PRICE OF DAIRY LAND.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1450, 27 May 1912, Page 8

PRICE OF DAIRY LAND.

FACTS AND FIGTJEI3S FROM TAItANAKI. "An article' published in this column a fen- days '.ago, dealing:' Vvith the price of land in.Taranaki, has brought the following note and figures (from Mr. W. D. Powdrell, of Hawera), both of which explain themselves:— "In your paper a day or two back vou published a clipping from the 'Wee'kly J'rcss,' in which-a correspondent stated that land values' were inflated in Tpranaki when land was ■ selling at £G0 per acre. - The article challenged anyone to \produee'-a. balance-sheet to show to the contrary. I enclose balance-sheet for six years running, while I had a place of 121 acres 1 rood 13 porches at Manaia, which property has since been sold to Mr. 11. A. Mills, who has lieaten all records by about £4M) this year. The returns in question we're obtained by ihc on the share-milking system." .. . . ' The returns off Mr. Mills's farm are:— • 190.4-5 1905-0 1906-7 f-Jtl. lb. :id. lb. Is. lb. Milk- A s, d." £ s. d. £ s. d. 'August 20 '9 4 .24 6 0 ' .160 15 0 September 47 I 2 4/ 18 fi ■' '(•511 3 October ' fffl 7 4 77 16 a 134 3 1 November 91 14 8 124 1G 8 142 14 G December 109 14 0 110 1G 8 167 17 0 1905-Jamiai-y 105 14 8 137 0 0 151 ]!) 0 Februarv 81 12 fl 109 10 0 122 13 0 March ... G5 14 0 97 5 0 103 11 0 April .... 43 14 G 75 18 4 70 5 0 ■Mnv 25 9' 3 52 11 8 32 5 4 June : 10 13 0 26 2 G 14 5 1 July ...... 11 0 ,G 14 13 4 10 6 8 £682 4 5 £928 .14 10 ,£l,llß 6 5 1907t8 1908-9 1909-10 lid. lb lOd. lb. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. August ... 123 11 11 135 7 G 135 0 0 September 100 12 1 83 7 4 . 88 5 10 October 117 7 7 121 12 10 109 15 0 November 119 lb 0 .130 17 1 115 15 0 December 129 3 2 128 3 7 113 15 0 January 110 5 G 109 10 10 103 10 0 February 67 8 5 8S 12 10 85 5 10 March 70 12 7 60 9 1 94 8 4 April ... 60 10 0 53 14 4 61 2 10 May ... 38 0 4 33 12 10 3 months June ... It 10 1 17 0 1 yet July ... G 6 G 16 1110 ' to come , . JE935 6 2 JE9B2 0 2. 17 10 The return from pigs in 1904-5 was ,£9B: 1905-6, £150; 1906-7, £143; 1907-8, JE9G; and 1908-9, £56. "As the tenant got all moneys from calves," says Mr. Powdrell, "the money averaged is'*not known, but it would average about'<£3s yearly. The farm has carried 90 cows, besides pigs, calves, bulls, horses (3). It has averaged yearly during the last five years £1162 19s. 7d., or £12 Bs. sd..per.caw per year. The returns per acre per year are £9 12s. 3d., not counting this year. "The farm has changed hands five times since 1894 at the following prices:—lß94, £11 155.; 1896, £15; 1899, £21 10s.; 1904, £30 10s.; 1907, £10; 1909, £C 5. At £100 per acre and 2-5 for.labour for milking tho herd and allowing £93 for interest, rates, and depreciation, the farmer would get 5 per cent. on his purchase money. This year will easily beat all records by over £JOO." Mr. Powdrell says that in his opinion dairy land will continue to rise, although produce may fall slightly, and every farmer must expcct prices to fluctuate slightly in the future. Should our butter or cheese market fall slightly, our butter-fat yield could easily be increased to meet this fall by reducing our areas to 40 or 50 acre farms ami weighing and testing the milk from nil our cows, and culling out all unprofitable ones. At present we are milking too large a number of cows in one shed by the share system, without any knowledge of the merits of our individual cows. Some dairy factories are testing farmers' individual cows, and the TTawera .A. and P. Society is nh-'o encouraging testing am on est our growing children. Thc c e factors will aid lis to get rid of the robber cow, and also aid us to give an increased price for good land in the future. Should our nrofluce fall temporarily, land would not fnll. but the farmer and his family on ilie'so acres would earn a slightly reduced wage or income for that, year; and judgfng from the way that good workers and share-milkers have recently risen and become wealthy men, a slightly reduced wage for a year would not entail any great himlshin except on those starting with an indifferent herd. Manv herd? at 'present arc only averaging £9 and £10 per cow per year, while others on land of equal quality are averaging from £15 to £20 per cow, the former costing tho same amount for feed, rent, and labour to milk. With a tendency for cheaper money, smaller areas, guaranteed and secure family labour, better herds, modern methods jif tcstias sH .coirt Ti-ith. mow science in

manufacture, together with the saving in by-products, land cannot fail, Mr. i'owdrell argues, to increase in value, and all out good lands having a carrying capacity of one cow to ].\ acres will, he contends, rise to over XIUO per acre.