THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY MONDAY, OCTOBER. 13, 1913. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 13 October 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY MONDAY, OCTOBER. 13, 1913. BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The decision of the Government to set up a Board of Agriculture appears to have given very general satisfaction in the rural districts of the Dominion. The question of whether such an institution is required does not seem to have entered seriously into the discussion. Everybody appears to have taken it for granted . But, when we consider that the Board is to be purely advisory, and that it will consist almost entirely of farittereA we are tempted to ask whether the duties of such a Board could not be more economically and quite as efficiently "performed by the Council of Agriculture that has recently been instituted by the A. and P. Association® of the Dominion . The duties were outlined by the Prime Minister, in his address before the Agricultural Conference, as follows:

(a) To consider any matters affecting agriculture that may be .referred to them by the Minister, and to advise him thereon.

(V\ To watch over and promote the interests of all branches of agriculture, to encourage the cultivation of the soil and the development of the agricultural resources of the State, and to 'devise such measures as may be necessary for the pre- , serration, protection, encouragement, or improvement of agrioultor* geaeraSjr, and to submit to the Mnifrter mrcl as they may frftm time to time deeT) desirable.

(c) To appoint special committees of agricultural experts to visit and report to the board on the of Departmental institutions, such as the experimental farms, State agri--1 cultural colleges, and also to inquire into and report upon any nirgiSat agricultural problems of the

day, . , _ (d) Td Consider the policy of the Department with regard to such inatters as the collection of agricultural statistics and the disjse'hiination of agricultural information > the feoti-, trol of noxious weeds and of the rabbit nuisance, the preventibn of. stock diseases &nd. the fostering of the fruit indil&tfcy .imd of forestry ; and the recorirtfttendations from agricultural conferences, rural education, and better means of communication, and any measures devised to make rural industry moo-© efficient and rural life more desirable.

It will be observed from the above that the functions of the Board are such that they might very reasonably bo performed by a Council selected by the A. and P. Associations Indeed, as far as we can judge the proposed Council of Agriculture in connection with the A. and P. Associations would be more representative than the Board of Agriculture that it is pro-' posed to set up. The special objects of the Council are

"To - promote the interests of agricultural and rural life by securing the co-operation and federation of the various organisations which are working for rural betterment and agricultural advancement. Provided that this Council- shall not interfere with the autonomy and freedom of action of any organisation that federates with it." In, a nutshell, the object of the (Council of Agriculture is to secure a federation between the A. and P._ Associations and the Fanners' Union, with a view to taking concerted action'on matters affecting agriculture and rural life. A Council elected by a federated body would be representative of the whole of the agricultural and pastoral interests of the Dominion, and its decisions would, be backed up by a very strdng organisation. The proposed Board of Agriculture is to be chosen by members of the A. and P. Associations alone. Hence, it will not represent the whole of the agricultural and pastoral interests, although the Minister will have the power to nominate three members. It is true that tlie Board will have a legal status, and will have its travelling expenses paid by the Government. But, as we lia,ve already said, it will be purely advisory., and will have no right of appointment or veto. The point that we wotuld like to make is this: Could not the work the Board be perforiried just as: efficiently by the Executive of the Council of Agriculture, and with less expense to the country? It seems to us that there is a. good deal of ovor-L'ipping in the agricultural and pastoral organisations of the Dominion. We have' an Executive ,of the A. and P. Associations and an Executive of the Farmers' Union, both doing much of the r same work. , The Executive of the federated Council will probably lelievo this over-lapping to some extent, and may ultimately do away with the necessity for Dominion conferences of the separate bodies. In the meantime, the setting up of a Board of Agriculture will tend to still further complicate matters. ' It will mean that before the Minister* "will take action on any given question, the local branch of the Fanners Union will send -a -remit to the District Conference j the District Conference will pass it on to the Dominion Conference; the Dominion Conference will address it to the Council of Agriculture; the Council of Agriculture will transfer it to the Board of Agriculture ; and it will ultimately reach the Minister in a more otr less emasculated condition. The circumlocution that will be involved in the new proced<ure will not, we think, be in the best interests of the Dominion. Henoe we suggest that the duties of the Board of Agriculture might reasonably be performed by the more representative Council of Agriculture, the cost of which should be defrayed by the 1 organisations interested, instead of by the State. We are rather afraid that if a State-maintained Board of Agriculture fa set up, we may at some future date have a Statesupported Labour Council as part of our political machinery.