Agricultural and pastoral.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 562, 23 March 1868, Page 3

Agricultural and pastoral.

AGUI CU L T UIIE I A 0 TAGO [Prom the Otago Daily Times.]

The status which our Province holds, aerriculturally, is not of a high character. Ap patently contented with the production of th.o common, though indispensable, items ot corn and potatoes, our farmers seem brought to a standstill when the results of these yields is so tar below the cost of production as to leave a balance on the w'-m* side cf the account. • No country is in id [prosperous condition when the requisites of! existence, wau.-u its soil and climate are) lifted to produce, realise less than a fair return to the man who devotes his energies to their supply. It matters not whether the products be food raised by the “round, in corn and cattle ; clothing,'in fibres and wool; or reproductives, "in seeds and stock; —the same rule holds good in each case ; ' so that if every producer turn his attention to the one department, the returns are far in excess, while from the other two they are sensibly deficient Hitherto with us, the energies of agriculturists have been devoted to raisin:; oats, wheat, and potatoes, and, in a subsidiary degree, barley, mangold, and turnips, whils't other articles have been altogether overlooked or forgotten. The result has been that, from the ruinously low prices ruling, for the past season especially, the depression has been felt by all, aval a feeling of indifference to, or want of confidence in, the occupation has gained a stronghold on the minds of the settlers, and lias resulted generally in a determination to abandon cropping, and turn attention entirely to tlesh ana wool. The cry has lately been : “ Get everything under grass : ploughing won t pay ; wheat at -Is 6d, and oats at 2s 3d, with potatoes at £3 10-, will not yield enough to pay wages, let alone a margin for cur own trouble and profit.” That there has been goad ground for complaint, is well as hope for u change, no one can ueny ; but how long is it to lasi P leach arriving mail brings news that the value of wool is declining ; while it must be clear to every one, that if all our farmers are enj gaged producing mutton, with our limited (population tile consumption will never j amount to what c an bo raised and disposed jof annually. The high prices which have ]lor so long a period been obtained for jwool, making the occupation of the runi holder a matter of covetous desire, seem to | have passed for the present, and a reaction, itluoatcning that branch of industry, has j apparently s.-t in, whilst the value of grain dtas in the liomc markets, which must regulate ours, been steadily increasing, until at a highly remunerative point. | At hat the fanner ought to do, ami what it j will be our steady aim to assist him in do- | mg, is to strike out some new course, to) I follow some new path, to abandon the I I bent.-n track, and Low out a line, which,! j though it may not appear so casv at fir.-t sight, act possesses all the requisites for the speedy attainment of succes. Nature- ■ has liberally furnished the colony with her .choicest gifts : a splendid climate, a fertile [soil, facilities for labor, and many other I advantages, ail conducing to make it. instead of an importer of necessaries, a liberal contributor to less favored count vies One serious disadvantage our farmers labor under, remarking of them as a class, and that is, they have not been brought up in their profejtk n. Too many entertain the belief that if a man has been orosperous as n carpenter, a inercimnt, a sailor, or a packer, bo can retire to purse the oommou life of a funner. It is a great mistake, whicn those who have tried the experiment will be the first to confess ; and in our reniams subsi oucntly, the idea of a Training Farm and School, as well as other leading incentives, will find a hearty advocate.