On the Land

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 934, 29 March 1930, Page 27

On the Land

The Vv 00l Position

Interesting Review of 1929

AX interesting review of the 1929 wool year is given in the “Commercial History of 1929,” published by'the London ••Economist. ’ The review is particularly interesting in view of the low prices ruling at the moment.

the opening series in London, 9 the review, in spite of a good ! j'mand from the Home trade, both “* M erinos and crossbreds, prices, in 1 01 ‘ f3 . fa vour at the opening, de- ; per cent. There was a slight : improvement at the March series, but ■eral important failures on the 1 Continent and considerable anxiety j r e ga.-d to reports of safeguarding of j a |„.irv nquiry, both at home and hrna.l tended to strangle the in--3 of confidence at birth. In June cr -ults of the elections showed iuanu- » rarer* that they should expect no Sin from the Government in meeting iiremn competition; trade was uniSly lad and there was a conlimed depreciation in the value or 1 Wlien the June series opened, therefore, a fall was inevitable. There l=re also heavy stocks on the ConOnent Thus it was only natural that hirer* operated with hesitation when rae overseas markets opened. At first it seemed that prices would hold, and hat any further movement would be “ward, hut further depressing news from overseas, the desire of holders to liquidate and the rise in the bank ' te due to the fever of speculation in America, forced prices to pre-war level for topmaking wools. it was decided by the authorities in Australia to reduce the offerings up to Christmas by 33 per cent., and this had the effect, of arresting the slump and was undoubtedly beneficial at the time. Almost immediately after the close of the series the low prices had their effect and considerable business was done in all centres. The stocks of tops on the Continent were reduced and an apparently sounder position created. Demand began to slacken, however, before the opening of the November series, and the close hardly maintained the promise of the opening. Since the sales, values for •ops have again declined, and the

I hope that a renewed activity was at I hand has gradually dwindled. The j American tariff has again been | shelved. The sudden news of the j amended Australian tariff, which al- , most closes the door to some of the • British manufacturers, did not tend i lo hearten, the trade. Thus, the year j closed with most of the regain of November lost and the trade once j again without bulk orders, for which j has been waiting so long. : Compared to last year, spinner | wools in December were 25, topI making 30 to 35, pieces 30, fine crossI breds 30 to 35, medium crossbreds 25, I coarse crossbreds 20 per cent, lower, j and. compared with July, 1914, spinner wools were about 15, topmaking wools I par to 5. pieces 5 per cent, above the rates then ruling. Fine crossbreds were, however, 5 per cent, cheaper, but medium and coarse crossbreds 10 to 1 15 per cent, dearer. Below is a statement of the value a lb clean of a few representative i descriptions In July, 1914, and in De-

More and still more people are going to the A.M.C. shops. Why is it? It's because the high standard of quality and service is always maintained—one satisfied customer recommends another. Deal with A.M.C. and you can’t go wrong!

! According to Messrs. Charles Balme and Company, the quantities of wool catalogued in the Condon market dur- . ing 1929 compare with the figures for ( 1928 as follow: 1928. I 1929. 1 Ba.les. Bales, i Xew South Wales .. .. 127,441 103,740 C u< enf a nd »-6.U79 65.72 S Vi. torian 06,4]9 s-3,3 49 South Australian 22,590 28,478 West Australian .. .. 45,937 41,646 I Tasmanian 2,546 3.529 : Xew Zealand 221,135 227,323 'ape 29,367 17,906 l unta Arenas and Falkland Islands 68,561 95,047 River Plate 3 1,217 3,155 Sundries 23,269 13,652 Total 684,859 686,653 The following table, compiled by “The Weekly Wool Chart,” shows the amount of wool retained in the United Kingdom in the years stated, the figures for 1929 being for the 12 months ending November: (In million lb.) 1913. 1027. 1925. 1929 Imports, foreign and colonial wool . . . . 801 522 779 789 Re-exports, ditto . . 307 346 339 326 Retained 494 476 440 463 British clip retained 95 57 72 63 | Total retained by trade 559 533 512 526 I The quantity of wool retained in ! 1929 did not differ materially from the I average of the previous three years. ‘ It is estimated that the consumption | in 1929 would be about 515 million lb ! (excluding wool from sheepskins), so ' that stocks increased slightly during j the year. The estimated consumption ; in previous years lias been: —1928, 525 I million lb; 1927, 555 million lb; 1926, | 515 million lb: 1925, 460 million lb: I pre-war averages, 575 million lb. The ! consumption cf re-worked wool is j much less than before the war. ! Figures are difficult to obtain.

MAORI DAIRY FARMERS \ BAY OF PLENTY PROGRESS From. Our Own Corresposdent OPOTIKI, Friday. In recent years the Maoris in the Opotiki County have taken up dairy - in;,' with real enthusiasm ana a very large number of suppliers are now sending their cream t-j the opotiki Dairy Association’s factory. With the opening of a good road to Torere on rhu east, the natives increased their dairying operations to a marked extent as is now evidenced by the number of native lurries which now run daily to the factory. Further down the coast toward Cape Runaway the Maoris have been hindered a good deal through the lack of proper roads. Despite this drawback, however, the natives in the To Rail a and Raukokure districts decided to erect a factory of their own and commenced operations in 1925. A well-equipped factory was erected at To Kaha. The company is purely a Maori concern and since its inception has grown steadily from year to year. Active endeavours have been made by tho Ojpotiki County Council to comie main Fast Coast road to the county boundary and the goal is now well in sight. Large numbers of unemployed relief workers have also been put on the road by the Public Works Department and this has helped considerably to hasten the completion ol the work. All this means a great deal to tiie dairying industry on the Fast Coast. Tho following figures give a good indication of the strides already made by the natives who supply the Te Kaha factory:— Output Season. Tons. 1927- .7 .77\.7.V. V. 7 35 *“ 1928- 49 £ 1929- (estimated) 05 The yearly rise in output is due to larger and better herds, combined with ; Lho growth of a better class of pas- ! lure. Herd-testing has helped and. [with the use of pedigree Jersey bulls, i they have been raising a better class of cow, which is displacing unprofitable animals. Attention to the pas- . lures has been the means of providing : the herds with better swards, and this ; autumn a return will be made to the i use of fertilisers. A few years ago ; some of the Maoris made liberal use of manures, but the practice was ; abandoned for a time. The Maoris have now realised the necessity of continual top-dressing and good supplies of manure have been ordered. POULTRY ON THE FARM It is the conviction of Dr. A. G. Ruston, Leeds University, that milk, potatoes and poultry in the order named are making the best profits on British farms at present. When the relative ; values of the cow and the hen are con- ; sidered, thirty hens under good management will produce as much profit as a cow. The capital outlay is clearly much less. The doctor is also convinced that ordinary farmyard fowls, properly -fed, would lay 150 eggs a i year, instead of 70, their normal output.

GRASS LAND CONTROL VALUE OF FERTILISERS HIGH STANDARD IN N.Z. From Our Oxen Correspondent HAMILTON,* Friday. ; ‘■Grassland management, operation and research work will in a few years put New Zealand at the head of the world in these matters,” stated Dr. H. E. Annett, of Matangi, in an interview here yesterday. Dr. Annett has just returned from j Europe, where he made an exhaustive j study of grassland farming, stock dis- j

eases, marketing methods and other matters affecting agriculture in the Dominion. “If we are going to get the best results from manuring it is obvious we wp.nt the best strain of grass in

use before the application of fertilisers/’ lie added. “Work on various pasture plants is being carried out «.*t Aberystwith, Wales. This station is working in close contact with our Department of Agriculture and has lent us one of its most capable officers.” Regarding actual grassland management, Dr. Annett considered the characteristic conditions in New Zealand, especially in the North Island, were ideal. The only part of the British Isles which approached the Dominion in this respect was Southern Ireland. Generally. however, throughout the United Kingdom, the : New Zealand farmer had little to learn. The management of the best j farms in the lowlands of Scotland j and in Northumberland, Cheshire and Leicestershire reached a very high level. The English farmer as a rule ! did not apply phosphates more frequently than once in four years. The New Zealand practice was far sounder and experimental work so far carried out in this country indicated that more beneficial effects would be obtained by applying several small doses of phosphates in one year rather than one dose annually. Of other fertiliser constituents, Dr. Annett said the heaviest users of potash and nitrogen were the farmers of the lowlands of Scotland. There were indications, though, throughout England there would be a considerable increase in the use of potash and nitrogenous manures on temporary pastures. In Holland in recent years there had been an enormous development in the use of nitrogenous manures on grasslands. The development, he said, had been very largely the work of commercial propaganda. The New Zealand dairy farmer had recently made great strides in creating ensilage and it was now recog nised that in order to obtain ensilage of high breeding value it must be made from grass in the short, leafy stage. In Holland and Germany, Dr Annett said he saw ensilage made from grass at this stage and the farmers there spoke very highly ol its value for cow feed for milk production.

N.Z. BACON TRADE

The statistics for the year ended March 31, 1929, for the ham and bac-on-curing industry, depict an all-round decrease in practically all phases of the industry as compared with the previous year. There is, however, no occasion for alarm at this state of affairs, as the majority of factory proprietors reported that business during the year 1925-29 was steady. sta:es the Monthly Abstract of Statistics. The number of establishments engaged in ham and bacon-curing during | the year 1925-29 was 45, as against 41 for the year 1927-2 S. The value of land, buildings, plant and machinery (which in effect represents the amount of capital sunk in the industry) was £258,992, an increase of 22 per cent, over the previous year. The total number of hands engaged declined from 394 in 1927-2 S to 374 for the year under review. On the other hand, the horse-power of engines employed during the year 1925-29 was 1.341. compared with 1.138 for the year 1927-28, an increase of IS per cent. The salaries and wages paid during the year ended March 31, 1929, were S per cent, below the previous year, the figure receding from £98,739 to £90,539. The total cost of materials used showed a recession of 2 per cent., and the value of products declined by 5 per cent. *Pho “added value” (i.e., the difference between the value of products and cost of materials) was £295,049 for the year 1928-29, compared with £334,475 for 1927-28. The “added value” each person engaged and each £IOO of the land, buildings, plant and machinery show decreases, and the proportion of the “added value” represented by the total salaries and wages bill advanced from 29.52 per cent, in 1927-28 to 30.38 per cent, ii; 1928-29. The average amount paid. to each person engaged was £242. compared with £251 for the former year. The value of the output last year was £959,672, as compared with £1.041,910 in-1925, and £1.164,180 in

cember in recent years:Australian and X Flue Fairly Z. Crossbred. (Sup.) Fine. Med. Coarse J uly. m4 27 25 d. d. llec., 1921 ill! :: It 1? :: II If :: 1! i! 40 F 20 Si 39 33 1927 it 275 215 192‘J :: S Ih 25 m 225 28 Average value of the Colonial bale: 1914, £17: 1920, £52; 1921, £ 1S; 1922, £22, 1922, £28; 1924, £39; 1925, £29; 1926; £26; 1927, £27: 192S, £30; 1929, £23.