PRIMARY PRODUCTS.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16847, 29 May 1920, Page 9

PRIMARY PRODUCTS.

present outlook. interesting observations on the Some " tn olir primary Protenets therefor, were duct* an \r„ t G Tlcrdinan, president ® adi : b V:'ntcrbury Chnwbor of CcmS" he quarterly meeting of members la^ t I 1^ ht f ; f frozpn meat Mr; In the h0 imrac diatc future HCr ?iinn doubt, and no one vi able was Still m , HC , r t L was likely to ; 1 JaHC -j.h, wnen the to b-'PP 1 '" / l *;;„trol cer.si-d. A large Government ■ „ v . fJ ... :s l,p.d r.t pro-: iiiam-c-rc anv .'s;>: , .C'C to spaie. r..orci sent, five hundie'l wow aboa -ht car .. a .. os in store now. j Uiousand - -' ant i c iT 3S -toil. v.-otnd to re- ! ha J ,v ~b ut or.e million one mm ti eI : dnccd bj - 0 ad f rt .i ; ._ht carcases al- ; "'even steamers supposed to . !° lin Tune After allowing for fur-; load n J" DI now and Decern-; l ler n« and assuming that we shou d i f,vn the u-ual tonnage to rely mS ' there probab-'y would be, on a ,iP ° n i; i-timate, about three and a halt ro i,qh e_tiro 'earcaFes of Gorernir.rat, million fr^ j,,. ]) e , emtor next. He-, meat in j s ;- ir , lllents had been m.;dc l rfict to America, and if that course ire eontimu'd to a larger extent, the micrht be somewhat relieved. C the imperial Government would oilv r-'itro'. i-f 'en -t, tin- " v ' -■ n of the shipping space until their mc- w:is elearetL it did not seem ?o afford much opportunity for private enterprise for some time to come . A conference of those interested was bring hJ) l in "Wellington, when no doubt t-.u; various difficulties that at present presented themselves, would be fully d.sCU The* position with regard to wool was somewhat similar to that, of meat, and that also would !jo a subject to bo dealt with at the conference. There were at present at least five hundred thousand bales in store, and there did not appear to be much hope from the- present outlook of the stores being cleared ot Government wool before a now season commenced. The fact that a portion of I'otieral cargo space on our steamers was at present being taken for wheat from Australia to Britain, only tended to make the position worse. This season's grain crops had been satisfactorily harvestedj and the bulk had been threshed, but a lot of the •Tain was still in the country, owing to tho difficulty of obtaining railway trucks, and also to the shortage of shipping space. A considerable quantity of grain wa3 lying in the Lytt-clton stores awaiting shipment. and_, in consequence, the Lyttelton Harbour B-iard had to advise merchants that meantime they could not accept more grain for storage, their space being taxed to its limit. Although the yield per acre from this season's wheat crop in Canterbury would probably be found to be the best for some years past, owing tc the decreased area which was uiidei crop, t v ere would bo a distinct shortage and the position would have been seri ous but for tho Government's purchase of Australian wheat. A large quantity of that Australian wheat was now land ing throughout the Dominion. O'winj to the fact that wheat which in ordin ary years would be rejected for millins purposes, and clashed as "fowl wheat.' was this year readily commanding mill ing price, very , little wheat for poultr; feeding purposes had been available and consequently a considerable quan tity of oats had been purchased b, poultrymen as a substitute. It was yet too ear'.v to reliable information concerning the are and yield of this season's oat crop, bn the yield per acre, as in the case c wheat, would bo in excess of the are: age for the past few years, and th quality of the oats generally was th year good. The market had kept ver firm, and present indications were fa even still higher prices. Cnnterbur growers of oats this season should b well pleased with their returns. Re~en reports from Southland indicated tha thev did not anticipate there would b such a large surplus for shipment thi season as was usual. The area of potatoes under crop i Canterbury this'season was larger "tha ■usual, and the crops were yielding wel Tho restricted outlet occasioned throng the embargo in New South Wale against the importation into that Stat had ciused the market to case, and ur less that embargo wero lifted, the 0111 look for improved prices was not hop< fill. Tho. prices being paid generally fc must- be satisfactory to grower! particularly in regard to Partridg peas; for which variety the exceller price now obtainable was largely du to a demand from Australia, cause through a partial failure of the Tai maninn crop. A fair quantity of pes awaited shipment to the United Kin? dom, but so far practically no freigl space had been available from Lytte ion. Other cereals, and grass, and clovc seeds had all been commanding goo prices, but owing to the importatio into the Dominion of Danish seet cocksfoot had slumped rather badly. The pastures and the root crops gei erallv m the district were looking wel and foed for stock for the winter shou] be assured. Tho prospects for the winter in ti country still looked good, and, given an} thing like a mild winter, stock shou] ■ come with a low death rati Store stock of all descriptions sti maintained fair prices, but fat stocl particularly lambs, had declined, owir to the freezing works having litt available space. The coming season pri mised to present more difficulties an problems to be dealt with than at ar period .since tho outbreak of war, an possibly might mean a temporary d< cline in values of some of our princip products. The change from Gover: ment control to a free market, in ti face of temporary congestion here ar in London, might causo that, unless tl wholo position were handled with ve great care. Tho fact that the Imperi Government had at last seen their wi to reduce the pricc for meat held store in Londm, should assist in relic ing the situation there. but it. was u fortunate they did not do that lo: ago. Once normal conditions hadaga been fully restored, and, provided fin • cial conditions remained "easy, the pi dueer should then see good "prices p] vailing.