The Waikato Times AND THAME VALLEY GAZETTE Equal and exact justice to all men. of whatsoever state or persuasion, religous or political. THURSDAY,MARCH 1,1888.

Waikato Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2440, 1 March 1888, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAME VALLEY GAZETTE Equal and exact justice to all men. of whatsoever state or persuasion, religous or political. THURSDAY,MARCH 1,1888.

Whilst fanners are in fear that their hopes of realising rcmunera- 1 tive prices for their wheat, of which they have this year cultivated veiy much greater quantities than formerly, we will bring before them a of the same question which lias occupied the attention of British agriculturists. There are more ways than one to gain profitable returns for grain than by selling it to millers, and when, the other day, we advised the AVoikato growers to give their wheat to the pigs ruther than submit to low prices there has been every reason to believe buyer;-? intended to offer, there was more practical meaning in our words than at first sight seemed apparent. During the many changes which have taken place in the past ten or twelve years in the farming interests it has been said that the fattening of stock is no longer lucrative, and that the price of wheat has fallen very low, abnormally. Reasons have been given why the grain markets are and will continue depressed. But the change of circumstances referred to have, at the same time, opened up fresh opportunities for the agricultural industries. The importation of meat food into the ports of Great Britain, for instance, has widened the scope for reaching the fat markets, and though the production of cereals may be discouraging in one way, it is receiving a stimulus in another, It is now" believed that a more extensive use of grain for stock-feeding will do much to revive the energies and encourage the hopes of the agricultural population. The export of fat beef and mutton for consumption by the millions- in the British Isles is destined to assume large proportions in the near future. This fact must be kept .steadily in view by the people of these colonics. Although the frozen meat trade has hitherto been hampered with many drawbacks of a disheartening tendency, it must not be forgotten that the industry sprung into being with phenomenal celerity, and that it is still iuastate of transition from which it will develope into permanent perfection and great magnitude. The demand for fond products in <!reat Britain can never diminish ; it.must on the contrary ever increase, amj J.t as most advisable that our ugricujtural classoa use every ofi'ovtto provide supplies to meet those demands. England literally depends on th« hflp of Ottawa? J;>nds to feed

her ovev-incroasing populace. If tho foreign importations wore to tsoaso, one-fourth of the populution of Groat Britain would bo deprived of their moat supply. Over nine millions of the population of Groat Britain and Ireland aro dopendont to-day on meat from abroad. The British agriculturist is alive to this condition of tilings, hence tho greater attention to the production of food supplies and the fattening of stock ; but,, however much the home supply may hp increased, it can never sulliciont. meet, the demand so as to allect the foreign importations. It, is stated that pork is an article of home produce from which the British breeders have derived little return hitherto, yet it is ono for which the consumers pay the foreigner fifty per cent, of their expenditure in it. Pig rearing and feeding is a branch of farming greatly neglected in the OM Country, and, we fear, in this colony also. Let us see what our American cousins have done in this matter. Dissatisfied with the price of wheat, American farmers are converting that cereal into pork, with highly satisfactory results. One experimenter realised as much as Gs Gd per bushel for his wheat used in this way ; and, in other parts of tlie States, a decided gain has been obtained by similar experiments.

There is nothing in this country, as far as we are aware, to prevent farmers giving greater attention to pig-feeding, with a view not only to supplying colonial consumption, but also, which is of greater value, foreign markets. Farmers do not all grow wheat, but those that do cultivate it can, in the absence of a direct remunerative market for their grain, obtain indirectly more satisfactory gains for it by feeding cattle and pigs upon it. Other grain, such as oats and barley, form cattle food, both fattening and hardening. Much can be adduccd in favour of feeding cattle and" sheep with grain. Although science does not follow the elements of the grain in every minutiaj in its transformation into fat, bone and muscle, it yet teaches us that by the use of corn the proportion of muscle or lean to fat meat in an animal can be greatly increased by augmenting the ratio of albuminoids in its diet, and also the important functions which carbo-hydrates perform in the creation of fat. These requisites are provided more or less by the ordinary cereals we have named. It- will thus be seen that farmers con find great and desirable uses for grain other than parting with it to hard-bargaining buyers at low prices, and that by turning their attention to feeeding stock on grain for the fat markets, and for export to the British consumers, they will bp, creating a great industry and developing the resources of the colony in a way that will produce the greatest good to the country and bringing the most advantage to themselves.