The Chronicle LEVIN: SATURDAY, OCTOBERS, 1916. TOY EGGS ARE SO DEAR.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 October 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN: SATURDAY, OCTOBERS, 1916. TOY EGGS ARE SO DEAR.

I An irresponsible critic who signs himI self "Chelsea JBun" liae been dogmatising in Wellington Evening Post about what lie calls "the exorbitant prioe of eggs." He has been well answered by Mr H. Leger, of Levin, but he still persists in his allegations, and alleges that too high prioes are charged for fresh eggs. Undoubtedly he is an interestedi tradesman who is wilfully . blind to facts. Eggs are dearer than usual this year for two reasons. The first is the chief one:, leas than onehalf the number of fowls are aliVe in NW Zealand to-day as compared with the totals of two years ago. The reason for this exists in the fact that the charges of 7s Gel to 8s per bushel for wheat and 20s to 22s per 2001b for pollard reduced many poultry-farmers . to semi-bankruptcy in 1915, and caused thousands upon; thousands of young fowls to be slaughtered. The ' secondi reason is the lack of surety that wheat and pollard will be kept at reasj on-able rates; even now they are be- ; ing forced to unfair height by the operations of middlemen in the South I Island: The result of this is that

poultrymen are afraid to venture again on the sea wherein their barque of success came to disaster eighteen months ago. Fowls are not held in sufficient numbers to meet all the demands for fresh eggs; and, consequently, those of the consuming public who are prepared to< pay extra prices to secure fresh eggs are doing so, and the poultryman receives more per dozen than lie used to do and yet secures a lesesr gain than was lii.s in normal times. The remedy for the public is for the householder to keep a dozen fowls for himself; these lie may maintain on the house-scraps, and so be independent of the "riggers" of the produce market. We are certain that no wideawake poultry-man will increase his flock while the present insecurity in respect to reasonable prices of foodstuffs is allowedi to continue; and the more so as the world is faced with a genune shortage of 2.5 per cent in the wheat crop of the Old World for 1916. This word of advice should be remembered by Levin poultryfarmers for at least a year to come; we speak of what we feel certain, when we say that foodstuffs 'for poultry again will reach prohibitive profit-prices for poultrymen within the next six or eight nttm-ths. Meantime su]eh 'interested commentators as "Chelsea Bun" will write their diatribes in the hope of induoing those in authority to ukase the reduction of egg prices or to remove the duty on imported eggs. The real remedy, to our mind, would be to fix a faiu- selling price for first-class "and second-class" wheats, and also for pollard and bran, based on the value "in New 'Zealand" of such products, instead of upon the European selling value irrespective of freight an<J insurance. If this were done, and a guarantee given that the system <f regulating charges would be maintained for at least two years, the p-M-'try flocks of New Zealand soon won I 1 be brought back to normal numbers, and chairges for fresh eggs would a'ltoma*. ically drop as the result »jf supplies becoming equal to normal de-naii'b.