WHEAT GROWING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 9052, 24 July 1917, Page 2

WHEAT GROWING.

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED.

SIR JAMES WILSON'S VIEWS

(Special to " Guardian.'')

WELLINGTON, July 24. - At tho annual conference of tho New Zealand Farmers' Union, the president, (Sir James Wilson) said, with regard to- wheat: •—" It has been unprofitable, and farmers have preferred to turn their attention to other products. Mr Massey, however, seeing that there would be a possible shortage o^ this cereal, asked the farmers when the war began, to put as much wheat in as possible. They responded loyally, and the area put in wheat was increased by 100,000 acres; but the returns were disappointing, and the difficulties of sale intensified by Government restrictions, so that a serious loss wa,s sustained. In the following year, naturally, after this discouraging result; farmers reduced the area down to under 200,000 acres, and as a result the yield would not .run out more than ' about 5,000,000 bushels', owing to a low return of about 23 bushels per acre. The outlook for the following season was not bright, and farmors were.not disposed to increase the -area in wheat .owing to some extent to the injudicious criticism and statements nbout /theirwant of patriotism -by-those who wished to got tho favour of the urban population. The Minister for Agriculture wisely, however, visited the whoat'growing districts and held many meetings in relation to bur future supply of wheat. He had been successful ,in ' completing, negotiations •in connection with the sale of the wool clip; had conducted the sale of portion of the cheese output, and ' his visit, and interviews with farmers, I firmly believe, are going to result in a great effort to supply sufficient wheat for our requirements. ,If wo hayo a good season, from what I can, this will, be accomplished. The question of prico, however, has still to be settled; the promised price of 5s lOd f.o.b. will act very unfairly in many districts. A farmer 100 miles from port will get 5s lOd, less cost of delivering the wheat on board tho steamer. Possibly, therefore, a miller 100 miles from port will be able 'to deduct 6d a bushel, although the wheat is ground into flour in the district where it was grown. There will be much heart-burning over this, unless it is changed, aa it ought to be, to the price ' on trucks,' or ' delivered nt the' mill.' , Then, again, supposing the season is a good one, and instead of tho yield being less than appearance warranted, as in the two past years, the crop turns out heavier than expected, the Government has guaranteed a price and the farmer is pre-j pared to deliver it. Many will be ready to deliver it at the same time. Will there bo storage provided, or will some arrangement be made for delivery in turn ? Suppose there is a block in delivery and the fa"ner. wants to sell. The merchant or ; miller may not be prepared to take delivery, what then ? All this should bo settled before it is too late, or there will be disappointment and dissatisfaction, and the following year many wheat-grow-ers will again drop out. It would be well if, when the wheat is growing, a census is taken of the , areas, and arrangement*? made whereby the rotation of delivery could l)b decided, and even, the extent of a definite district for each mill and the rotation of threshing laid down, so that the least time would be lost and most expedition made. Some arrangements must be made for storage of the grain to be held over for later uso, and the whole question wants careful consideration and organisation. The Order-in-Council dealing with prico is not yet gazetted, and it is to bo hopedthat wiser counsels will prevail when Cabinet considers it and that provision will ])e made for all contingencies. One of the arguments against an ' O.T. price was that it would increase the price of bread. At the most, the average prico of 5s lOd plus freight would not bo more than 6s, and certainly the Australian wheat will cost more than that at the mill. If the Government is going to charge anything under 6s 3d there will b© a loss. Yet the farmer here is asked to take less than that price. Clearly, if the price of Australian wheat is to be 6s 3d, and bread remains the same price as at present, then it will not raise the price of bread if the farmers are paid an ' O.T. prico. After the Minister's experience in Australia and tho knowledge that harvesting is much more expensive in New Zealand than in the Commonwealth, and the risk which is always present in wheat.growing, I do not doubf; but that when the Cabinet finally considers the Order-in-Council, which must be passed to give the authority to purchase, the fairness of the ' O.T. price will be acknowledged."