The Wheat Question

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15490, 18 January 1916, Page 6

The Wheat Question

In to-day's paper wo give a report by the Prime Minister upon the condition of the crops .in South Canterbury and North Otafio. It was to look into the matter for himself, uninfluenced by possibly interested suggestions, > that Mr Massey has visited this part of the Dominion,, and it is fortunate that when the wheat outlook is so important we should have a Prime Minister who, as a successful farmer, is particularly well equipped to inform himself and the public as to the actual position. According to the December issue of the "Monthly Abstract of Statistics" the under wheat and oats is much larger this season than last. The figures for Southland and Otago are not given, but for the rest of the Dominion the wheat acreago has in; creased from 177,060 acres to 256,116 acres, and the area under oats from 142,898 to 214,247 acres. Not long ago some people whose knowledge of grain-growing begins and ends with the theory that tho farmer is a fat robber, who should bo penalised for being a farmer, were concluding from these figures that the harvest will be so enormous that something drastic should bo done if wheat does not turn out dirt cheap all through this war. We should all like to see a bumper crop, in order that we might bo able to feed ourselves and help to feed tho rest of the world, but unhappily the season has chosen to bo a bad one. In some parts of Canterbury the crops are quite up to the average, but over a large area the yield, as two dry seasons would lead one to expect, will be poor. Tho actual average yield can only be guessed at, but tho Prime Minister has made better arrangements than have hitherto existed for a registration of the threshing. Dr. McNab, another competent observer, endorses Mr Massey's view of tho havoc that the drought—which was aided by the severe late frosts —has worked in the eastern lands north of Dunedin. There is plenty of evidence that the harvest would have resulted in a very serious shortage had the normal area been put down in wheat. That farmers everywhere extended their sowing is largeiy due to the earnest and persuasivo appeals made by tho Prime Minister, and to him we must give most of tho credit for the fact that while we need not expect an unusually bountiful liar-

vest, we may expect at any rate to see a return sufficient for the country's requirements. While this is satisfactory lrom the point of view of the consumer, there is little satisfaction for the farmer who. after extending his wheat sowing, obtains a return which will hardly pay expenses. Wheat costs far more to raise nowadays than

formerly, and even at a fairly good price per bushel the farmer requires a fair return tier ncre to make any profit. Many farmers, if they do not actually lose money, ■will lose their time, labour, and interest on capital—a fact which will perhaps not moderate the views of the anti-farmer class, but which will be considered by all honest people who have no prejudice in any direction. In growing more wheat than usual, in response to Mr Massev's appeal, many farmers, while rendering good service to tho consumer, have rendered themselves, as it has turned out. no service at all.