H.—29.

with reality unless the results of specialized effort are suitably co-ordinated. This calls for the study of farm-management which embraces stock-management and crop-management as parts of a greater whole in which a place is occupied by the farmer himself— his financial position, his supply of labour, and his markets both present and prospective. Within the Department it is fully realized that the need for attention to farm-management in its widest sense has in recent years become more acute. This is because the farming position and outlook have changed so greatly that we are virtually in a new era in which it seems likely that low cost of production associated with quality of product must be the keynote. A new era means pioneering work, but this should neither confound nor dismay us : New Zealand farming throughout has been characterized by pioneering. Relative to a very similar position facing himself, Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Agriculture in the United States, says: — " The present confused state of production, to my mind, constitutes a particularly strong reason why research should be expanded. In this crisis in which we are attempting to blaze new ways out it is folly to operate under a dim light. In the first, place the problem of the individual farmer is never as before keyed around economy of production and quality of product. If we are to regain our foreign markets and expand our domestic demand the the type of research having to do with production costs and quality of product is needed as never before." The " research having to do with production costs and quality of product " is the farmmanagement research to which reference has been made above. In the sphere of farm-management the laboratory of the research worker is the farming community—the farmers and their farms. Fortunately, as a result of the extensive advisory and research services of the Department, there is available much real knowledge about farm-management—knowledge which when studied systematically from the viewpoint of current developments and supplemented when necessary with research should prove of great value. In this connection the dual character —both research and advisory —of the work of the Department is a distinct advantage. When the one organization undertakes both the begetting and the dissemination of knowledge the findings of research can be more quickly translated into practice. Publications and Publicity. The New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, in its reduced size, because of the desire for lowered expenditure, serves well as a means of disseminating information about activities and trends in agriculture, of conveying advisory information to its readers, and of recording the general nature and the practical bearing of completed investigational work relative to agriculture carried out by the Department and by the several other kindred organizations in the Dominion which devote their activities to increasing the general store of knowledge about means of improving farming. The series of weekly radio lecturettes from Station 2YA, Wellington, was maintained throughout the year by officers of the Live-stock, Fields, and Horticulture Divisions along similar lines to those followed in previous years. As occasion arose, bulletins and other publications or statements were issued as in the past to supplement the Journal. Miscellaneous. As in former years, the Department has undertaken a considerable amount of work resulting from governmental measures designed to assist the farming industry particularly in the times of stress which have been experienced in recent years. The principal measures relate to railage subsidies on lime and fertilizers, concessions on railway transport of primary produce, the subsidy to manufacturers of superphosphate, and the financing of improved facilities in dairying. The purchase of seeds and manures for Government Departments in general, which was carried out as usual and which involved considerable work, was based on the specialized knowledge possessed by the Department, and so should have resulted in efficient economical buying. In this connection the seed- station considered 753 lines of seed relative to the purchase of 221 tons valued at approximately £19,778, and check tests of samples drawn from bulk deliveries were made. The 1934 Certificate of Record testing-work showed a satisfactory increase over that of 1933 : 680 certificates were issued, in comparison with 545 in the previous year. In view of the general position of dairying the increase, equivalent to approximately 25 per cent., is considered eminently satisfactory. The Government subsidy to ordinary herd-testing was continued, £5,000 being granted for the past season. Under the ordinary herd-testing, 297,647 cows were tested, this number being 11,593 greater than that tested in the previous year. Approximately 92 per cent, of all cows tested during the year were under the group system.

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