PROPOSED STATE DAIRY FARM

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 245, 16 April 1912, Page 8

PROPOSED STATE DAIRY FARM

WAIMATE PLAINS DISTRICT, On Wednesday morning the Premier and the Hon. G. W. Russeli visited Mr. i T. McPlnllips' farm at Manaia, and inspected his dairy cows. As with the Uruguayan visitors, Mr. McPhillips very carefully pointed out to the Ministers the relative value of his cows as butterfat producing animals, and demonstrated the advantage of aiming at the finer strain milk-producing Jerseys, as against nondescript and less profitable largerframed cows. He then took advantage of the occasion to urge upon the Ministers the desirableness of the Government establishing a State dairy farm in some central position on the Waimate Plains, and the great advantage such an institution, if properly conducted, would be to the district and the dominion as a whole. On such a farm only the very best stock would be reared, and : the young bulls distributed throughout the district. Proper tests and records | would be kept on the farm to prove the butter-fat producing value of each cow, and in this way the whole of the herds of the district would very soon be vastly i improved. To illustrate what this would mean, he mentioned that an average increase of only 401b of butter-fat per cow per year would meati an increase of 1 '/t millions sterling to the Dominion, and this increase of butter-fat was a very moderate estimate to expect from increased quality in the herds. Such a farm, too, wouid be invaluable to farj mers in the way of fertilising experiments. The experiments carried on at Moumahaki were (said Mr. McPhillips) really useless to Waimate Plains farmers—conditions and soils were not similar, and in the very near future the Southern Taranaki farmers must fertilise their grounds much more than they have been doing in the past. But the fanners were not in a position to experiment, I and some such experimental farm work j to be conducted by the Government was now fully needed.

The Ministers, in reply, warmly approved of the suggestion, admitted the desirableness of such an establishment, and agreed that it should do a great deal of good to the dairy industry. The great difficulty was one 'of finance, and they could not be sure if the Opposition in Parliament would back them up in such an undertaking. Here the matter rests for the present.—Star.