THE PRICE OF WHEAT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 307, 23 September 1919, Page 6

THE PRICE OF WHEAT

BISKS AND ANXIETIES OF TEI3 GBOWEB. Sir.—lt is only those who have been '.-. tho habit of growing wheat and other cereals in thi? Dominion who are fully acquainted with and able to appreciate tho risks mid anxieties not only of labour troubles, but in the feeding ami catering for an army of workmen at u time wiien it is imn'ossiblo to secure domestic help in the country. ■ Tn the late rearrangement of portfolio* I observe we have in the Hon. Mr. Nosworthy a Minister of Agriculture who understands tho position mid is able to estimate nt a money value the mnn,t risks attendant upon this particular branch of aaricultnre, ... North Island men,shirk the position, preferring less arduous work, mid 1 don't 'bltiino them, but this throws the responsibility of food production upon tho South Island farmer nnd his household, without any compensating advantages for the risk of crop failures through weather and other conditions. A neighbour of mine has just resown his wheat, wh;';h li.nd been destroyed through the ravages of grub. The Hon. Mr. Mac Donald seemed to think nnd oct as if the South Island fiirmer had noUiiiijr more to do than sow his grain and reap an average, and payable crop, but the Imperial Government, moro appreciative of, and alive to, the many risks involved in cropping, paid as compensation tio tho irrower tourfifths tho valuo of any yield, short ot the averages, as ■under:—Wheat, 32 bushels, at the guaranteed nrico of fls. per bushel; barley, 33 bushels, «t the guaranteed prico of 7s. 9d. per bushel; oats, •Iβ bushels, at the "uarnntecd prico of ss. 7i<l. per "bushel; and potatoes at tho rato of -Cfi per ton. Bpt I liave no record of the average crop. Those ore tho prices sanctioned by the Production Act for this year's orop, now being harvested, tho difference payable being calculated on an ftoreago basis between the

average market price, obtained by tie fanner and tlio above, which are guaraa. teed to.him by tlio Treasury. Some such Act.should be passed here to ensure a fair return to the farmer for the risks he runs and the hard and continuous work involved. If no such encouragement is given the growing of both grain and main crop potatoes will become a thing of the past in New Zealand. A few mav continue to grow early potatoes, which are saleable in tlio season at ,ESO per ton, but main crops, yielding only £2 or J3 per ton, are tilings of the past, with sacks at eighteen pence each and digging at 2s. per sack.—l am, etc., FARMER.