210 WHEAT PRODUCTION IN NEW ZEALAND 



information on farm economics. But in order to illus- 

 trate the nature and ability of our farmers as organisers 

 a close study of general farming methods is necessary. 

 Two main topics suggest themselves first, the methods 

 of cropping, including a consideration of the general 

 working of the farm; and secondly, the general outlay 

 of farms, including a discussion on the inter-relation of 

 the different pursuits to which the farmer diverts his 

 attention, pastoral, dairying, or agriculture. 



(&) Methods of Cropping. So far as New Zealand 

 is concerned, the days for the exploitation of the soil 

 by continuous cropping are over. Happily, modern 

 scientific farming is well in view, and even in some 

 districts in actual operation. Perhaps the most import- 

 ant direct influence operating to produce this result is 

 the Lincoln Experimental Farm in the centre of 

 the wheat growing area. The dessimation of general 

 agricultural knowledge is a primary consideration in 

 the work of this institution, and it would be a great and 

 beneficial step were the Government to endow a similar 

 institution in South Canterbury, where the farmers could 

 obtain first-hand knowledge of agriculture, and witness 

 the application of the methods of scientific discovery to 

 the cultivation of the soil. 



Among indirect influences operating to stimulate 

 "high" farming I would mention the growing exhaustion 

 of the soil at the commencement of the last period, 

 1895, and more recently, the recognition of the supreme 

 importance of pursuing mixed farming in New Zealand. 



But, despite these influences, many are still blind to 

 the benefits which have accrued in the agricultural world 

 from scientific discovery and superior methods of 

 management. These indeed persist in a policy which 

 in the end must prove disastrous to both farmers and 

 community. As long as new soils within a reasonable 

 distance of the market are at the disposal of a community, 



