The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1880.

Temuka Leader, Issue 255, 15 April 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 1880.

Ock contemporary, the Timaru Herald, touched upon a subject yesterday morning iluifc we were aboat to wr'ic upon; ami has. stated exactly what we intended to slate, to a certain extent, and, marvellous as it may ap. pear, our contemporary condescends to pronounce tho word 'oatmeal." It appears that the Victorian Government are beginning to see tiro folly of Protective measures, and, as a first instalment of Free Trade, proposes iu admit New Zealand Oats Duty free. Strange as it may appear, our Conservative contemporary (although it was hurdling out furiously a few weeks ago against l'Yee Trade or in fivoro* Protection), it now comes out a Free Trader. Has the success of the Liberals at Home anything to do with this chango 1 Leaving this question to bs answered by our contemporary as best he cau, we turn (o the subject in hand, and touch particularly upon (he porrior of it, which has icf ere nee to exposing oatmeal from New Zealand direct. This is one of the subjects that we intended to refer to, when we stated a few weeks ago that we wonkl try to show some of the ways whereby our agriculture could be rrs:'Sitated. In onr earlier days in the O'd Country, when in business connected with shipping. Exporting oatmeal, and sa't butter to Victoria.was with us no mean branch of business. Our object now in following up tuu subject whieli our contemporary luv-' touched upon, is to give our experience of onr dealings in these, lines, in Older U> guide any adventurers who may have the* courage to embark in this business. Our plan was to get grain thoroughly well kiln dried, because, unless this is done the adventure wiil turn out a failure. That done and the meal well ground, casks had to be provided about the size ota bwv hogshead,, ail. tight, and made of well-dried timber. The article being then placed in casks, coutiuual beating with a he ivy body was used at each lair of a few inches, ■until the cask was fil'ed so sobd as not to give the least way to pressure. It was then closely headed up and car led to the vessel. By tins process it found its way to the Victorian go'd fields ju pi me condition, and brought paying prices. The oats usually brought from 22s to 24s a quarter, or 2s 9d to 3s a bushe'. >Frieght'was then somerimes Ll 5 to L 25 and L3O a ton, and heavy insuiauces and other expenses, yet tho business pa'd well.

In those days oulv Scoi.eh.men cousumcd oatmeal. Shortly alter, however, an incident turned tbe tables, and at the preseat lime at Home it is tbe English who are tbe greatest consumers. Some 20 yenr s ago, when London was in a very unhealthy

.state, and no good reason could be given for the cause, sickness pie vailed Medical meu fouud it difficult to prescribe a remedy, and the number of deu.'bs increased rapii.ly. At last a gentleman pitbcnbed oatmeal. Several recovered by ibis means, and soon ihe London Time 3 discovered ihat oatmeal was the most wh.olet.ome, and ewsiesfc digested of fny farinaceous food that could be eaten. That was enough The rage for oatmeal increased d?»ly, and bcorea of establishments went jolo the business. The con sumption increased, and has been increasing up to the present. It is well known to persons who have lived in London, or any large EagRsh chy, that to get a good name in any business is to get a fortune. So with oaimeal, fortunes were made, and the article was convened into various shapes, so as lo tempt tbe most fast idious. Another thing that helped the favorable opinion promulgated by the tbumlerer was this: Somn bets were laid .hat whea'en bread was more sustaining than oateu cake To test the mat er, a number of navvies that were fed on whealea bread wei'e placed vviib an equal number of men fed on oalmeai, and other things being equal, it was found that the meuwho eat oatmeal were the most enduring In Scotland;where it is manufactured most, the oats were plump and. heavy, and if grown on land with a c ! ay snbscil, produced more meal than on a lkdrt sandy subso'l --the same as the Oain»vu -a'heat pfodiices moie and butter flour than Csmterbuiy wheat, which glows upon a lighter sod Now, can New Zealand grow manufacture, and export ihe article ? We ; say she can. The soil grows good the Canadian, potato, or barley oats are the most suitable Indeed, it would not pay to giind or export the lighter sorts We suggest that Mr Brute (who i? just starting a company to take up his business) might do worse than make a.) export trade in oat nca! a branch of liie business.

Casks of the size we have mentioned, li«htiy hooped and made of kauri or whito pine, five eights of an inch thick, could be provided at <ss or 7s a piece. If any attempt is made to ship oatmeal ia sackn it will be found to be an utter failure. Tlrs was proved. It must be kept in a solid mass, in air tight casks ; boxes might be substituted, but to make them air tight would be more expensive, and would not be so dry as well fired casks, and would be more liable to shrinkage. If the projected company would take this matter up and go into it heartily it would pay them«vell, and save our farmers from the ruin that must otherwise ollow oat growing. If this trade were properly prosecuted, an

un'imited market for ground oats would ] be found in London alone, for all that wo/ 1 can export for the next ten years, there is.' a strange anomaly connected with the| Hour trade. How it is we could never nrf do stand that Victoria pays Is to Is 61 "a bushel more for New Zealand whe.it than is given by millers here, and yet sells the four cheaper than is don:in New Zealand, perhaps there is a good reason, although we do not know it, Wages, till lately,was as high in New Zealand, even then the diiibreneo was more than it is now. lint ter if properly cured and cared for, might also be an article of export. Several cases tried have tinned out imp rod table. If the butler arrived in the same good condition as we have seen much of it cured here, and shipped to a good m:>fleet m Australia, it ought to pay, as gooU salt butter is seldom under a hundred to a hundred and 12s a cwt in the London market, often considerably higher. The process adopted intheda\s of export horn Scotland to Australia referred to, was to salt tho butter in 30lb kegs, well mado and hooped, ten or a dozen, sometimes up to twenty of these were packed in a large cask, the crevices well filed up with salt. Sugar hogsheads.'discarded when empty by the grocers. Hundreds of kegs of butter wove safely and sweetly landed in Victoria and brought fabulous iprices. These Jul.le kegs could bo p ovided hero up (o|a hundred weight for say 2s Gd each, boxes or hardware c sks could be got for litt'e, and the butter seat to tho market in

prime condition. TV great difficulty in all pe .articles is to eirjciently protect them from the effects of the heal in the tropica. We are sure that, the cause of the failures will be found. <o be through tearing the packages too exposed to the heat Hon?y]V another article that we meant to refer to, 1 but tuisand some other industries vem l^'l leave over for a future i issue If our remarks lead to enquiry or experiments, our labor wi)l not be lost. It may not be oat of place to draw lh-s «Uc»iicn or ihe Local Industries Coinmissu n to the subject. Government might expend money w'sely iu giving a bonus to a-y oae who exports

any of these articles, conditionally on their arriving Homo ia good order . Much of the success of our American cousins is due maialy to the enterprising- spirit of their Government, which generally assists those who have inadequate means, who may he proved to he tbe inventor of anything that will give imnel.us to the industries of the qouni-y.