ANOTHER REQUEST FOR WHEAT

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 70, 23 March 1915, Page 6

ANOTHER REQUEST FOR WHEAT

BY AUCKLAND POULTRY KEEPERS. CRITICISM OF PREMIER'S REPLY. The reply of the Prime Minister to a re(|iieet made by the president of the Auckland Poultry-keepers' Association, that a certain amount of wheat suitable for fowl-feeding purposes ehould be allowed for Auckland poultry fanners, was discussed at a recent meeting of the executive of the acsociation. .Mr. Maascy's reply to the request was to the effect that Jie had communicated with Queensland and South Africa with regard to prices and the possibility of airranging a trial shipment of maize for iNew ZeiiJand. The executive decided tliat the communication was not an answer to the question put by the president, and that this be pointed out to Mr. Massev.

Awordingly. a letter n« sent to the Prime .Minister yesterday, expressing satisfaction that he had taken action with regard to the importation of maize, but pointing out that although the word "wheat" was mentioned twelve times. the first portion of the reply dealt altogether with maize. Ak fa-r as maize was concerned, the attention of the Premier was drawn to the fact that this {Train was fairly plentiful in Auckland, and that there was no great difficulty in obtaining supplies. But although the price of maize was high in sympathy with other grains, and -while' it was suitable for feeding in moderate quantities in the cold wea'thcr, it wa«s a fatproducing feed, the Eat being of no value, whereas wheat was both an ezgproducer and a meat-produeor when fed to fowls. To tTie second paragraph of Mr. Masscy'e letter, stating that bran and pollard were plentiful, the association replied that while, this might be true of other districts, an far as Auckland was concerned, it did not etate the ease correctly. Inquiries had been made from the Northern Roller Milling Company as to the supply of pollard, eliciting the jjloomy response that there were only five sacks in thmr stores. Inquiries from other grain merchants had diedosed the fact that there was oxtremtvly little available, and that this was being sold at from £« to .C 9 10/ per ton. The woek-ry report published in the Icx-al Preets stated that pollard was very scarce, and that it was almost impossible to help out the local supply by purchasing in the South, ac Australia was trying to dra.w from New Zealand, famine price* ruling on the other side.