The Waikato Times. THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1879.

Waikato Times, Volume XIII, Issue 1075, 15 May 1879, Page 2

The Waikato Times.

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1879.

Equal and exa'ot justice to all men, Of -whatever state or persuasion, religious or political. Here shall the Press the People's right maintain,' Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain.,

The letter of " New Chum," which we publish elsewhere, raises a very, interesting subject for consideration, the desirability of a district such as this producing a larger breadth of wheat than ih doe,s. The actual acreage of wheat grown m the whole of Waikato and Piako i 3 very small, and except m ,the case of Piako, has fallen off since the previous yeav. Possibly, there is not so much wheat grown m the district now as when the Maoris cultivated wheat about Rangiaohia and on the Waipa, twenty years ago. The cause of this is, to some extent, doubtless, due to the high price of labour, and to some extent to the cause attributed ,by New Chum, a want of practical knowledge m the matter. What we could wish to see, and what, if done, would conduce very materially to the wealth of the district, would be that each settler should plant a sufficient area of wheat to provide for the\ wants of his home consumption. This would keep much money m the district, and would gradually, and at little risk, educate the settlers, so to speak, m the matter of wheat growing. The wheat could be either ground m the district, and the flour used, or sold and flour bought with the money. We must sooner or later come to the cultivation of cereals m Waikato, and it would be well to gain experience gradually, and thus prepare for the change. And really there is good reason why we •should do so. "Waikato grown wheat has been proved ro be superior to any grown m the colony, equal to Adelaide wheat, , which makes the best flour m the world. Mr Lamb, of the Waiteinata Mills, has recently sent home samples of Auckland grown wheat. However, we will let his letter speak for itself :— "Waitemata Mills, 12th, May, 1870 Sir, — After harvest I sent samples of wheat grown by farmers m Auckland to London, Glasgow, and Leith. Two London corn merchants report : 'We have shown the sample of Auckland wheat, and it is much approved of here.' Another reports : 'The wheat is undoubtedly of fine quality, very handsome, and shapoly.! The Glasgow merchant, Mr William Arnott, writes : ' The sample of wheat sent I have shown, to a great many of our merchants and millers, and have have had it compared with what is selling here from Australia. Its colour ia not <so good. Its value here is 28s per UOlbs., equal to Australian. At this price it would not pay to ship.' Mr William Inglis, of Junction Mills,' Leith writes ; The sample of wheat I hav6 examined. I consider the quality very fine, quite superior to the, New Zealand wheat we usually get. In fact, I would prefer it to Australian for general use, and, when properly milled, the flour from this wheat should be very fine indeed.' These reports bear out what I have frequently stated, if our farmers would grow enough wheat for our own supply, we millers could hold our own against any flour ever imported. The quality of our flour being superior, and the bread equally so, there would be no more blue, sodden loaves upon the tables of our citizens. Those who bake such bread could not dispose of it when baked from imported flour." The present season is an appropriate one for the discussion of the subject, as, during this month and next is the best season for wheat sowing, What is wanted, as " New Chum 1 " says, is practical experience, and an interchange of information on the subject. For this purpose our correspondence columns will be freely open.