FARMERS AND FARMING. No. XVIII.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 214, 3 April 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARMERS AND FARMING. No. XVIII.

I fi WE no iv to endeavour to focus the figures I have {fiven in provioua letters into something like a practical shape na b"ininjr upon farms. The typical farm in tliii instance will be one of 200 acres of good averajre land in good condition, well fenced, and other improvemerits pood, price per aoro £10. £o per aero is paid, the other £5 bnrowedat 7^ per cent pnr annum. The land is divided up as follows: —l2s acres prass, 2) in wheat, 2b in oats, 20 acres in turnips, and 5 in potatoes. The 50 acres, after the white crops have been reaped, arp supposed to be sown down for irrcon winter feod. There are four mures kept for farm purposes, two of them to f<ul ovi'ry ye<u\ Two cows are kept for home use principally These six animal.*, alon<f with .»ix colts and fillies, will take up the extra feed, 25 aores of land. The 100 acres of prass, 20 of turnips and 50 of winter feed will turn out in tbe year the following fat stock: —3o head of cuttle, 200 sheep and 20 pigs. The 25 (lores in wheat will produce 750 saleable bushels, tbe straw is used ou the farm. The 25 acres in oats produces 60 tons of buy, 20 tons of which is connurned on the farm. The five acres in potatoes produce 20 tons for tbe market, the buhnce going for home use. With these quantities for a basin I will give all the charges of interest, auctioneer 1 * fee*, &c, and the gross and nett margins between the producer's and consumer's prices, which come against this 200 acre farm, and orerjone most, without •xoeption, consider them "astounding": —

Or another rent of nearly 4» 7d per acre. In making out what may be called a balance-sheet of gross and nett profits I shall only deal with the margin* between prices and percentages allowed for expenses, and not with details, as they are given in previous letter*. £ i. d. £ •• d. 30 Cattle GOOlbs each,

Total nett gains of middlemen 340 0 0 Which amounts to thirty four (34) shillings per acre, or taking interest upon mortgage, auctioneers' items and nett profits there is an annual choree upon the 200 acres of £460 15s, or 46 shillings per acre. In the future we shall have to consider how much of these enormous gains can in all justice and fairness be apportoined to the producer and how much to the consnmer, consistent with » minimum of expenditure in distribution. I earnestly hope that this little statement of accounts will prove to be » mind or intellect opener to our obtuie farmers ; that is, if the ordinary powers of facts and common sense combined can devel'ipe a force sufficient to penetrate their benighted and confused intellects, though they must not run away with the absurd idea that auctioneer's charges and nett profits are the same upon every acre of land in the colony. For instance there are millions of acres which produce probably 3lbs of wool per acre per year, and a proportion of tallow, besides many other exceptions. We must not forget the item of milk. A farmer lives near Auckland, and keep* 30 cows upon 100 acres of land, 22 cows always being in milk the year round and producing an average daily quantity of 44 gallons, or 2 gallons per cow. Forty four gallons per day =l6, o6o gallons per year at 7£d per gallon=£oo2 ; 16,060 gallons milk at Is 4d per gallon— £1071 : leaving for dairymen a grois profit of £569 ; 5Jd per gallon allowed for all extras beyond the milk ia equal to £368, leaviug a nett profit of £201, or nearly £7 per cow, or rather over £2 per acre profit to these men, which, if there is a mortgage, will bring it to nearly the, same gain*, as upon the mixed farm. This is the close of the first part of my subject, or the commercial consideration of farming, so far as the home consumption of agricultural produce is concerned. My next letters will deal with the exportation of wool and frozen mutton, 4c, and must incidentally bring in butter, tallow &c. This part of the subject opens up a large field for investigation and one affecting in a very vital degree the welfare and future prosperity of this country. Fiaally, just another word or kwa. I calculate that £10,000,000 represents the retail price of what our farmers produce for their own market*, including everything. Our exportation of agricultural produce amounts to nearly £5,200,000 or three-quarters of our total exports of £7,092,000, £148,000 of whioh are other colonial, British and foreign m*nafao»

turos. I wish our farmers to remember the.se few statistics : they can be found lti official documents and -ecu in our daih papers, and " Brett's Almanac " TTt Prosim.

£ ■. d. £■. d. ifearly interest upon mortgage of £1000 at 7ji percent 75 0 0 Dhis is equal to a rant of 7s 6d per acre. 10 cattle, 600 lb* each, tt2dperlb., £150. Auctioneer's commission of 3±% and Gd yard fees 5 12 6 \\°/ a for two three " months' bills on £120, price of stock cattle 6 0 0 11 12 6 !00 sheep, 651bs each, at 2d per lb., £109. Commission of 35% and Id yard fee ... 4 7 6 !J% for two 3 months' "bills on £90, price of store sheep 4 5 0 8 12 6 Fwo 3-year-old colti for £20, commission 5% and yard fee* £1 Is. !0 pigs at 1701bs each, at 3d per lb, £42 10s 3ommisaion 3^%, yard fees a penny each ... 1 9 0 \h% for three months on -£30, store value of pigs 015 0 2 4 0 10 tons oaten hay at 80s per ton, £160 Commission 7i%, cartage Is, storage and unloading 3d per ton ... 14 10 0 !0 tons potatoes at 90s per ton, £90 Commission I^%, carting Is 7 15 0

6\jv ouoop wiui cnuu, and at 2d per Ib, £259 100 on thin £259, including offal 259 0 0 GO per cent allowed for all expenses, &c ...155 8 0 Leaving to the butchers a net profit of 50% ... 103 12 20 pigs 1701bs each at 3d per lb, £42 10s 233 % gross profit on above amount ... 99 0 0 133% allowed for every expense 56 10 0 Leaving for division between wholesale and retail men a nett profit of 100% ' 42 10 750 bushels of wheat at 3h 2d per bushel of (iOlbs, £118 5s This wheat gives 13,500 lbs sharps and bran, £5 per 20001bs ... 34 0 0 Flour 31,5001ba, equal to 20,160 two-pound loaves, at 3£d each... 273 0 0 Total gross 1 profit between miller and baker 307 0 0 And allowing for all expenses of above trade* 187 0 0 Leaves a nett profit bttween the two of about 100% 120 0 20 tons of potatoes at 90s per ton, £90 And a nett profit of 33 %on this tn retailer 30 0 40 tons oaten hay at 80s per ton, £160 A gross profit of 33 per cent on this is ... 53 0 0 A nett profit of 16J per cent 26 10 Nett gains on fruit, eggs, butter, etc. ... 17 8 0 0 0 0 0 0