WHEATGROWING

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22512, 21 September 1938, Page 15

WHEATGROWING

EXPERIENCE OF THE , SEVENTIES THE <OLD MAN" NOR-WESTERS [By F.W.H.] Mr E. F. Stead has been good enough to hand to me, for study and abstracting, two volumes that are probably unique. They consist of monthly circular letters written to the customers of his father's firm of grain merchants during the years 1872 to 1885. The firm was at first Royce, Stead and Company, the Triangle, Christchurch, but in 1882 it was changed to the New Zealand Grain Agency and Mercantile Company, with a directorate in London and Mr G. G. Stead as managing director in Christchurch. This company closed the mercantile portion of its business in 1885, when the lettcrs cgqsc » Each letter gives a survey of the changes that have taken place during the month in the supply of wheat, flour, oats, barley, potatoes, butter, and cheese, with the causes—foreign or domestic —that have produced the changes. Then there is a list of the net cash prices paid to producers in Christchurch, the exports from Lyttelton, and the names of all the ships that have loaded during the month. There is much of interest in the market prices of oats, which sometimes went up to 6s a bushel: and of barley, which was occasionally imported from California; of potatoes, which were then freely exported to Australia; and of butter, which in 1873 was firmly held at sixpence. But the following notes deal only with wheat; in them the original wording of the letters is adhered to throughout, with the exception of connecting words to join up dateß or events. The Seasons Nor'-westers are often mentioned. In 1874 winds did much damage at harvest and the next spring crops suffered from the blighting effect of north-west winds, which are the bane of Canterbury farmers. In the harvest of 1877 nor'-westers shook the wheat severely, and the yield will be considerably reduced. At the end of 1877 there were many drying north-west winds, so that many crops are past hope. Immediately following this in the harvest of 1878, when severe northwest winds did immense damage, and at the end of that year north-west winds blew almost daily, and the damage done is irreparable. The oldest resident cannot remember such .weather and the damage is incalculable. Stock i 3 being turned on to the shrivelled crcps. Thousands of acres will not be harvested. When harvest came in 1879, thousands of acres yielded five to seven bushels an acre. The sample was pinched and shrivelled, and the price for the best wheat was only 3s 3d. In the harvest of 1882 severe nor'-westers blew all Friday and Saturday, doing incalculable damage; whole fields have been stripped and the price is sure to rise. In the harvest of 1884. there was a sevrre hailstorm. Wot harvests are mentioned in 1877, after the crop had been shaken by

a nor'-wester. Not more than 5 per cent, of the crop was thoroughly sound. Much of the sprouted wheat will never be threshed. Later a large quantity was saved by careful handling of the stooks. The harvested grain was divided by the merchants into four grades, 5s 9d for prime sound wheat, down to 3s Od for badly sprouted. By August, however, sprouted lines were difficult to sell, by themselves, at any price. There was even a shortage of seed wheat. In 1883 there was again sprouted wheat, especially in South Canterbury, and in 1884 the late harvested crops were sprouted, and this wheat sold down to 2s a bushel. Areas The areas sown were from 50,000 to 250,000 acres. All through the seventies there is mention of new lands, being ploughed for wheat. In 1881 there was a late and wet spring in Otago, which is unfortunate, because most of the farmers are Canterbury men, who have gone south to acquire larger areas. , In 1875, however, many farmers talked of giving up wheatgrowing and going- in for sheep. The scarcity or labour was a serious problem, and the price of wheat was down to 3s 3d. Yields and Varieties The average yield was about 24 bushels. Twenty-six was considered good. For the harvest of 1880 a yield of 35 bushels was expected—an average never previously attained by this or any other country. (Actually the yield was less than 30 bushels.) Hunters. Pearl, and Tuscan are mentioned. Tuscan (the old hollowstrawed variety) was always two to fourpounds above Red Chaff (Hunters) and other less fancied sorts. It was in 1879 that Tuscan and Purple Straw were noted as coming much into favour. ■ * ■■ Blights In 1872 we were sorry to notice a blight attacking wheat and It is similar to cabbage blight and very destructive. In 1875 caterpillars did considerable damage to oats and barley, and in 1876 that now dreaded farmers pest, the caterpillar, is committing sad havoc, and there are some slight signs of rust. In 1881 a blight caused alarm; neither its cause nor its character is understood. It occurs in patches. (Take all?) Prices There were considerable variations in prices, a rise frequently coming at the end of the year due to over-ex-portation after harvest. This occurred in 1875 and again in 1876. In 1877 wheat went up to 7s in August, but by 1879 it fell to 3s 3d, and remained near that unprofitable figure until these records close. , Prices were always 3d a bushel lower in Timaru than in_ Christchurch, jirobably owing to the need of tran-

shipping. In 1874 Timaru exported 150,000 bushels through Dunedin. In 1875 the market was excited in New Zealand because there was bad harvest weather in England. In 1877 the outbreak of the war upset all cal- • culations as to prices, but by May, 1878,* peace in Europe reduced values. Again in 1885 prices went up and down as the cablegrams from Europe were more or less warlike. (This was the Russo-Turkish affair.) Many farmers shipped grain on their own account when they were not satisfied with local prices, and in 1880 it is specially noted that farmers are holding out stubbornly against merchants and shipping at their own risk. Flour Flour varied from £l6 a ton in 1876 to £8 a ton in 1885. In the former year it rose from £9 12s 6d after harvest to £l6 in December, owing to the fact that too much wheat had been exported and there was not enough to last the colony until next harvest, it it usually quoted as superfine silkdressed, but there is also second-class country flour. In 1877 first Quality was £ls 10s and second grade £», so there must have been a considerable spread in quality Shipping: The letters are full of references to the loading of ships with wheat for England. They evidently came here on speculation, or were chartered by merchants, and arrived in about March when the harvest was ready. They were apparently loaded by lighters, as in 1874 wheat is quoted at 5s 2d on the wharf or 5s 3d in the stream. In June, 1873, 29 ships sailed with grain from Lyttelton, and of these only five were steamers. By 1883, however, numbers of large steamers were calling, and in 1882 the graving dock was opened at Lyttelton; it was considerably bigger than that in any other colony. Freights varied from 75s a ton when shipping was scarce, as in 1873, down to 20s when there were too many boats. When a normal rate was 60s, wool ships would take wheat at 45s to stiffen them —that is. wheat was virtually ballast. When wheat was at 4s 6d, English ships requiring a few hundred tons dead weight offered up to 5s 3d so as to get wheat to put them into sailing trim. In 1881 there was a bountiful and early harvest, but no ships had arrived in March, and so wheat fell m price because there was nothing loi the merchants to do with it. So, for the next harvest, merchants ordered ships early, and there was a plethora of tonnage available; »aeed, mu«h than was required for the wheat available. i«-'iaJ-terers redoubled their efforts to obtain cargo, and thus forced wheat prices up to a dangerous level Several vessels were diverted from Melbourne where there was also a short crop to Lyttelton, and so the position was made worse. Some charterers "aid penalties to cancel charters and other vessels received heavy bonuses to eo to San Francisco in ballast. N onchartered vessels dropped their charges from 50s to 20s a ton in tile hope or securing freight. By 1883 all the iron ships that are wanted can be got for 37s Id a ton, and less is being accepted from shippers who care to risk their grain in foreign and other wooden bottol(There are many other references to the effect that shipping space had on in Pr iß79 > the 8.L., a French barque with 25.000 bushels of barley from San Francisco for Christchurch, was wrecked seven miles outside Lytteiton Heads. In June, 1882, there were three wrecks at Timaru, two oh the same day. One of the boats had on board 8000 and the other 10,000 sacks of wheat. . . Ships As mentioned above, most of the ships were sailers, and even in lsao only 13 out of the 45 ships that cleared Lyttelton in the month of June were Many of the names are curiously familiar. In 1872 there was a Rangitira and a Maori and a Strathnavar— early forerunners of their present-day namesakes. Then there are the boats that the older New Zealanders will still remember: the Tararua. the Hawea, the Ringarooma, the Te Anau (in 1882 , the Penguin, which sank in Cook Strait, the Beautiful Star, and even the Janet Nicol, who left her bones on Thursday Island during the war. Many of the names of the sailers had a poetic or literary touch —such as the John Knox. Cleopatra, Sylphide. Charybdis, Velocidode, Dido. Lalla Rookh, Ivanhoe. Euphrosyne, Merlin, Tasso, Marmion, Minnehaha. Little Nell.. The Garibaldi was probably political and the XXX facetious. Altogether two entertaining and valuable volumes. It is fortunate that they are in hands where they will be carefully preserved. WOOL-SCOURING NEW ZEALAND PROPOSAL (raoH otra own cobrksfomduit.) LONDON, August 29. The wool trade specialist of the Bradford "Telegraph and Argus" recalls that at the international wool conference, held in London in June, a resolution was passed that an increase in the amount of scoured wool produced in New Zealand (an increase proposed by the Government of the Dominion) was inadvisable for technical reasons. German, Italian, French, and British importers were all in agreement on i this point, though some of the reasons suggested as to why it was inadvisable were not quite on the mark. ■ "It certainly is surprising that New Zealand should consider adopting statutory measures to compel the scouring of a certain proportion of the Dominion's wool in the country where it is grown," remarks this authority. "No doubt it would be pleasing for both the Government and the people,of New. Zealand if work could be found for new scouring mills and some hundreds or thousands more operatives but, although certain types of scoured New Zealand wools suitable for woollen manufacturing always make excellent prices, it does not follow that scoured fleece wools, particularly in medium qualities, will do so. "It would be unfortunate if New Zealand growers were to be led into scouring as a result of the consistently good prices that the European woollen mills have paid in London in recent years for certain types. . Over the last , few seasons, for example, scoured 44 s crutchings, if all white, have made more than good greasy 44*s fleeces per clean lb. Locks compare on parallel lines. Similarly, clean carded 46-50's pieces and bellies, stained and carrying a little seed, have made on several occasions more than the clean cost on which greasy fleeces of the same quality, presumably of good colour, were selling. Then, of course, there are the superior styles of halfbreds. Some of the 58-60's greasy halfbred and Corriedale fleeces selling round 19-20 d, clean during the last few months in London, have made, if scoured to produce a practically white product, 3d to 4d per lb more, and even the standard pieces of this quality (skirtings from the same fleeces) have recently made up to 20d. Excellent Prices "These are excellent prices, and European, woollen mills which have used these wools refuse to take the i same quality of scoureds that have . been treated in this country. They , find a handle and character about the New Zealand wools which the home- ; scoured product does not give. : "It would, however, be rash to sug- . gest to New Zealand growers that they I would have bigger incomes if they scoured most of their.clips. This is i far from being the case. If they were to scour and sell in New Zealand auctions, it is doubtful if the really specialised valuing skill possessed by our ; leading woollen mills would be there t to appreciate the wools. [ Prices in London and New Zealand '. "One never hears of such prices be- ' ing paid for scoured wools in New Zea- • land as are paid in London. Nor are » New Zealand owners such good judges of what types to scour to produce what 1 speciality manufacturers need. "The next consideration is that the '. bulk of the New Zealand;, clip to-day

runs between 46-50's m quality and! mostly of a big carding length, which, while described as carding for topmakers, cannot safely carry the same word for woollen manufacturers. "It would be a mistake to scour most of the New Zealand medium quality clips, because they would come up too big and possibly too 'ropey' after processing, to secure the specialised demand of the woollen mills. Attitude of Topmaken "It may be asked why such insistence is made on woollen mill demand. The reason is that topmakers dislike buying scoured wool for combing, and one of the unavoidable results of scouring would be to limit the outlet of the clips so treated to woollen mills. Topmakers would not compete for the wool unless it was about 10 per cent, cheaper than the basis on which greasy fleeces of similar quality were selling."