OUR WHEAT SUPPLY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 297, 25 May 1915, Page 4

OUR WHEAT SUPPLY.

TOWNSMEN SHOULD ASSIST. THE MAYOR'S SCHEME. , "< His Worship the Mayor, -,jMr. J. B. Wilson, attended the conference of agricultural society delegates at New Plymouth yesterday, and outlined his proposed achemo by which townspeople could, and should, assist farmers in producing cereals during the present crisis. Mr. Wilson's suggestion is that quite a number of townsmen would he available to assist farmers during the harvesting operations if they secured a number of retired experienced farmers to direct the operations of the townsmen. The dilliculty of farming cereal crops was not in planting, but in the harvesting work. This took place during the busiest period of dairy farming, when labor was very scarce. The work of gathering up the grain after the reaper and binder did not call for so many men, three men being able to cope with the ta9k of stooking after one machine. But the number of men employed in stacking the crop was only limited by the number of carts employed. Several of the delegates expressed themselves in favor of the scheme, which they declared an excellent idea, and quite a workable one. They considered that it would go far to overcome the difficult problem of the shortage of labor nnd pointed out that, although if net properly directed, the work of the townsmen would not be of much use under the supervision of experienced men, good work could he done. The Mayor proposes to call a public meeting some time during the present Week to go into the matter.