THE FARMER'S LOT.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 July 1926, Page 4

THE FARMER'S LOT.

CONDITION IN OTHER ’ COUNTRIES. AYELLINGTON, July 23. “It is wonderful to see what Canada lias done under conditions such as we would not euro to tackle out Imre,” said Alt- AY. J. Poison, president of li e New Zealand Farmers’ Union, to-lay, when talking on agriculture abroad “Tliev carry on dairying, for instance, on land which in winter suffers from a temperature of minus 7.0, which is 109 degrees of frost, vet they are able to export to Europe. We were there in the late autumn and the land looked very barren. AVe were struck by the sight of the appalling little houses in which the farmers lived. Farming must bo much harder in winter than in New Zealand. Canada is making a bid for the peoples of Europe, and wo found tlieir immigration agencies in many places. It is a great pity that the publis docs not realise howvery much better are the conditions in this part of the world. Then we should get the people instead:” In company with his fellow representatives, All- Poison visited many

countries. They saw black foxes, the products of farms in Xova.Seotin, and tlio Prince Edward Island, and it was suggested to them that this might be a suitable industry for the slopes of the Southern Alps. They found flic farmers in the United States suffering from a period of over-production. They had received a great fillip during the war, when they had tremendous production. and a great demand, but ibis they found very hard to keep. Last year they had produced three thousand million bushels of wheat, which was nearly one thousand million, more than they required and consequently they were feeding to to hogs and cattle. There was a. strong movement in favour of co-operative development, which tlio Government was assisting.

U.S. PRIMARY PRODUCTS The AfeNairy Haughun Bill,

before Congress, proposed to set an index price for primary products, and the farmer was to be paid for as much of lii.s produce as was used in the United States at a certain figure. The balance of the produce was to he exported through co-operative associations and sold at world market prices. The lower price was to he subtracted from the total price paid in the United States. That is, if there was produced a million halos of 'cotton, 25 per cent, of which was exported, and which was sold at liidl-price, the loss on this 25 per cent would he subtracted from the higher price paid for tho remaining “5 per cent, and the difference would bo »what tho producer would receive. There were manifest disadvantages attached to such a policy. One was that tho artificial prices would still further stimulate production and add to the difficulty instead of meeting it. This was apart altogether from the fact that any attempt to dump would bo resented by producers in other countries. Tho English farmers were having a bard time just now. Taxation was tremendously heavy, and as the English farmer was not co-operative in any way, tho middlemen exploited him. .All tho farmers complained of reduced incomes, and the difficulty of making ends meet. They were apparently singularly lacking in co-operative enterprises. Indeed, one farmer in Scotland complained that he would have to go out of business because of difficulties in marketing his produce. Yet New Zealand was able to send produce 12,000 miles and market it successfully in London.