AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 October 1919, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK.

INCREASED RURAL EFFICIENCY. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Yesterday. The annual conference of the New Zealand Council of Agriculture opened to-day. Mr. George Hunter, M.P., was elected president. The Minister,of Agriculture, the Hon.; W. Nosworthy, attended by invitation, and apologised for the absence of the Prime Minister. He emphasised the necessity for making up for the loss of the war by increased rural efficiency. The officials of the Department of Agriculture would, he promised, do all they could to assist in that direction. There was a shortage of men at present, but this was being remedied, and the prospect before agriculture, if all pulled together, was bright. On the motion of Mr. Hodder (Manawatu), it was decided that the Minister of Railways be again urged to reinstate all the privileges granted to A. and P. Associations on the railways wi»«drawn during the war. Mr. Penny (Manawatu), moved, and it was agreed to, that the Government be again strongly urged to make man. datory the clauses in the Rating Act which gives power to local bodies to, exempt agricultural showgrounds from local bodies' taxation. Mr. W. D. Hunt (Wellington), on behalf of the executive, proposed that the time had arrived when A. and PAssociations should take into consideration what were the best means to adopt to improve the work of the societies and add to their usefulness as a means' of advancing knowledge in the practice of agriculture and the breeding of live stock, and that it be an instruction to the incoming executive to submit concrete proposals to the societies prior to the next annual conference. It was resolved to embody a further remit from Canterbury and Otago: "That the Government be asked to subsidise metropolitan shows in. New Zealand." The conference also resolved on the motion of Mr. D. R. Hamilton (Franklin), that A. and P. Societies be allowed to borrow money from the Advances to Settlers' Office for purchasing and equipping showgrounds. SEVERAL REMITS PASSED. Wellington, Last Nignt. The conference of the Council of Agriculture adopted the following remits: That A. and P. Societies be allowed to borrow money from the Advances to Settlers Office for purchasing and equipping show grounds. • That all A. and P. Associations should adopt a standard rule with regard to the measuring of horses at shows. That the Public Works Department be asked to facilitate the distribution of electric current in country districts "traversed by transmission lines. That the Government be urged to push on with general hydro-electric schemes. That the Government be urged to take steps to purchase more land for the setltement thereon of soldiers, as there are now large numbers of returned soldiers in the Dominion waiting for the opportunity of going on the land. That the Government of the Dominion be urged to take steps to open up a market in South Anferica for New Zealand bred stock. That the Conference bring before the Government the serious position of the farming community owing to the shortage of insulated shipping and the consequent congestion of meat in cold stores in the Dominion. A Southland remit that the fconfer. ence be hold in Wellington and Christchurch alternately, found but little support and was lost on the voices. Officers for the ensuing year were elected as follows: Executive, North Island, Messrs. W. McGregor, J. H. Perrett, G. R. Beamish; South Island, Messrs. H. A. Knight, J. Turnbull, John Deans. The Conference has closed.