DAIRY PRICES. THE FARM INDUSTRY. THE CARDEN. SHIPMENT OF STOCK.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 8, 4 October 1907, Page 2

DAIRY PRICES.

THE FARM INDUSTRY.

THE CARDEN.

SHIPMENT OF STOCK.

IN impart&li^VlEW. • 4 ' "'feETJER SELL',ifriAN 1 'CONSIGN. ' In the confusion ■of counsel from agents;. who 1 ivani consignments, hnc! - .want'sales, it-is quito rest- • * nil .to "turn to'tHe pages'-of the " Mercantile .Gazette'of New Zealand " and consult a contributor of/that journal— a disinterested' expert who, we are '> awaro,"; is bjchi'iVd the''scenes of both commerce and production.'.-He reviews ' first tjie •varipus l ' , circuinstances which . bear upon the'''market- in relation to dairy pi'ciducc. The Case of'Chccsßi.--- • "Th£ industry," lie .says, "will receive test this season, and one that is quite now in our experience. . . Many factories-hither.to devoted to the manufacture of • butter/are this year provided with "dual plants, and will make gutter or'tfheeso"as the prices warrant. to bo seen what effect'this will have 0 n the industry'as a doubt the price • of choose has boon temptingly high, and such factories :as hav.e, been consistent cheqse-makers: have profited by the , , ; £9.inlitions; ;but,' taking a' series ot f years, the value or cheese has not been abnormal. 1 ' ', ■ Cheeselnstead' Meat. ; j ".There hav.o .boon-special conditions ■operating in .favouf.-of ;.tha high prico ' pf cheese. The Chicago.meat scandals, which had the offect of:checking in a wholcsalo" manner., the 'consumption; of , icanned meat, proved particularly liolpful to the increased demand for cheeso. In 'the miinnfacturing'''districts of Great Britain;, tbp '..artisans, . and mechanics are grp'at consumers of Canned meat, but with the awful disclosures of the Chicago slaughter-yards cheese was'-substituted; for canned meats. But tho' scare 'is 1 now passing away, and canned meats are' againgoing into consumption. 11 ! Foreign Supplies Heavy., , "But this is iiot'all; 'The European and North American conditions havo ,-been favourable for the production of ■cheess, and,although' Svef-havo not the full details, we believe .that the outputill all producing localities is greater - than it was 1-wt year.' - Thus if the do-' manjl itf morely-.normal a'nd thoout-p.it , r is, greater, 1 it- is'i difficult! to see any •' 'Warrant' for . a'• continuance of high prices.". . " ; No Criterion. ' . " There is no principle guiding the ,directors of. dairy factories in this, matter. It .is sufficient for them that they know that high' prices were realised- last season, and that they think high prices will rule .again this year. ' Tlio writer proceeds to.describe the Jrpyerishness- withr-iyhich dealers last :season- bought , up n supplies at fancy '"prices. Their.-,, amazing, ■' -and their later experiences disappointing. "Almost.-as soon as contracts .were signed-the-.niarkcfc,began to sag, and in the ondi,prapticqll}; every dealer lost money, :tho..i}ggreg<jt.e losses being estimated at. r .£lso.ppo to. £200,000.. . . This season the operators were . very cautious, and there, was ail ab'-" sence of eagerness. ,t,o make contracts. The oponingibid was lOitl.. per lb., and i.as far as ciiri "be ascertained the few sales inadp have been 011 this bases." ■Bad Outlook for Consignors. ■ ".The pricerMTTg'loWer than that offered last appreciated by tho factories directors "of these concernjivnci jsomovvhat like, merino shccpJJ-dqiftgJ.exSptly like-one another (iu'fe. re&rej, -that our con-' tomporary ' "'thus slight- , ingly.to the-iiiiiis of. our/great dominant industry)!—the ,refusal of a law factories has; rfeted for tho., others,- wjthj the the sales are-few'and, far between. This year tho bull; of' thirbjUtfOf alld cheese will be shipped t9 and it rcmainst'to be seen whether'the step taken 'is a wiso one. We think not. . . llithert6*' I 'tho directors of dairy factpijcs insisted tbat it was nccessary that- they should sell outright, because'! it was*Tinperative lor them to kiiqw; exactly' what their incpmo'.'wp.s,- so: tl;at they could make a full reErirn"to the milk 'suppliers; This ycar\'OT'c]i" considcra-.: tions do not inilucnc'&jth~9#i. .'Of-course, cvory factor); consigning--is'.obtaining ■ail advance,-and. it is said that the advances are,oil a"iibSral"scalc, but if the advances' tiro ' without recourse,' then we takeiitt the aclv.hiicc.is all that will''bo reeeivejl, ar.dv;th'e.' contract is praet ; c<il]y a ■ Old StpoKs of Qutteron;.Hand.. Considerable! quantifies- of butter are in cold storage "li-sEurope, and'! " the cold stores,of.New,,Zcaland havo been chcck fulj "of butter all through the ,winter months, much of which stale butter-isS being shipped to London to the certain detriment of tho new make.! The Loiidph . season will , open with air exc'essi'siipply of butter,.; . and a low level of. firicis. may 'be ex-., pccted." Mpxeovcfo))c dealer's, failpurchasp our butt.dr, aro not interested.- iit> 'raising. prices, "and can scarcely hp blamed if they maticeuvro ' for a depression.A Crisis. y " This season will"'test'the relative merits of consigning and outright selling, and to! that extent the indussuppfiers liuvft-: to '-'contend with a try is passing through a crisis. Broadly speaking, dai\'y factories aro not justified in taking market risks. Tho milk variety of. natural and unavoidable frisks, and ~there is jjo'reason why they Osluajld 1$ asked, acid-, market risks tp4be. loader Tho|day 'is not,far,distant, when butter and cheese -ivill be sold fortnightly orv-monthly, • much-111 the same way aq; woo] is now, and when that industry will'have been pfa'aed all'a right footing as regards mai'lipting. Looking at all tho conditions, wo are inclined to bolieve that dairy produce,'like most other commo;lities, has seo'n its highest range of values. Tho tendency generally is downwards, ani|:f'butter .and cjieese cannot hope, to e'scapp."

A PAGE FOE THE MAN • ON THE LAND,

mer said tliafc ho would see him at the Garterton sh'ow. "But there will bo no implement exhibits at the ■ show. ' said the agent! "in that ease, replied the farmer, "I had better buy the machine now," and he clinched the deal. Another agent stated . that ho transacted £500 of ?n"i e ? s at tho last Masterton show, still his firm lost money directly over the venture. Apparently the' only machinery exhibits at the shows will be those of local agents.

UNDER ETHER. We wonder if there are any of the competitors for championships at our chief shows ambitions enough and 1 keen enough to try Dr. Johaimsen's p nil of growing champion blooms. The plan was first tested by him in Copenhagen some years ago, and has since been dabbled at by other botanists. The plants are placed in a dry state in a box in which they are anffisthotiscd with ether, and sealed up with the fumes for 48 hours. Then they are planted out. The result is that, as if in gratitude for • their liberty, they sprout with startling vigour and produce finer flowers than those whose existence lias been untrammelled. EFFECT OF ELECTRICITY. It has been suggested before now that the introduction of so many electric wires into the cities, and the influence "of the mysterious fluids they convey, have caused changes in the health of human beings and especially 111 the state of our nerves. That seems Quito possible in view of tlia effect of electricity upon ; plants. Several scientists have lately been experimenting in' this direction. Professor Lomstrom, of Helsingfors University, has found that plants grown in an electrified atmosphere give crops of much increased quality and quantity. Strawberries in electrified fields gave an increase of 50 to 12S per cihit. over the crops grown in normal fields; corn an increase of 35 to 40.; per cent.; potatoes per cent., and beets-26 per, cent. Unfortunately lie does not say if the' electricity exterminated the potato blight'. His way of working was to extend a wire net over the field closo down to the crop, but not actually touching it, and then to electrify the net by means of a current generated'by machinery. As the crop grew taller the net was raised—about twice in the season. , This is all very well as a scientific, experiment. But wo want some cheap way of making use of this mode of • growing things in our own little garden. ' "Well, we are not to ho disappointed. Frouch scientists, who are always on the alert to "go one better" than their German neighbours/have shown us how to use, up the cicctricity of the atmosphere, which exists in'large quantity and can h,o got for nothing. The same system of netting is used, but this time it is embedded in tho soil; and instead of a costly machine to generate the electricity, tho precious fluid is scraped down from the sky, as it we're, by a sort of lightning conductor, called a geomagnetiferej erected in the middlcof the field. They have succceded in showing that 'the. process .doubles a potato crop, and' gives even greater increases in tomatoes, peas, and somo other crops. • Those who have observed tho rcmnrkablo growth of plants that follows a thunder storm will admit that there may be some' truth in what the Frenchmen say, and that in electrified atmospheres; like those of our New Zealand citie3, with their electric tram Borvides, .there ought to bo a specially rich; field of atmospheric electricity 'waiting for somebody to try it.

[BT TELEGRAPH. — TRESS . ASSOCIATION.] Christcliurch, October a. A very valuable shipment of stock '■arrived at Lyttelton this morning by the Now Zealand Shipping Company 's steamor Riiapehu, from London. The shipment included six English thoroughbreds imported by Mr. Geo. (i. Stead, of Christclmrch, and 0110 ' Slu'rc Entiro horso, two years old; imported by I\lr. J. Little, of Hawardcn. Thoro wcro also a number of stud ' sjheep for Canterbury breeders. These included oiie. Shropshire Shearling ram, which was bred by Sir Robert Cooper, of Shenstone, Staffordshire, and which took second prize at tlio Royal Agricultural Show, and three Shropshire Shearling owes, bred by Sir Victor Corbett, Shropshire. These wore imported for Mr. Leonard White, of Rakaia. Tiic Ruapchu also brought throe English Leicester.ewes and ono ram, all sheiirliugs, imported for Mr. . William Little, of Hawardcn; four English Leicester e.wes, and one ram for Mr. Lockhcad, of Ashburton; and ono English Leicester ram 'for Mr. J. D. Greenwood, of Tcviotdalo. The horses, .which have passed the Government test, were landed this morning and sent to Christchureh. The sheep, will be sent to Quail Island to undergo the customary of quarantine. All tho st'cck were in good condition after long trip, which was 'a very rough one.