THE LABOUR SUPPLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1726, 18 April 1913, Page 8

THE LABOUR SUPPLY.

PLENTY OP WOIIK AVAILABLE. Gcncmlly speaking; there is pii-nly of rork nft'd'ing for i'.iriii iabourei'!-, :iccoi'iliiis to inquiries made yc-stcrday id 'i j-'iinnei-.s* Labour Exclumgn. l.'ufortiuu'tely, .however, it is .stated that o great many of the applicants have not sufficient money to carry them out of the city, and experience has shown the unwisdom of.paying the men's faros, as in these cases the person engaged all too frequently fails to. keep I lie engagement., 11. is stated that-there is a. fairly strong demand for .ploughmen, -shepherds, 'bushfellers', rabbit poi&oners, gardeners, • ami married coupl-.'c... - • ■■ STOCK IN QUARANTINE. HOLSTEIN AND SHORTHORN CATTLE.IncluJwl among the slock which is aI, present in quarantine ou Somes Island aro tiro; Shorthorn bulls, brought, over from Australia for Messrs. Dnlzicll Bros., of Huntervillo. In addition to (he above, there are also on the islaud two Holstein bulls and nine Ilolstein heifers for Mr. W..Barton, of Featherston, and oho Holstein bull and two Holstein heifers for' Messrs. G. L. and S. J. Sieversj o'f-'Ckvrevillc: HIDE EXPORT TRADE. LARGELY INCREASING' VALUES. Although the actual number - of-'hidea exported, from New Zealand during the yeer ended March 31 was considerably less than in several previous years, the. return .received for them constitutes a. record for New Zealand for any one year. V6v the twelve mouth's in question, 155,J3O hides were sent nwav. their value being X23J-.735. A total of 187,348 hides • were exported in '1008, but although this - number is. well above the numbji exported last year, the Teturn was onlv •£188,367. ■ Similarly, ■in 1910, 183,458 hides left New Zealand, but their value was only -E21f1,"85. In 130!) and 1011 the. export figures were iu advance of this year, but in' each year the monetary return .was less. .' . The number and value of the hides exported up to March 31 each year from 1003 to.date is as uuder:— Year. - Number. J: WO3 50,625 .. 40,521 l!)0i '. 48,613 50,785 1005 61,811-' 60,010 100G 106,130 105,156 1007 . 140,136 158,220 1008 187,018 , 158.387 1000 .'... 177,357 • 160,367 1910 183,458 210,785 1011 174,106 228,037'1012 150,835 1913 ...:... '„.. 155,230. 231,735 ARGENTINE COMPETITION. IMPRESSIONS OF A NEW • ZEALANPEB..; ..The Argentine as a competitor of New Zealand was tho subject of an address given before the Woilinto Farmers' Club by Mr. Richard 'Reynolds, who has re'-, cently returned from a trip to the, Argentine and England. The Argentine, said Mr. Reynolds, was the Dominion's greatest competitor in the world's market. England wanted the best article that'could bo produced ,and was prepared to pay for.it so that when wo had a big coin-' petitor like the Argentine it behoved New Zealanders to do their utmost, to combat such competition. The Argentine Rephblic was three-fourths thc ; ,s:ze-.of Aus r | tralia,- and contained quite "200,000,000 acres of -flat country. One rould travel hundreds and hundreds of miles and see nothing but the flats. The land, too, was, the most'uniform-in-qualityto be found; 'anywhere in the'world: . The productivity .of the soil was wonderful. He was pointed out- one field that had grown wheat crops for : 17 years in succession without the use cf any manure at all, and the .fourteenth crop, was the heaviest, of tho series. ; The maize crop lasjt year .was worth five- millions sterling, and the jrrain yield each year was larger than that of Australia and Canada combined. The lands were suitable for practically ' all kinds of grain. .The numbers of the 'stock' were astounding. On one holding .which'he visited 15,000 head of fot cattle were sent to'the freezer in one year, and 25,000 head from anoth'sr .hcJdinp; aloiiKside-■ When 18 months old cattle were fit for the, market,'' Alfalfa (lucerne) gayo' remarkable results. -Most of the water was supplied by windmills. Calves wero raised on skim-milk. At one of the freezing works he had inspected 1000 head of cattle and 4000 head of sheep wero put throußh every day of the year, Sundays included. Everything was utilised at tho freezing; works, and everything was beautifully clean; operations being conducted in the presence of inspectors. The best breeders- dehorned- their cattle. The Argentine, however, was'not producing onetenth of what it could, the same being due. to-the natives . adhering to native grass instead of sowing with alfalfa. For 'some reason or,'other'the native grass was very poor in" quality and was far from being- what could-be expected of such a rich country. On the other hand, alfalfa'could -produce beef quicker, than, land as good as, any grass he knew of.. ou9 holding of 200, acres 'down in alfalfa and,maize turned out 2000 head of'cattle ih'»•■ year. If the Argentine could, bo stocked up to its utmost it could smother ■Australia and New' Zealand, but fortunately it. was devolopiog'slowly. His opinion was that the Argentine was the only country to" be''feared ' as" a competitor. The social'conditions were : not, however, to".be compared with .those of New Zealand, and further Argentine was a frightful place for such : diseases of stock as anthrax, foot-and-mouth' disease, blackleg,'scab in sheep, etc., whilst the prevalence of locusts and hail constituted other great drawbacks. The.diseases, howover, would in time probably be remedied and some of them exterminated. Mr.' Reynold; gave it as his opinion that it'was not probable that'the Argentine would' for many.years to corae compete against New Zealand In the butter market. The big ranchers were satisfied to continue to act as graziers and would not be bothered with cows. , Referring to the price of land,', Mr. Eeynolds stated that a fair nrerase in the Argentine was .£lO an acre, and land at that rate was equal in carrying capacity to land that sold in New Zealand for at least =£40. The big ranches would in time be subdivided into smaller holdings, but at present the Argentine was no place for the man with limited capital to go to • Weighing up all the advantages and disadvantages' of the Argentine, Mr. Reynolds said.he was satisfied that New Zealand was the better country, despite tho fact that it was double the.distance away from England. New Zealand had the finest climate in the world, and. ho did not know a country that was so strikingly immune from disease. Their sheep, horses, and cattle would compare favourably with the stock to be found in any other country, and no young man could start and make a home nnywherp in such a short time as in New Zealand. 'After his tour abroad he valued New Zealand more than ever he did.