MECHANISED FARMING

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 291, 21 November 1936, Page 7 (Supplement)

MECHANISED FARMING

SPREADING IN ENGLAND. r ' The mechanisation of fanning is becoming daily more general in New Zealand, following the lead which has been set in this direction by other primary producing countries of the world. Nevertheless the usefulness of a horso will never be totally eliminated in a country such as New Zealand, owing to the natural topography of the land. This fact was illustrated at. two further horse fairs held in Waipukurau and at Hastings recently, when, although the market was quiet, up to £6O was paid for a single draught. It has been estimated that the ordinary system of farming in the Old Country involves from 25 to 30 permanent agricultural workers for each square mile. In contrast to this, on a highly mechanised Saskatchewan (Canada) wheat farm, there is one worker per square mile of cultivated land. The English system is more efficient per aero whilo tho Canadian system is moro efficient per man. Mechanised, farming, however, is spreading in England, where the conditions for this development are more suitable than in New Zealand, and old motor ears aro used for a variety of purposes. * It is stated that tho efficiency of farm carts is increased fifty per cent, merely by the application of rubber-tyred wheels, the reduction in friction allowing the horses ■to pull the loads more quickly. In some districts, indeed, mechanisation have even been extended to cow sheds, and farmers on poor land state they are producing milk moro economically by milking cows in movable milking sheds. The cows are kept on tho pastures all the time and the sheds are taken to tho cows, not the cows tq the shed, ‘