WHEAT AND FLOUR.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12824, 7 June 1907, Page 8

WHEAT AND FLOUR.

Thursday is usually an off-day in'iha:'m local wheat market, and yesterday w M |l even quieter than th, day before.-'.'.'lf Thoso who havo wheat to sell still mm .*"i'?i disposed to hold on iv tho hope of "'a W return to the lute high quotatioua, bttt buyers still refuse to go beyond 4s on .'* trucks at country stations. * Flour was f. firm at £10 10s yesterday,, with a fair '*$'■ amount ol business doing There V l ''-*' nothing further to report in regard to' 1 ' the prico of broad. . '. (SPECIAL TO 'TUX PRESS.") /', ,v " . . . DUNEDIN, June «&v.'„s -News of the drop of 10s a ton - price <if flour was hailed by hotisehold.^■'•' ens -with a distinct sigh of relief. T_*,..v* next question to lie asked ia "What- '*' about tho ju-ico of bread?" Accordinc'''• to the scale of agreed upon by ' tho bakers at Auckland Co._ci*eiicJ_ some time ago, they aro ontitdeu. -to-v.-'*' keep tlie price of bread up to 7d (ih.». - til flour falls to £10 a ton, and'tStf-S present price, with the reduction, ■-.«£ss■ £10 15a It is obvious, thereof? that if bread remains at 7d a lotf.Wi tho reduction in prioe made by ttimp- : millers will simply go into tho of the bakers, the public reaping M'Wbenefit. ' -SS'. — ' ..'.*iiM TO THK EDITOR OP "HIE rRESS." :$0 Sir, —Having had over twenty in tho flour milling, 1 can affirm »_£«.s 1 say. Tho goncral custom of this buM--.«v-ness has been, from tho beginning:*!.. X quote Hour low at tho beginning of 4o - autumn and early winter, then buv-tth'vV all the wheat they can. After this the' -" flour gradually rises in price. All iii« * the traele know this to bo the order of business. Tho farmer knows it tooifel S I need not detail the matter of'?advance required again.rt .* which compelled hundreda :-*■>' «_i|. ''•'•_?,! as soon as harvested, at: tbe low -'I price. But the grower has of late cot a new lining to his pocket, and the''4 days for advance aro mostly past, and the grower is on tho defence, and cell. jvhon it suits him. Still, the old game is tried on. Now. sir, the faota ara \* theso: Forty-five bushels of good ««_/'■? ditioned wheat will produce one^one! best flour, and leave 7001b of The cost of tho wheat which ia now |b*£t* ing used will not have cost more''lhansP say, on an average, Ss 3d, to .'wWwP§ must be added interest on cash ou&»i_lM say another 3d per bushel,'ma_ih#it___.%_. wheat, say, 3s (kl to the miller, ijip cost of the ton of flour £7 17s offals, 35 bushels, average at preertt ; m;-' say, 40s, making a gross return as' present prico of flour and 'offals,'-''©*» from tho 45 bushels of wheat. 'SwiM cost of wheat, say £7 17s Gd,.talwPF!.'' miserable profit of £6 2s 6d, grawfPf4 l turns, or to s .mill turning oufc,«»ip.l.- ;- ---100 tons per week (and one at lea«||__fi.,* Christchurch turns out more), pkflifoffi'M 5200 tons per annum, chucking ffimmffii 2s 6d, leaves a paltry income oF'0l$Mto)::M Ser annum. Not a bad goWmtitf "'1 tit what about working \4mtfmm%?-'M Usually the offals cover these.-^fc l offals are at a price which handsome profit. Whether have State mills or not; there ! caoiwtp. be two opinions but that we are Yankee millionaire* grab. -~Onlf}j,liijkS men combine and get the upper and the demon of Self will de fSiIM fleecing.—Yourg, etc., '■-, - -' •-'■•■>'ii-^MM