The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1918. A MINISTERIAL VISIT.

Taihape Daily Times, 28 June 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 1918. A MINISTERIAL VISIT.

(With which is Incorporated The X«Jhapo Post and Walm»mo News).

The Honourable W. D. S. MacDonald, Minister for Agriculture gave a most informative and helpful address to a fairly well attended meeting of farmers at the Town Hall/ yesterday afternoon. The Minister traversed various matters that are at the moment burning questions with our primary producers, and he gave some advice that should provide food for thought for those engaged in the various branches of farming in this district. Attention was drawn to tangents in the dairying industry and extreme caution was urged. ' The Minister pointed out that earnest, energetic, enterprising men and "women of the past-had laid the foundation stone of a now comparatively colossal industry; that by the energy of early dairyfarmers butter had advanced in price until it now realised some of money. He warned, dairymen against risking the destruction of such an industry, by being led off into get rich quick speculations. They were on sure highly profitable ground and to leave it for less firm and solid footings on dried milk and glaxo was to invito disaster. He reminded dairymen that the Government had done very much in .assisting the industry; that butter bearing the brand of the Department's Grader was saleable in any part of the world, in other words, the markets of the world were at the feet of New Zealand dairyfarmers; would they risk losing so valuable an attainment to speculate on dried milk? Dairyfarmers should realise that when their butter market is lost it will have been won by dairymen of some other country; therefore, if dried milk proves a failure, as it most likely will, there will be no butter market to return to. Speaking upon agriculture generally he said he did not know about the growth of cereals in the Taihape district, but the success of any district that could grow such field roots as those exhibited that day, was fully assurrod. From what Taihape had contributed towards the export of meat, wool, butter and cheese, there was no better land in the Dominion. This is what statistics respecting our exports has hitherto taught us, and it becomes depressing to hear people talking about selling their farms. What impressed one most in the Hon. Mr MacDonald's speech was its ultra practicability both from a producing and a business point of view, Evidently the Minister ' is one of those pleasing rarities in which business, farming and statesmanship are much more than averagely combined. Obviously based upon firm conviction and solid truth his logic was convincing, and we do not hesitate to say that in the address yesterday he cleared up many matters in the farming .mind, constituting aa asset of very great value to the whole Taihape territory generally. To pastoralists Mr MacDonald had much to say; he was a sheepfarmer; he was born on a sheepfarm, and the urging of his views on wool and meat had all the conviction of experience behind it, as well the inside knowledge of marketing conditions held by a Minister of the Crown having charge of the Department of Agriculture. The disposal of this country's wool was now under consideration; the New Zealand Government were making arrangements with the Home Government for lits disposal at present prices, for the Dominion's wool from now on until one year after the War; there were some, however, who were not satisfied, and a conference of wool-growers had been convened to consider the question. There is no doubt that the Minister feared that some men were so over-reaching that they might, like the monkey with the nuts in the bottle, fill their hands so full that they could not withdraw ithcm. It is gratifying to see and •learn that leading wool-growers in various districts are fully satisfied with the high prices they are now receiving, and tha't they are backing

up the Minister fpr .-Agriculture and the Government in accepting the exceptional offer the Imperial Government has made. Mr. MacDonald pointed out that in 1902 he and other farmers got a trifle over • threepence for their wool, now some were not satisfied with twentysix pence; they still wanted more. It is well that settlers' in this district who contemplate attending the conference mentioned should weigh Ito a nicecy the danger of a course of greed; they may remember an episode in the Government purchase; of cheese. It should be understood that the Imperial Government cannot allow the clamour of some- for higher prices to go on indefinitely, and we are disposed to think that "the limit : has been reached in the present wool offer. We cannot overvalue the Hon.. Mr. MacDonald's remarks on Meat Trusts. He made it very clear that the whole question was under complete control of farmers' themselves; if farmers would persist in selling to Trusts, trust operations could not be prevented in England. A committee of the Farmers' Union had written to the Government demanding' the stoppage of meat going into trust hands on its arrival at Home, but all that was necessary to eliminate trusts was for farmers to sell all their meat to the Government and do away with nomination here as to whose hands it should go into at the marketing end. The process of trust elimination is simple and inexpensive, will farmers adopt this process or will they go on playing with tho, trust canker until the life blood of their industry is poisoned and veritable- decay sets in. The Minister of Agriculture was most heartily welcomed by the meeting and at the close of his address there was unmistakeable evidence in abundance of the impression he had created. It is regrettable that a tour through the district was rendered out of the question by the almost unprecedented wet weather, for we know that it would have meant so much to the whole community, as Mr MacDonald would have seen thai some men were making a living off milking on insignificantly small areas of land.