The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1918. SOUND ADVICE TO FARMERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 July 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JULY 4, 1918. SOUND ADVICE TO FARMERS.

Tlio remarks made at the opening of the Hawei'a Winter Show by the Minister for Agriculture (Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald) may be regarded in a dual light—the outcome of experience as a practical farmer and the pronouncement of a Minister having the welfare and prosperity of the Dominion at heart. At a time like the present, when the economic Avorld struggle is looming ahead, and the imperative need for enlarged production and higher quality of goods placed on the market is bem" sussed, the Minister's remarks have a special significance. Beyond all question the competition m the world's markets after the war will be far more keen .man xt has eV er been. The jatov

nious financial drain involved in war expenditure will compel the adoption oC exceptional means to pay the bill. Hence quality will be a greater factor than ever in securing the full benefit of open competition, so that Mr. MaeDonald, in strongly impressing upon the Taranaki producers the need for keeping up that reputation of 1-loav Zealand manufacturing the best produce, not only gave excellent advice, but placed it on a higher plane than that of mere recompense, making it a point of national honor. The Government, be it said to its credit, has done, and is doing, a great deal to foster the dairy*industry, hut it is obvious that whether the quality of the output is of the best or otherit ise rests with those engaged in the industry. Great strides have been made in improving the herds of butterfat yielders, in the care and attention given to them and the conditions under which they are fed and milked, but until every dairy farmer becomes what ir.ay he termed a scientific expert in his business—in all its branches —the industry will not be placed on a proper basis. For that reason such excellent institutions as the Stratford model dairy farm and the tuition thereat will prove an inestimable boon, for the knowledge and training will ensure that the rising generation of the dairying community will not only be equipped for the work, bat will also become pillars of the State. Possibly the time may arrive when a certificate of competency and ability for the work will become necessary before a farmer can supply a dairy factory, hut whether this may come or not, the farmer who has learned the technology of the business as well as the science of food production for the herd, will assuredly have an immense advantage over the makeshift man who has not even mastered the importance of scrupulous cleanliness and the avoidance of taints. On the question of increased production the Minister was equally emphatic. While recognising that already Taranaki was a heavy "producing district, he pointed out that in the future it would produce four or five times as much. The high price of land, coupled with increased cost of living and the increasing burdens consequent on the war, will have a potent influence in the direction of intensive cultivation of small areas as on the continent of Europe. The climate of Taranaki is particularly favorable for dairying, and the exhibits of farm produce at New Plymouth, Stratford and Hawera shows afford indisputable evidence of the capability of the soil for cropping, under proper treatment. Here, again, the trained farmer will score heavily by producing off a small area far*more, in quantity and quality, than the untrained man. The old fallacy that "what was good enough for ray father and his father is ?ood enough for me," has long since been exploded. Progress means making the best use of a man's brains in whatever he nndertakes, and utilising every legitimate factor for perfecting his operations so as to obtain the best results, and by working on sound economical principles. The labor problem will necessitate the introduction of machinery and motive power, and the men who will come out on top will be those who avail themselves of the most up-to-date appliances, coupled with a skilled knowledge of their business. Those who have this knowledge, but not the capital, will find full scope for their energies on small areas intensely cultivated and stocked with the best profit-making cows they can possibly secure. Under such circumstances there is no exaggeration m the Minister's statement that in .the future the m-oduce of Taranaki will be four or five times greater than it is at present