Thinking Ahead

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 June 1927, Page 22 (Supplement)

Thinking Ahead

OR WORKING TO A PLAN IN the management and control of every farm is mirrored the character and ability of the owner. Haphazard methods bring only mediocre results, while the man working to a clear-cut plan inevitably has the advantage.

fjPHE great ocean of farm enterprise has many derelicts as a result of working without a clear-cut plan. When a successful builder starts on a house he has every movement mapped out ahead. He provides for every contingency, right up to the time when he will receive the final payment. On such a basis he knows to what extent he can go, and works accordingly, aiming always to eliminate deterrent influences, and show a profit. Compare this with the way in which many New Zealanders have taken up farming. Viewing the future through rosy-tinted spectacles, many bought into present holdings giving little deep thought to future operations. They optimistically neglected to weigh up their chances and, by studying markets and the productive possibilities

of the property, come to a definite conclusion as to whether profitable occupation was possible and if so, what was the best way to go about it. Summed up, “act first, and think seriously afterwards,” has largely been the policy of many New Zealand farmers, and to-day they are reaping their reward. Many neglected and poorly-farmed holdings in all parts of the country to-day testify in no uncertain manner to the fact that the owners have “bitten off more than they can chew,’ 'and now find themselves up against propositions they are in no way fitted to cope with. Working on a studied programme such crises would not have arisen, or. had they done so, arrangements could have been made to meet them. Fatality of Optimism Imbued with an optimistic spirit, it •eems natural for many farmers to launch out into propositions beyond their capacity and in so doing to give little thought to future operations. That Is where they differ from the commercial builder. Where the builder weighs up the materials available and makes his plans accordingly, the farmer looks mainly to first cost and lets his optimism take charge of the future. The farmer who has a well-defined ideal, who plans every movement ahead, eliminating all unessentials and. striving ever by conserving time and energy to attain his objective by the shortest course, is practically assured of success if he has started on the right basis.

Instances of how the man with a rigidly-adhered to plan triumphs over his less careful neighbour abound on every hand. Down the East Coast there is a Government settlement which provides at lea*st two convincing examples to the point. One farm is a model. The homestead, situated in the most central spot of the holding, is surrounded by the necessary buildings, all laid out with a view to conserving time and labour. The paddocks are laid off according to plan, allowing for the most economical stocking, ploughing and cultivating. The owner makes bigger profits than any of his neighbours. Over the fence is another good farm, but its owner is not prosperoi he has no clearlydefined programme and is always working and always behind. He plans as he goes, and instead of starting right in to cut himself free from every

influence that is keeping him back, drifts along indefinitely, optimistically trusting that the morrow will bring a change of fortune. His luck is out, however. The day of unearned increment is past and the day is not far distant when he will be forced to abandon his holding to the mortgagee. A Local Instance Within ten miles of Auckland there is a most convincing example of the possibilities awaiting a man with a plan lie is prepared to rigidly carry out. It is the farm of a city merchant, and is situated on the Great South Road in the midst of weed'infestod waste land. Every paddock is clean and carrying a good sole of grass. Well bred good-conditioned Jersey cattle graze in the paddocks, yet over the fence scrub and fern have control —the land is termed useless and infertile! Just another instance of what Is possible to a man who knows his business and never engages in a proposition until he has weighed up his prospects, and, with a clear-eut programme, is reasonably sure of winning through. Auckland Province, with its huge areas of partially developed lands, offers wonderful scope to the man with a plan; the man who knows his business and is not easily diverted from his set line of action. There is little land in the district which will not respond to the right treatment. This has been proved time and time again in isolated instances, but it must be attacked on sound practical lines; haphazard methods will never bring results.