THE NINEPENNY LOAF.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2361, 18 January 1915, Page 8

THE NINEPENNY LOAF.

POSITION OF THE WHEATGROWER. The following contribution to the discussion, of the wheat problem has reached us from a correspondent signing himself "D:J.":— ,:;• The/wheat and bread supply of the Dominion is being discussed from many points; of view at the present time, the hulk of-the writers being full to the neck with theory, and when the facts come in'"conflict'with their theories, the facts must go .overboard. If the public would only consider the facts con-icernhig-the cost* of wheat production, the necessity, of; encouraging the crowing of; wheat irivthe Dominion, and the folly of-asking the Government to fix the price of wheat under the present 'extraordinary circumstances, it would rbe much; better, in the interests not only of; New Zealand but the Empire. iWheatvßelow Cost Price. 1 The average farmer is shrewd enough (and possesses plenty of common sense, ;but lieldoes veryilittle bookkeeping. At the the;;;year he knows roughly 3us- profit or loss; for the year, but he ■las noEngone carefuUy into the yields 'and cost: of raising the various .pro■'ducts '$ ."the faftm to see which is the' imost remunerative. During the last twenty j'ears wheat has nofcaveragedlrnore than 3s. 3d. per jbushel;jui'the farm, and it is admitted .-•that wheat cannot be" grown for that iPrice. -vTliere is-s6mething""poetic-in the ; Sdea of "grain and golden hstr-: .vests. vJJ'A glow;is on the.country-side, a yellow-golden --gleam," sings the poet, overlooking or.'.ignoring the fact that Snuch ;of the glow; is sunburn, on the ifarmerjoiling in-the- hot' harvest field. • The hard facts are that the jrvheat-'g?ower has a much smaller budget orteichequer back of.him than/most meoßleHimagine. The Department- of Agriculture in the United States had flgnresVfurnished by over 5000 crop.fe-.-.pprterjs.;". of the cost of producing an acre of ;■ wheat. The wheat was sold atan average price of 3s. 4d. per busbeli the" net wont perVacre was "6ld. Similar? experiments were, carried out (.with other farm products, and the official return showed the comparative yprofitrper-acfo of the grain farmer and the live-stock'farmer.i-r-,..';. ~

'* :':v .. s. d. ■;:;... s. d. Wheat;; 0 6} .Beef cattle 23 11 Dairy -cattle 810 -Swine :..„ 80 0 .Ccrn (maizepr--1' : ' ■'-" * Oats -snowed a loss of Is. Id. per acre. x But'-the' problem.for the farmer is not £bne of, direct profits only. There is'a big and vital-element to be considered, namelyy-the lossrfrom-exhaustion.of the . ."soil. wain-gVowkg. removes the elejinents'; 6f;'feftility,. and,' cuts down the ■.possibilttie's/of'.the future. ,' '. ' Drawing oruthe"Land Bank.,

V when at Lincoln,, 'said that'•a':good crop of wheat took about 30s, per acre out. of the soil. An. ■Americkn official estimate is 325. loss an fertility'for every, ton of wheat (about■[4o bushels). What/the. farmers of, New f'Zealand,;have begun;to. realise and what jithe consumer/will soon'realise, is that ■for the'last'so years 'we' have drawn s on the Land Bank for the fertility which 'Nature;!has ;:.been storing -up ;for cen'•turies, and ihe account is becoming depleted. There are two courses open to ■us. We must go out of the wheat business. for.; mqrc profitable', lines, or : tho 'price per bushel inust.be increased, and ■what the; consumer must admit is, not that he is paying too much for his bread "to-day; but that for the last twenty years, he-has had his '"'flour, and' bread, below cost/price. ','■,. . .' . a There is another important fact to he taken into, consideration. Wages twenty years ago!were 30 per cent, less than they are to-day. Hours are shorter, and a. loaf of bread is nearly all labour ifrom the 'day the preparation of-,tho jland begins until the baker's man.delivers the ;bread at the householder's ■door. The single taxer cries out that it [is the price of land, but the amount of (rent on an.' 8d ; loaf is about one halfpenny,. and this includes the whole of |tho improvements on the land, and they iiare nearly all labour also.' '. of threshing, -J In South Canterbury the Court has Jnado that all threshing be idono by. ,the hour. This has douhlecf the tprice of threshing, and it is no uncommon thing- to see the farmer haying to .'give one'-; bag of wheat in every'six to iipay for-separating the wheat from the (straw. This has driven many farmers jout of wheat growing altogether. Our jsystem of land taxation and close aettle'tnent is another factor making for increased prices. While in-the cities-we -see the factory- system growing, and 'everything making for lessened cost of' iproduction,, we are'doing-' everything we possibly ;cah.to force .the man.who has }a large .holding of good grain-growing"-[■land, amUcould therefore produce grain $at a miriimum, of .cost, to sell his land. (.The three-furrow, plough is being; driven .out, and the cost of-production materialvly, increased. lam not discussing the sfwisdom or otherwise of this policy applied -"to the Dominion as a whole, but /simplyto itseffect on the cost of production. The- peoplo have .demanded this .'policy. The .bills, are. .being, presented for they: must, be.rhpnoured. ?Bu,ti it's tho old, old story. Wo always cry^,that we.have been over-charged or 'icbbed when an account is rendered. 'One point,tho, .consumer conveniently v 'forgets is that last year, though he paid a little more for his bread, the farmer practically giving him his potatoes 'iforiiothing. '"

Price Regulation'.";! ' Tie Government have made an honest": attempt to fix tho price of wheat an. the interests of tho consumer, and ifor' their .pains have ' been . kicked by everybody, and thanked by none. Very ("few" seem to appreciate the amount of Ijlabour and anxiety this has cost tho ''Government and the, debt, we- owo to Ithem for plunging into "the world's and "securing" wheat at bed-' ; owk prices to.carryus safely through .:tho:' season. - • ■•■ ■- ... ■■ /' A great deal of buncombe has beon .Stalked, by. bakers about not. being ablo to secure flour. Tho fact is that every jnaker has been trying to secure more /■flour 1 -than lie iiscs, to stow away in '■case of "a .shortage, and the millers ."have had to...watch these men like 'hawks, so tlfat only-legitimate orders were filled. Bakers ha'vo been going to close clown for months; but have any ; <lonp so? It might as well be admitted that the fixing of prices, has. been a failure. ■if s, miller is:in! a, corner, for wheat Repays tho holder of the wheat his iprice, tho difference betweenvAgivenand the regulation'; price' can bo 'paid in mash or charged onto the sacks, and even if the ca6e was proved that more had been paid, it is an open question whether, a .Court would .convict. Encouraging the Wheat-Crower. Tho encouragement of wheat-growing is of more importance to the consumer than tho producer. It has been shown that in the past the consumer has been treated exceedingly well, but now ho must take a common-sense view and look at the matter from a broader standpoint. For ; years ho has been pin-pricking the farmer, holding out the continual threat that ho would take the duty off wheat and flour, accusing him of being a robber and an exploiter, and the producer hiis grown, tired of ifc.. He is catering more and njore" for the con-

stuner overseas who pay's good prices for his butter and meat and wool, and sends back the money without the threats and curses.

_Ycar by year the wheat area has declined in spite of the big incroaso in land under cultivation. This season we are importing wheat, and next season we shall require at least ono million and a half bushels from overseas. We shall have to pay the price no matter what it is, and send tho money back without demur. We have now reached the point at which tho old Scripture injunction is useful—"Come, now, let us reason together." We will surely realise then that it is of • the greatest importance, and the war is emphasising this fact, that we- should grow sufficient wheat for our own needs. In the next two months the farmer will be laying out his plan of operations for the next producing year. The world's markets are offering him high prices for mutton and lamb. Just fancy, 3|d. per lb. over all for old fat ewes up to 721b., quoted last week!

Butter; cheese, wool, all with glowing prospects, and these are the articles of production that the common-sense farmer will concentrate upon unless the government announce shortly that it has no, intention of fixing wheat prices for the coining season. If this is done it will make.very little difference to the price of bread this year, while it would have the effect that good prices always .'largely increased area under production, „and the prospect for the consumer-ofjlower prices the following season. It' is manifestly unfair to fix a. maximum" price for one year and then leave the producer in the soup the following year if prices fall. The only logical thing to do if we cannot grow.;enough wheat for our own requirements is for the Government to contract'with farmers to grow wheat at a : priceto be agreed upon between the parties in the same way that merchants contract with farmers to grow peas, etc.