THE

Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 716, 12 January 1903, Page 3

THE

'By John L. Macdonald.) No. 3. ADVERSE CONDITIONS/ I* is only a matter of two years or so since subscriptions were being taken up evun in our little township for the relief of the sufferers by the famine in India, the rice crop having failed, thereby affecting millions of people. In the southern part of South' America droughts occur periodically. In a recent drought there, no less than 50,000 head of oxen, sheep, and horses died from starvation and thirst, after tearing deep out of the soil every trace of vegetation. We in New Zealand have reason to congratulate ourselves on the very favorable conditions under which we labor. We neither suffer from intense cold, nor vet from intense heat. The climate, bad as we are often inclined to think it, in comparison with that of other countries, 'is unusually mild, enabling us

to raise stock, grain, or dairy produce equal to any in the world under natural conditions.

Not many years ago, sevc r al agricultural societies in Australia instructed a chemist to proceed to this country with a view to investigating the causes of the enormous yield of grain per acre—on an average more

than four times that of their own. This chemist visited the principal grain-growing districts of the North and South Island, collecting samples of soil as lie went along. After analysing them, he came to the conclusion that it was not that they were so much richer chemically that their evident fertility was due, but that the extraordinary yields were more to, the superiority of the New Zealand climate, most of all to the generous rainfall. This chemist said that he knew of soils richer in Australia chemically than any he had found in New Zealand, yet through an insufficient rainfall the treasure remained locked up. Later on, a deputation of Australian graziers came through from Auckland to enquire into the causes of the flourishing state of the frozen meat and dairying industries. They came to a similar conclusion ; that it was solely to the abundance of rain, and the distribution of its rivers and streams, that New Zealand owed the superiority of

her stock.... The climatic conditions more nearly approached those of the United States than of any other country. The

VARIOUS METHODS OF CULTIVATION

employed in olden times and the methods in use at the present day will probably be treated of in future papers. I, may mention, however, that in the first operation the land is subjected to, with a view to cultivation,

there appears to be a vast difference between the ancient and modern style I, of course, refer to ploughing. Anciently, the fork of a tree, pointed at one end, was dragged through the ear In by oxen. When oxen were not to be had, women took their place. The seed was then sown, and it was either ploughed in with a cross furrow, or else men covered it by hoeing the earth over it. In some parts of Arabia and Palestine, the seed was

,iust sown on the hard ground, and then ploughed in. From this, it would appear that the small bird nuisance was not qui te so much in evidence as here. In modern times, the most advanced methods belong to the prairie farms of North America. There, wheat farms run into 1 thousands of acres, and are worked by companies on similar lines to a huge commercial undertaking. On these farms, traction engines, with gangs of ploughs working at right angles to path of traction, plough, sow, and harrow in one operation upwards of forty acres a day. This paper would not be completo without some reference to

THE FARMER AS AN INDIVIDUAL. It is a well known phrenological fact that persons who are descended from those who have habituated themselves to outdoor pursuits, have on an average larger brains than those who have been accustomed to indoor and mental.pursuits. So it is wo usually find a farmer to be a shrewd man, and with a good fund of oornmon sense. He is,,as anyone who has thought on the subject at all knows, the backbono of the country. And if the farmer himself has not hoard that, he need only wait until a general election

conics round, when he will have it dinned into his cars by every political aspirant. That he is the backbone of the country, however, is an undoubted fact. All wealth comes from the earth primarily, and who is it that makes it available but the farmer ?Go into any city. Watch the warehouses, railway sheds, the wharves, and the shipping. What is it you see handled all day long, from morning to night every working day of the year, and keeping directly and indirectly thousands of townspeople in work? Is it Watches and jewellery, boots and shoes, drapery or costly furniture. No, it is not. Excepting perhaps in a very minor way. The great bulk is simply the products of the various branches of the farming industry, and consists of frozen meat, woo!, tallow, hemp, wheat, oats, butter, cheese, fruit, and vegetables. So that it is readily

understood that in a year wnen L ‘ u farmer is prosperous, all branches of trade and commerce share in his prosperity. Thus, town and country are in a measure dependent on each other. Should the year on the contrary prove adverse to the farmer, the townspeople are reminded ol the circumstance, by the increased price they have to pay for flour, meat, butler, fruit, or vegetables, as the case may be, and bv slackness with regard to trade. Yet, notwithstanding the importance of tho fanner to'he community in general, ne is not, I reg et to say,, so much n spected by the dwellers in tbe city as la is entitled to be. For instance, supposing he takes a trip to one of the large towns Ho sees the embodiment of many new ideas, to him lie naturally spends some tin>" in looking at them. Not being used

to tho ARTIFICIALITY OF CITY LIFE, ho walks about and looks around in a perfectly natural, free and easy manner. Perhaps his hair hasn’t been shorn for many a day. His locks may fall about his neck a= the fleece of a pure-bred Lincoln, and his whiskers bo scraggy as a billygoat’s beard. As likely as not he does not expose a great expanse of white shirt front, bedecked with the usual brass stud nor a stand-up collar high enough to saw his head off. These, and similar little items being tho recognised hall-mark of city respectability, if is not surprising that our friend the farmer soon comes in for some notice. That is—of a sort. Batches of young gentlemen smile superciliously as they pass him, and make funny remarks to each other, with regard to “ farmer Hayseed,” “ Old Wayback,” or « The Young Man from tho Country,” as tho case may bo. Nevertheless that same unkempt, nondescript looking farmer, could in nine cases out o'£ ten,’ go into any large warehouse in their own city, and got a dozen times as much credit, as any ordinary half-dozen of those with tho immaculate white shirt fronts and polished brass studs —together. For whore business is concerned the farmer is tho most trusted man in tho community. Not being brought up to luxuries, ho does not feel them necessary to his existence. Consequently he seldom gets anything beyond what he has any reasonable hope of being able to pay for. In direct contrast, very often, to. so many in the city, who practically live from hand to mouth. Yet, notwithstanding his many advantages, it must not ho supposed the farmer is without worry. Indeed, be is, of all men, the most dependent on the elements. In a figurative sense, he is completely at the mercy of the winds and tho waves. IVeather, that to other professions means nothing, means pounds, shillings and pence to him. All his operations must be douo in duo season or not at all. tfe is tho prey, not only of the forces of nature, but of all the animal and vegetable pests in existence as well. Besides supporting himself, his family, and stock, by nutriment laboriously won from the soil, it is fated that he should supply sustenance for hordes of interlopers in addition. Of course since theso animal and vegetable pests have their place in nature, it seems only fair that they should have a chance of life, only it seems a hit rough all tho saihe that they should all live at the expense of the farmer. Grasshoppers, grubs, turnip-flies, sparrows, yellowhammers, goldfinches, rats, rabbits, hares, ole—all look up to him as‘‘head of the family.” Couchgrass, docks, sorrel, fatlien, Californian thistle, and kindred pcstg —all look to him to supply them with a generous existence. And after all this wo hear it said, “ Oil anybody can ho a farmer.” Yes, so anybody can, hut what kind of one. To b&

A SUCCESSFUL FARMER requires long years of observation and ex pcrience, some reading, more thought, and much calculation. Truly, to farming, as to other professions, there is no royal road. The beginner must learn the same elementary truths for himself as thousands have done before him, Ho must be a man of pluck and endurance, not he downcast in spirit by repeated failures, but ready to braeo himself together, accept the inevitable, and hope for better luck next time. He must be a man of many parts, for in these days of keen competition, he has to do all in his power to keep down expenses. Consequently often than ntrtyou find a farmer able to turn his hand to a hit ot' blacksmithing, carpentering, painting, saddlery, and he his own butcher, baker, and bookkeeper as well. Accustomed to rely on himself, he expects little from anyone else. If ho cannot make his own living, he knows no one else will make it for him. Xo influential friends he has at court to thrust him into a billet at so many l hundreds a year, with a pension at the tail-end, should be meet with adversity, so ho works from daylight to dark, a slave in his own cause, and yet as truly free and independent as any man in the coun- j try. It is true, as we all know, that until very lately each farmer on his farm lived as it were a king in his own dominion, In a state of “splendid isolation," so to speak, whereas in the towns ancl cities the workers banded themselves together for mutual protection, and that of the interests of their particular trades, the farmer plodded on, each alter his own manner, not noticing at ouce that the more others banded together, the greater became his own burden. It devolved upon one of their number, is tbe person of Mr Glass (a name that shall' be remembered with honor bv future generations of farmers to awaken them from out of their apathetic state and to imbue them with the idea of “ union ” also. Once the idea caught on it spread like wildfire, so that to day there is scarcely a farming community throughout New Zealand, however remote, which has not its branch 01 union. And the Union as a whole is the most powerful organisation of its kind in the colony beside which other unions,_ yea, all other unions combined—palo in- j significance by comparison. i*lay members work together barmen • n-lv, iemembering that in “ unity is -“■ May the Union itself use its suv: gth wisely, remembering that though it is good to have strength, it is necessary to use it discreetly, and the farming industry will yet take its right place among the loremost of the professions in the economic history of the country.