OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 199, 1 December 1910, Page 7

OUR STAPLE INDUSTRIES.

By R. J. LAMES.

RURAL NEW ZEALAND UNDER REVIEW. No. C.

[All Eights Reserved.] WHERE LANDS GROWS CHEAPER. . The values quoted in a previous article covered a stretch of country extending over 50 miles in length. Space will not pefmit of too much detail. It must always be remembered, too, that in the best of the country there are patches of poor land. Speaking generally, the further one gets away from the coast line the cheaper the land gets. Around the mountain, past Opunake and towards New Plymouth, there are beach lands valued at *£4o per acre (with £5 per acre improvements), but as one gets inland £3O, £25, £23 and down to £l2 for bush lands are quoted. The quality varies greatly. Back to the ElthamOpunake road, at Mangatoki (which averages about 2Yg acres to the cow, and other farm stock) there is nothing selling now under £4O an acre. One farm there has changed hands six times in' seven years, at an increase each time. It is estimated that the land serving the Kaponga factory is worth £25 per acre on an average—some being a good deal higher, and other land much lower. Still further on, at Awatuna (where the factory supply has doubled itself- in Ave years) £22 10s has been struck as the average, with leases running from 17s 6d to £1 5s per acre. This paragraph is headed, "Where land grows cheaper," but inland, as on the coast, it is ever growing dearer. Butter-fat has made a boom; the maintenance of the price of butterfat must be chiefly relied upon to keep the boom from bursting. Still there are other considerations which, even if butter and cheese slackened in value, would tend to maintain the price of land. Many farmers say that with land at £SO and £GO per acre we arg riding for a fall. Others say it will yet go to £IOO per acre! In article No. 4an effort was made to specify the causes which sent land values upwards. Here are some reasons which may keep the prices still advancing:

(1) Maintenance or an increase of the prices of produce in the Londoin markets. The opening of new markets. (2) Making, bv the use of manures, rotation of feed crops, and closer farming, two blades of grass (or their equivalent) grow where only one grows now. (3) Improving the producing capacity of the herds by selection and culling. (4) New labor-saving inventions. Cheapening of the cost of making, handling and shipping dairy produce.

These are a few of the reasons which have been given me for the faith which is in those who anticipate still higher prices. They apply, of course, not only to lands in Taranaki, but to every district throughout the Dominion. THE COWS OF TARANAKI. Considering the importance of the province as a dairying centre, it is not surprising to find that the quality of the cows generally is good Still they are not as good as they ought to be. Not nearly. Many farmers say that the cattle have not the constitution they once had, the loss being due to the improper and inadequate feeding), of the calves and the lack of consideration concerning the quality of the bull. The Government officials preach the necessity for remembering that the bull is haif the herd, but in an average 50-cow dairy in Taranaki he is not infrequently about a fiftieth part of the herd in value. This is largely the result of the shifting population. Those farmers who merely "come and go" do not look forward to establishing themselves and their families in their homes. Certainly they do not think of building up good milking herds for future use. They expect to put in a year or two—and hope to sell at an advance. So long as the cows come into profit they are satisfied. The | calf is an altogether secondary consideration. The ill effects thus produced are gradually being l modified by the persistent effort of many of the settled farmers to breed the best calves possible, recognising in them the projectors of future dairy herd 3.

THE MOST PROMINENT BREED. One of the dairy division staff was recently asked what breed of cattle he would recommend farmers to go in for, and he answered: The Dairy Breed. That is perhaps the only way to describe the cattle of Taranaki. Here and there there are farmers who are doing splendid work in specialising in several well-known breeds, and the pure-bred animals they are selling tend to keep up the general standard. Some time ago a lot of Dutch Freisans were brought into the district, but they have mostly lost their distinctiveness. Crossing changed their color, but the blue in the cattle one now sees in certain parts tells their ancestry. A well-known breeder recently purchased a costly herd of Ayrshires, and his enthusiastic declaration is that they will knock the miwh-talked-of Jerseys (especially when it comes to cheese-making) quite out of consideration. Heard two farmers talking over the merits of their respective herds the other day.' Said number one: "The best cow I have is a Holstein, which has a touch of Jersey in her." His neighbor replied: "The best I have is a Hoi steinShorthorn." A lot of- people talk Holstein just now. From auction reports it woukt appear that six years ago there was a reaction against tlie gentle-looking Jersey. A great many Jersey steers were sent to the'yards, but the butchers found fault with' the color of the beef. Then followed a run on Holsteins, and very few would touch a Jersey. However, these cattle have improved, and the Jersey boom has re-started more strongly than ever. At this year's winter clearing sales herds of a jersey tvpe commanded most money, and purbreds realised big prices. Still' there are not a few farmers of experience—and with no predilection for any particular breed—who declare that the Jersey is too small and delicate to suit Taranaki. Apart from the purebred herds the dairy farms possess a great variety of crosses, and in many cases if an owner is asked what breed such an such an animal is, he will say: "Just cow; just Dairy Cow." Sometimes he will add: "And she is the best I've got in my herd." WHAT A HERD COSTS.

As land becomes dearer cows become dearer, too. It doesn't pay to run cheap cattle on dear land. At".a recent sale of Jerseys over a dozen pure-breds averaged about 33% guineas, while 60 grade cows fetched about" £l6 apiece. This was a well-known and exceptionalfy good herd, and the animals were sold at a time and in a locality -where they were wanted. Cattle-selling season covers the months of May, June and July, and runs sometimes into the second week in August. Taking an average of 35 clearing sales held last winter, of cows to be in full milk by September G, the following j was the average price per cow:— ° May herd i£7 per head June herd £8 to £<j July herd ....... £9 to £lO

There are jnore calves being reared in Taranaki this- season than has been the case for some years, but the 1 general

opinion is that next season the price of cattle will be higher than ever. A dairy farmer remarked the other day: "Before [ die I expect to see dairy cows selling at £2O a head." Without doubt the demand for first-class milkers will go on on increasing as the scales and the babcock tester point out the good cows and unmask the '"scrubbers."