NOTES ON FARMERS AND FARMING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2092, 3 December 1885, Page 3

NOTES ON FARMERS AND FARMING.

"Coin iiu Be \trMN"is an opprobrious mime applied to farmer* and their laboureis; signifying in the old country a clownish and a dull pate. The way fanning been and is even now at the present clpy conducted in Engl.uid. has pioduced this contemptuous expression. I have failed to hear in thin country an equivalent phrase, e\cept it bo tho word " Cockatoo," which can hardly be regarded in tho name light .is the euphonious, " Country Bumpkin." In a piisvioiw article I endeavoured to show that intelligence of a high order was necc*saiy to the proper and piofitable in inagement of the j.r« -fission of fanning, as compiehending a perfect knowledge ,uid understanding of noils, climate, pln»t», animals and business. But do the farmers possess this intelligence and knowledge Well might thu little sign of query be placed .it the end of the question. I will take upon mj *u]f tho tank of answering it. As to the intelligence of home farmer*, I intend to say little clue than that in the majority of cases it is nn intelligence a century behind-hand. They lack Kiientitic knowledge and enterprise, and now that thty aree >mpelled to face low prices and competition from all parts of the w.nld, they are at their wits' end, \eiy much like a sheop detached from its lellow*, rushing lnthor and thither without a purpose or definite end in view. They look with suspicion up >n .ill innovation", and are ever slow to adopt improvements of oveiy description. And if it were not for Mima intellectual and energetic men in (iieat Britain net farmers would be at .1 standstill. Do the farmcis of this colony lack intelligence or aro • their thoughts and ideas a century behind- ■ hand .' This question m one scum; is difficult to answer, fiie fanning community of tins colon)' aro intelligent ; of this, there cm hi n > doubt : "M<- li is o»ily to enter into convocation with thi-m to hud it ■""tine. The farmei-'-f this coi;nti> :>re an entirely dilFei outclass from what they me at home ; hero we have the real Knglish farmer, colonial fai mers and Knglit-h and colonial tiadesmen of every description conducting the operations of faim'.ng under new conditions and circum stances of maiketh, soil, and clim ite. v hie fjimrrsat Home aie, as a rule, mch ft. mi their childhood, and who usually farm in the same district to tin* end of then days m that in which they were bom. Hutice the ty|>o of man fanning in this country varies very considerably. Though thoy are possessed of intelligence, jt is of a decidedly "dormant" n iture. Whether this, in the conduct of sotnc of their ntfaiis, is a forced dormancy, is a in itter for future enquiry, though in many others no outward circumstances cm control them. Can an intelligent undi rstalldiug be interfered with when directed to'the thorough comprehending of climate, bolls, plants, animals, etc. .' IVo, decidedly not. But how mam, or bow very few New Zetland farineis direct their attention to these matters tin* tno-t important '! And why don't they? N it their inertness nr mental idleness that accounts for this deplorable stato of affairs? Yes, they ate content to pursue then avocation wlnlo fe devoting a minimum of mental labour to its man lift. incut and understanding of soils, etc. Regarding this pait of the subject from u piaetieal point of view, I must say that Homo farmers far surpass tl) ir colonial brethren in tho m uiagement »>f their land, cultivation of plants, .md tho breeding, reaimg, feeding and judgment of stock. Soiih! will say the conditions ,of the two countries aie different. (Sranted, but tho condition of this country ns bein.,' but newly opewd up— that is comparatively speaking — demands fiom it-, would be cultivators a more thorough application to the mind, to the understanding, of the conditions and variitioiw of its soil-, and climates for the purpose of a profitable pioduction of food ; to the c.iditiun leganlmg the suitability of climates and wiiN to different plants and animal*. As to the breeding and feeding o stock, generally speaking, they are both neglected. In the inattei of cattle, there is mi need for comparison, for colonial f.irmt'rs are .lit. pettier .>\it of it <m this point. Jn fact, iv to handling stock to g.-t .it their condition, this feat wi»uld require the agility of a monkey, as s.jv en - tenths ef tho cattle are practically wild in this country. In fact, farmers here ro about nntters like a man groping about m the dark. Are they to blame lor thi~, <>r is it the system upon which their business is conducted? Be this as it may, one thing is cei tain, that farmers and farming in this country are m a lamentable "t.ite of woe. I will endeavour to ami) sc the why and the wherefoie of this at t.te of affairs. Farmers hero are Tory much like a flock of sheep, o.io following tho oth<T, apparently neithei minding or caring as to the road taken, and the road chosen for the last few years has at last led them into the " slough of despond," or the " quagmire " of an ill-use of their understanding, resulting in poor crops, wretched paddocks of grass, -,\ mongrel bleed of anim iN, and a general mismanagement of their hnd. And th" item of laboui, both lioni" and hired— in how many instances is it ill dirt'ctcd, resulting in a dead loss to tin- employer, instead of a gain. A quantity of labour is annually thrown aw ay in hunting strayed cattle, lioits, shei-p, and, if there is nothing better, pi.,'*. Thim iy Ix- fun, but it is veiy funn> fun, when the bil nice of a jear's business is nn th" wiong sidr. This balance contemplated m the calmness of an evening's ea«e. the funny I >art of f inning is l.i-t sight of ; tho mind is (Dujrht within the sphere of soberness and meditation. Hi nee w<; find throughout thin coiiiitiy fmm is asking themselves the jiasimi <»f tin ir j resent depress d position And ui-tiad of truly investigating all the reismm, they .u. 1 gi oping about, *ome after this phantom, some after that. In one innt nice they have niiinagwl to light upon onof a substantial fmin, though as jet, to in ui\, it is still shrouded in lU white Micet, which act-, a* a sort of mmiv, arising from their own imagination, instead of Leing contemplated with gi.ititndeand pleasure. But the plain b'tld fact— or what is asseited to be a fact— stares all fanners m tho faro, vi/.,v i/., tli.it their oct up.itioii is cann d on ,it a loss, and thi* by all classes of land »wners, largo and small,— l am, &c, I'r I'homm.

As iiitciiMtionnl tmo art uxliibiti<>« it t<> be held in J?t'ihn nc\tycir. Thi I»»us« -fly h \ery nluw m it* movements wlicn you want it t" gut out of dooi*; but quicker tlwn quickness \s liun it \\ .inti tn Collie 111. A h\dh \i. w i itcr w\> tli.it slici'd cucmn licri will remove freckle*. So tlicy will. Freckled |K'<>|i)e are just «w liiiblc to fital diseonei <ih un^lxxiy. Yet ! It is certainly true. Ask any of your friends ulto have purdiasi d then-, (j.irlick andCrnnnell luvu nnmt*r»u<. un.i-k.ui] for .md v< ry f.i.onrjl)li - conimi nd.itioni from ountry cmtomcM >n their i*xc< l!i*nt packing of Kurntturo, Crocker), anil Glut, &c. I.adn-s any about to furnish should rcmi'mbor that Garlick and Cranwcll's is thij Cheap Furnishing Warehouse o Auckland. Furniture to suit all classes ; also Carpets, I' lor Cloths and all Huine Ncrcsi.incs If jour new house is nearly finished, or, you arc going to get married, \i-it Garliclc and fcranwell, Queen-street and Lome-street, Auck(Tand. Intending purrbaxers can faava a ratalo^uc