THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 450, 23 February 1909, Page 3

THE HEMP INDUSTRY.

[TO THE EDITOR.]

Sir. — I see you have had an interview with a well-known flaxmiller with reference to the present position of flaxmilling and royal-, ties. He is opposed to a reduction in royalties, and also for the Government to interfere with same. The only way the Government could interfere is to take over the properties, and re-sell or lease them out in suitable areas to millers. Flaxmiller says it would not pay to sell green leaf at less than ios per ton royalty, that is if the owner improves his property and keeps drains clean etc. Now sir, the man who does this must do so with the object of a larger return from his land, and by so doing increases the value of his land- It is thus that every farmer who cultivates his laud endeavours to get better returns trom his land, than the farmer who allows his property to lay wasteNow, should the owner of flaxland keep improving same and get a yield of 20 tons of green leaf to the acre, and only get a crop once in four years, (but as a rule there is a crop every three years) a lour years crop would be equal to a rental of £2 10s per acre per annum. Now, any flaxland in the Wellington province could have been bought when flax was selling at its present price seven years ago, for anything ranging from £2 los to £5 per acre, but supposing it now to be worth per acre, which it is not, as no land is worth anything more than the value of crops it can produce. But say the capital value is ,£lO per acre, is not a royalty of 10s per ton for a 20 ton per acre crop an outrageous interest to demand, namely 25 per cent ? I can well understand that all those who have bought flaxland during the last four or five years, will endeavour in their own interests to uphold royalties to the very last, so that land bought during boom prices may be kept up in value. We will take it that certain flaxlands were bought in the Manawatu district as high as per acre, and ranging down as low as £2O per acre. At that time labour conditions and cost ot milling were the same then as it is now. A certain well-known flaxmiller valued this same block of flaxland that was purchased at per acre, giving it as his opinion to be value for that amount. Now, flax was selling in London at that time at per ton. We will say the cost of production then (labour and delivery only) was ,£lB per ton in Wellington, outside charges say another making a total less royalty of £2l, leaving a baldnce in Wellington selling price of per ton. To-day Wellington selling price is 10s, so that laud which was worth for flaxmilling purposes per acre two years ago, to-day under the same conditions and for the same purpose is not worth anything, taking the cost of production to be the same at the present time as it was two years ago. It costs a farmer a certain amount per acre to grow oats, he has labour and taxes to pay. If oats fall to is per bushel is that on account of labour being too high ? No. It is on account of outside market conditions. So the farmer has to content himself with little or no profits from his land that year. But the following year the price may go up to 2s per bushel, then his land is returning him a good interest on his outlay. So in the same way with regard to flax, the owner of the land must be the sufferer in the lean years, as he is the gainer in the fat ones. —■ I am, etc., Te Wanake. [The miller our representative interviewed was perfectly willing that the Government should acquire flax areas.— Ed. H.]