CURRENT TOPICS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19769, 6 November 1929, Page 13

CURRENT TOPICS.

the wheat chops. A r.rt t:;rr.i;ga •.,[£!•' of jr,.. h'av;»'T ■'i- : •'V -i" districts o-.er thr a 4 i#ph»jL«. 'l rfee urg»a< v f>( it# nerd for • good »oakiim raia and a seasonable . >,<*•ll vitiahine. Many crops were ' * ? an unhealthy yellow t;njr- , inrg that the lengthy * .»!.!:■, of id ays has soured the N". t t»biy «•» this th« in part«i r.: f;.- rn h i».*«2t'»n ilm'ti. wh'Ti 1 , thf* 11nt■; < v> -»r, »« a rut«\ some ■ the *» { r utilising wheal tb !•;•« in the L»o----i .mon are to be seer-.. Th h condition ■»' flirty typical in mo«» of the stronger t.inds of Mil and Ni.-rth Canterbury. ' •>mh:rv t with a:' rv ■- ionally short growth for Novi-ml"- :, the"' conditions 1 'o not augur well for a yield approaching that of the last few years. HowI'ver, Canterbury is weil used to these i--rt'irbuig climatic condition*. and gen- • r-Ilv, when they 'o.': .it t!.«*ir w'-r«t, r- :" f conies alonjr. Th<- ram yesterday, t'•■•ugh far short of th>' necessities of th* crop*. *js wry n<.efui, and there - > * f il! plenty of (imp for a general 60 ; «"■ ■ -n'. ver*. I: i* good m-'h of ">:n '!..•*» not fa!! \ery >o«n, the crop n unlik-iv ta rea-h within seven or • •ight b««b'l* of U«t •"■jj'iii. Swr-b a linn as this •would uiejn a gross reduction in the crop of about two million bu»hels, or over half a million of money ; » fItf wheatgro wer*. s>> that the urgency ft" the desire for the rain that hangs tantalisingly arntnd can be realised. ONE UNAFTECTED CROP. There is t-r.e crop that docs no'. »p----p»*ir to be nfT'-rr-d to mu' h • x?»rt by the dry » ..ndition*. This is the hardy lucerne. One dairyman near • hristchurch. who grows about 30 acres, tools his first rut before the end of Ocr.>hrr. less than a fortnight behind th<) 'u-'.ii*i time. The plant is of desert origin, r.r.'l if its roots have penetrated l"f[> into the subsoil it is unconcerned a'mut happenings on the surface, except. »f course, to the extent that rain will the crop and provide moisture r ■ the top r-jot system. This year the -i-avv snow on the range*, which has Lv\.-.i slowly, has kept the springs and -. .•••rs well tip. and as n result the sub- ■ p;! n providing the lucerne with all 'ie ni>>Mture it wants. Of the many r''.uriiliing fields ft the rrop to b«* seen "l-ere is one in ttie Tlarkvillc .li«trict that wunlil be hard to excel. Generally -peaking, not many poor stands meet • .c e'-e. Only where weed* have been .4 ! "ohed to flutiri;«h are the belnw "if. The surest way to kill this valu■i'"le plant is to neglect the use of the grubber. It is worth noting that all over the -or'h'rn half of the province stands of f'jecrne are to be seen ready for and why most of them arc not safely in the stack in such ideal hay-saving w.-.ither is difficult to imagine. The trouble, as a rule, is that the wet spring weather make® the saving of the first , cut extremely difficult, and so uncertain has it become that dairy-farmers ■re bow making a pfaetice of turning it into ensilage. If heavy rain should now come'on most of these crops are so heavy that they go down, and become discoloured, and from the viewpoint of good husbandry, it is a mistake to leave the cutting of the crop until it reaches the flowering stage, when the stalks ■•ommence to become 4 'woody'* and the leaves more-likely to be shed in the harvesting. The correct tune to rut is when the new shoots appear at the bottom and arc just high enough not to be iajnred by the blade of the mower. The latter wonld give the succeeding erop a setba.k, Moreov«>r, belated cutting means loss of palatability. Hay from a late-cut crop can scarcely be recognised as from the same plant as a crop cat at the correct time, ! when the leaves are full of sueculence. I A rich field of lucerne presents a very pleasing sight to the grower, and creates much appreciative comment from the passer-by. Perhaps thi* is the cause of a good deal of the desire to leave it standing unduly long. THE MEBIKO SLUMP. Our Bradford correspondent writes pessimistically of the merino position at Home. He state*, under date Peptemi'<fr 26th, that the preceding week in I'oleman street Wool Exchange was one of the worst ever known. " I well remember." he continues, "what took p!.:»re in 1920 21, bat there was then still left a little gilt on the gingerbread, notn i'hstanding that merino tops fell from i:*.s to 3s in rather more than six n onths. To witness a decline of !-"> to 1'" p*»r cent, in merinos compared with July is an experience that nobody can relish. There ij nothing to he gained I'T hiding the fa<-t that greasy merino has sold this week wbieh shows up to lid per greas# ll> loss on what" it cost, while the manager of ore of Australia'» leading firms of seonrers admitted to me that thev had per eent. less bid for wsol catalogued this week than the ruling priee last July. Wool has sold in f'oleman street this week whif'h • hows £ls per bale Joss, and if a firrr is only losing £.7 to £9 per bale they think they are doing w«»II. I mention thes* facts to show what an experienee th- - * whole industry is passing through." HEW CLIP BEZELS BETTEB. The writer continues that the new clips have commanded most attention. This has always been so. and wilt remain so to the end of the chapter. Buyers value these wools with confidence, for they know that sellers will meet the market at current values. Time spent valuing speculators" lots is largely wasted, because it is not known at what price the broker is prepared to sell. During the week s«me very good wools from Sydney. Melbourne, and Perth were eatalogned—all good top making wools suitable for both the home trade and the Continent. There certainly is little heart left in the owner when he sees wool that cost him 23d in the grease oalr commanding a bi<l of 14d. and such eases are by no means isolated. An owner to day must make up his mind either Jo meet the market or not to offer at all, and some have decided to hold off until Novcmlier, in the hope of seeing some recovery of confidence. rLOOE HOUSE. It is natural that in the course of a vear or two the sources from which Flock House students are drawn will have disapepared. The constitution of this excellent institution provides that students must be the sons or daughters of British sailort who were killed or incapacitated during the war. The youngest of these dependents will aow be about 11 years of age. It U noted in the annual report of the Board ~f Trustees that applications from boys who come within the constitution of ' th« fnad and who desire to b« received

T ; •• r of g:ris a\ ailr.l.i.-, howt»%»r. i* now ins'iflfieient '■"> train»t:n the ecocomi'-s! wnrking of (iirls' F. 'k House, and j-tious eonsideratioa will require to be given during the com i-g year to the futnre of that establishment. The ehasrmar "f ?'•<* H'-a:d >•{ Tr::«f.'Vj, 11..r>. Mr >*. t<» whom »!.'■ "f th" nnd iti min-'is a-,, vrrv largely du«-. stated at tlie an- ! -i;t[ w'-etirg thut th- l«;il.in.-e-sh<-.-t showed that the farm had n>ad" in. re j,r-.fits than in any yar, whi!«t th- forestry ]-Lmtut:<-n w-u'd l»e an • •frn.ous a*—.t. •'"-t <>it boys had ii rceeived to date, and 112 girls. Fie ye.ir« hence. If is theriWill |«( "no "El** t" < "tne within the eon*'uti' n <.f th" Fi:n«l. and i' ! .• a great f3eilitati'M» * •"* the right l-' r -'l r.f 'immigration if the purpose "f thi r-, -t it ut ion could ><e widened to enibra.-., th. tuition of Briti«h boys not rief-es-v.-tniv dependents of seamen. H.nvn er.' Floek House ha* b- en condii'-ted with a degree of effjeiemy that should . !.,-;re this pha-e of '!•<» future bensw»>!l provided tor. The one devei,.;,-n-.ent that would be regretted is if the propkrt v were to hj" devoted to any other purpose thin that of training ycung s«ttler«. THE INCOME TAX RAID. Flock House was ereated by the liberality of >iew Zealand wool-growers. They voluntarily provided all the money. It. is blessed to give, we are told, but it is equally exasperating to be taxed on the gifts. The annual report of the institution states that "to the date of the present balance, the funds have been depleted by taxation (exclusive of county rates) to the amount of £:'>7.9§4 4s (land tax £28«o 14s sd; income tax £34.098 9s 7d). The vear under review completed five years "sinee the arrival of the first draft of 25 boys at Flock House, and 4 j years sinee the first boy went out to employment. The amount" held by the trustees in the Public Trust Office at the credit of the Boys' and Girls' Saving Accounts at .Tune r.Mtii, 11*20, was £17,863 2s 7d. Many lads have also substantial Post Office Savings Bank accounts. Many alw own horses, dog>, saddlex, and other equipment. At the same date, 2yi lads had paid one, two, three, or four years' premiums' en life assurance policies, varying from £2<>o to £4OO, the total amount assured being £50,7.j0. addition the Public Trustee holds aeeumulated pension moneys to the credit of the boys and girls to a total of over £5000." The chairman resignedly makes one comment on the predatoriness of the taxation system. "There is one feature that is not so satisfactory. We have had no inclination on the part of the Government to refund the £37,884 4s paid in way of taxation. I am 'glad to see, however, that the measure passed some days ago does not apply the super-tax to the Fiock House properties. It is gratifying that we do not have to pay this extra taxation."' Mr Newman is thankful for small mercies, but frankly, this taxation was unpardonable. LONDON DAIRY SHOW AWARDS. The dissatisfaction with the judging of butter at the I«lington Dairy Show expressed in a cable measage from London has been echoed by leading members of the Melbourne srade, states the Melbourne "Argtis." The judging of U' salted butter in recent years has been thought bv factories to be so unsatisfactory that Xew Zealand competitors have withdrawn all entries from the show and many Australian factories have taken no further interest in the . ouipetition. Only five Victorian factories exhibited butter in the unsalted class this year. Experts find it diffieult to reconcile the awarding of 07 points to Queensland unsalted butter and as jew as 62 points to butter made in Victoria. The discrepaney is too great to be accounted for, except by unusual methods of allotting grading points and a decided prejudice on the part of the judge against bntter with little flavour. In spite of this criticism the faet remains that Victorian unsalted butter is known to be unsatisfactory, especially since the prohibition of the use of boric arid preservative, which was enforced by Great Britain in January, 1028. At present unsalted butter represents only 4 per cent, of the butter graded for export in Victoria, in spite of the substantial premium commanded in the London market. The difficulty experienced by factory managers is that of producing a butter which has keeping qualities and yet maintains a typical 1.-j<-tic acid flavour. An effort is nowbeing made by some manag to improve the quality of unsalted butter byrevising their methods of pasteurisation. Unsatisfactory as the results of the Islington show may be to Virtorinn competitors, they are nevertheless of vnjnr in indicating that, alSruigl; progress has been made, manufacturer* of butter in this State have not yet entirely overcome the disabilities ertt.iilcd by the prohibition of preservative .