WHERE IS THE WHEAT?

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 158, 6 July 1926, Page 4

WHERE IS THE WHEAT?

FROM LAST CROP 7 15 SOMEONE HOLDING? ■ Merchants say that there is little .•r no wheat to offer; the millers or 'lie majority of them have uoi bought; liic shipping returns sho-.v that the wheat has noc left the South Island, so the question unanswered is: Who is holding wheat? Where is the rest of the 1923-2'] crop?" This is the question asked by a writer in the Timaru "Post,"' who claims that there should be 3.500.000 bushels of New Zealand wheat available for use at the present time. As a matter of fact most recent authorities have estimated 1,000,----000 bushels as the quantity still held by farmers. The writer in question proceeds: — "From a reliaSle source it has been i ascertained that the 1025-26 crop yielded 1 4,250,000 bushels, and that there was: carried over from the 1924-25 season j 750,000 bushels, makin>; 5,000,000 bushels in eight. Allowing 500,000 bushels for seed and 500.000 bushels for fowl wheat. there should hr.vt been for distribution 4,000.000 bushels. "There had been shipped from South Island ports up to June 15, approximately 500,000 bushels, and therefore there should still be in the South Islaud 3.500.000 bushels held by growers and merchants or millers. "The largest millers in Canterbury and North Otago have not beeti buying, and arc holding practically no stocks. "The merchants say that there is little or no wheat to offer; t he millers or the majority of them, have not bought; the shipping returns show that the wheat has not left the South Island, so the question unanswered is: Whc is holding wheat? -Vher<- ie the rest of the 1926 crop?"