10 Jan., 1919.] Field Day at Longerenong College. 49 



There was not a better man for tlie agricultural industry than Mr. 

 Richardson, whose heart and soul were in his work. (Applause.) 



Mr. Richardson thanked the mover of the vote of thanks for his 

 remarks, and those present for the cordial manner in which they had 

 supported it. It afforded him very great pleasure, as the representative 

 of the Department of Agriculture, to be present and hear the cordial 

 expressions of opinion of favour as far as the experimental plots were 

 concerned. Cr. Dahlenburg had mentioned a subject of very great 

 importance to this community and to the country generally when he 

 indicated the value of the work and training at the college. In the 

 course of his remarks he incidentally mentioned that he (Mr. Richard- 

 son) had recently returned from a visit to the United States. There 

 was almost an unbridgeable guK between Australia and the United 

 States with respect to the way in which the agricultural industry was 

 supported and nurtured. The farmers were told every election time 

 that they were the backbone and spinal cord of the country, yet during 

 the last ten or fifteen years no serious efforts had been made to develop 

 the agricultural colleges to the measure that they should be developed. 

 In America everyone thought in terms of agriculture, and that thought 

 found expression in the very liberal support of all institutions for the 

 training of young men in agriculture. The State of Kansas was similar 

 in its economic and social conditions to Victoria. Its area was 

 56,000,000 acres, and its rainfall was the same as, or a trifle less than, 

 that of Victoria. The population was almost identical with that of 

 Victoria, namely, a little over 1,500,000, and, like Victoria, it had one 

 congested city. The elevation was about the same, from sea level to 

 about 5,000 feet above. He did not believe that the soils of Kansas 

 were any better than those of Victoria. Certainly there were no rich 

 plains like those of the Wimmera and Western districts. There were, 

 however, differences in all other respects. Kansas produced annually 

 180,000,000 bushels of wheat; Victoria produced 30,000,000 bushels. 

 Kansas produced 170,000,000 bushels of maize as against 1,000,000 

 bushels grown in Victoria. Kansas had 1,500,000 acres of lucerne, and 

 she had 4,000,000 cattle, there being only 1,000,000 in Victoria. She 

 had 3,000,000 pigs, as against Victoria's 250,000. There were some 

 3,000 students in her agricultural college as against less than 100 in 

 Victoria. Kansas spent £200,000 a year on her agricultural 

 college, whereas in Victoria the expenditure was less than 

 £20,000. Last year the farmers of Victoria brought in £100,000 

 of wealth per day. Victoria had a big loan bill to face, 

 and had to find interest and set aside funds in liquidation of the 

 debt. How could the necessary moneys be found? Certainly not by 

 manufactures. There was only one way to find the money, and that was 

 by production from the soil, and if they could not increase the produc- 

 tion of wheat, stock, and other products, they would have a hard row to 

 hoe. Increased production represented the key to the discharge of our 

 liabilities, and one way to insure this was to develop agricultural educa- 

 tion to the utmost limit. He asked the farmers to see that their 

 Parliamentary representatives took steps to support the agricultural 

 colleges, and to see that they adopted the proper attitude towards the 

 development of the resources of the country. (Applause.) He was 



