The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, NOVEMBER 20, 1901.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 267, 20 November 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, NOVEMBER 20, 1901.

AGRICULTURAL DEPARTME NT. The ninth annual report of the New Zealand Lepartment of Agriculture is to hand, and we have pleasure iu congratulating the Department on the excellence of the production. There is much in volume that is of deep interest to the farmer, and that which interests the producer should of necessity interest the whole community, though, unfortunately, we must admit that it is not always so. The volume is nicely got up from a typographical t point of view, and therefore is a credit to the Government printing office, but the pleasing feature specially is that the information contained has been so well put together. That which takes the class of the theoretical is yet so akin to the practical that no one can describe the volume as too bookish. Even the photographs of the staff areinteresting, as they enable one to some extent to judge of the class of men who are providing the information. A farmer is above all things an observer: if he is not it may safely he said that he is a very poor farmer, and among the observations ho likes to make is that of judging of those by whom he !is offered advice. In all earnestness we say that the illustrations given convey an exccdlent impression in that respect; the staff have just the appearance; that we! can imagine would be appreciated by good old Sir John Mclxeuxie, to whom really belongs the credit of making the Department such au importaut one, and of such great value to the farming community. He knew what was wanted, ned though many at first laughed at the idea, and treated it as a good political joke, we think there are now none who will do otherwise than in all earnestness express their appreciation of the good work being done by the Department. The pity is that the £6O which the members so bare-facedly took from the Treasury chest as a payment to themselves for services rendered were not applied to some such useful purpose as that of extending the work of the Department of Agriculture. We hope at least that the commandeering politicians will consider it their duty to study the annual report of the Department and the much good advice tendered therein:

they probably would not appraise their own value the less for so doing, but the}' would at least be able, perhaps, to show that they are taking some interest in the practical work of the country by which the money they deal with so lightly is provided. The volume contains much that is of interest in all branches of the farm, so much that we cannot make any attempt in one article to analyse any portion of the book: indeed we doubt if it would be fair to the writers to attempt to do so, and at least for the time being we will not make any such attempt.