AIM AT IMPROVEMENT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4360, 30 December 1921, Page 3

AIM AT IMPROVEMENT.

QUALITY OF EXPORTED MEAT. In his annual report the Direstor of the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture states that all concerned should. do their utmost to put this country’s products on the in as sound and. gbod condition as possible. “In the case of meat,” he says, “much can be done, in this direction by producers, by the employees who kill and dress, the carcases, and by the men whp dp the subsequent handling until the meat is on board ship. Unfortunately, we do not always find the necessary pride and pleasure in work well done which should permeate all concerned, and general co-operation to bring about, and carry into' effect all proper requirements is a step eminently to be desired. . * “As stated, much can be done here. The starting-off point must, of course, be with the breeder, and whatever the breed he should always aim at the best, and having started right in this direction see that his stock are wejl done by throughout. Adequate winter feeding, and, in districts where drought conditions are liable to occur; the provision of} a reserjve'jof food material, together with good shelter, are necessary, adjunct’s to successful production which are top apt to be neglected—-in the North Island at least. It is surely infinitely better . to end the winter with the stock in a ;good and healthy condition, and a haystack to spare, than to just man-, age to bring the stock through..in a weak, low condition,- and with no feed, in hand for the next emergency. ' Yet this is how many Ifarmers in New •Zealand carry on their farming operations from year to year, and wonder how it is that they remain struggling while neighbours are prosperous. The climate of New Zealand|sp admirably lends itself to the raising of stock with the minimum amount of trouble that we are inclined to trust to Providence overmuch, forgetting that while taking every advantage of what Nature has provided for us we should duly assist her provision. By increasing our opportunities in this way we not only help ourselves, but the country receives the maximum benefit from our presence and activities.”

REDUCED PRICES. The disclosure of the financial stringency experienced by the .farmers and the suggested remedies, though crude and ill-digested, will serve to direct attention to a matter which deserved consideration long ago, and that is. the fictitious value of the farm • lands of the Dominion, remarks the Mercantile Gazette editorially. During the past five or six years, owing partly to the high prices paid by the Imperial Government for our produce and partly to the extreme optimism fostered among the farmers by interested parties, .land values ascended, and notwithstanding repeated warnings from A responsible people, prices continued to ascend. Dairy farmers were assured th,at butter and cheese would bring very high prices, and many of the factories were advised to refuse offers equal tp 2s to 2s Id per lb for butter-fat. The dried milk business, too, was to enrich the farm-:- , er, and the latter, animated by these glowing prospects, threw discretion to the winds and bought dairying land at high prices, piling up mortgage upon mortgage. The big prospects have not materialised ; on the contrary, both butter and cheese have weakened and the' market continues dull. The dairy farmer’s income is not equal to meeting current expenses and paying the interest' on the mort-. gage. Some farmers have probably thridwn up the sponge, but the position is wholly unsatisfactory. The plain fact is that the value Of land in New Zealand has. to be drastically written down, and the question is. who is to suffer in the process ? According to a deputation from the N.Z. Farmers’ Union that waited on the Prime Minister at Hamilton, the loss should fall wholly on the mortgagee, buti that, of course, is manifestly unfair. There may be cases where the mortgagee, realising that the burden on the mortgagor is too heavy, is prepared to meet the latter, and it is in cases of this kind where a third party or arbitrator would help to bring about an equitable settlement. A Government official seems to have, in the eyes bf the deputation, some special virtue in a matter of this kind, although to us it seems that a practical farmer in the district, knowing the parties but disinterested in she dispute, would do more good than any Government official. The matter has got to be faced, but it will be very necessary to eliminate . from' every scheme the suggestion of repudiation or confiscation. The Government can-, not be a party tp “any such scheme without results. There are, bf course, numerous other questions involved in * this .matter, such’, for instance, as the status and qu'aliflca;tions of land valuers, Government and others, and also of land agents. The whole question ’of land values and competent farming must presently come up for consideration—indeed, it is already forcing itself upon many people—and the deputation to the Prime Minister is one indication of the seriousness of the position.