Scientific Agriculture. 



530 



[December, 1911. 



England. This essay gave results of 

 an extended series of experiments in 

 potato-planting, conducted in 1864 and 

 1865. Amongst many other results were 

 the following. Potato sets of different 

 sizes, varying from 1 oz. to 8 oz., were 

 planted at distances of 1 foot, in rows 

 2 feet apart. The following results were 

 obtained : — 



Late Varieties. Early Varieties. 



m 



age 



u 



<D 



& • 





age 



u 



<B 



a A 

 _ 



<X> 











u 



CO 



< 



2* 





> ° 

 < 



.2 * 



oz. 





tons. cwts. 







tons. cwt. 



1 



13 varieties 



11 



7 



varieties 



9 4 



2 



13 „ 



12 15J 



7 



, , 



10 144 



4 



12 , 



15 174 



6 





13 9 



6 



9 „ 



20 6i 



6 



j, 



15 6 



8 



6 „ 



23 8£ 



•j 



>, 



7 17 



In this couutry the rejected unmarket- 

 able potatoes are often, if not generally, 

 regarded as good enough for seed ; 

 hence we do not get yields of 16, 20, 

 and 23 tons per acre, but an average of 

 3£ tons. 



This must conclude my list of illus- 

 trations of what science can do for agri- 

 culture. I have confined these illus- 

 trations to such as show how we can 

 materially increase the quantity of 

 produce raised from the land by means 

 of attention to plant food, moisture, 

 and seed. And, indeed, this at present 

 is the fundamental task before us, a 

 task which overshadows all others ; 

 but, as every one acquainted with the 

 subject knows, we might have drawn 

 illustrations from every branch of agri- 

 cultural practice. The improvement of 

 our pasture lands, the cultural improve- 

 ment of our native grasses, the im- 

 provement of our quality of our agri- 

 cultural produce, more especially in 

 regard to its value as food for man 

 and beast, the improvement of live 

 stock, especially of dairy herds, improve- 

 ments in labour-saving appliances, im- 

 provements in attacking diseases and 

 pests which prey on both plants and 

 animals, improvements in factories and 

 in processes for working up raw material, 

 improvements in marketing methods, 

 more especially as to export, improve- 

 ments in social methods and organi- 

 zations, all these present a most fertile 

 field for the operations of that know- 

 ledge and trained common sense 

 which we call science ; and I have no 

 hesitation in saying that, if all that 

 science has discovered and has demon- 

 strated to be practicable were being 

 now applied to our agriculture in these 



various directions, the total annual 

 wealth of this colony would be double 

 of what it is at present. 



How then are we to bring about this 

 result ? How are we to get this know- 

 ledge applied ? How is the agriculture 

 of a country to be brought under the 

 control of science ? This, at present, is 

 not a question of agriculture, but rather 

 a problem in practical psychology, It 

 is mainly a question of getting new 

 ideas into the minds of men. Some may 

 call it a question of technical education, 

 but it is much more than that. It is a 

 matter of getting a whole nation to 

 feel the gravity of these facts, and of 

 rousing the people into action. It is not 

 simply a matter of driving new know- 

 ledge into the dense mind of a farmer. 

 The farmer is not so stupid as he is some- 

 times made out to be. Once demon- 

 strate to him that these facts are really 

 facts, and that they are practicable and 

 profitable, and his own self-interest will 

 make him apply them so far as he can. 

 The average farmer is not a genius, and 

 he has his own hard work to attend to, 

 and he cannot spare time or money to 

 put to the test every new notion which 

 may be preached to him. Probably in 

 his early days he has tried some, and 

 failed to get any good out of them, and 

 has grown suspicious of all the rest. 

 But I have never yet found a farmer 

 who could not recognise a profitable 

 fact when it was presented to him with 

 patience and tact, and by good practical 

 demonstration. As a rule, farmers wel- 

 come and respect any man whom they 

 feel to be a real iriend with genuinely 

 valuable knowledge to convey to them. 

 But there is a greab deal to be done 

 besides coming into vital touch with 

 the farmer's mind. What is wanted for 

 the people is the country to recognise 

 that this is a really great work, and a 

 work of pressing importance, which 

 needs adequate provision for its due 

 execution. 



As to the measures necessary for 

 carrying out this work, we cannot now 

 go into details. A good deal is now 

 being done and has been done, with a 

 reasonable amount of success. But much 

 more is required : — 



We may consider the requirements 

 under two needs, namely : — 



(a) Measures for acquiring knowledge. 



(b) Measures for applying knowledge. 



I shall not indicate all these measures, 

 but merely some, the need of which I 

 have specially felt. 



