THROUGH SCOTTISH EYES

Hokitika Guardian, 10 July 1930, Page 7

THROUGH SCOTTISH EYES

RECENT VISIT OF EMPIRE } FARMERS.

'COMMENTS ON SOUTH ISLAND

■ J. Campbell, a member of the British, delegation of farmers that visited New Zealand early this year, hks the following comments toi make in- regard to the tour of the South Iplkitfl in an article published in the

Scotsman of May 9: — : From' Wellington we went by steamer through the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton, a port of entrance to the South Island, then by rail to Blenheim, where we were received by the pipe band playing “Cock o’ the North,” which appealed very, strongly to the South African Scots. ■ " The following day we motored through picturesque valleys to Havelock and spent the; day sailing in the Pelorus Sound.. A few fished, but the fishing was not very successful. The day, however, was successful in that it ! gave a much-needed rest and the eye was delighted !by the virgin bush which grows to the water’ s edge. The district we passed through is mainly noted for red clover ; the Mayor, at the reception, stating that there lias been harvested as much as five sacks pf fctOlb to the acre.

l ; : We passed a settlement for six sol* diir3. Three had already cleared out. One of the three, left motored me. His farxn was 1 '152 acres, all arable except 50 acres which had to be cleared within three: years. The holding is valued at £2500, on which interest at fij per cent is charged, and £750 was advanced for home and fencing. His stock consisted of 300 sheep, of which 150- were ewes, and these are purchased'each year at about 14s, in lean condition, : a,nd when sold fat make fully more than, cost price. The tombs told for ;235. Oats were grown to be chaffed] the grain and the straw being eaten together./ • Wheat was grown dn 'contract, , the ,/tnerchant fixing, the price before the grain is sown. The farm is ..worked (by the husband and his : j wife, r and they are • perfectly happy,', but up to the present have made ndVmbney. £23,000,000 has' beenii advanced ; to_. settle 23,000 discharged, soldiers ;'on the land; ' and a re- of., the : proper ties ,re-. nulted in f/capi tal:/ values•v bemg .reduced by -j&3;00b^000; '.. ..

:WHEAT POOL.

■ • v, '■ .I-'' i: v '• In", the 1 ’ iSouth Island -.there is more cultivation' and, rotational farming than in- the . North Island, ; In Canterbury, v Otago,>and Southland agricultural : operations ihavereached a airly'hiil Standardr/T^Cahterbuiy Plains,‘-,eitehding about IpO miles north ajipaowthf and : running' inland about ■ is the ; principal wheat-producing area, but the whole

New Zealand wheat area is not very extensive, about, 200,000 acres, as compared with 12,000,000 acres in Australia. As viewed from a railway carriage, there were very many poor and • weedy crops such as would not be tolerated in Britain.

The most of the grain appeared to be threshed straight away, either direct from the stook or after being stacked, and very often the grain is left bagged in th e field, the sacks being covered with straw. It i? necessary Ithat 75 per cent of the crop be marketed within three months, but in order to regulate the supply to the mills the farmers have now formed a wheat pool. The pool pays to the producer 4s /per standard bushel of 611 b within 21 days of, delivery. If the supply; is not greater than the requirements, the (price ultimately works out at 5s 9d to over 6d per bushel, according to g|rade. This is managed because the Government imposes a sliding scale on imported flour, which keeps the f.o.b. pi ice at £l6 ,10s per ton. This enables the 41b loaf .-to be sold at Is.

Last year there was a wheat surphvß, and a portion, of that surplus was exported to England with unsatisfactory financial results, but, say they got a better price than if notwithstanding that the farmers there had been no peal. This year there ma v be a crop deficiency, but towards that the pool carried from the previous crop over 1,000,000 bushels. The steamer we are on, bringing us from Auckland to Sydney, came from Vancouver, and discharged at Auckland a considerable quantity of Canadian flour and wheat. This may he necessary to improve the qualty of the breed, but it must also affect the wheat pool and increase the farmers’ difficulties. A practice that filled the party with amazement is that surplus straw is not returned to the land in the form of manure but simply burned in the heap.

The grain crops, oats chiefly, ln Otago and Southland, appeared to be more uniformly good, a few crops were very good. Barley is grown to a small extent and is mainly used for the manufacture of beer. The average grain production is about 34bushels per acre.

POTATOES AND TURNIPS

The acreage of potatoes grown in the whole Dominion exceeds hv very little what is grown in one county in Scotland: Neither quality nor purity equals our own, and knowledge gcn'er’ally is deficient. At a show I asked an exhibitor the name of the Variety lie was showing, and he did :/U,ot know. The same variety goes : Ufnder different names in different -(districts, as may be exemplified by this well known King Edward being pulled in some districts the Painted .Lady. We were taken to a farm to see “Potato producers’ problem solved by providing potato pickers’ para?, dise,’’ It, consisted of an international digger, without, the itnprove'ments (that can be seen in 'East Loth-ian,-but followed by: a’; machine that clfried eight or nine men and gradetf and -bagged the potatoes, The combination was drawn by six horses

abreast. Wo were not greatly impressed.

Rape is grown to make fat lambs, and turnips are grown for winter feed. Turnips are mainly sown on the fiat, and no hand or hoe singling is done. The operation of drilling, sowing the artificial manure, and the seed is done at one operation. r l'he amount of seed utsed is eight to ten ounces per acre, and even with this thin seeding a braird is not missed. Where the seeding 4s thicker, a gapping machine is put* through with quite satisfactory results. There is an increasing difficulty in growing large areas of turnips free from disease, and mangolds are. being culti\cited to ft larger extent. Farmers are also beginning to realise the value of lucerne.

METHODS OF CULTIVATION

Some lands have been so successively cropped that they are now unproductive, and there is a crying need for the return to tli e soil of some of the fertility extracted. Climate and (Virgin fertility have enabled the farmer to do much, but while the continues he ihas not done enough to maintain the latter. In this respect, keeping in view the absolute necessity of getting immediate cc/sh, probably he should not be criticised too severely. Ploughing, as a rule, is shallow, and where the motive power is neither tractor nor steam-engine, the yoke is usually a four or six-horse team, the 9ix-horse team being three abreast. The man rides on a threefurrow plough, and the pace is fairly fast. Harrowing is usually done with a 17 feet harrow, Owing to the usually light nature of the soil, with its dry subsoil, and thus no waiting for weather conditions, a man gets over a considerable area, and labour expenses are comparatively light, PV

An Aberdonian faming near Ashburton gave me the following particulars:—He farms 640 acres, of which 100 acres are wheat, 60 acres for chaffing, 40 acres green oats to be eaten off by sheep, followed by rape, 20 acres cocksfoot, down for 10 years ( for seed, and the balance grazing. Tlie farm carries 1200 ewes and 200 dry sheep, 1300 lambs, 12 cows, 20 young • cattle, 7 or 8 sows, and 70 to 80 pigs are fattened. There are eight • working horses, a tractor, and an engine! The fields are mostly 20 acres in extent, surrounded by a whin fence, and the fence is kept in good condition by the steam engine which carries a cutting arm in front and' is capable of doing eight miles per day. One man attends to the cow's, pigs, poultry, etc., the farmer attends to the sheep, and the further regular staff consists of one ploughman and one casual.

DAIRYING,

Where grass is under cultivation it runs out in'three or four years. It is then broken up and sown with rape, followed with wheat, and then with oats sown out with seeds in the spring,- Grass is by far the most important crop'to the farmer, and therefore the cow and the ewe are supreme. Dairying is carried on by much

simpler methods tlian at homo. The milk is efficiently drawn from, the cows by machine, the rubber tubes and silvorised pipes being kept scrupulously clean. The cow is in milk during the flush period of the grass, and when she goes dry lias pretty much to find for herself, or at most gets a little hay; practically no concentrates are fed. In the South Island I. think there is more cheese-making than but-ter-making. The production, of cheese has probably reached a higher state of efficiency in respect of by-products than in quality.

In one factory we visited, after the curd was extracted the whey was put through the separator and the cream extracted made into butter. The whey is then reduced to one-tenth of its bulk and conveyed to a neighbouring factory, where it is converted to whey paste and sugar milk, the latter for babies and for the manufacture of chocolate, and the former for pig feed, it being expected that Britain will take up the whole paste supply. Casein is manufactured and graded and sent to Britain to be manufactured into billiard balls, knife handles, etc.

The milk for cheese making is valued on butter-fat content and works out at 6d to 7d per gallon. The Jersey was supreme in the North Island, but in the South Island the Friesian comes first, followed by dairy Shorthorns and Ayrshire. There being little special feeding and little labour—the machine doing the milking—it would appear that dairy farming is a profitable business in New Zealand,

SHEEP FARMING.

Notwithstanding the importance of the cow the ewe retains the position of most importance, there being about 30,000,000 sheep in the Dominion. The killing of lamb is greater than that of mutton, and very much more lamb than mutton is sent to Grpat Britain The best of everything is exported to Britain,, and thus a large proportion of the mutton is retained for home consumption

The soil and climate of New Zealand are well suited to sheep, farming, as is apparent from the number of sheep kept and from the -number of lambs sold fat, when weaned, while many more are easily made - fat without artificial feeding The (principal ewe stocks are Romney, ) Gorriedale, and merino, while the crossing rams are the Southdown and the' English and Border Leicester The Southdown is the favourite, because its plump frame, short legs, and lighter weights are popular in the London meat market Cattle are not of very much importance from a beef point of, view.

MARKETING OF PRODUCE,

What.success there has been,in New Zealand farming has been made possible by the development of largescale co-operation; organisations for the manufacture.,, apd classification of its products, The weak link in the chain is the marketing, and at the conference with the New Zealand Farmers’ Union it wa9 resolved. “That this conference of farmers

from different parts of the British Empire recommends that a convention of farmers representing all part* of the Empire should be held, say, once every two years, to discuss the problems of the farming industry throughout the Empire, with a view to co-operative action where such a course is possible.’’ It wa,s put on the British representatives to get into touch with a suitable authority in England to give effect to the resolution. At this conference it was also resolved that the Government be asked to explore the present position of foot and mouth disease. There i's a strong feeling on this matter, as it is considered that the introduction of the disease to the Dominion would mean ruination of the farmer. It was also pointed out that we have not rid our country of such a simple thing as sheep scab, which they have been able to do under more difficult conditions.

The land is crying out for more intensive cultivation, the return to the land of surplus produce such as straw in the form of manure; the further application of artificial manures, jmd the more generous use of feeding stuff, which would not only improve the quality, of the mutton and reduce fatalities, but would make the land more productive. Above all, a progressive policy would necessitate a greater number of people on the land At present it would appear that the secondary industries are being established at the expense of the primary industries,