BUTTER PRICES.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 October 1920, Page 3

BUTTER PRICES.

j (To the Editor.) Sir—lt i« obvious from your footnote to m.v letter that you are unable to suppou your assertions by any facts whlcfc will aland (lose Ijivestlgatiou. (1) You spea< of "un«.' muted hours of work." This statement lias been repeated so often that even the tanners themselves are coming to believe it. But did you ever get one io give a (totalled statement of what he "did 'dining the "unlimited hours;-' it Is true they bti tj''t carl) ami end at evening time, but most I of tiiemi Unci a fair amount of leisure during ; .be interval. Anybody tiring a jrim hi Devon ; ritreol on almost any day of the vve?k wou'd jto "I're to hit a "cock." (2| As to ! dairy industry In Taranalu having been run | ''ii iiiiei'jiioiuieally unsound lines in U* u past , tills is. of course, pure eyewash. Ail the ! evidence points to the contrary. Read tho annual reports ul I lie dairy facioros, «.r li.i? repovid uf iliti Agricultural Depj.nmcm. or cl tho current literature affecting die ;u----uustvy. Above all let Walter Dutton Fowdrell rell speak again: "While the progress in the last half a dozen years has been phenomenal, the output has been nearly doubled. It is' still a fart il:at sf> far we have tak-n only tile cream off the industry." Under the heading of "Instances of Successful Dairying," he quotes the following cases: (a) Sharemilliors took off one place in 191G, £774 ; 3917, £709, in 1918, £Br,o, and, besides this the family had house and dairy produce Kept fowls and bees, and had fcee grazing totr several horses, and ground for vegetables. (b) a man bought 190 acres of UM at £55 per acre, paying £25 as deposit, "A*? 8 £ 10.400 owing, and he also borrowed -•>00 on Ills cows. Starting in 1912 he averaged as net profits for six years, £587 per annum, ami, at the same time, reduced the ,ile co ,™ " nU !ail(1 from £10,737 rv»f 'im!,,. (T '" S brouellt ,lls average gain to . , per «"■»""). (e) Another ease Where liree brothers started with £3OO and a mortgage of over £20,000. In four vears their average profit has been £657, and they 0 j" 1 "I £2OOO off the debt besides (an average altogether of £i:i«d). The fart is that the dairy industry this country has been favored rtme than any other; from the Prime Minister downwards the whole Parliamentary cry (or j'taost the whole of it), has been to assist the farmer and to extol his virtues at the expense of the town dwellers, and the conscience is that to-day, i!.k e most unc | u iy favored individuals, those who run ile'industry -ire forgetful of benefits received and bite the ! l!and that has helped to feed tlieni. To supthe true facts of the inddsirv, Z statement - recl( ' es3 "Wulation and grabbing, .statements are made which would make Ananias, were he now alive, blush for his inev per eiiee It ig ]ljgh |Jme to I f m< ° lese S'ih statements (wLich to be fair, are made not only by butter ornIhtcers, but by profiteers in general—l nearly Included milkmen), and insisled on something . fait OeM Wne Mrri^

Sew Plymouth, Oct. 18, 1920. * [if our correspondent wants facts regards and f° U n " orkf ' a b >' ,lle iTn irj-nmii, li.'s wife and family he need only visit an average farm lie^oul'r 1 ' f V i, " selC ' We are sailed lie would not afterwards exchange Ills own earriT "i''' """ ° f tho tl " ir >' ma "- In rerellVLi ' lUo!a V l ™ , " k0 " f ™> r«vdrelis honl,, we would only sa y (hat the results referred to could never have |, e en attained but (or the inordinately lone hours worked by those engaged, hours which tho f.verage towns m»n would regard a,, little short Money has certainly hwn made in dairying, but fimllv toll" 1 "' e resUltof arduous latter f or v by " nB out ' Prtncipaliy the If the members of tl- a family wero p..id per Hour halt Union rates the daincian nould not have heeit able tr, wrv on for a 1 s ™ sun - '«><■' recent increases m land prices have never been Justified, and if nro- ( il'owanco were made lor wages, as wou"d 1>«0 to be done l„ an ordinary enterprise, tliey would come down with a run. l'tid"'np U i l T ""' t °' !r ccrrei l" >ni| ent has f.e had"w en r m ; raranalci •""'fM «f»i lie had, le would have cause 10 romomb,,r thM »" " «« fr«M l»«

(To the Editor.) SirW have read with interest a letter Wean,is in y„ m . issUo of the # ™ Zm 1" chlw rkii ™ ,es «he o«: oard statement that "the dairy farmer is the poorest liald of all." ■■[,•,!).■ , ( . "rrcct in <iuot!»g- h 0 al4eme , lt s Mereanti o Gazotte tlmt I||( , world kr Ht ; VOnl i erful I,ldustr - v ™ the world. Iho wondenul part about it i s tlnt re "« 3 "« he™ wholesale banWo! "tnong the dairy farmers, seeing that tho .iterate crops ,/jf butter-fat for the Inst ton 5 eats lias not exceeded 80 lbs to the a,-re L""V™ Wit and constant stotdy ™i iiu P " rt Gf the farl «er, his wim and children that have averted disaster i Vi I say right here, that If "pn" butter-fat on t 'lj «»»«"« the end of r |,e first rear he wo*i i " l ready to admit that 'for the mtl rl """l that the industry ~ev« «„'*.'!■!!* V'.il be, on a sound economic basis whilo n,« f„:; op of butter - 1^ »o 'd' rp!iiui-^- s "" rli j for ' 11 ve i'J'' ordinary i ~2,• ,rn„;"~ -ii..;™",'" 1 .,";™;::: 1 "' ■■ <»■ If tin- (Miry rea|,,\ a 'l o d''ri "0 to 150 lb Sl of buUe tf J °" '' l he is iiiakiiig nmnev °{nst he reaps SO bushels of wheat from every acre "< Ujs wheat flold. he lm * un*,\ ■ saKffiSSSSS Will show verv little nrofk if a " uro » Jnd of production ' ' C M> '' oror ,I,C

omZ' T s parallo) w;mi hj, » u'-rUod on lines U»..'r l!r v *Z Unn ' i«™ S-U-ui-hb sm . h Ponr '"at our averce ~n u - i„,-„,, , uu »ti-i,tt per ,uu>, Which, taking £22S worth of Iniirt ]»oi' cow, (o;>ot]KT win- .»ii land lbs rf lmti r er fhariics, 80% " " 2s , M »* m cove™ por anf : Vl" S ° rao I>, '" m °f M in hi ™ dairyman will only grade Z* Z of 150 prcllt vil e>: "' a 70 il,s M "S nil f.lf lit "J tr li" rCIW '"' Wilh b " tlerere 1 lb - ° f £l) I2 « M Der ibs ° f a very ia,,ge *««•» faiviis who l,n Oo|,| " >iers of dairy values of hn"" "' e '""■'•'eased nor 'imn . s of butter-fat venev or i ,lns ™»d- The sol«h„n. ! lnr ' nl,, ''»c.v of 11-oso farmers is market i™ tlu " Hsr ' or fa " of >arkei mine or -lmiter-fnt, and I sav rirt.f butter fat Wh " e - lher ° '* yet time ' ancl w!lile butter-fat remains at Its present pr'ee thev jhnuM make every effort to ir, rense he -u O butter-fat per acre ,o at\Z Sj "bid, ean readily be done hy a thorough ,, !t i air of^-y^tS , > ™ hl f om »'« 2#' or 4(1 ]ier cent, of , " 1:lch "re the curse of the dairv iedmir.v, mid hy breeding from the host onlv In u few- years every acre of our dalrv lauds Woiild be yielding iis golden cro„ „> "JO to .11 a lbs .of buiter-fat to the acre T uen,vair, when that point t n reurtied, the

dairy industry of Xew Zrnlantl will bp on a sound niid economic basis. Thanking you for your valuable apace.—l am etc., KOBT. ,1. PRESTON. Hawera, Oct. 18, 1920.