FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 302, 31 January 1910, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

the pig industry. PROPOSED SiiIPMLNT <-T rORK TO j BRITAIN. I Says the Wellington Times:—The au-'nounc-ement that some Waikato farmers ! intend sending a shipment of pork to 1 Britain suggests the need of a word of 'caution in faking up :■ - trade. There 'is certainlv a det;:.n:-.! ::>- " i! 1« fol ' P'S | flesh, but*it i> a:i <>:vp ''■■■>■•' demand, jpigs arc short .•,-. i'.. .-..• ..--.'> abroad; m i fact, to such an extent that appeals are being made to the British Government I to reiax the local restrictions in eonneejtion with swine disease. This is not to 'say. however, that New Zealand farmers {will find the good Home prices' remunerative, for the kleas_ of value of , the pig and its products in this country ' are not by any mcan= what they are is . the Northern Hemisphere. AMERICAN AND BlUTiSil PRICES. Take- the United States, a great 'source of supply of bacon for Britain: 'medium to IMb bacon pigs are selling 'at 32s a head, and this is the price delivered at the Chicago stockyard; At I Manchester, in England, a couple of (months back, baeoners were selling as 'follows:—First class 5%d, second class U'4d to 4%d, third class o\'-.(\ to 3%d. L\t Market Drayton, stores were realising from 12s to 30s each, and at Thame lGs to 2Bs Gd. At Truro, pork carcases were realising 4%d to s'/ 2 d, and the top price for porkers was G'/ 2 d. In New Zealand, even at the present prices, declared to be unsatisfactory, baconers are selling at from 35s 'to 40s at country railway stations. In shipping- pigs to Britain the cost will be at least per P 01 ™ 1 - U is not to be expected, however, that frozen pork will be worth the same'-value as fresh pork, so that it the Waikato farmers clear expenses over local values they snortld do well. PRIVATE SHUP-UEXTS BEING i MADE.

The idea of shipping to the Home market is not a new one. As a matter of fact, one or two curing muiius are arranging shipments at the present tune. NotVntt the undertaking is expected to prove profitable, for ti.or.gh the time ihas never been more opportune to unj tiate such a trade, with the scarcity at 'llome and the over-supply here, it is !not expected that the shipments will do 'much more than clear expenses. Hie ! sole object of the shipments is to relieve 'the local market. It is impossible to hand the pork in Britain under 5d a pound, that is, providing no undue loss lis experienced by reason of diseased pigs. DISEASE PROBLEM. The disagreeable fact has to be faced, I though it Is consistently being ignored '■in discussions among producers on the ] question, that the extent of tuberculosis I among pigs fed on dairy factory skira'milk and whey is very high, and as all 'pig,' now being cured at the leading {curing works are examined by a Government veterinary surgeou, there is 'little chance of a pig being passed if it is at all affected. At the present I moment the producer is not called upon j to pay a penny piece for any .pig he I may sell which may afterwards be found 'to be tubercular. The euver shoulders | the loss, though he is relieved of a third 'of this by State compensation, j. At the present time the-"e~xaminatioit for tuberculosis is most severe, the Live Stock and Meat Division of the Department of Agriculture having amended its methods to meet the requirements of the British Board of Health, which now ■lays down most stringent regulations in regard to inspection of .pig products. THE AIAIX FACTOR. Whatever the outcome of the shipments; of pork to be made to Britain, the fact has to he remembered that producers can uot expect to realise prices anything like wliat they have been obtaining during the past seasons on local markets. No export trade will ever be I possible at .prices higher than the exist- ! ing level of values. The argument may !>ue used that it does not pay to fatten 'at the present prices; of stores. This only proves, however, that stores are at too high a price. It is obviously impossible to make money with_ stores at 2os. and finished animals at 355. Tt the Imsiness is' to be placed on a sound basis, and an export trade made remunerative when there is a surplus, stores will have to come back to a fair basis, and producers be content with a ■price' more in conformity with values on the world's markets.