WHEAT EXPORTING

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2281, 25 July 1881, Page 3

WHEAT EXPORTING

The sight of huge stacks of groin in the railway yards at Lyttelton, and upon neighboring Bpaoes on the reclaimed land, is one which must have come under the notice of almoßt every person who has been in Port any time during the past six months. Their presence there has also been explained as the result of a scarcity of ships to convey them to other countries, and the fact of insufficient warehouse accommodation, all existing warehouses at Port being already blocked from floor to roof with tens of thousands of sacks. A glance back at the daily shipping news during tbese months, or since the necessity first arose for finding outdoor room for these remarkable looking mounds of precious wheat, a look over the columns of daily exports, and almost daily departure of grain laden ships for foreign ports; the magnitude of these exports in the aggregate, and the prodigious number of vessels which have found profitable employment in carrying wheat from the Fort, sufficiently, perhaps, challenge the astonishment of anyone curious enough to investigate the subject of the wheat export trade of Lyttelton. The Eight of the stacks referred to, and of the grain-choked warehorses, needs though to be added, to some extent, to a sight of a different kind, the sight of that great fleet of steamers, ships, barques, brigs, and vessels of all sizes and rigs, which have left like so many floating warehouses filled to repletion. For, incredible as it may appear, there yet remain stacks still untouched and granaries still filled to the roof. And the fact is one of which the province of Canterbury may excusably boast, reflecting as it does, not only the extent of her agricultural resources and her progress in husbandry, but as showing that she occupies, as a grain exporting centre, a position far and away beyond that of any othor part of the colony. It has been stated that great quantities of wheat may still be seen in port awaiting shipment. The warehouses of Messrs P. Cunningham and Co. may be cited by way of illustration. They are estimated to contain altogether between 40,000 and 50,000 sacks at present. A large portion of this great store of wheat before it is shipped is taken sack by sack, oponed, and shot out into the receiver preparatory to putting it through the cleaning and sifting process. The railway trucks run right alongside the granary and discharge direct upon an endless lift. A twelve horsepower engine keeps the lift constantly revolving so that not a moment is lost loading or discharging. The grain is carried to the upper floor. If the quality is not "up to its mark" it is shot out into a bin or receiver close handy, capable of holding 600 sacks. The engine is connected with the screening and sifting -."orks, and a shoot from the receiver keeps up uninterrupted delivery of wheat to the three large screening tables which, like the lift, are kept steadily working. It is surprising how beautifully smooth everything goes, almoßt noiselessly, though several men are necessarily engaged moving away and sewing up the newly filled sacks as they accumulate at the cleaning tables, and despatching them up aloft on the lift, and the engine is running within a few feet of them, the lift going and the cleaner working its fastOßt. The grain from tho cleaner comes out the fine plump and perfect kernel in front of the machine, the broken screenings at the side. One of the secrets of the quietness that is bo noticeable about the whole of the operations lies in the fact that there is no shoveling of coal nor clanking of furnace doors in connection with the working of the engine. It is driven by gas and requires neither engineer nor firemen. A little oil now and then satisfies it after turning on the gas, and it will run itself with a power exactly in proportion to the quantity of gas given it, stopping the iujtant its supply ceases. At the first blush of the proposal to drive machinery by gas, charged for at the rate of 16s per 1000 ft, when there is such an abundance of coal selling at a comparatively low price, one is apt to conclude that the censumer is extravagant. This engine, it is stated, is so constructed, however, that it can be kept running at its full power for something like 3? por hour on gas at the price abovo-named. It was specially imported by Messrs Cunningham and Co. from home, and has proved itself capable of accomplishing the utmost recommendation of the designers iind the fullest expectation of the importers. Lately it has been kept running steadily from eight o'clock in the morning until ten at night, turning the grain lift and driving the cleaning machinery, and though the contents of the immense receiver are soon exhausted by it, it will require to bo kept running these hours daily for some days yet before the werk of sifting is completed. Altogether, if one wishes to spend a few hours profitably, with the purpose of getting a glimpse of the work attending tho successful export trade of wheat from Now Zealand, the warehouses of Messrs Cunningham and Co. at port should be visited. Tho bulk of the grain export trade, as is known, is in the hands of but a few operators, any one of whose warehouses during the grain shipping season may be visited with interest by the uninitiated.