Opening New Markets.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7749, 27 February 1905, Page 4

Opening New Markets.

E l IMB FLAX AND DAIRY IND.fS■§K TKIES. K,-AV INTERVIEW WITH MR JOHN Mp' HOLMES. HEf-,La»rßing that Mr John Holmes, Hpnf the wwll-known exporting linn of BfiMa Holmes and Co.. Ltd.. of WelBHSllaatnn, and late Trade O'ommissionHsPto the Government, was visiting Kfflet Plymouth, a representative or BHW» P*V** called on that gentleman Rgfaaterday afternoon. ■Kr "t have come to ask some inforjpfmntlon.' Mr Holmes." said the inHptnrriewer, ' in reference to your preSgr vfcHta relations with the export in|jj| duatrie* of this colony, and your |p" present proposala regarding the 'pros' motion of the flax and butter p" trades." K " Well." said our visitor, " I am "■ "matt willing to do what I can for you la that way, and if you can •• find apace for only a littla of what * "1 might say to the people of Tara- , aaki, I think I can interest them. Nothing, you know, attracts people more than a prospective increase of iaccme. and I know I can «how the producers of Taranaki a certain way to that." 7 "I have been intimately connected v with .the produce trade of New Zealand for more than thirty .years, and ■". nave taken a special interest in the development of our frozen meat trade *> and other industries." :'-".•• Some years ago the flax trade oi I . the colony was in a languishing and [-, depressed condition, and it was felt £ that only concerted measures could f ; succeed in setting it going on a -". Bound and prosperous career. The naxmillers. therefore, petitioned Parliament to send a commissioner abroad to Investigate the fibre markets of the world. They were sup--4 ported by the Industrial Associa'tfons, the Chambers of Commerce, and the Agricultural Associations oi the colony, who were prepared to, and did eventually, contribute to the - Cost of carrying out the proposal. Accordingly, on the sth Jane, ~ 1897. I was selected by the Governs meat, with the approbation of the I- contributing bodies, to make a perf» aonal mvestigatiim into all that conf cerned the fibre industry of the f; world. To that end, J travelled foi k .. eighteen months in Great Britain &■ the ynKed. States, Canada, Austra- =* lia,' and South Africa, speaking in St the chief centres of those countries, r not only in the interest of N.Z. i. hemp, but also in advocacy of the J use of New Zealand meet, kauri gum, butter, cheese, grain, grass ST aeed, and other products of this coil kmrf, I returned to New Zealand at the * end of 1808, and submitted to the Government two reports, in one of f. which I urged.the advisability of the s£ compulsory grading of N.Z. hemp. Jf. The result has been that that profs duct, which in 1896 represented an I export of 1800 tons, valued at £21,e 000, has since risen to an export of j*- 95,000 tons, with a return to this J? colony of £650,000 to £700.000. i* The enormous gain to New Zealand V ' must be manifest to all your readers t for the manufacture of hemp gives I' employment to a large number of e," "killed and unskilled labourers, in Ifc* addition to which there is to be conff., aidered the conversion of what was a £,' 'waste product into a merchantable */■ article, and also the work given to Eff the railways, coal mines', and a host E<- of other adjuncts. £L I** industry of hemp production W- began as far back as 1855, when 46 jfC 4n »»-«lued at £1046. were export- £■ ad; and I believe that at a much K earlier stage in this colony's history | there were fairly regular shipments gi. to Australia. Incidentally, let me jr- say that those early exports, being Kj: all of hand-dressed fibre produced by J-. *■» Maoris, were very much superior c to the machine product of these (toys. In connection with this industry i' to to he borne in mind the fact It, that New Zealand is the world's t - only source of supply of this fibre, « •""•• *» far - we have relied altogejl'. ther for our supply of raw maferiat j*-' on the natural growth. But this j& ~ could be increased by careful cultivaS?' Uon. Even now many old-estab-liahed mills find great difficulty in » securing sufficient raw material to v\meet the increasing demand, and c aome of them have to seek far afield \>. Mills on the Waikato, where tens of |& • thousands of tons were once close at gf hand, have recently drawn part of * .their raw material from the far !~ north of Auckland province. i~ This brings me to the point I want ,' to make, vfe. that Phormium Tcnax to » going shortly to be the most prosi. fitable crop a man can grow in New ■. Zealand. In three years from the JS.. planting it is possible to raise a fcr. crop fit for cutting. The quantity f'•'" "* **"!!: tak ? 1 trom **' acrc o f suHEr able ground—nob necessarily the best if y OIMd *° r other crops, but often the A reverse—is from 30 to 40 tons. Sr. At present a royalty up to 10s a g ton has been paid for the right oi £<~cotting flax. Therefore it is fair to . assume that, with a choice of the heat variety, and well ordered planting, it should be easily possible to attain regularly to the higher rate 5 of production—which in some disf trict has reached 40 tons per acre. £. At thin rate the grower would in three years, with no trouble or exf- pense beyond the initial cost -'- . atAißg ' draw a royalty of £2O per acre. Divided by three - this gives £6 13s 4d per acre per " *?£!* P* o ** trota swampy ground ~, which Is difficult to equal by the ■ production of the best land. r. For this reason I would say to the j farmers of Taranaki that to lay „ down a crop of flax on part of thenland would be wise policy, and ■? w °2 d _* ua * ,d tha mistake of i*. having all their eggs in one basket. 5?5? w «»Hhy landowners of the .', •* Auckland are already tak- - Mg time by the forelock in this mafr " JSf' awl Uyfa « down targe areas is £ Fbormium Tenax, and the Departar ment of Agriculture is experimenting fc. to find the best varieties for the purr pose. Twenty-two varieties are ~ known, many of which are not worth I, __ growing. '?- The cultivation of our indigenous and most characteristic product is aurely sounder sense than to drift along without providing for the fu- - - tuns, and there is the absolute cer- ;., hainty of a handsomer profit than '. from any other industry." "You make it• pretty clear, Mr < Holmes, that, the cost of your mission to tH» world at large was mot ncy weU laid out," said the interviewer. *;Ye», undoubtedly. It has been repaid to the colony ten thousand _ t fold,, and a similar plan could, with ; advantage, ,be .applied to extend the „ outlets for the dairy produce of the \ colony." " Hqw would you accomplish this purpose, Mr Holmes ?" t "I would urge upon the Government the desirableness of appointing one or more qualified commercial representatives, whose duty it would be to. visit Great Britain, and, if need be, other countries, and lecture in the larger centres, explaining the - - potentialities of New Zealand, and, 7"-above all, making clear to the people that we are producing the best . quality of table butter." I would further recommend that the numerous factories should contribute to this enterprise, by presenting to the Government parcels of their butter and cheese for free distribution at the close of each lcca ture. This would be more convincr' ing than any amount of talk, for, "proverbially, seeing is believing, and i i. tasting the quality would carry conf-' .vietion to probable buyers. j Suppose those assembled were pro- " Sorted with a pound, or even a half V pound; of butter from Stratford, ► Midhirst, or Eltnam, Ijdon't you , think it would do more to fix The re- , alities of things on their minds than ,' anything else could ? Imagine the , enormous impetus such a scheme* , Would give to our exports. The newspapers would be bound to notice such a unique plan, and so give N.Z. free and liberal advertisements, and thousands would flocK to each "It is to be noted in this corniecl_ Won that President Roosevelt has ih, advised Congress to send commercial jj£ agents to assist the American Coniianls abroad for the sole purpose of grpushing trade with foreign coungf'tries. Our American cousins are jpiflwt content to put all their eggs in &,one basket. Government have already something,. Mr Holmes, in the feJW «f openimj .outside martlets for Ws** Producers." I am more than pleased to gSMd that Sir J. Ward, Minister for gyottnierce, has extended the South E*r2 e «a steam ship service to in"JJ* ports as Liverpool, Gias- &§■>*> Bristol, Cardiff, and MancheswSSeH'^H 1 a succ cs ß . so far as New MMgWat fs concerned ? K&L£-&r as New Zealand is conHHwW la, in my opinion, an im•uccess, You must rememwag not built in n

"day," and trade cannot be established at once. It takes time and persistent effort to accomplish such things. I "I see, Mr Holmes, you have been advocating dairy produce exchange: in Xew Zealand. What are the benefits likely to accrue from them V" The advantages are so many that it would take long to detail' them. I'nder the present want of system there are loss of time and loss of money. These losses would lie saved and the business better conducted. To illustrate this : Several factories, acting independently of each other, invite all the representatives of Home houses to attend at several meetings. When these reach Wellington we frequently find that a dozen factories have perhaps chosen the same day, and even the same hour, for a conference with their directors to consider the question oi sale or shipment. The result is that owing to the absence of some representatives, the business is postponed. The agents cannot be in several places at once, and almost invariably the directors delay their decision from meeting to meeting until the time conies for tho last offer from the Home representatives. i It must be obvious that such a system, or want of system, involves losses, and such losses arc always ultimately borne by the producers a condition ■which the co-operative dairy companies would do well to J remember. Now, if exchanges like those of the outer world were established, say for the Wairarapa districts, at MasIterton, Manawatu at Palmerston North, and Taranaki at Hawera, all ;tbe factories about each centre could treat for their output within one 'week" as against 2J to B months at present, and the buyers would be saved the constant travelling now involved. I The proposal is based on experience. ' The Old World and American centres of industry all have their exchanges, at which trade is controlled, steadied, and regulated. There are many other advantages possible, notably the discussion of freights, temperatures, . regularity of shipments here, and delivery in Great Britain, the establishment of new markets, and so on. I It is a gratifying feature to me to find that the Victorian Butter Commirsion, after many months' investigation, and exhaustive enquiry, have recommended the establishment of a butter exchange as a panacea for ull the ills affecting the dairy industry in Victoria. My opinion, without any pretence to prophecy, is that upon the establishment of exchanges each fortnightly shipment of butter will be sold by public auction 01 private treaty in tho exchanges, and thereby the gambling which at present takes place will be avoided. ■You might explain what you mean by gambling, Mr Holmes, if you will excuse me for saying so. Certainly; the speculation comes about this way. With dairy direcjtors early in the season there are always two questions to settle—- ! shall they ship or shall they sell ? Remember, they have to decide six months ahead under present plans. If they consign, the market may fall below their advances, and reclamations are then made for losses. If they sell the market may rise considerably, and they may likewise be chagrined to find themselves not participating in the improved prices. I It, as I expect, cash sales for each fortnightly shipment will be made, it reduces business to ordinary trade risks over short periods, and, upon the law of averages, the factories jWill get a higher price. J Finally, to show you how real the gambling is when you arc dealing with long periods, let me illustrate the difficulty of correctly estimating the course of the produce market by a recent fact. One of the most reliable British houses .this very- season refused to advance 3Jd per lb | against N.Z. cheese, f.o.b. A fewweeks later they would have been glad to get consignments at Id per lb advance on this quotation, j Finally, let me sum up by saying to the. farmers of Taranaki—Push your trade on modern lines, as f have recommended, and give close consideration to what I have said regarding the exploitation of new markets, the cultivation of Phormiuni Tenax, and the establishment of dairy produce exchanges, all of which will contribute to making our settlers yet more prosperous and happy in those fortunate isles.