The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1883. THE WINCHESTER GRAIN STORING AND DRESSING COMPANY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1162, 18 October 1883, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1883. THE WINCHESTER GRAIN STORING AND DRESSING COMPANY.

The prospectus of the above Company has been before the public for some time past, and it sets forth very forcibly many of the benefits the establishment of the industry would yield to the farming community. As its name indicates, it proposes first to stote grain ; and this cannot fail to be extremely beneficial to farmers, They will find it very convenient to have a place where they can store their grain until they have finished thrashing and hive found out where they can sell it to the best advantage. Hitherto farmers have not had suitable stores in which to keep their grain if they wanted to, but have had to sell it to the first nun who offered anything for it, so as to get rid of it. They need not do this if the proposed store is erected. They can place their grain in that, and buyers will be glaJ to come and buy there without giving the farmers any further bother. Sales effected in this way cannot possibly be subjected to ' (locking off,', and so the farmer will get the full value of his grain. The buyers also will prefer this system, as it will do away with «* considerable amount of trouble, and they can send it straight to the ships* This will enable them to give perhaps 2d per bushel more for it than they would ii the grain were going to them in drayloads, etc. In addition to the above advantage the Company will give the use of their weighbridge, and that is no small matter, if it is true, as we are told it is, that machine owners frequently thrown a scoop or two of grain after the weight of the bag has been ascertained. All the charge the Company will make for this, and for receiving and delivering (including sixpence per ton for loading at the railway) is Is 6d, or. somewhere about one one farthing per bushel, but if the dressing machine is required an extra charge of one penny per bushel will be made. It is sometimes said that dressing is unnecessary, If so, why is it done elsewhere, and why has machinery for that purpose been invented. Can it be said that farmers in this district take better care in cleaning and dressing their grain than they do elsewhere ? It has been asserted, and perhaps not without good grounds, that nowhere is such badly-dressed grain to be got as in this district, and if that be true the necessity for dressing is made greater, There is a growing feeling amongst grain merchants to dress and sort the grain properly before shipping it, and this will no doubt lead to dressing machines bping erected in all the graingrowing districts before long. The advantages of this cannot be estimated at so many pence per bushel, or so many shillings per ton, but it must be admitted that it is a necessity, and that it wil pay the farmer well. Tho drying machinery is simple and inexpensive. It will be connected with the dressing and elevating machinery, and a room capable of holding 1000 bags will be set apart for damp grain, so that it cannot interfere with the ''ry (Tain. That this will prove advantageous to the

farmer need not be doubted, and thn question now is, will it pay the shareholders ? There were nearly 150,000 bushels of grain passed through the Winchester railway station last year, and supposing that 120,000 bushels of that were dressed, stored and delivered by the company it would yield L 702 10s. To this must be added £3O a year for rent of a coal yard, which the company intend to have also, and that would give L 732 10s gross profits. The cost of working the concern, including labor, coal, oil, twine nnd incidental expenses, is set down at L 365 16s, to which must be added Ll6O for interest at 8 per cent on the capital of L2OOO, making a total of L 595 16s, and leaving a net profit of L 206 14s, After the grain season is over it is the intention to utilise the shed for woolclassing and sorting, the profit of which is not taken into account, and it is also very probable that something will be done in the way of dressing seeds. Taking the whole concern into consideration we think that it is well worthy of the support of farmers, and aa it has bten got up wholly in their interests they ought to give it their support at once. The project has been started by farmers, it has been so far directed by them, and consequently it is most exclusively their own concern, No other industry has been started that is so exclusively a farmers concern as this, and we trust that they will combine together and set it afloat at once, The sum of £2OOO is not much, and ought to be raised in a few days. We are therefore confident that it will, and that the Company will be floated before long.