PRESENT-DAY FARM PROBLEMS

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 142, 22 July 1926, Page 3

PRESENT-DAY FARM PROBLEMS

ASSISTANCE OF SCIENCE. For Increased Production. A diagnosis of some of the principal problems which confront the dairy farmer in the course of his work on the land, with some suggestions for overcoming them and so getting from the lard and from the stock the utmost possible, was made by Mr. Geo. H. Buckeridge recently at Manaia in the course of an address to members of the branch of the Farmers’ Union. The remarks of the speaker were the result of many years’ experience, and a close study of the business of the farmer from every aspect, and with the added advantage of the intimate knowledge of the conditions not only in New Zealand but also in the Old Country. They were listened to with close attention by all present and ..■were cordially appreciated by them. Mr. J. Dakers, president, was in the chair, and there was a good attendance of members, to whom the chairman briefly introduced the lecturer. It is worth mention that in the audi-. ence was one of the Waikato farmers and that he was much impressed by l the lecture. In opening, Mr. Buckeridge said that there were, as must be expected in a business which was really one of tliA most complicated and which demanded a great and wide knowledge, many problems facing the dairy faihriers. They needed a knowledge of affairs of men, and of science, if they were to make of the career taken up by them the success it should be. These problems, said Mr. Buckeridge. were solvable, if the will to do so was there, and they were to be solved by the. farmers themselves. The part played, by men outside the industry, who yet were keenly alive to the im- ; portance, was to suggest a way out i and to try .to show how to find that j .way. The, farmer had to be a judge of ! many things, but.specially of land, of I stock, and of the men with whom he | had to deal. It greatly required the aid of hjghly-scientific knowledge to solve many of the problems. r . Every interest in the country depended primarily on the land. That had to be. good and well maintained, and to do this farmers must have a deep 'knowledge of what was required to keep the land in good heart and to 1 avoid the deterioration of which so much was heard nowadays. The right type of man, and with the will to work and succeed, was, therefore, said Mr. Buckeridge, the second factor in that enterprise ; and then, thirdly, came the produce of the land, and of their industry. Much more knowledge of the produce than was at present possessed by the average farmer was required if the greatest success was to be made, and this was probably one of the most important aspects of the question. Milk was the primary product on which depended so much of the success of the Dominion and a continuance of its stability, end therefore farmers | should pay much more attention to the question of how to secure the utmost from the product. By the aid of a blackboard the speaker worked out a number of calculations dealing with tests and payout and proved that in the final issue ( Continue! in Next Column.)

it was not the actual payout per pound of fat, but the amount secured from a given quantity of the milk, which decided whether the farm and the stock were profitable and were returning all they should. If there was scope for increasing this, then it was necessary for dairy farmers to make the effort, and, with the aid of the experience of others, and of scientific knowledge, to find the way. At the conclusion of the address, which lasted an hour and a-quarter, questions were put for nearly two 1 hours on every conceivable aspect cf the matter, and these were lucidly answered by Mr. Buckeridge. In conclus’or, he said it was their own - end that only by close study and by the aid of science could they -"cure that increased production cf wh’c'i they heard so much nowadays. At the end of the discussion a very hearty vote of thanks was carried ry "ad — C : nr speakers agreeing on the '■"'in ■ the evening’s, meeting and expressing the hope that more time could be spared by the lecturer +o address them farther on such a wide and important subject.—Hawera Star.