FARMERS'UNION

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2208, 22 July 1914, Page 10

FARMERS'UNION

ANNUAL CONGRESS. COUNTRY'S PROSPERITY PRESIDENT'S EULOGISTIC REVIEW. I. . : ■ The tlrirtoontli annual Dominion Conference. . of. .the,, Hew, Zealand; Fanners'. .Union was opened' in Wellington yes- ■ terday.v The- < Dominion president- illr., J. G. Wilson) presided. " " " ; The president, addressing the 'confer-, enoe, said that no words of his coiild' be so eloquent'of' the state of .the-Dominion as the fact that this'"Dominion of one million persons had, exported <£24,000,0(S) -worth of produce, .etc. More eloquent still .•was th'o'fact""that' dut~of'thM,'Bs "per ■cent.-'was the produce of the land, in pother words, \£20,400,000 worth of produce, A over and above that required for our I own use, had. been"extracted, from tho. • * soil, .and c exported to. the : various coun- , tries all over IHo world, to pay our debts niid to leave a surplus over/our .',. our Increased .Productions. Speaking of New Zealand's increased ,' productions, Mr. Wilson said that, , while all our products had in reality increased, there was a slight falling-off in the value of wool; but with the increased prices nt the end of tho "season lio' had no doubt but that tho wool of tho past season had jetted-; as - muoh aa - the previous yeiik-. Mutton had increased .£381,252; lanib by .£723,602; beef by JJ115,928; butter by. ~£B3,3M;.vcheese ■by i33C,094; hides and tallow by about. JB150,000; and the total increase on the products , was JC1,770,270. "This extra .amount' circulating amongst tho people has given plenty of wort for everyone," - continued Mr. Wilson, "and , the . whole community has s benefited. Curiously enough prosperous times do not f eeem'to make for One would : » naturally, suppose that in times, of plenty tliat' iiir would be so' intent "upon 'raking in the dollars/ that they would not have time, for discontent. But we are not allowed this privilege, grievances are , manufactured, and a profitable occupation i follows in. the spreading of . them.. So that wo must just accept tho positioh, ; much the same as we have to do in castof the various parasites which exist on tho stock we deal with-in our. ordinary avo r . cations.'. Unfortunately no 'dip' has been , yet found ,to effectually , deal with the human kind. ■ •'. Can .We Still Advance. ' / . "The question is often raised, can New Zealand igo on. exporting this, enormous quantity of produce raised from the soil?. ■I Sonio state that the number, of 'sheep ; anust diminish /'before.- tho, march of- the ftairy her<i; others. that wo' must take Boini) striii'gent measures to 1 prohibit the . exportation, of, ewes,..or".our, flocks^will euifer. .lOn'tho first "point, I-caunot-help .; thinking our flocks are yet bound '.to jn-; j crease, even as settlement goes on in "the i way '.of railways and roads."', A very im- '• portant factor in_ connection, witil' this • is that-dairying is a most monotonous occupation.;. .: . . ThOre is, 'eo far, no diminution in dairying, in fact it is increa'sirig'i'asvtho: returns'; show; 'but the. slightest diminution of , prices would turn the scale and many of those on the out-; skirts, where it is inoreexpensivetodeal with milk would go out of 'the trade and turn to sheep. If we keep up the quality of our butnpr and' cheese, there is . no fear, but that we,:shali get the: highest price. -If the incentive of Rood prices is there,' New Zealand can add a, great deal yet, to „the ..exporjs of butter and cheese. -The margarine, factor,, also, had to bs:considered.", N - . Export of Lambs. V , . There was still room, he ooiitinued, for much'increase in tho number of lambs for export, but .thero was no doubt that Australia. .was goinjj to be. a serious, rival' in this 'trade,' her climate 1 was so much warmer that 'if ithe 'ewes', had"good feed the' lambs fattened veryTeadily, the sunshine of Australia helped the fattening process, and though'ho would \doubt.; thit .they, coitld finish off the'lambs'as"well as we do; the output of fat lambs.was going : to materially increase from the Oommon- ' .wealth;"' -Th» price, of long-woolled l rams to cross'with'the merino ewes at the recent ram sales iu Sydney, show that peo--1 pi© are going more ;knd" more into cross-' . breds, and that no' doubtmean§' that a tho ;lambs will be sold ins fats. Their lambing seaso.l is different from ours, viz., autumn instead of spring, ;as with lis,' and this means "their season jis much earlier ;thanours; the levidence we;havej:.they mir.sooli.be able to export-nearly as many lambs as* we <10, and this may "mean that the market may not be ablo to absorb the whole:at' : present prices. VAsiagainst that, there is 'the early prospect.of. other markets'be- ' sides Great Britain being opefled" up, notI ably in North America, especially in tlieir (winter season. ■ The Continental nations do not seoia so likely to allow tho entry (of our meait. The Germanagrarian party being strong enough so; far. to exclude it; , how far, as the Hon. Tlios. MacKerizio ■ suggested .the_'.other:.day,' this".will 'be affected by the determination of tho Ger-' \man.' ; steaiders.'to.^w)me Zealand, E"-ma,ins , to be'seen. 'There, will certainly" a demand by tlie townspeople and those' gaged iu shipping, toj allow our meat /■■in on more favourable terms than hither-, rto, .otherwise _it,is.difficult,to .see. .Mat.' . I'baclc loading there will be from hero. V " 'Shortage;of ;Meat.-' -v.: ( to'a 'scarcity 1 ' of meat j»ll ,over the world, and the ~ a<lvent of I steamers, even" though "made "in.' Gerj many," is not without its advantages.' I ; <un swre we -have, no -desire to. see a /•■I freight war, which always results in in-i-creased cost to sliippors; but the advent !-of another line of steataers makes . tbo 'squeezing ]jrocess_-increasingly difficult, and is -an additional- insurance against the attack of any meat trust being, made ; with:.tho assistance of any portion: of the [■carrying trade. , . v ' One means wo Irnvo at hand of'incrensting tho quality and quantity of oiir larajis-j-'fot export is feeding 'them in.tho fatten;ing process with oats. I ■' Considerable praise -was bestowed -upon Mr. .Wilson .for .-his 'address,"and it 'was. . resolved -to tavo it, printed .and widely Circulated... . ; ...