LINSEED GROWING.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 226, 24 September 1927, Page 4

LINSEED GROWING.

A HELPFUL TARIFF. " The increase in the new tariff in the •duty on linseed oil should be of assistance to the linseed-growing industry in Canterbury (says the "Christchurch Press"). Most of the linseed in the province is grown on contract at a minimum price with increases according to the advance in the London market. The immediate effect of the present tariff proposals is to increase the local contract price from £13 to £13 10/. The area devoted to linseed each year is small, but with the advance that is being made in the scientific feeding of dairy cows, there is great scope for it to increase. The "peak" year in the Dominion for area was in 1923-24, when 12,258 acres were sown. In 1924-23 the area was 6679 acres, and the weight 2133 tons; in 1925-26, 8143 acres and 2361 tons. Last year all but 56 acres were grown in Canterbury, the industry being confined practically to the north of the Waimakariri river. The county of Rangiora last year produced half the total crop. The average yield over a number of years varies about a third of a ton to the acre, but yields of a ton and slightly over, have been recorded. At anything approaching three-quarters of a ton to the acre it is a profitable crop.