PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 29, 29 October 1920, Page 3

PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

PROSPECTS.FOR THE FUTURE

"WRAPPED IN UNCERTAINTY"

Ph/i prospects ahead of.the Dominion's chief industries were, reviewed by tho president of. 'tho Wellington 1 ' • Central Chamber, of-Commerce (Mr. A. Ivigh Hunt) in . the couree of his address at the annual meeting of the chain Iter. "J'torn the, point of virw of the New Zealand produg-r,-. the-immediate future in a few direction.? -is wrapped up in s:me uncertainty," ho said. "The relatively high pricfa for meat and wool which obtained .during the war period undor til;; Imperial Government requisition ncheme are no longer assured, particularly as regards mutton and crossbred wool, especially- the' courser grades of this lattVr. Oil tho oilier hand, .the keen demand for lamb and the high prices ruling: for merino, and -fine halfbred wools for some tiinj past- in the United Kingdom, and more recently at tta,v auctions in Australia, justify one in predicting- a favourable season for ail grdwtfrs interested in these products, there being: little, if any, indication that the -world's market' vahi|j6 of theso are likely to decline in the near future. Unfortunately, the production of merinos and haif-br&ds'"represents only a small proportion of th); New Zealand clip of some. 500,000 bales. The major portion of this clip is composed, of fine, medium, and coars; crossbreds, and it is in respect of •' these • grades that the world's demand during.tbu.past 12 or 18 mon'hs has been far below the actual production; whilst the Imperial Government has found no difficulty in disposing of its purchases of merino and halfbral wools at profitable rates. Quite tin* contrary lias, been the cns> with regard to most of ttle crossbred wools; in fnct, very largo .parcels of these wools havb met with such poor, competition at the sales ic. the United Kingdom centres that jieavy withdrawals, have taken place, with thiy result , that there is at present an accumulation of soiue 2,000,000 'bales, largely made up of crossbred wools, still to be 'disposed of, in addition to the new Australian and Now Zealand clips. Industrial troubles in Britain, financial nnd labour troubles in soipfc of the Continental countries hnvc had the eftect ot curtailing the demand for these accumulated stocks. It is. rraSonaMe to assume that zim-so'me fichemo whereby Continental nations could be enabled to finance-their:purchases of the raw article- a goodly .proportion of this surplus could l>e disposed of, for, although a ruling, fashion appears to Tim m the direction of material manufactured trout merino wools, in spite of high priests, one would expect that such countries as Belgium, Cformnny, v Austria, and Russia would not be- so much concerned a# to fashions regarding firjj or coarse woollsn clothing so long as they could get a gcort serviceable article at reasonabln rates. At tho present time tbei). is such a large margin between' the value per lb. ot up ordinary merino clip and • ft medium crossbred clip,- that the if ah ™/ 1C "F; nefis of the latter should attract its wn demand. Fortunately a number of pio, dueers in New Zealand are in the posi, tibn of beiiff able .to hold back t..as eonson's clipV from competition with the accumulated. surplus owned joy the Imperial Government, and this fact alo.e should have the'-ellect of making th,a position of. some of the ennller producers more secure as regards the uilues likely obtained for this year s clip. The Imperial Government still holds some -300,000 bales in New Zealand bu these are being shipped away as lapidlj as pDSflible, and stopping spac). on U half of buyers at local auctions or on 'owners' account,', will be only ImToiv| normal by ' February or March " As wg»r«U dairy produce, the future seeni'id to .'be well ■ assured, added Mi. Hunt Butler prices had been iixid foi some' months ahead, and fee were r doubt remuneratiw, whilst .the. mark fnr olieese continued .fmuy, V ♦ "otto. Broiuce ml. sfceegcVirn! thef>« Tvevc, of coui»v, liKeij «how'a fall' on commandeer values, m synuiethv .with the fall in vrooJ prices; whil«t tk'market for tallow had eased cni"ideral)ly. Except in tlw case tf edibi- fats.'the existing rates were, however still in .advance of those ruling.nnluediatclv prior to thn war The position and 1 prospects of the dairying industry particularly were very inc "WitlV lately increased nonulation this country must -necessarily be a land of small holdings, and our will more and'more depend on dan.Mil., and other small industries of the land, said Mr. Hunt.' "We cannot all be farmers, and as.someone lias truly said, 'No country can become great by agriculture alone.'" .