THE RURAL WORLD.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 623, 29 November 1913, Page 6

THE RURAL WORLD.

THE VALUE OF EXPERIMENTAL FARMS. "RUAKURA RUST RESISTANT OAT." Speaking in the House ot Representatives on the Board of Agriculture Bill, Mr J. A. Young, in referring to criticism by a Southern member of tha experimental farms, suggested the establishment of two agricultural schools in the North Island, said: "One, say, in the Auckland "Province, Ruakura being the most suitable place in consequence of the extensive equipment and good work already done there, and one in the Wellington Province; and two in the North and one in the Otago Province. In the course of the discussion there has been some talk about the schools of agriculture and the experimental farms, and it has been urged that it is not desirable that experimental farms should be established where the land is rich, for the reason, it is held, that any man can farm that class of land. Well, that is so; but it seems to me that unless that man has proper knowledge and knows how tr> make use of his land he may corns to grief, Thes« rich lands cost a considerable sum of money, and unless the owners have a right knowledge of how to work them they will prove unprofitable to the State as well a s to the ownres. I think, however, it is more desirable that experimensl farms should be established in districts where the soils are refractory, and where the experts would be able to show how the poorer lands might be made productive. The Ruakura Farm is situated in a particular class of country that was once regarded as poor, but we know that owing to the efforts oi the officers of the Dap srtment, under the direction of Mr Clifton, that country has been brought from a state of sourness and low productive capacity to great richness. Only last week Dr F. W, Hilgennorf, biologist of Lincoln College, Canterbury, made a trip to the Ruakura Farm and in an interview published in the Waikato Argus he had something to say about it. First of all, Mr Primrose McConnell seemed to be most methodical and careful —'not afraid to try any new idea, as well as perfect old ones/ What I want to come to is this: that the honourable member for 0 tago Central, Mr Scott, in speaking in this debate, said in a critical sort of way of our experimental farmj 'I would like to see the balance-sheet,' and he wanted to know whether these farms had been made to pay. That is not the question, at all. These farms are not established as commercial undertakings to make a profit". The class of work they are intended to do is to show by demonstration to the farmers how to avoid errors in their operations and to do things correctly; and the proper place to make the demonstration is the experimental farm, so that the farmers may be able to get the proper knowledge without the loss and expense ["which they would otherwise suffer. Take, for instance, the Ruakura State Farms. The manager of the horticultural section, Mr Green, has been carrying out very valuable researches, and in one of the experiments he made .he discovered a rust-proof oat. He is a very thoughtful and observant man, and in 1908 ho discovered amongst the oats that he had there was one which was quite rust-proof, or free from the rust that affected the rest of the plot. From this rust-proof oat he saved the ear and propagated a quantity of careiully selected seed, until this year he has available sufficient oats of that particular variety to sow somehing like 200 acres. Now, the settlers can apply to the farm for these oats, and they are being supplied free in packets of lib, on the condition that the seed is to be sown in accordance with tha directions given by the manager of the farm. Well, what does Dr Hilgendorf say with regard so this? "I think that Mr Green's rustresistant oat is far and away the most important agricultural discovery in piants that has ever been made in New Zealand, partly because it provides a perfectly suitable oats for this climate, and partly because it is an indication that suitable plants can be found for aimoßt any climate if proper methods of plant-breeding are only followed." Apart from that great discovery here is a remarkable thing, and listen to what the doctor says of it — "The yield of 100 bushels for the Ruakura rust-resistant oat, as compared with 45 bushels of Algerians in the same field and under the same treatment, shows that Mr Green's discovery is probably worth hundreds of thousands of pounds to the province." "The point I wish to emphasise is this: It is simply nonsense to talk about producing a balance-sheet in connection with an unertaking of this kind to show that a profit haa been made during any particular year. At any rate, he is a dicsovery which, to say nohing of its value for the rest of the Dominion, will save the farmers of th e Auckland province alone hundreds of thousands of pounds. To raise the capacity of a certain crop by over 100 per cent, by scientific se lection of seed and cultivation is an accomplishment of great value, especially when that crop is the main cereal product of a large tract of fertile country like the Waikato. Is not that worth something more than all the money that has been spent upon that State Farm? And sirFthe more such experiments are carried out in that and other parts of the country the more profitable the State farm is. Now the same honourable gentleman made reference to the fact that many farmers in the south have the opinion that our lands in the north are of inferior quality; and I judge by some of the speeches made by South Island members during tbia debate and particularly by Canterbury members that they share this erroneous notion. No, the gentleman I have already quoted, speaking of the South Island

farmers in that same interview, | s g y 2 I i "It is a general impression there ; that though money was poured out like water there were no tangible results; but even if the farms were io do nothing but indicate that land previously thought, worthless was capab'e of being brought into profitable occupation, the expense would have been thoroughly justified, and we only wish we weie so fortunate in the South Island as to have some of the 'farms of the North. "So there are, according to a southern expert, good farms in the North which they would consider themselves fortunate to have in the South. Another statement he made in regard to experimental farms in the North Island wss as follows: —'Tne impression that. I have generally gathered from tha North Island ex ;ierimental farms is that they ore very much more useful and efficient :han farmers in the South Island generally supposed.' "This is taken from an aahoritstive gentleman, and shows that; experimental farms are of great value, and that the reward to the State is that they give knowledge to the agricul tural and dairy farmers and stockraisers, which is invaluable to then; and makes thefore on increased ouptut of national wealth."