) one 
58 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Juxzy, 1901, 
Conferences practically dominated by independent men whose work-a-day lives were a 
sufficient guarantee that earnest business was to the front or they would not haye 
been present. 
At the gatherings referred to so much hard work was put through, indeed, that 
this question kept presenting itseli—How much payment would the men who are here 
gathered together require before they would work such long hours and put forth se 
much enthusiasm as a matter of everyday business? Probably the doubt in the 
minds of some as to the utility of such gatherings could be readily traced back to a 
lack of acquaintance with the question, or, perhaps, to the absence of any immediately 
practical results being apparent. Were it only possible to get some of the labour and 
anxiety of a Conference on to the shoulders of the sceptic himself, he who came te 
sneer might remain to praise. 
Those present to-day who have taken part in previous Queensland Agricultural 
Conferences will know a current of sadness to be running beneath the whole proceed. 
ings owing to the lamented absence of the late Minister. All will remember how 
heartily he entered into the business and how satisfied he showed himself to be as ta 
the value of the work done, and the necessity for such gatherings; and yet, prior te 
Mr. Chataway entering the Cabinet and getting into touch with this phase of work he 
was—as repeatedly expressed to the writer—much inclined to question whether any 
return, at all commensurate with the time and cost involved, was ever returned from 
such meetings. 
So far as Conferences are concerned, it is to the United States that we must look 
for the most intelligent appreciation of their value. 
The minds of average Americans travel wpon essentially commercial lines, so the 
fact was quickly grasped that by actual face-to-face meetings education was possible 
in the most expeditious way. : 
By the agency of the printer, of late years especially, wonderful educational 
facilities are placed within the reach of every men on the land. Only those who have 
studied the astonishing publications issued by the Government and also privately, in 
the United States, can have any idea of the exceptional advantages in this direction 
enjoyed in that country. Yet in the United States, to a greater extent than elsewhere, 
it is recognised that the most practical and rapid way to solve many questions is by 
the bringing together in conference of a variety of men’s minds in order to benefit by 
their stored-up experience. 
It is arguable whether any more eloquent exposition of unselfishness can be 
found than the willingness at these gatherings upon the part of writers and speakers 
alike, to make the best of their knowledge available to everyone, including their own 
direct opponents in business. . 
Tn this connection an amusing experience fell in the writer’s way one night, 
when dining in another colony, at the house of the Secretary for Agriculture, at the 
conclusion of an Intercolonial Fruit Conference. One of the guests, after listening 
for some time, in evident growing uneasiness, to the conversation, asked if he heard 
aright? If at the Conference practical information was really given by one delegate 
to another? Being assured that this was so, that the conference was openly 
educational, and all the apers read and attendant discussions designed so as to throw 
the greatest amount of light upon the yarious subjects, he, evidently losing all 
patience, delivered himself excitedly as follows :—“ Well, this is simply the most 
amazing and idiotic thing I ever heard in my life! . You say, for instance. that 
Tasmanian apple-growers are willing to explain for the benefit of their New Zealand 
rivals just how to produce the best and most payable fruit, how to keep pests away 
from it, and how best to gather, pack, and ship their commodity to compete in the 
same markets! Why, these men must be all mad! ‘They have not the most 
rudimentary notion of business training! Iam a merchant interested in soft goods. 
Well, what do you think would happen if anyone came and suggested that I should 
supply information concerning my method of indenting, sales, or book-keeping, or 
ost him concerning any of my failures or successes ? What would happen, gentlemen, 
would be this, provided always that my enterprising visitor weighe Te than I, he 
would be immediately fired out on his head !’’ 
The cases, of course, were hardly on all fours, but it should be remembered. in 
favour of the agriculturist—who is admittedly on many points one of the most 
conservative of men—that in this matter of disseminating his experiences he comes on 
to quite broad lines. Now, this desirable state of affairs has been brought about 
mainly through conference facilities, under which farmers are brought together, 
ensuring that interchange of ideas which leads to dissipation of narrow notions. 
Fortunately, men of wider views than the soft-goods man referred to are not 
uncommon, and, reducing things to their most selfish aspect, if a delegate supplies an 
