Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, JULY 28, 1924. THE WHEAT GROWER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10169, 28 July 1924, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, JULY 28, 1924. THE WHEAT GROWER.

We think it will be conceded without ..any question or doubt that as .compared with that of the man engaged in other branches of farming’ the lot of the agriculturist is hard. His initial expenses axe large. In order to bring his .land to the state of proper receptivity for the seed he is compelled .to incur heavy labour costs. During the whole stage until harvest time he is at the mercy .o±‘ untrustworthy elements, and. .even though the “ears be full of com,” he may r be robbed of a- .great portion of [ his year’s income .should, at the | fast moment, sferiP or wind (tempest arise, as if .might conceivably do in this part of New Zealand. Is it any. ponder the wheat grower wears ft worried look,? His is a life of anxieties. And V even if he has good crops and good weather, he knows that this cannot continue ad .infinitum, otherwise he so depreciates the constituent qualities of his land that there will come a time when seed time and harvest will undoubtedly fail him.. And the veriest tyro knows the danger in over-cropped land; it is difficult to get a sole of grass on it. Itotation of crops may be and is employed, but the mnall man has little chance. There is much to be said in favour of the maligned wheat grower, who is Just now coming’ in for a special lot of criticism. New Zealand is producing far less wheat than she normally requires for her own demands. To the unacute observer it might be regarded as a strange circumstance that the Dominion should be compelled to import wheat in large quantities from a neighbouring country. There are several reasons why this is so, hut the most important, particularly from the wheat grower’s point of view, is that wheat growing has ceased to he remunerative. There is ample evidence that the wheat grower, following immemorial custom, lists - been turning to other lines of production which offer him not only better hut ■ quicker returns. For instance, J one reason why the dairying in- ; dustry has made such immense j strides, bringing New Zealand 1

to the position of leading- the world as a dairy produce exporting nation, is that many men have forsaken cropping in favour of dairy farming. The great advances made in this department cannot wholly be attributed to this cause; the opening of new country and more intensive fanning has had something to do with it. The same arguments apply to sheep raising. The returns are better and more sure. Some time ago the Minister for Agriculture made an appeal on patriotic grounds for farmers to grow more wheat, hut unless men wished to go to the bankruptcy court they could not continue to engage in an unremunerative pursuit. Incidentally, the Minister stated a feAV days ago that there was an increase in the estimated wheat acreage. If this great wheat growing district of Mid-Canter-bury is a criterion of what is happening in. other parts of the Dominion, the area this year is smaller even than last year. That is the opinion of district representative men. It seems that if the growing of wheat is not a paying proposition we must expect to see even less of it grown, and to import as a matter of course the amount of our deficiency. We are opposed as a matter of principle to any [jQvernment interference in the i

matter by way of _g-ua.rauteoin.gi prices. Tlie position will rig-lit itself according to tlie world’s supply and demand. And when wheat growing- assumes its aforetime position we may be certain that our • farmers will turn to it as a lucrative enterprise.