FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 February 1921, Page 12

FARM AND DAIRY.

THE POSITION OF THE FARMER. Writes our Waitoitoi correspondent: The shortage of grass and the decided fall in the prices of sheep are causing many graziers considerable concern, and cases have been known where holders have been obliged to sell at 50 per cent, less than the price given for many lines some months ago With the exception of Jersey heifers, piost classes of cattle are also difficult to quit at a figure leaving any margin for profit. Baconers are no longer, in many instances, the ‘•gintiemen that pay the rint,” as many firms are only now offering 5d per lb, which is practically only half of what could have been obtained some months ago, and those who paid high prices for stores in the spring are looking somewhat sideways at the aspect of affairs. and hides are also another side line that has had the bottom knocked out of the market, but the price of a decent pair of boots is still anywhere up to a couple of pounds. With' the exception of butter-fat (and considering the cost of land, manure, living, labor, etc., the price for that is nothing to write home about), mostly all lines of produce have come down with a run, and many of those affected would like to know when the equalisation in other directions is going to commence. It would almost seem as if the primary producer is always the last to be affected by any rise in price, and the first to suffer from a falling market. The middleman is quickly able to “pass Jt on” in the case of a rise, but very often forgets to take it off when a slump sets in. MODERN HIGH\WyS. tn the last issue of the Farmer is a most interesting article on modern highways and their construction. In it is pointed out that during the last half century railroad construction has practically held the sway in young countries such as North America, Australia and New Zealand, and that the time has now arrived when attention has to be directed towards the construction of roads of a modern type to feed those railways.” In the United States there is almost a cessation of railroad making, and a feverish energy is being displayed to construct hard surfaced roads, that is, concrete modern highways. In June. 1919. road projects had been approved estimated to cost nearly eighty million pounds, covering a distance of something over twenty-five thousand miles. Not all of this is under actual construction, but has been definitely provided for by contract and agreement. Despite all that has been said and written as to the cost of upkeep, the article in question put up a strong case for concrete roads, and points out that it has been found by engineers that where the roads have been built foj- some •years where the foundation is dried-out and consolidated with traffic, that over these old metalled roads, after the surface has been broken, the eoncrete can be very successfully laid. Tn the formation of a road on a new line complete drainage and the thorough compacting of the foundation are the outstanding features of the practice of road-making in the United States.

After giving important details as to the method to be followed in laying down this type of road, some data is given as to cost and upkeep. The average pre-war cost per nlile of upwards of 8000 miles of this form of road is stated to be £2400, the average width being fifteen feet, and the expense of keeping a well constructed concrete highway in repair is estimated to range from £6 to £lO per mile per annum. The cost of maintenance is so small that after the interest on the cost of construction has been provided for, a fund, based on the. usual cost of maintaining a metalled road, could be well established to provide the means to pay off the cost of the first construction.