TEAM-WORK AND CO-OPERATION

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 291, 21 November 1936, Page 1 (Supplement)

TEAM-WORK AND CO-OPERATION

NECESSITY FOR CO-ORDINATION OF EFFORT STRESSED BY MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE To all those interested, directly or indirectly, in the well-being of ths 1 arming of Taranaki, I, as Minister of Agriculture, have great pleasure in availing myself of this opportunity of expressing my earnest and deep desire that prosperity and happiness may attend their endeavour both during the current season and in future seasons. I consider successful agricultural shows to be valuable educational factors in advancing the standard of our farming, and I expect and certainly wish that the forthcoming Show be characterised by the fullest possible measure of success. From my knowledge of the organisation of agricultural shows it is clear to me that the success of such shows depends to a large extent upon team-work or co-opera-tion on the part of their promoters, and it seems opportune to state here that team-work or co-operation among all interested promises to be even more essential to the success of our farming in the future than it has been valuable in the past. Team-work as a means of lower cost of production, team-work as a means of better quality in our farm produce, team-work as a means to more effective marketing of that produce, all seem likely to be particularly valuable to us in the acute competition which we shall have to face on the world’s markets. Fortunately team-work or co-operation is not at all a novel feature of New Zealand farm organisation, and so an extension and intensification of co-operative effort is not likely to be a difficult matter. This is especially true of Taranaki, which has for long been outstanding in respect of the co-operative spirit of its community. I his co-operative spirit has been in evidence not only in the co-opera-tive manufacture and marketing of farm produce, but also in the securing and disseminating of knowledge of methods of improving the standard of farming— a most important task in wich Taranaki has cooperated for many years in a most valuble way with the Department of Agriculture.

I would conclude by expressing my thanks to Taranaki farmers for that co-operation and my desire that it continue. There is valuable scope for the continuation of such co-operation, for while the current standard of farming in Taranaki undoubtedly is high, there still is room for improvement as the result of more general and more thorough application of knowledge of the means of obtaining the best economic result in farming under conditions which are very subject to change. —W. LEE MARTIN, Minister of Agriculture.