THE BARLEY OUTLOOK.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14977, 26 May 1914, Page 8

THE BARLEY OUTLOOK.

SHIPMENT TO ENGLAND, -. j ADVOCATED. : « (SPECIAL TO "THE TRESS.") ' ', BLENHEIM, May 25. "Tho local barley market this year is * absolutely deplorable," said llr H. 1). _. Vnvasour, speaking at the annual meet- " ing of.tho Marlborough A. and P. tesociation. Mr Vavasour procooded to f-ay that there were two main reasons why tho market had been co strikingly unfavourable. Firstly, a largo quantity of barley, some- 15,000 sacks, be had been informed, was.carried over from last season;' and, secondly, there had, without a doubt, Deen operating, - what might bo called "an unholy alii-* .anw;" between tho merchants and tho buyers. He was speaKjrig plainly, even 'j at tho risk of offending eoino of his raeicantile friemls. He was.speaking as r, ;\ 'armor among farmers, and with the ' interests of the producing community • as a whole at heart. As far as ho could lejxrn the production locally this year was 80,000 to 90,000 sacks, and to this ' - were to bo added the 15,000. carried '-' forward. The quantity destroyed by \ fire was 2-5,000 to 30,000 sacks, leaving a total of, say, 70,000 sacks available. Say that tho brewers took 30,000 sacks - ' or so. there would be about -10,000 sack 3 remaining. As a matter of tact, the ■ ■ brewers had absorbed as much as they - .wanted till next year. What was. to ' be done with tho surplus?. If it was held -• over till next year, it would..'-oat its head off" in tho Stores, and the over- ' loading of the market would occur next. > season. But to a greater extent tho Farmers' Union bad taken tho matter - up, and had shipped off to England from 4500 to 5000 .sacks. That, however, was not nearly enough. ''If you take my advice, 1 -' said Mr Yarasonr, "you will send every ounce away, even * the pig-feeding quality." His latest information was that tho prices of- barley ■ in the North Seas markets were 4s to 5s a bushel. If the growers got only - 2s 6d it would pay them to eend their stuff forward. That price could not be "? obtained here. If one wont-into » merchant's office here and asked for 2s 6d he was ridiculed; If one asked - a banker for an advance on, say, -tOUO ■' V sacks of barley, ho would be laughed :'' at. There was no market here for the~ grain. He anticipated that afc tho worst the English-market would not fall below 3s Gα to 4s for prime malting harley. But even if they sent their stuff forward at tho risk of securing a small price, they would bo acting - •wisely. What they would gain next year as a result- of making a clearance would well repay them. Mr J. J. Corry said that Mr Vavasour had introduced a matter that was not at all relevant to the annual meet-" . ing of the A. and P. Association. The, , . .. allusion 'to .in alleged "unholy alliance'- . between the merchants and the brew* ".■_ ' ors seemed to bo directed at himself:, ' He did not mind that very much, bnt\ -| he would like to point out somo of tho ' ■.' fallacies with which it was associated. Mr Vavasour had worked it out that 3s 6d a bushel could bo cleared in JKug- | land. Perhaps ho and his friends would - exhibit the courage of their opinions. He (Mr Corry) would make them this " . offer: Ho would pledge himself to supply them with 10,000 or 15,000 sacks of j barley for 2s (id a bushel, and give . i them every penny they made abovo - that niargm. Mr - Vavasour talked t ■ about a 70,000-sack crop. Hβ did nofc - say that the quantity handled was the largest over dealt with in thie district. The total malt consumption was 125,000 - bags. Mr Vavasour did "not cay tbac there wero larger stocks in Canterbury, he only talked about the machinations " - of a "ring." Mr Corry went on to cay that the conditions of tho English market were not in consonance with the »r----guments of the Farmers' Union. The present price at the buying centre, which was not at tho port to which tho - proposed shipments were to be made, - , was 25a a quarter. There were nino bushels in a quarter, and it cost 9» » quarter to send the stuff to England from off the farms. A little calculation . would show that the return would not be 2e a bushel. . ? t