Deputy Cogan made a remark which I think, is extremely important, especially at a time like this when we know that it is only through increased and efficient production that we will be able to increase our markets and improve our prices. He made the remark that few farmers had confidence in the officials of the Department of Agriculture. It is my opinion, and I am quite sure the opinion of almost all Deputies, that the officials and instructors of the Department are possessed of a vast amount of knowledge and that knowledge is not available to the farming community generally, mainly because of the fact that we have not all done our best to induce the farmers to have more confidence in the instruction given to them by the officers and instructors of the Department. I know that to a large extent that may be due to historical or semipolitical reasons, but I think the time has arrived when all Deputies fully realise the necessity for better and more efficient production by our farmers.
Deputy Childers some time ago quoted very interesting figures. He indicated the low production per man on the land in this country. Those figures, of course, were known to most of us. The real reason for the low production is want of efficiency, and that lack of efficiency is due entirely to want of instruction. The unfortunate part of the business is that while that instruction is always available, it is not taken advantage of. The county committees of agriculture have available instructors in many branches of farming, poultry keeping, butter making and many other things. It is my candid opinion that for some reason or another the bulk of the farmers pay no attention whatever to the instructions and lectures given by these people; nor do they bother to any extent about the many valuable leaflets produced by the Department. To my mind, the whole Dáil and all our public representatives should make every effort to see that the confidence that Deputy Cogan spoke about is at once restored and that we should make an effort to get the farming community into a position in which they can produce more efficiently, in which they can get a better knowledge of the markets in which we have to sell our produce, and of the type of produce that is wanted in those markets.
For instance, some time ago the Government introduced a measure which controlled the production and handling of eggs. The previous Government were also compelled to introduce a measure which may not have gone as far as the last measure did. Every one of us knows the attitude of producers and farmers to that measure. Many of them believe that that measure is a penal one devised purposely to punish them and to create difficulties when, in reality, the measure that this Government introduced, like the measure that the previous Government introduced, is intended to get better prices by putting on the market a better and more suitable commodity.
I believe that this question of agricultural teaching is at the root of the depression that now exists in agriculture, apart altogether from the very severe depression that took place all over the world since the last war. Be that as it may, when there is depression the only way the agricultural community—or the industrial community, for that matter—can fight it is by increased production and by better production. One of the things that many Deputies have noticed is that, possibly up to 1883, agriculture was taught as a subject in the national schools, and every teacher passing through the Marlborough Street College went through a course at Glasnevin or elsewhere. That ceased mainly because the British Government did not believe in it, or perhaps because the British people were a little jealous that they had not the same system. One thing that has to be realised is that some instruction in what is a most intricate and highly technical calling like agriculture is essential. In my opinion, the Department of Agriculture should make a special effort to see what can be done with the youth of the country, and especially with those attending clementary schools, in order that when they come to a more mature age they will be in a position to avail of the different lectures that are given. I also believe that that would give the children at that particular period more reverence and more respect for the land.
One of the things that has happened here since 1983 is that those living on the land began to be "looked down upon," and there was not the same respect for that extremely important profession as there was for the other professions we have in this and other countries. As a result the others took precedence over the important and fundamental profession of agriculture. Many people smile at that, but agriculture is really the profession that needs most learning and most study. The other professions are sectional, while agriculture embraces everything. The farmer must know law, he must know a good deal about veterinary science, and he must know something about engineering and other things. Really the farmer and the labourer are the most important members of the community. Up to the present, many have not begun to look at farming in the right light. It was no wonder Deputy Cogan made the statement that the farmer had no confidence in magnificent lectures that were delivered, and no confidence in seeking out the enormous amount of information necessary for his calling.
While every effort was made to get them to study agriculture, for some reason there seemed to be a barrier between officials of the Department of Agriculture and farmers. Farmers were made to believe that the officials of the Department were cold-hearted officials who caused peculiar Acts of Parliament to be passed, compelling them to pack eggs in a certain way, and imposing other impositions on their industry. That outlook must be cleared away. We must try to induce farmers and agricultural workers to cooperate with the Department and its officials, and with the committees of agriculture and their officials, and, instead of looking upon them as enemies, to see in them friends who are there to do all they possibly can on their behalf.