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Dunstan Times, Issue 383, 20 August 1869, Page 2

An article headed “ \Yb t will be the price of wheat in 1870,’’winch appeal's in a late number of the Australasian, must take our agriculturist readers rather by sin-prise. Wo hitherto thought that wheat-growing was at its very worst, and that any change must be for the better, while further reductions could result in nothing less than that cereals ceasing to be cultivated. But our American cousins in California, by their system of farming on an extensive scale, and the use ot perfect machinery—labor is cheaper with them than with us—boldly assert that wheat can be grown and made to pay at 25c. (or Is) per bushel, and, what is still more surprising, at even less than that. Such an assertion seems to us incredible, especially when we take into account that ss. per bushed only suffices to pay in Australia, and 4s. barely covers expenses. Slil', as an old saying has it, “ There is nothing new under the sun.” and accepting this doctrine as orthodox, there appears no reason to doubt but that wheat can be grown in California, and with a profit, at th° seemingly absurd price of Is. per bushel. This, with Is. 6d. added, which is about the cost of freight and charges necessary to land it upon our shoies, places the value of wheat at a shipping port at 2s. Cd. per bushel a price wircb. under the present system of farming, we cannot hope to compete with. An import duty upon grain would in this case be absolutely necessary to save the flu ming interest from min. This extreme rate may not of course be reached for some time to come. Still there is the fact befoi e us that California now counts its surplus stock of wheat and flour at hundreds of thousands of tons, wide the prospect of tire present havest promises a yield of one-third more than has ever been gathered before, so fhat, under the most favorable circumstances, we may fully calculate that a large quantity will be sore to reath Now Zealand. The authority upon which the Australasian writes is without doubt, a reliable one, an! the warning convejed should

not be despised. Our farmers will therefore find it not amiss to take this matter seriously into consideration, and ascertain the lowest possible price at which they can grow wheat. A very serious reduction is not beyond the bounds of possibility, therefore, to be forewarned is to be forearmed. In this district but little wheat has been grown as yet, but, now that large blocks of land will be thrown open tor occupation, it will be largely cultivated, for reasons that it is the only product likely to command a ready sale, the demand for oats and hay being limited - With a flour mill in the district, the growing of wheat sufficient to supply local wants will afford the means of living to a considerable number of persons; but, with this warning before us, we should recommend them not to extend their operations beyond what is actually required, any export trade being quite out of the question, as to convey wheat or flour from the Dunstan to Dunedin would absorb more than what it would cost to first grow it in California and then land it on our shores. We are but a small community, and we cannot afford that the labor of any single individual should be wasted, or that any capital should be expended unproductively There is an exceeding want of both in the prosecution of mining enterprises, and it would be a pity that attention should be diverted from this highly remunerative branch of labor, and which, after all, is the prime mover of all our other industries, to one occupying at the best but a secondary position, and win :h can only extend its proportions conjointly with the development of the goldfields.