Science to the Rescue

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 576, 31 January 1929, Page 8

Science to the Rescue

J>ROMOTERS of land settlement are

familiar 'with, the difficulty of creating a desire for farm life, for New Zealanders in the main are not attracted by the prospect of long hours of hard work for a meagre return. On the other hand there are hundreds of people who are agriculturally inclined and who are faced with the problem of producing from second-class and third-class land. To these people science has extended the hand of assistance by opening for them the way to profitable farming—providing always that their initial efforts are correctly directed.

The intentions of the new Government in respect to intense farming have been made clear, the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, having announced the purchase of land for small holdings. If the brains of New Zealand’s scientists can be allied with those of the administrative heads, none then can say that the problem has not been tackled in a comprehensive manner. The Cawthron Institute, by its successful attack upon the blow-fly, has already saved the sheep-raising industry in this country well over £200,000 annually, and has netted hundreds of thousands of pounds for the Dominion fruit growers by the elimination of pests. Its experiments with the poor class lands in the South Island have been conducted with equal success, and there is indication that the financial gain to the country will be immense. Some time has elapsed since the officers of the institute began careful soil surveys of certain districts on the West Coast of the South Island, the

Farming On Poor Class Land UPON the modest annual expenditure of a few thousand pounds, science is doing a work which promises to rank with the greatest achievement ever attempted on behalf of agriculture in this country. The Cawthron Institute, under the directorship of Professor T. H. Eastertield. lias proved by practical tests that land which the State authorities discarded many years ago as useless may be transformed into profitable dairying pasture. Experiments which have succeeded in the South could he made equally successful if applied to the Auckland province.

I object of the tests being to ascertain | definitely what was lacking in the | ground, and what could be done to | make it productive. The pakihi [ lands on the West Coast, which. have i been a thorn in the side of agricul- { tural authorities here for many years, j were embraced by the experiments, and the results which have been achieved constitute some of the most gratifying features of recent practical •scientific research. LAND MADE FERTILE The secret of the experiments was ths judicious application of correct mixtures for top-dressing and fertilisation. The investigators were encouraged in their effort by Government subsidies and by finance from the Buller County Council and the i Westport Borough Council, and in less i than 12 months, land which had been I carrying one bullock to eight and nine I acres—and that only at certain times : during the year—was transformed into | land with a carrying capacity of one dairy cow to two and a-half acres. There are about 250,000 acres of pakihi land on the West Coast of the South Island. It is the confident anticipation of farming authorities there that a great deal of this will be turned into dairying territory of sufficient fertility to make small farming a profitable proposition. In emphasis of the contrast of the comparative values of the treated and untreated lands, it is mentioned that a farmer in the South has a lease of 5,000 acres of this poor land at a rental of 3d an acre. He appealed recently to have the rental reduced to 2d an acre—a request which probably will be granted. NORTH MAY FOLLO-W What can be done in the South Island can be accomplished also in the North, where the poor class land gives much trouble to the Lands Department and the Department of Agriculture. The Director of Cawthron Institute, Professor T. H. Easterfield, gives the assurance that similar results probably could be attained in the northern districts provided sufficient interest were taken by parties concerned in ensuring the necessary finance. The Cawthron Institute cannot cover the Dominion in its entirety, he explains, and as charity begins at home, the first efforts were made close to the Institute, where the most financial encouragement was given. The country, he says, is entitled to the scientific knowledge of the Cawthron officers, but an institution with an income of barely £12,000 a year cannot hope to embrace the whole of New Zealand in such far-reaching experiments. Cawthron. in its tests, has merely demonstrated how the ratio of production can be Increased by an apparently simple process. The cost of fertilisation, the professor says. Is comparatively light, and is well repaid in a short time. Greater production at a reduced pro rata cost is the aim of the New Zealand farmer.. Science is doing its share. The remainder must lie at the door of the agriculturists themselves.