Farming Notes.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 274, 23 May 1895, Page 2

Farming Notes.

IBy "Agbicola."]

CANTERBURY V. NORTH ISLAND MUTTON. In a previous note I referred to a shipment of certain prize sheep which were consigned to a firm in London some of them being North Island sheep and some South Island—and how the South Island mutton fetched the highest price. Since that appeared I find that the annual meeting of the Wairarapa Agricultural and Pastoral Association has beeu hold, and the President, Mr Buchanan, referred to the necessity of improving the quality of the North Island mutton if -they wanted to compete with the South. He said that he knew for a certainty that firms in Canterbury had at the present time private offers for several consignments at prices in advance of the quotations for the North Island mutton. The President went on to say that the North Island farmers were to blame for consigning frozen sheep averaging 70lb—a very unsaleable sheep—whilst in Canterbury farmers sent sheep averag<ng 581bs, which were found the most saleable sheep in the market. The North Island farmers had not only neglected the breeding, but also the feeding ot the sheep, whilst the South Islanders had attended to both, the result being that Wellington mutton is now quoted at a half-penny per lb less than that of Canterbury in the Home market. This means a serious loss to our fanners, and to the community at large, for, as Mr Nathan seated at the meeting held in the Assembly Rooms the other clay, if tl c farmers did not prosper, then the business people, tradesman and labourer —in fact the community at large—suffered, for we in New Zealand are all more or less dependent upon the agricultural and pastoral pursuits. MR KATIIAN's SCHEME. Mr Bryce very neatly exposed a weak point in Mr Nathan's scheme when he put the question, li Seeing that Mr .Nathan acknowledges that the interests of the whole community are identical \iiih ih'jse of the farm- J, why doe 3he seek to impose the whole of the burden upon tie farmers by taxng them at the raio of 3d per head on sheep in order to secure a loau tj adopt his scheme?" Mr Nah ;n c.urteouslj reuark< 4fiat he was met with the same rema ka< Palmerston. Ho did. not consid.r that his schema was perfect. His desire was thai something should Ift done to remedy the pme.it state of affairs, and that was his reason in bringing forward his paper. The sememe, no dcubt, was a bold one and far reaching. It is evident that something must be done to remedy, if possible, the present state of affairs in respect to the prices for our. produce —the frozen meat trade especially. I see a number of difficulties looming in the distance —the conflicting interests of shareholders in the various freezing companies now established in " giving and taking" before the terms of combination can be finally settled. Th re is too much of that " taking all and keeping all you can and |he devil take the latter" business in coming to terms on such matters. Aa Co'.onel Gorton pointed out, it is a national question, and we should all feel interested in it. The Colonel spok© very well indeed at the meeting, and showed that he was not an idle spectator when on a visit to the Old Country. Bui he did not carry the meeting with him when he suggestod that the Government should /become the purveyors of our meat in the Home market. Mr Wilson appeared to have the meeting with him when he remarked that he considered the Go. vernment were meddling too much already on business matters. This was a purely business matter, and should be conducted on business principles. If we ran to the Government for every little thing we should by-and-by be looking to them to find nurses for our children. Mr Nathan must have felt highly complimented by the large number of farmers who atttended his meeting and the high eccunimms passed about his paper. It is to be hoped that the farmers will combine and make his scheme, or something that may be propounded out of his scheme, a success. I notice that the settlers in Eangitikei, as usual, have not taken any steps to co-operat9 or to formulate any scheme or to make any recommendations for the fur'hering of Mr Nathan's or any other scheme. The Bangitikeites are very slow in adopting any schemes for tLo furtherance of their interests. I drn't think they have even a creamery, butter or cheese factory, in tbeir county.