THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1912. EASTERN TRADE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10679, 27 July 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JULY 27, 1912. EASTERN TRADE.

The queiwfton of foreign markets for our primary [produce has a very real (HigilftcMnce f'>r New Zeall'and at tlie present jbinje, The Dtominiign h;v? been s6 loiTg dependent iupon Great Ei'itilliJ. that it lis ta difficult .master to break away 'from custom. Still, there i<j the fflot that outside competitors aro crowding in upon the .Mtotherland,, while the markets of countries nearer to our shores .remain- umexploited. Tlie wool .trade, for Anietanoe, picfrsiesses vast potentialities In their annual review, 'Messrs .Dalgety and Co., Ltd., s'tate that the wool demand Ifor Japan a,nd the East is a growing one;, and is of thfe utmbat ii»i;portahce to Aus'traiia account Of the great possibilities of tirade in that digestion, a,;j Japan ca!n inevor become a ■wool-growings aount'ry. There aro plenty of 'hills and .mountains witlii only I'o per cent, of the land under cultivation, but it is not .possible as gracing country, for it (is densely, covered with ibp-mboo grass, which c«n-.-Mot be -eradicated'. An admission made by the Japanese Minister for Agriculture and Commerce is to the effect that the Government has made every endeavour to 'improve the flocks, but without any tangible results. Now lblood lliafl been .introduced from England and ot'liiM" countries, .the object 'being to .meet the foc-al dema'nd by creating a bettor 'local supply. It •was also thought that .a system of isheep culture similar to that practised iu England could be introduced, 'bu-. th'o decision arrived at after five years experimentation is tih.it Japanese wool users will bave to depend upon Australia to provide them with the raw material. Geograplhically, Australasia is very advantageously situated as a base of supplies, and the "Japanese have Already fchown that it i.i in these -markets that they mu-at

eiocui'o 'tlroir supplies. The East had, un'vi. twelve months ago, 'boon a good customer for manufactured goods f«r Europe, ibut Japan decided' to develop Oier manufacturing re-sou roes, and the lisgh protective tariff on manufactured goods' which came into .force an July Ist, 1911, checked that trade. ORaw wool and tops, however, "benefit, as there iy nio impost on raw and semijnifmrfactiired wool. 'About 18 years ago la duty of 5 per cent, ad valorem was abolished, as a result o.f an agitation' initiated and (Brought to « successful tconicTusifva toy Mr F. Kanemat■su, whose firm for somo time lias been Oiiw bif itilie largest purchasers for Japan in the Sydney .market. Of the wool (imported iuto Ja.pui during 1910, 55 per cent. waa forwarded direct from Australia and 34 per cent, from Great Britain. Most of tho Hatter was fcrf Australian growth, but it is « roundaibout a,tid expensive way of getting wool 'tlo Japan vb London,, and in the future practically the whole of the Eastern demand will b'e centred in Australia. The direct exports of wool to the Far East from Australasia during the statcstc'cflil year just closed 'amounted to 25,707 baies, as against 18,857 bales in 1910-11, and 22,591 bates iti 1909-10. Tlio first .sOiipment of any .importance was made from Sydney in 1890, when 200 bailee of lacoured wool were isent forward; but the first venture did not prove a eucicess, auul until about 1895 Japan continued to .use the cheap, rough wool of N'ort'heni .China almc'St exclusively.