THE FARM INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 506, 13 May 1909, Page 10

THE FARM INDUSTRY

ROTATION OF INDUSTRIES.' WHEAT NEXT. Industries have their rotation, just as crops have. For some years past wool-and meat have been "the thing" in New Zealand farming operations, and there is no reason to anticipate any appreciable decline in these lines. But, other industries of the soil liavo changed their outlook very markedly. Hemp, which quite recently was making immense increases in its share of the country's ex-ports,-has fallen almost into forgetfulness; j? holds its ground -not because it is a nourishing occupation, but very . much because the capital invested in it cannot get out, and must not be allowed to bo idle. Perhaps its will come again. Dairying was never sturdier thtui to-day, and it has this advantage over . sheep-farming, . that, whereas the grazier's prosperity can be jeopardised by a fall in the price of either wool or meat, tho. dairy-farmer can, if ho likes, evade cheap butter prices, and make cheese, or vico versa. The sheep-farmer has to produce both his commodities or neither. Dairying now may be said to be one of the most, flourishing courses in tho rotation.; Fruitgrowing gives signs of a greatly enlarged output shortly, and the organisation is rapidly improving. Fruitgrowing, howover, with.its million sterling output per annum, is still far. froai being a leading product. . ' ! " ■' V> heat, however, is now tho commodity.' that is most under the limelight, among what, may bo termed the smaller branches of farm-; ing. .1 Hitherto New Zealand has been content to grow only the wheat required for tho bread of New Zealiyiders, and, protected by the duty, it has mAde ends meet. But wheat has never been a crop prono to occasional booms. Tho conditions of the present season are strange to the industry, but their results may bo lasting. Tho surpluses of tho various chief products over the quantities, used in local consumption m tho year ended March 31 were as follo'w:—

£. ■ Wool 6,544,638 • *?m b 1,628,144 ■ Mutton ~ i,]si 905 Beif -454,024 ' -1,422,291 865,463 Wheat 535 Hem .P 310,364 The future of wheat culture is already being discussed with a new interest, and, with tho nigh prices maintaining their level in spite or tho supppscd collapse of the American corner, there is encouragement in tho outlook, he wheat crisis has served to emphasise the tact that the world's wheat supplies have long been restricted, proilously'near.to the world s_ bare needs. With this faict,well absorbed bj;.wheat buyers, and with a shortage still possible alter the coming northern' harvest,'therewould appear to be good cause bc l'sf that is gaining ground that wh.at in New Zealand will bo a safe crop for the coming season. [The cause of Now Zealand's great wheat crop now harvested was quite accidental. At the timo last year that tho farmers were sowing wheat into 30 per cent, more of New Zealand s*< fertile acres than were seeded in tho previous J*car, there was-no verv definite expectation .of good pricos. Tho increase was attributed to only one thing—the circums,i , co pastures needed..- renewing, and that a wheat crop. could be conveniently sandwiched, m. The better prices are therefore qmto oxtra. Tho huge yield per acre also, though foreseen as early.as October last/ was not expected when the seed'was sown. The excellent harvest—nearly • a record- for our .country—was largely due to thy dry weither or ;tho previous summer'and autumn,: which sweetened tho soil. In the present year those conditions hg.ve been reversed, and unless other causes contribute to big yields the harvest of next summer cannot bo expected to be unusual. Tho combination, bjwe\!r, of a big area and a big yield per aero lias given thit nfn , w Zea,an( l wheat-growing that may perhaps become permanent. New Zealand is able to grow larger.crops per acre than almost any other country except Britain, and, with her easy access to the sea for transport, she is admirably adapted for supPlJing tho food commodity which tho world wlll, 11 -f VO Qn v? T lf; , hout - Yot w h ea t-growing with its 30-bushel crop, worth £6 per acre, has to bear the ill-name of involving heavy labour, weather risks, intolerable strain and worry r.t harvest time, peculiar dependence n?;™ iu ° f labour, 'and unsteady prices that hitherto havo left' but a small margin for' unforeseen circumstances. Compared with the reputed ease of sheet), farming, and its alleged munificent returns or with the certain regular cheques of tho man who produces milk or oven eggs, fruit and vegetables, wheat-growing has struggled nhlliK- f" 1 niiUstone. Now Zealand's ?n hc , av / C /°I )S of wheat is shown m tho following list of last season's averace crop 3 per aero:— : M b

- Bushels per ' 'Britain 3 f ro - Now Zealand ..- 33 £° rmttn y 29.62 Franco s 23.49 '2 n , tan ° ' 21.96 loland 16.14 United States 13 60 : Argentina ILO9 Australia (about) 9 _. Exactly how much ittontion New' Zealand is bestowing upon ivheat or meat or dairy produce will ho-made evident in the statement that New Zealand produces: Enough wheat for ,1} million people. Enough butter for 1* million people. •• Enough mutton and lamb for 4i million people.Ten years ago a smaller number of New ..,. an " ers produced . ouough wheat for 2i million people. Britain grows enough wheat tor ten million people— one-quarter of her population. Apparently a little inducement, at Homo in the form of better prices would encourage Britain to produce all the wheat sue consumes, and thus , escape the fear of starvation in caso of war.

ANNUAL AGRICULTURAL REPORT. The annual report of, the Department'of Agriculture has gone early to press • this season. It is understood that most of the proofs are already out, and this should be followed by an early issije of the report. iAiai would greatly increase its valuo. At its best it is an unwieldy compilation, and it has always been one of its disadvantages that its information in some respects reacEes readers too lato to have its full valuo. It is stated that some features of interest will bo contained in the, report. -In addition, small bulletins will be shortly issued from' the dairying division, tho canning expert, and possibly from other sourcos. IS IT AN OVERSIGHT? Some surprise has been expressed at the I omission, in- the Departmental reorganisation, of any reference to agricultural botany, £eed examination, plant diseases, and entomology. Hitherto t-heso duties had been under the direction of Mr. T. W. Kirk the Government biologist, but when that officer was afcked by a Dominion representative yesterday where these duties were to bo placed for the future, ho said he could give no information of what was intended. Considerable regret would bo felt if tho work wcro to bo discontinued, for tho assistance which has been given in the past by Mr. Kirk's division in regard to. friendly and unfriendly insects, fungus diseases; ' seeds,' weeds; and farm plants have been of value to many farmers. \ PRESERVATIVE IN BUTTER. At this timo of last year the anxiety lest British authorities should prohibit the importation of butter .containing any preservative except salt was exercising tlio minds of New Zealand and Australian dairy farmers, who.so remoteness from Britain nukes thorn specially dependent on borax to keep this butter good in transit. No serious fulfilment of |tho fears came about, and, .to-day, the question is almost'forgotten. It'has never been found out whether the representations of Australians caused the agitation , in Britain against borax to bo dropped Air , whother .it merely 'died of ita own accfl

Whatever tho cause, tho result: is highly • satisfactory as a mere trade condition. The' demand for pasteurisation, .which received some stimulus as a consequence of the alarm, has now abated, and nioro attention is. being devoted to tho pasteurisation of skimmed milk and whey as a prevelitivo of tho conveyance of tuberculosis ,to pigs. In this direction, some good preliminary information has been collected .by the Dairying Division, and will bo published in tho annual report shortly. 1 . , NIREAHA CHEESE COMPANY. A special meeting of shareholders of tho Niresaiha Oheeso Company was held on Monday evening to consider tho question of making necessary additions to tho factory. Tho chairman stated that it would be necessary to iricreaso the sizo of tho working room, so that. it could accommodate' eight vats, and this was estimated to coot £400. Additions to tho curing room would also cost about £150. Up. to date the sum of £1941 had been expended on buildings, land, and equipment; and tho subscribed capital was £1639. The nominal capital of the company was £2000, and 600 additional shares wero required to bo' taken up. This would have to do increased to the amount spent over the subscribed capital. After discussion thp secretary.: was .instructed to canvass for new. shares,'and tho meeting-was adjourned for a fortnight; - Over 240 now shares were subscribed in tho room. '' —' : — BRITAIN'S BUTTER. Wo in New Zealand are inclined sometimesto forget that tho amount of butterthat we send to Britain is only a small quantity compared with the amount of butter pioduced by the British farmers thornselves.: In tho year ended March 31 last we exported iust over 13,000 tons of butter, but, in tho samo period, tho British far-mers-produced 90,000 tons, or seven times as much. This, is in addition to between five and , six million pounds' worth of butter received from Ireland. Tho total colonial and foreign imports are valued at a little over £22,000,000. Of that sum NeiV Zealand receives nearly orio and a half millions.