It ;made a beginning in 1890, during which year it limed about 200 acres. Lime was used in three forms :-(l) Burnt shell lime; (2) burnt'ground lime; (3) ground carbonate of lime or raw lime. ''He''re-' .commended the application of lime at the rate- of two tons 1 per acre. As to the relative values of. 1 burnt lime-aiid carbonate of lime, lie said that in every case, and from every point of view, the carbonate of.-'' lime gave the better . results. The outlook was that the' price ; .of burnt lime would not lie reduced, while that for carbonate of lime would be Teduced.- : Tho : effect, of lime, in the south,, where .the land had been thoroughly drained, was marvellous. . The greatest" benefit was derived by grass'. Mr. Hunt added that he spoko of the conditions as lte had fonnd them in Southland and .South Otago. It was resolved that the Board of Agriculture should be asked to make inquiries as to the practicability of obtaining

cheap lime in districts where it is not now available. Resolutions Arrived At. The following motions were adopted:— That a uniform system of counting points prizes at shows should lie adopted, and that the executive should, beforo the conference rises, propose a system of the points to be allotted. That the affiliated societies be requested to revise their lists of judges before September 30, and that the executive publish a full list of the recommendations this year.—(Masterton.) That this council again approach the Government with n strong request to introduce legislation exempting bona fide Agricultural and Pastoral Association show grounds from local bodies' taxation. —(Mnnawatu.) That it be a recommendation to the Breed Associations or the Stud Book authorities of New Zealand that they should make it publicly known in countries where New Zelaand stock is sold that no stock should be recognised as studs unless accompanied by a certificate from the Breed Association or Stud Book authorities for animals registered therewith.— (Canterbury.) According to the present law, farmers are compelled to brand lambs not latsT than six months old. This conference is of the opinion that the time allowed should be up to nine months old.— (Gore.) That it be a recommendation to the various Sheepbreeders' Associations of New Zealand to have all sheep for export carefu.lly inspected and approved of as being typical of the particular breed. —(Bomney Marsh Association.) The conference stands adjourned till 9.30 this morning.