NEED FOR INSTRUCTION IN AGRICULTURE.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 February 1924, Page 4

NEED FOR INSTRUCTION IN AGRICULTURE.

MORE AND BETTER PRODUCE MUST BE EXPORTED. An eloquent plea Tor linking up the basis of tin- country's prosperity with science "its liuule hv i’roiessor J. Macmillan Brown, (.'lianrollor of the University of New Zealand, ;it the

iinmiitl meeting of the Senate at ('lirist churl'll. "There is a conM-iousness abroad that most lit tlie advantages ol a virgin soil lin vo been exhausted and that ilit- farmer uma be aided by tlie experience of others, but most of till by scientific investigation,” said the Chancellor. •-Partners are no longer tlie ntyst prosperous section of the community as is shown by the large percentage of bankruptcies amongst them during the last two or three years. The high prices of their produce during wtir lime raised the price of land in many districts beyond the limit of its profitable employment. And if the price of wool and dairy produce and mutton were to fall, our fundamental industry, and. as a consequence, the well are ol the whole country would be in direst peril. ONLY WAY TO AVOID DISASTER. "Arc we to stand passively by and lot the storm strike us? Should we not forestall this by no means improbable fall of prices? Is it wisdom to shut our eyes to the only method ot forestalling it? By no effort ol legislation or arbitration or diplomacy will wo be able to place- prices back where they were; by no rearrangement of taxation or proprietorship or public burden.-, will we In* able to stave otf the descent of rewards for labour. There is. one way and one way alone to meet

such a disaster, and that is to tint! out how to "make two ears of corn of two blades of grass to grow upon a spot nf ground iilterc only one grew before.' All othei methods are but toying with the calamity and aggravating its results. To export more and better produce is the only economic way of retaining the real value ol rewards of labour in such ciroumslauces. Of course! one of the methods of taking this way is to work longer anil Harder. But there is a mote efficient method, and that is what the Canterbury pioneers had in their mind when they founded as an essential part of a university institution an agricultural college. They meant to little up the basis of the country's prosperity with science. "There lias been no necessity till now to make the School of Agriculture other I bait an institution for teaching youths how to farm good land such as it was endowed with. Every year has seen good land near to populous centres or to good road and railway facilities grow clearer, and resort lias to be had to poorer land or to land far beyond the reach of roads and railways. The great development <■! dairying with seietit i!i< ally equipped creameries and careful supervision and grading of the produce exported has again postponed the necessity of the application of science to agriculture That we are approaching the stage at witich this will force itself upon the atlcntion of llmse it ho seek the best vse 1 tilro of the country is shown by ninnv evidences.

YOUTH MUST BE T.U OIiT RlOll'l METHODS.

"There are three ways in which agriculture may be made inure ellieieut and productive,” continued t’rotos.-oi-Brim ti. "The most dirc'-t is that oi teaching the youth of the country the right methods and tin reasons tor them. The Lincoln School of Agriculture was supposed to do this. But it cannot accommodate move, than three or four (iuagn, and what are they

ami'ii"-,t tho thousand-- of fanners that have to he guid'd into more efficient wavs? Another disadvantage is Lliat. it has one of tho finest pieces of land to farm and lf> farm: h : 'v« now to he ■ flow to manage for the hesl the grcnL varieties of qualities of land and the still gre.iter varieties of conditions, especially climate and rainfall that- a country like New Zealand. Ivin" across the latitudes ns it dues presents is a problem that cannot he taught on such a high-class farm with hut one set ol climatic conditions. The practical teaching must vary with every province, if not every locality. And where are we to find the teachers sufficiently trained in the i undaineiital principles and method;- ol the agriculture of its locality. Anil lor a supply of such teachers there is nowhere to look but to the university and the university colleges. The hoys from the farms, ms well as hoys from the towns, must he drawn into the colleges to study the scientific principles that underlie all successful practical methods of agriculture. Xor must such study he divorced from constant application of these principles to practice. Work at the agricultural college or scientifically managed farm must run parallel or alternate with the scientific instruction. .It is not possible to make the degree in agriculture an essential for the majority of teachers ; hut it should he tho sine qua non for all agricutural inspectors and teacher-guides and for all teachers o t agriculture in high schools. This is the first aim that the country should keep before it in trying to improve its agriculture. HOW TO AIEET NEW CONDITIONS. "A .second way of helping it to meet the new conditions is the spread or information on the best methods of the country amongst the farming communities. For the purpose of spreading such knowledge, iho United States method of having a specialist in every county who makes a periodical survey of all the farms in it, with accurate figures as to costs and results and detailed accounts of all tho methods that had led to the results had or good, is one that might he adopted with advantage in New Zealand. "The third and most important way of making up for the rise in the price of good land and the resort to proper lands is scientific investigation. Tho spectacular results that have been reached by this in chemistry and physics ami medicine have made it in the eyes of the public tho modern magician. Rut the obscurer results that, take generations to realise their importance are perhaps the most beneficial to mankind.

“Agriculture is the foundation of the welfare of a nation and especially of the welfare of the Dominions, and it has now to face conditions that have in the past brought communities and even great empires to ruin. The whole work of agricultural investigation should he organised by the country, if it is to retain and develop its prosperity and keep up the real value of its rewards of labour. For, like every other country, it has its own agricultural problems: some of them may be solved by aid of the light that the investigations of other lands have thrown on them. But a large proportion of them will have to be solved by its own investigators, nay, many of its problems will he peculiar to one or other of its localities or zones of culture, and will have to he solved by the specialists of the region.”

MANY PROBLEMS TO SOLVE. There Wore, proceeded the Chancellor, ait almost limitless number oi agricultural problems for investigations to solve, yet New Zealand had scarcely begun to turn uut such investigator.l*. Any advance that bad been made in farming had been haphazard. This would not serve in the difficult times which were ahead. Investigation would have to be organised. America had discovered that there was no better investment for the community than money spent by the State on specialisation ol investigation and propaganda. ‘•Now, where is the country to look for a stream of such specialists if not to the university and colleges, aided hv the schools of agriculture or the scientifically-equipped State farms?

asked Professor Brown. “IVe must sec.” In- .continued, “that- the degree (■otir.se is so arranged that it will not merely test and encourage rulo-off- • }mmt 1 knowledge and practice, but bring out originality and talent. 'lhe ciuir.se should be as much followed as that for any profession, and, ultimately, if the country is to continue its ptosperily, it should become the favourite course. The ablest boys from our high schools should make tor it acagcrly as now for medicine and law. it ought in the end to draw some of the host talent in the country. STREAM OF RESEARCH ERS REQUIRED. "The university and the nuiver.stiy 00 lieges would not lie doing their duty to the country unless they kept putting out a steady stream of researchers. Research in agriculture, the fundamental industry of New Zealand, will become more and more vital to its prosperity. In other .iri-. and sciences it is of great impel lame; Imt when the pinch of low prices lor outproduce comes, it will he a matter of life nr death for the coiioirv m have constant research into agricultural problems ami iliflieulttex. Ihe Co\eminent must never hesitate to endow agricultural research as well as agricultural education in every possible way, if it lias the welfare of the people at heart. There arc plenty of problems in every division ol

farming already to solve, and when tlie pinch comes, they "'ill he countless, and varying with every locality. .Science and scientific research are apt to he looked upon as luxuries by the layman and especially liv the politician. But the time is rapidly up preaching when agricultural science and agricultural research will lie a necessity of national life. "Ii the (hivernmeiii has any loresight it will prepare for this crisis hy

instituting agricultural research stinleinships and lYUuivships. In this wait, will turn the eyes ot yonthtnl talent in the agriculture and its problem.-. And "lien the time comes in which low prices will challenge the utmost skill in limning, there will he a full .supply of talent lor investigation and research. It lias already been doing nmcli to loreslall tlie evil day. The goal should be that all secondary school:;, and ultimately all primary schools, should make a feature of applied natural history, ol to rex try, of horticulture, and of agricult tire. The university might well do something to encourage and advance this side ol education. REST BRAINS WANTED. ‘-When prices of rutr produce fall, wo shall he in a had way if the host brains of the country are not trying In solve our agricultural problems soicntilicnllv. D no are to meet the diilteulties that are in front of us, if we ate to keep our country as prosperous as it is. we shall have to induce a con-

siderable proportion of ottr young talent to enter on the study ot agriculture and take it as its career: tie must, prevent this basis ot all our prosperity remaining side-i racked by tin- ambition and capacity- and originality ol our youth.”