POINTS FOR PRODUCERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 983, 28 May 1930, Page 12

POINTS FOR PRODUCERS

ADVICE BY EXPERT N.Z.’S FARMER GOVERNOR Several pointers to New Zealand farmers were given by Lord Bledisloe, the Dominion's farmerGovernor, at the Waikato Winter Show yesterday. New Zealand producers must supply articles according to the specifications of the British consumer, he said For instance, the British workman did not like bacon which ran away in the pan; he liked it lean. Badly shaped pigs were not profitable. Farmers should not waste money in unprofitable avenues: this referred, among many things, to feeding, the use of artificial manures, and the use of seed mixtures. It was important that farmers used only the best grasses; Akaroa cocksfoot and Hawke’s Bay ryegrass were among the best grasses in the world. As president of the Rothamstead Research Station, he knew that. For 30 years stemmy, deep-rooted grasses bad been grown instead of leafy grasses that would not only make good turf but would provide nourishing food for stcck. Lord Bledisloe made a strong plea for co-operation among farmers, and urged them to welcome control of both quality and distribution of the exportable surplus. He urged also that they should not put all their eggs into one basket.

In other words, they should promote such sidelines of husbandry as were consistent with the main purpose of their farming, such, for instance, as pigs, poultry, honey and fruit, which would often yield a margin of profit •when the main enterprise failed. In this connection he regarded New Zealand honey as the best in the world, because it was produced from the best clover in the world.