THE WHEAT PROBLEM.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18634, 8 March 1926, Page 10

THE WHEAT PROBLEM.

ANOTHER MILLER'S VIEWS. (gpjSCUL 10 "UCB PBISS.") OAMAEU, March o. In a statement on the wheat problem, Mr R. Milligan, who has been engaged in the milling industry for many years, said there was now a concensus of opinion, that it is desirable • in the general interests of the commuuity, that sufficient wheat should be grown in the Dominion to meet local requirements. There was, however, a cjnflict of opinion regarding the .' methods by which this could be ac- . omplished. He said the Government's plan was economically unsound, and added: — "It must be recognised that the cost ci wheat production is greater in New j Zealand than in Australia, and couse- j ruently growers are entitled to a cor- j ' rcspondingly higher price for their pro- , ducts. So far as millers are cor.cern- : etl they are desirous of seeing growers obtaining such a price for their wheat as will justify them in increasing the " area under cultivation* The problem , of the millers is to give a satisfactory price to growers, and at the same time supply flour to consumers at such a price as will enable them to compete with the imported article." At the present time Australian flour is quoted' from £l2 17s 6d to £l3 5s per ton, , f.0.b., adding duty and freight, it can : . be landed at approximately £lB per ... ton at New Zealand main ports. On. the other hand. New Zealand flour at £lB f.o.b. southern ports, would re- . present £lB 16s c.i.f.s North Island ports. It is thus manifest that the New •Zealand miller, unless he is prepared - to allow Australian mills to supply the ■ Dominion's requirements, must meet competition from the Commonwealth. There are only two ways in which this ' can be accomplished. One is to pay '.-. Mich a price for wheat as will enable • flour to be sold at the same price as Australian, and the other is to run "'• mills at a financial loss. It will at once • h-» seen that the latter is an impos■..sible way. At the prices at present being offered by millers, namely, 6s Bd, 6s lOd, and 7s per bushel, f.0.b., for different varieties of wheat, plus brokerage, flour could be sold' at the nresent rates, but if the millers decided that they must ' meet . competition from the Commonwealth, even these rates could not be maintained. Mr Milligan concluded by saying, as tfli millers' profits, that millers are .■,..will\nsr to submit to the closest enquiry vhv ejther'- a qualified accountant appointed by the Board of Trade, or by one appointed by the Farmers' Union <tr Chambers of Commerce. CHEAP FENCING POSTS. CREOSOTING PROCESS. ... ' ~ ■'. '•' i.',.''■ -. .■■'■•■ '.■■£& '.•:-_-'; .'.•■■•;■.•. --—' ■"■■■' -see . '(SFKOUL tO "iHB JBEB8.") "•>':']•*■'■'' 3>UNEDIN, March 7, •.' In experimental post creosoting plant .■j etbbted outside the State Forestry De- "'. ' partment*s section of the New Zealand Government Pavilion is ,' arousing no little interest among farmers and others visiting 7 the Exhibition. ■ ; ,It is demonstrated that by means of a : creosoting process it is quite practicable and satisfactory to use ior fen9ing posts the thinnings from the Forest Service plantations which are v,ery cheap compared with totara and broadleaf posts present in use by farmers. The timber used is pinus insignia,/ pinus lancio. and ponderosa. The .posts are jsoalrea in; a hot creosote bath, in which moisture and air are expanded out of :'.- the,wood cells, and this is followed by a , cold bath for .one,hour. The hot bath lasts three-quarters of an hour. There iSjpenetrfttion all roitnd of half an inch ■ v in depth as required by the service. Native beech saplings require longer treatment',; two hours in the hot bath, ( andean hour''and a half in the cold. It • is estimated.that the life of pines thus, ~;• treated, is ; from fifteen to twenty years,'' whereas untreated they would last only ■'.'■: a couple, tff seasons. The .cost'of treat- ; merit is from 8d to Is a post, so that it is a much cheaper process, than that of replacing the posts every two seasons. W. C. Ward,, M.Sc. (Assistant Engineer to the State Forestry Department) is in charge of the experimental post creosoting plant, The United States, it is'stated, used last year for wood: preservation upwards of 1000 million gallons of creosote. The methods •used at the Exhibition are those prer scribed by the Wood Preservers' Association of America. A more satisfactory treatment, however, can be given by a process in-which ereosote is forced into '.the timber under pressure, but a much inara expensive plant is required. , A NEW FACTOR^ ■-'■.;: ;j v' (sncui. »o "th* rarss.") DUNEDIN, March 6. Captain, Smallhorn (Commissioner to the Australian Pavilion at the Exhibi- "* .tion) stated yesterday that he has been advised that Mr Macrobertson, the .. Australian manufacturer of chocolates and confectionery, has decided to erect in Xen> Zealand a £IOO,OOO factory. An area of two acres of land has already been acquired for> the purpose. .BORROWING IN L&NDON. The_ embargo an lending abroad which-was Imposed by the Briitsh Government last year, was. only partially applied to the overseas Dominions and Colonies, so that the amount borrowed by them in London, in 1925, showed ■ an advance on the figures of 1924; the Commonwealth of Australia, the Australian States, nod New Zealand accounting for a vers large » proportion of the total of jeilß.Sl7.ooo. The details of last year's loans, and those of 1924, are given in the table appended:— 1925. 1924. £■ , £ Commonwealth .. 5,000,000 16,000,000 New South Wales .. 6,500,000 27,419,000 • Queensland .. 12,228,000 19,203,700 South Australia .. 839,000 J,650,300 . Tasmania .. 1,000,000 200,000 Victoria .; 5,204,700 6,700,000 ' "West Australia .. 2,687,000 2,000,000 New Zealand .. 7,800,000 7,270,000 India .. 62,966,000 11,333,000 Cold Coast .. 4,626,000 Newfoundland ... 1,313,800 South Africa ~ 8,350,000 12,000,000 South Rhodesia Sudan ». - 1,500,000 118.517,000 108.276,900 The greater portion of the amount raised last year was in conversion loans, and the actual amount of new money raised was less than £38,000,000. There was a complete embargo on foreign loans last year, but an exception was made in respect to the free port .of Danzig, which obtianed £1,500,000. This . was tbe fall total of the amount raised by i foreign countries in London in 1925, which contrasts with £59,752,700 in 1924. So far the Australian States hare done Tery little in the way of borrowing. Early last month Queensland raised £2,500,000, South Australia £1,800,000, the city of Auckland £400,000 and Wellington eity £BBO,OOO. The London money market tis far. from being in a state to finance many loans. The French moneT •' tary position must be causing a great deal at anxiety, and it is. known that early in the year Mr Montagu Norman, Governor of 1 the 3aj£ of England, and the authorities asthe Federal Reserve Bank of New York, conferred on the best means of helping France out of her financial difflcul■l&'