THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK. (Timarl Herald.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2070, 13 October 1885, Page 4

THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK. (Timarl Herald.)

Thkrk cnn bo no quotum that tho pio«pccts of New Ze iland ncriculturuts Live not been of the in<»-t cheerful description recently. At one tune thuy could console themsi'lvos with the reflection that although the griun market was iv hea\ y as load tin* price <>f wool was keeping up fairly well, and the fro/on meat trade was brisk and lively. Within the List few months, however, even wool has been steadily going down, down, down, find still moie lately frozen meat h.w been at a, discount. The latter, however, ippears to have been very laigely due to temporary circumstance l*, which aro now passing away. July and August are the hottest months in tho yeai in England, and in uvoiy household the consumption of mp.it i^ then considerably curtailed. In July, August and September, moreover, there is always a large exodus from tho centre"! of l>opulation. Everybody who can afford it goes away for a few weeks either to the country or the seaside, and as it it m tho largo centres th.it the New Zealand mutton is Bold, it is obvious that dining these months tho demand mint be consideiably lessened. Now that the month* in England aro getting cooler, and the holiday folks aro returning to town we shall probably see prices reaching something like their old level again. In regard to wool it seems difficult to explain exactly what has brought about the depression. Doubtless the competition of the South American States has had something to do with it. In 1882 there were 72,(5X3,145 sheep in tho Argentine Republic alone, and it was stated in the Wellington Supreme Court tho other day that the number had now increased to 100,000,000. The country is undoubtedly sending a large qu mtity of wool of the coarser trades to England, but hitherto the growers have not been able to compete with the finer qualities sent from Australia and New Zealand. Then there is no question that wool is suffering sympathetically with other commodities from the general depression in puces which has taken place all over tho world. Months ago it was predicted by competent judges that there would be a steady decline in vvool until the lowest prices of the IHG!> 70 peuod of depression were reached. The reason given far this prediction was that there was a widespread conviction among the consumers of wool, that as almost all other articles of commerce had touched the lowest pi ice ever previously known, wool would have to do the same before there could be any permanent miptovpment. Naturally, boing imbued with this idea, they refrained as long as possible from buying, and this hastened the fall. J >unng the past week or two, however, the market has been much firmer, and there re illy seems ground for hoping that the upward movement has commenced m earnest, and will continue. The late depression in the price of wool has had one important ellect. It has led growers to cast about for new markets. It will have been noticed from our telegraphic columns that a movement has been staitcd in Melbourne by Messrs Monckton I). Synnott Bros , a well-known firm of brokers with a view of opening up a direct tiadc m Australia and New Zcalind wools with China and Japan. They seem very sanguine as to its prospects, and uige that if tho movement were successful it would have a very beneficial elFect upon pi ices We are not aware upon what data they based their conclusion, but it seems to us they are a little oversanguino as to the good to be expected from this quarter. Of course there is an enormous population in the two countries named, but unfortunately the people do not indulge very largely in woollen garments. They go in puncipally for cotton and silk. The woollen goods which they do use are at present imported in the manufactured state from England. In 1883 China imported cotton goods to the value <>f £2,<»85,(m0, and woollen goods to tho valuo of £624,300. We bolide the Chinese nave tried their hands at manufacturing, but hitherto the results have not been very successtnl. If any raw wool is imported at the present time, it is very small in amount. Jipan, again, in 18H3, imported manufactured cotton goods to tho value of £1,283,14(5, and woollen fabrics te the value of £3"i2,311. Thero is plenty of coal m both countries, nnd, ns labour is cheap, it is, of course, not impossible that hereafter we may have them manufacturing both woollen and cotton goods largely on their own account. In the meantime, until they can be edu cated up to this point we are afraid the prospects of any laige tiade in raw wool with those countries are not very hopeful. The relief which would bo obtained if the T'mtpd States could be persuaded to_ abandon their piotective tanff on wool," would be worth all tho Chinese and Japanese custom for many years to come. Lastly, it is cheering to note that even tho grain market has shown a Himer tendency dining the la~t few days. Can it be that tho " bottom " has been reached here aNo? lieanng in mind tho largely diminished production, it has been tv matter of surprise that some improvement in prices has not been witnessed earliei. Against the diminished production, however, it was stated that there were trcmend ous stocks on hand, and that these were quite sufficient to keep down prices. Per contra, we know it is tho opinion of some practical authorities at Home that while these stocks sound very foimulable in amount, it will be found, when they come to be examined, that the quality in many cases is far from good. If this be ho, thcie should be a continued iminoveincnt at any late in the prices of high-class sample*. Taking it on the whole the outlook foi tho«e who depend on the land for then living, although even yet by no means so bright ns we should like to see it, looks better than it did n shoit time ago.

Speakim; of ingcMoll, the New York Times saya:— He has lately consorted rhitfly with the thieves and rubber* wliom he lias defended in the courts of tho district of Columbia. Star Route robbers, counterfeits, perjurers and juryfixers h.ive, by some process of natuial selection, become his familiars. He has, as it were, been steeped m crime to the very lips." Tins is the apostle of Atheism who so eloquently lectures on the faults of Mosea and tho wrongs to the Canaanitea ! Tiik Japanese have a curious way of authenticating a signature The thumb is wetted with red ink, and the unpies aion left on the paper. It is a curious fact that the lines lit no two person's hands are alike, and a filse si/jnatuie therefore can be immediately detected. A yodn'cj man who was married three weeks ago, and who kept himself in a condition of semi-drtinknnntss in the in terval, hat reached a Hiooklyn police Court His explanation was that he dis covered his bride had a wooden leg. The judge sympathised with his misfortune, but considered his powers of observation limited. In a lato number of the Nineteenth Century Archdeacon Farrar has a 'last word' with Lord Biamwell on tho drink question, and a vigorous word it it Half the things urged in praise of drink (writes Dr Firrar) havo now been proved to be entirely erroneous It used to be said that drink was a food : it is now admitted that its nutritn c elements are infinitessimally imall. Drink used to be regarded as a source of health ; it is now proved that even when taken moderately it is the frpcjuent cause of a host of crutl diseases ; that in the case of most person* perfect health is attainable w ithout it ; and that abstinence from it is in normal mstances cirectly cordurivp to lon gevity. Drink used to bo necessary for great efforts ; it is now demonstrated that for all the greatest feats of utrength and endurance it is positively injurious. Drink used to be regarded as a panacea for extremes of climate ; it it now acknowledged that alike in the Arctic ciiclu and under the sun of the tropics those men have been most exempt from climatic influences who have entirely ahataincrl from it It is still asserted by many, that drink is any rate necessary for the cure of disease; but in the London Hospital, dining the course of 1- years and n half, <il<olinl has only been adininisteietl three times in treatment of nearly 3000 in patients and of nearly 20,000 out patients, afllicted with every malady to which flfih U heir —and yet the rate of mortality in the London Temperance Ho«pital "ill compare favourably with that of any other in the kingdom. Drink ■ns hren stripped one by one of its bornw«»il plumes of utility, and is left miscrahlv bare to flaunt the one superfluous peacock's feather of its being 'nice.'