FARMING AFFAIRS

Chronicle (Levin), 10 September 1946, Page 8

FARMING AFFAIRS

— (This column is supplied weekly by Federated Farmers of N.Z . Thc information given is offlcral, but any views expressed are those of the Federation and are not necessarily those of this newspaper.) Production Committee Federated Farmers is likely to be repi;esented on local official comiuitteBs dealing with the allocation of tvres, cement and timber. That information was recently given by the Minister of Agriculture in reply to a Dominion Couneil quei'y as to wliat provision was being made to replace the activities' of the prifnary production councils, particularly in regard to tyre allocations, timber supplies and general matters affecting farming activity. The Minister has explained that the 'ippointment of a representative of the r'ederation on all local eommittees allocating farm requirements has already been taken up by the Director-General of Agriculture with the various commodity controllers, and he will soon be able to state what detailed arrange(iients have been made. Petrol Tax There seems little possibility of the whole of the petrol tax being paid into the Main Highways Account. That re quest was recently made to the Ministei of Finance by the Dominion Couneil, but Mr. Nash has replied that "your representations will be considered with tlie revenue and expenditure estimates as opportunity oceurs and when reductions of taxation can be further provided without jeopardising the financial position of the Dominion." That lettei was sent subsequent to the Budget an nouncement. Wasps in Waikato Recently threatening to assurne a serious scale, the wasp pest in the Auckland and south districts, particu larly in tlie Waikato, appears to be under control. I11 an official cofnmunication to the federation, tlie DirectorGeneral of Agriculture has stated that since the beginning of this year all wasp nests have been destroved. It is anticipated, however, that there might lie a further spread next year due to tlu occtirrence of undiscovered nests last autumn, but arrangements are now in liand to consult ffith interested parties with a view to planning and carrying out an organised effort of eradicatioi. next season. The federation will bt consulted on the niatter. Rural Reticulation In the opinion of the Minister of Works, the present levy of one-quartei of one qier eent. on power board revenues should - be^.sufficient to keej boards which have a rural problemfully occupied for some time. Although in a general way there was an appreciation of the amount of work yet to b done to supply power to rural" settlers Mr. Semple wrote that no detailed aualysis of the exact size of the problem had yet been compiled. That niatter was now being investigated by thc Rural Reticulation Couneil, and power boards* had beeu asked to submit maps of the unreticulated districts, showiftg the loeations of all prospective consumers with estimates of the approximate amount of work yet to be done. Fntil that information was received it was not possible to say whethei' the present levy would be sufficient or not, In the meantime a lot of work coukl be carried out with ihe funds which would be accumulated anntially from the present levy. Rural Housing The Dairy Board is makiftg a survey of accommodation requirements for dairy factory workers. It is understood that the production sub-committee of the Famine Emergency organisation has recommeiuled that -ffrst priority should be given to housing such workers, and the present sUrvey is a ffrst step in the plan. Ewe Mutton Grading / Ewe mutton which meets the standards of first-quality mutton graded 'for the local market may shortly be sold locally as first grade. This 'decisiou was arrived at by a special meat grade committee set up by the Standards Lnstitute 011 which the federation was fepresented. Other interests represent ed were consumer^ wliolesale and retail butc.hers and the Department of Agri culture. This will, when the recom meudatioris are implemented, increasr the amount of ewe mutton sold for ioca coiisuiu'ption. Since tlie introduction 0. local gra'ding, the ca'nsumptio^ of e\vi mutton- has faileff fMm appif ximateiy 100,000 carc&ses in 1.943-44 to T92;000 H11 i 19-15-46. fi'.i' -A ■&. : U-r . f • ■ ■ . • ' ••• 1