THE FREIGHT PROBLEM.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1917, Page 3

THE FREIGHT PROBLEM.

WARNTNV, TO .PRODUCERS. Lnder the heading of "A Fool's Paradise," (ho Otago Witness recently issued tlio following summary of the meat problem, embodying a warning to stockraisers: Tlio writer invites settlors to consider seriously the following as bearing on their future action in regard to their stock-holdings. Jn Now Zealand at the present time roughly there is on hand meat in works, 3.500,000 earpascs; wool, '200,000 hales; cljtiose, 130,000 crates; butter, 200.000 boxes: besides huge stocks of tallow, pelts, hemp, etc.—sufficient for, say, fifty vessels. With luck we may have half a dozen boats loading during the next two month?, and unless some forty odd vessels fall from the skies, there must be a tremendous carry forward. Last year, from January 1 to Efecombcr 1, the quantity of meat shipped (translating beef to GOlb careases), totalled, say, 7,000,000 carcases. The New Zealand wool clip equals, say, 000.000 hales, so that it is possible that in December this year we shall find that the stores contain about 3,000 000 eareases of meat and about 100.000 bales of wool, to say nothing about cheese and butter. If to the e=tifnatcd figures of the carry-over to next season is added the average of meat and wool produced the past two season, we find that the ships have to lift in 191R close on 10,000,000 carcases and 700,000 bales of wool, as well as the coming season's cheese, butter, tallow. pelts, etc. Koughly. there are 24.000,000 sheep in New Zealand, and, with a lambing of, say. 5,000,000, we have a total of 32.000,000, out of which we use 2.000,000 and export (1,000<►oo. The space at present available totals under ,5,0(lfi,0ll0; but if 3.000,000 of this is occupied on January 1 (allowing 1,000,00;) to be shipping between January and March, or. say, three or four boats a month), it will take about 2,.*ioo,ooo to fill the works, leaving some 3,500,000* to l>c fed until space is available. If shipping is even a shade worse next year, we may have four to four and a half million more sheep to feed. Each and every settler should consider very seriously his future policy, and with open eyes determine what is the solution of the problem set before him—viz, lio>v best to conserve bis own interests and a'void waste of foodstuffs, which will be all wanted by our kindred later on.