THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1912. A BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10713, 5 September 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1912. A BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Some months ygo tlie Wairarapa Age, in reviewing the work of the Agricultural Department in this Dominion, suggested that the time had arrived when the Department should be controlled by an" independent, 'non-politi-cal-Board. This suggestion lias been freely discussed' in the newspiper Pi 'ess, and has been endorsed by the Fanners' Union. Referring to . the ■proposal in. its last issue, the New Zealand Farmer (bays':—I"Under 1 "Under the present system the control of the Agricultural Department - lies in the hands of one man, namely, the .'Minister in charge, and it goes without saying that although the Minister is largely guided by the 'advice of his officers, there are many important matters—particularly matters of policy—which he must alone decide. Xow, with such a complex problem us agriculture presents- in New Zealand, how much, can we expect from one man, however clever, or well-informed or earnest in his determination to do the besrt posisible? We must remember tlut tjie Agricultural Department differs from all-the other departments of the State "in the fact that to be of-the greatest practical service to the country it must g.iin the best part of its knowledge from this country and not from other countries. The soils of the Dominion are particularly varied and our climatic conditions follow suit, and the experience of agriculture in other lands is of comparatively small value ■to us here. Another point against our present ..system of one-man control is thaiH-ho change of Ministers holding the portfolio of Agriculture—and such changes must of necessity occur from time t« time— I leads to. a t'icfe of con-

tinuifcy in the policy of the Department which must have an injurious effect on the results. Bettor methods bf, working the land cr breeding stock require long years of trial before they can be proved, for all experiments in Dame Nature's domain want time for their fulfilment. This huk , of continuity has had in the p.ist a very bad effect on the Divisional J I heads, who naturally have to follow ! the direction of the Minister for the I j time being in charge. We feel j that these various facts point to the promise of more usefulness from tho Agricultural Department if some of the leading agriculturists of the Dominion could in >sonie measure be given an opportunity to place their lengthy and practical experience at tho service of the Minister and his officers in the form of a Board of Agriculture. If the members of a Board were ehoyen from the various parts of the Dominion, it would have : a healthy tendency in broadening the ' point cf view im regard to our agricultural methods generally and be a corrective to parochialism. The Minister ' would in virtue of his office be chairman of the Board, which, with its ' wider range of knowledge than one man could possibly possess, could do ( much to make the Agricultural Department the most glfccessful in the State. ■ We have no diffidence in suggesting- this at the present time, for Mr Massey, the new Minister of Agriculture, has always shown himself heartily in sympathy with the co-op-erative spirit iiimong farmers, and would, we believe, personally welcome the- assistance which a properly constituted Board could render him , and,;tho Department under his charge.. , We are not prepared to enter into the methods of forming such a Board fur-, ther than to throw out the suggestion that the leading agricultural associations should have a voice in its constitution."