PROGRESSIVE SHEEPOWNERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 21

PROGRESSIVE SHEEPOWNERS.

"Progress" 13 ever the wAtchword of th« man who i 3 all alive and up to date in ■his calling. Not content with tb* method* of sheep husbandry practised by his father* he avails himself of the latest scientific discoveries to aid him in perfecting his business. This is exactly \yliat the most up-to-date sheepmen in the world are doing today. Their aim is to turn out their sheep a« nearly perfect in every respect as skilf can devise, and with this end in viaw theyi test the claims made by reputable firms a» to the good qualities of any preparation calculated to improve the quality and quantity of -their clips and, incidentally, put money into their pockets; hence it is tnata so many of the world's most famous pastoralists to-day are users of Quibeli's Powder Dip. They have tesfed it on level terms against other brands for which very " tall " claims have been advanced, and! have been guided by the result* obtained.. All Messrs Quibell Brothers (LW.) ask o* the sheep-owning community is to giro their Powder Dup such a trial, and to ba guided by results.

sold at £14 in London, but he could not r say whether the present price would con-

.' tinue to t>atisfy the producer. A great L " . impetus had been gnen to Manila planta- ■ tion by the high price of recent years, and ■ it was probable that the present price would

.. lead to a falling off in the production. How- \ ever, as the Abaca plant (from which hemp i is produced) takes three years to mature, f the falb'ng off would be gradual. Tho :' present abundant supply wae the result of '_ extensive planting three or four years aga

COST OF PRODUCING MANILA.

" I have been hunting up the official bul- ■ letins issued by the United States Agricultural Department and its Philippine branch. L It is officially stated that one acre of ground ' in the Philippines requires nearly 1000

plants. These plants cost from 12s to 15s s per acre to buy ; labour costs from 2s to 2s 4£d per day and found. These figures were . published in 1905. Three labourers usually '> harvest 50.71b to 761b of hemp per day. , One labourer cuts the stalk close to the '< ground ; a second, who is usually a woman, strips off the leaf sheaths until the more tender portions are reached; the third one carries on the operation of separating the .pulp from the fibre. According" to -these "official figures, 641b of hemp are produced i>y three labourers at a cost of 8e 3d in .wages. That wouli bring out the cost of a ton of Manila at £13 lSs in , .wages alone. The official figures before "toe do not give the value of .the land, but r I have read elsewhere that it is worth about ;ifil7 per acre. According to the 1903 census of the Philippine Islands, it *akes 5i acres of land to produce one ton of hemp, and if Jthe value of the land is £17 per acre the * interest on the capital in land necessary to produce a ton of hemp would be £4 13s 6d. The official figures give the cost of weeding and cultivation of the plant at £1 [14s 10 l-3d per /"ere. For 5£ acres . this

works out at £5 16s 9d. The total cost of i the production of one ton of Manila hemp, therefore, according to these figures, would be— Cultivation till harvest . £6 16 9 Harvesting and production . . 13 15 0 Interest on land value „, ... 413 6 I Tofal tt , .. . £25 5 3 j " This," adds Dr Chappie, "is obviously an absurdly high esfmate of the cost, but if the wages alone stand at £13 15s it is clear that the present price in London will j not prove very satisfactory to American producers. There are many other highly j remunerative industries connected with the soil that are attractive in the Philippinessugar, tobacco, coffee, rice, cocoa. AH yield handsome results, and the general conclusion seems to bs that there will be no very extensive inciease in hemp plantation unless the price increases consider- . ably."

THE INDUSTRY MENACED. | _ Mr Raymond has also gone very minutely into the question, and has discussed it with planters from all parts. He says: "I have not only met planters from the Philippines, from Mexico, British East Africa, India, Somaliland, Mauritius, Brazil, West Indite, 'Lagos, and Paraguay, but manufacturers from most of these countries I have had interviews with fully a. score of the most prominent men in London in the hemp and jujse trade, and have seen practically every kown fibre machine at work (the Puieto excepted), and the following plants treated : Leshuqulla, Henequen, Abaca, Sansevieria (four varieties), Aloes Vert, plantain, banana, pineapples, and even the phormium. I have also seen the jute ramie and triumfetti (Gold Coast plant) treated. I have obtained the weight of the plants when cut and the actual results of dry fibre obtained, and all cosU» inci-dental

to production and manufacture. These I have tabulated so as to enable me to come to some decision in regard to the pio- | babiiity of our industry living alonside its competitors. I have to confess that I the industry is certainly menaced. When jit is realised that manufacturers in many of the countries have to pay no royalty ' oji their green leaf — plantation costs aro ' net taken into account. — labour can bo obtained at from 4d to Is tier diem of 10 hours, and, bear in mind, that two of these men aro quite equal to many men who insist on bein^j paid 8s per diem at New Zealand milk. Freight and other charges are much less than those our millers are confronted with. There are no graders to clip your 10-ton co&sigiunents by a point and pass it into a lower grade ; no army of inspectors to police every in- ' tere^t othea- than the man providing the j wages. The above are weighty factors iv ■ determining the position our industry occupies On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that owing to imperfect machinery a large percentage of the world's fibre supplies is the product of hand dressing. The Philippine is a case in point. The system there is a most primitive one. In Mexico and India the same system prevails. In Yucatan (Mexico) the industry ie in a strong position. Some very large power machines are fn active operation, but results axe not too satisfactory owing to the waste. In some instances only 1.5 per cent, of dry fibre is extracted; in other cases aa muoh as 5 per cent, is won Seeing that pnormium yields from 12 to 13 per cent., a considerable advantage is secured. Experts all acknowledge that the greatest desideratum in fibre manufacture is percentage of fibre actually extracted. Our fibre is also a strong favourite wiht manufacturers for blending purposes, and I am fully, convinced that at a price it can hold

its own, but it cannot under existing- conditions. There is no reasonable prospect meantime of the market advancing to even £20 f.o.b. I have no hesitation, in asserting that during the last five yeaars very few millers have produced fibre, after allowing for interest and dcjpreciation, under that figure.

SUGGESTED BEFORMS. "It is very evident, therefore, that if there is no prospect of an improvement coming from without, it must come from watlim. How oan tKJs be accomplished? 1 am satisfied that royalties should be reducsd to at least 3s per ton, that rail f.o.b. charges, and ocean freights should be reduced to the very minimum. A copartner system should be introduced in connection wifl, mill h*n<& The success of JF^f** 7 i S "» de P* n <knt upon the reasonable and equitable return by the mdl hand for the wages paid him. 4at ft seems to me some such basis of employment must be arranged. There is no rE k th «JT°^ why good fair fibre cannot be