STRUGGLING N.Z.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 78, 2 April 1927, Page 9

STRUGGLING N.Z.

AS OTHERS SEE US.

Dominion and Commonwealth

Compared.

PESSIMISM ALLEGED

(By Cable. —Press Association.—Copyright.) (Received 11.30 β-m.) SYDNEY, tßis day. Mr. H. Knock, a prominent Australian grazier, on his return from New Zealand, compared agricultural conditions in the two countries. He said that after comparing the re; pective land values, he was positive that opportunities for primary production were much bettor in Australia than in New Zealand. He found that throughout the whole of the Dominion there was an absence of optimism. As a result of the 1922 Mump there were to-day thousands of holdings on which the mortgages and equity exceeded tho market value of the land. A* in Australia, production cost.? had so increased, and the prices of most primary products to decreased, that producers were in the throes of a struggle to make ends meet. Theso conditions were reflected in the commercial life of the cities. The one outstanding industry showing stability was the fat lamb trade. Mr. Knock said he had many places in New Zealand wbere dairymen were abandoning cows for sheep.