TORQUAY FARM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 184, 30 April 1919, Page 7

TORQUAY FARM

A VALUABLE UNDERTAKING

POSSIBILITIES IN THE FUTURE

•'..••..'.(From Our■. Own Correspondent) ri, ,• • London, March 10.' • As I stated in my letter last week a . proposal is afoot for the ultimate con- . version, of the New Zealand depot farm Torquay into a permanent training establishment for prospective immigrants ,to the Dominion.' The .advantages to be Rained by 6ome system of trying-out of would-be settlers are obvious enough, and it is a question whether the Government would not bo. well advised,to continue the farm themselves as an immigration depot. • ■'■•

An area of about a thousand acres has been taken' in hand at Torquay, and broken in' from the rough'. An excellent idea' of the work being carried on is Riven in. a recent report by Captain W. F. King,''of the'N'.Z.M.G.C., which the Director of 'Education'has permitted me to draw upon. • Early in 1915 1 , when all. efforts in England were being direoted to infteasing the national food production,- the authorities at our.Torquay Depot took up some unused! land in the neighbourhood, snd placed it undef cultivation, The object in view was a double one, to provide food, and to find profitablo.'occupa-. tion of a congenial natilre for; the militarily and,convalescent men in tile depot. Captuin M'Gowan. well-known in New Zealand as a successful' potatogrower at Willow Bridge, Canterbury, was appointed to take charge of all farmiflg operations, and it is to him that the subsequent successful history of the enterprise is mainly due.

Heathfield Farm. The land now being worked comprises two farms near Torquay, and areas in fruit and vegetable garden, etc!, adjacent to the depot, itself. The Heathfield Farm consists of a'number of portions of the estate of Lord' Clifford of Chudleigh, who lias give)} it rent free.- It is about twelve miles from Torquay and four miles from Newton Abbot. When taken over the land-had not been .cultivated for many years, and was covered with tall fern, heather, bracken, and moss. The first ploughing was difficult, but after being broken in the land proved to bo well suited to agricultural purposes. ' '-•

Captain King Rives tho following summan- of' the work done last season: A paddock sown half in carrots and half in parsnips-yielded twenty-five tons and ten tons respectively. 1"our acres of vory swampy land produced good crops of potatoes find onions. -A. small field of one and'three-quarters acres gave sixty bushels of oats. Another field of .twelv'o acres,.yielded ten tons of beetroot from three acres; three to four acres of cabba Kes, one and a half acres of good carrots (raised on land sown in the autumn with_ spring cabbage), and'two acres of turnips. Potatoes, -were grown on-five find l a half acres of light soil. Tho varieties were Erin Chief, Royal Kidney, and Evergood. The ground, was manured' with 3cwt. superphosphate per aore, sown in the drills before planting, and as a-top-dressing before earthing up; ■ The ci;op was sprayed three times, and yielded from seven to eight tons per acre of clean', early .potatoes. Another . 6even and a quarter acres of Erin Chief potafoes. treated in the same way, yielded eight to nine ton's, per acre. • The large kitchen'garden at the . farm' has produced good crops of peas, beans, • marrows,_ and early potatoes. About' twenty pigs are kept, and fed almost entirely on small potatoes and scraps. This year an area of thirty-two acres, devoted last-year to oats, will.be sown in wheat. The number of men employed varies from forty lo seventy. Captain Salmon has been in charge of the men, and Sergeant Epps of .the farming operations. Lust.leigh Farm. The other outlying property taken in hand is Lustleigh"/Farm, three miles from Bovey Triicey, and eighteen miles from Torquay. It is part of tho TorQuay Corporation's catchment area, and is given rent free.,-by ..an -:arrangement under -,which" the. corporation provides the seeds, manures, etc., and shares the woduce. The local food Production Committee supplied , one tractor and an expert to work it. The N.Z.I-MV has siiico purchased thrco other tractors.'/. ■ The land was in a practically virgin Btate when taken over It was covered with a heavy growth, of heather, fern,' and moss, the soil was interspersed with' i^u? 6 roc ks. and- was made still more difficult by the presence of numerous rabbit warreiu. To bring this land under tho plough the fern was first cleared with hooks'by hand and the land worked with a cultaivator drawn by a /tractor. On an area ,of 115 acres potatoes wu<i then ploughed under -with the tractor. A yield of aboift .four tons per acre of salepotatoes was obtained, which is considered a fair crop for the district, j his area is to be 6owii in oats this year. Another fifty acres of similar laud was sown with Black Tartarian oats, but only a fair crop of about, twelve bushels per acre was. obtained, as the dry season had prevented the rotting of the fern plough<u in. This area will be sown m oats this year.

During the present year a further 143 acres has been taken over from the corporation. This was. broken in last yearby English , soldiers, and will be'sown in oats,

_ The potatoes grown at Lustleigh havebeen sold in the market, and the oats taken over by, the prices fixed by the Government. • n he potato crop was manured with icwt.' of basic slag per acre, and later top-dressed with either uitrato of soda or ammonia at the rate of 2cwt. per aero, . .The oats were top-dressed with 3cwt. of superphosphate per acre when about three jnches high. '

>• The Tractors and' Their Work. ' A feature of the Lustleigh Farm is the. extent to which mechanical tractors takn the placo of horses. Particulars of the. three different kinds in use were supplied toX'aptain King by the expert in charge. ■ The Fordson . is. a 22k.p. machine,, 4cylinder, costing ,£250. It draws a twofurrow plough, and consumes three gallons of kerosene and quarter of a gallon of lubricating oil per acre. Requires one pint of petrol to heat vaporiser. One man only is required'to work it, but it is better to have, two, so that one can relieve the other. Will draw practically every implement used in farming, but as the engine is .not governed it cannot be used lor stationary work, • The Titan, 10-20h.p., 2-cylinder, costs ■ <6400. It draw 3 a three-furrow plough, or a four-furrow on easy - land; consumes four gallons of kerosene 'and half a gallong of lubricating oil per acre. Requires one pint of petrol to' heat vaporiser. Two men required to work it. Can be used to draw cultivators, etc., but is not so handy as the Fordson. Can be used for stationary work or on roads. • The third,machine, the Cleveland tractor, is ol' the caterpillar type. ■ It has only just lecently uvrived on tho' farm, and beyond that .it promises well, no particulars are available.

. •• .Since September last 21 men have been taught the use _of tractors and are now competent drivers.. . Repairs to the tractors. and farm implements are carried out in the "workshop on the farm, and the men thus get a practical knowledge of this work.

Some 75 men are employed on the Lustleigh Farm. Linutenant Hulbert is in charge of the men, and Sergeant Cochrane of the farming operations. As at Ileathfield, the men are housed in marquees.

< Work at Torquay Quarters. At Hampton House and Unison, where the Torquay companies are quartered, tho large fruit and vegetable gardens attached to the residences have been cultivated to the limit of tlioir capacity.. Much •produce has been raised, and numbers of men have received useful training in market-gardening and fruit-growing. At Daison about 50 pigs (Black Devon and Yorkshire)-are kept. They are fed entirely on scraps and refuse from the canips,- and in tho market command prices quite equal to those obtained by local farmers, who maintain'that barley meal is essential to bring a pig to good market condition. The pigs are housed in wooden styes with fern litter, and the yards are-floored with clinker from the destructor.

About 80 acres of rough, hitherto uncultivated, land at Petit Tor golf links has been broken in with some difficulty, and good, crops of oats and hay harvested. • •

In summing up his observations, Captain King says that owing to the very special circumstances in which they are , carried out it'is difficult to make an,v statement as to the financial aspects ot the farming operations. The men cmployed are receiving useful training when ..they would otherwise be wasting their time in camp and drawing their pay and rations in any case., Economy of labour has thus not been a consideration. Then land was worthless and yielding no return at nil when taken up, and nil the work done represents an increase in its value. A large quantity ot foodstuffs was produced at a time when it was badly needed, and the purposes for which the land was taken up are being well fulfilled. It is.understood that the work will be carried on to the end of the coming season at any flats.

I am told that one enterprising English Tommy who intends to settle in New Zealand has of his own initiative gone to Torquay, secured lodging in the town at h.s own expense, and been given permission to learn New Zealand farming methods on tho farms anu in tlio classes' at the depot,