AN INSTRUCTIVE

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1930, Page 3

AN INSTRUCTIVE

IMPRESSIONS OE NEW ZEALAND

T/ONDON, May 30

In an article in The Times of May 26, “A Correspondent” gives some impressions of the recent' farmer's’ tour of New Zealand.

‘.‘From an agricultural point of view,” tlje write rs'ays, “the tour ivas exceedingly instructive, and it is l hoped in the course of a few 'weeks to issue a brief statement of the impressions : gained during the' visit. Two things, above , all, impressed the party; as it must all.-visitors to tlie country—the remarkalble fertility of the .soil and the Avonderful character of the climate. . In these respects no country in the Avorld has been more richly endowed by Nature. The. settlers have be,en quick to respond to. these advantages, and their industry and enterprise, and not least tlie spirit of unity and 00-operation Avhich permeate the Avliole social structure, have brought the reivard Avhich they so niucli desen'e.

“If one ‘might venture a criticism of NeAv Zealand farm life, It AA'ould be : that the avenige fai’miefi tllinks' tdo : little'of liis personal comfort, 'ana is content Avitli a residence in keeping Avitli early pioneering days.

“EA-en taking into consideration the risks' from earthquakes - which; 1 although of periodic occurrence cause' little or no anxiety -to the' Resident' population, a : much! higher type of; farmhouse rand building? might be' expected. •A- meAV era of. farm -ai’clii-. tecture in. Ncav Zealand is much overdue.. FILLED .WITH ADMIRATION. “A number of the more important freezing 'works' and dairy factories Avere visited and everyone was filled with admiration for the strikingly efficient lines on Avhich these institutions Avere run. The widely-extended system of grassland top-dressing as ». iiieaiis of" stimulating production proved of eSpecial interest. The area under' this treatment is being ' in-; cfeas'ed' ; at' the 'rate of many hundreds of ' thousands of acres annually, 'and', according to tHe Director-' General'of Agriculture, some 35,000. tons' of phosphate fertilisers' are now used' in' leriphening: both the groAvth period" and increasing the' actual pro-, uiictiolv o'fb-high protein grass.

“Included in the touring party Avere'.several authorities on both sheep and cattle,. In the opinion of the sheep experts, the soil and climate ofu-New Zealand - are AVell suited to sheep farming. . 'The fact that such numbers are kept, and so many lambs are' sold fat when weaned, while others are' easily made fat -‘without rtifiuial-.feeding;-- is considered to he proof.-of., the value of the conditions. The Romneys, Gorrieaales,.- aqd Merinos are .the principal CAve . flocks,. : the . Leic-esters and Southclowns Ibeing kept mainly- to breed rams for. crossing .purposes,, CATTLE OF THE DOMINION.. “In" cattle the little Jersey ~,ris; popular throughout the dairying d|s-, tricAts of the North. Island, but. .is folloAved at ho great distance by the Friesian, the Shorthorn, and the Ayrshire. The majority of til© cattle of the Dominion, hoAvever, are blend-, ed with tlie best of the various breeds. Some of tlie experts Avere less impressed by the beef cattle. The majority of these cattle AA r ere four years old, and from lOcwt to 13c\vt live Avoiglit before they reached tlie freezing Avorlfsi It’ is not assumed that the* country cannot produce early-matured animals; in fact, many; fine bunches of yearlings and tivo-, year-old cattle Av v cfe ' seen, many of them fed entirely on grass —‘but at the moment Ibeef cattle apparently oc--esa-py: a secondary : position, among iveivltlirproducirig animals, ” and are :largely used to. trample ddAVii the native bush fern and other growths as, a preliminary to. cleaner and: better pasture for sheep which follow..; ••. . \

“Opportunity was taken-.on several occasions to call attention ..to the existing restrictions in New Zealand on the importation of stud stock from Great Britain. It was pointed out that both Australia and South' Africa 'had now lifted the embargo, and were receiving, after quarantine, stud stock from the Old Country such as New Zealand evidently needed at the present time. It is to he ieared that tbo .suggestion that New Zealand should similarly admit stud ■ stock from the Old Country met with little or no approval, although the need for fresh blood was generally admitted.”