FARM AND STATION

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20244, 23 May 1931, Page 10

FARM AND STATION

By "Straggler."

CURRENT TOPICS. WHEAT VALUES. An observation in this column on . Wednesday questioning the wisdom of the Government basing the price to bo paid for wheat on what the bankrupt grower in Australia 1 is forced to accept gains pointed significance from a paragraph inlast Saturday's Melbourne "Argus":— . •. In January it was decided by : the directors of Victorian Wheatgrowers' Corporation (the Voluntary wheat, pool) to make a first payment of ls 6d a bushel against wheat delivered into the pool. As it has now been decided to make a second payment of 7d a bushel, less rail freight, not later than June 6th,, tho disbursement will be increased to 2s Id, less freight. Allowing an average of 4Jd a bushel for rail transport,, the net payment to growers will have "amounted to Is 81d a bushel. AUSTRALIAN POTATO MARKEf. Even if the embargo were lifted in Australia against New Zealand potatoes the price ruling across the Tasman (from. £7 to £8) would scarcely attract business. A Melbourne com-' mercial report of last week states that-the prices of potatoes have heen maitained at unusually low levels; for some time. The: dullness of the trade is largely attributable to the absence of Sydney buyers. Home consumption has been fairly steady, but even with normal home consumption there is usually a surplus for which an outlet needs to be found in other States. The requirements .of the Sydney dealers have been met this year with supplies from ■ Tasmania, and their operations; in Melbourne have been small and intermittent. Early in the weOk, owing to unsettled weather in Tasmania and probable lighter consignments from that ate, Sydney buyers became interested in tte Melbourne market, and are now keen buyers of Victorian produce. A larger acreage has been plantod in Tasniaxiia this year, and, despite the adverse effects of blight, a larger exportable surplus is forecast. Shipments from Tasmania so far have bieen heavy, as it has been necessary for growers to sell their supplies to obtain financial assistance. For this reason it is expected . that lighter supplies in the future will he sent to Sydney, and the season>will cease earlier than usual. If expectations are realised there should be a sounder market in Melbourne later ( in the year. WORLD "WHEAT POSITION. ; Beviewing the international wheat t position at the close of March, a London market:; reviewer jStated:— 4 'The supply and demand position has seldom,, if .ever, been as bearish as it is this season. Private estimates in the United States put the carry-over at the end of 'the current crop year "at from ,275,000,000 bushels to 50D,000,000 bushels in the States, and .from 100,t 000,00(1 bushels to 129,000,000 bushels In average of these eati-/ mates > Bh.owg. ja; surplus of 100,000,000, quarteisMn "Worth America, which, if anywhere near the. marie, absolutely precludes the A possibility of a rise. The possibility of *SO cent 1 wheat about mid-' spttmer is "freely discussed in America, ■and ' with July wheat at Chicago and Winnipeg already touching 60 cents, another drop of 10 cents is easily, possible when the . Hew winter wheat crop begins to'move, especially if the Canadian crop.is promising at that time. The position/being what.it is, Australia and Argentina are surely doing right in marketing their crops freely at the best prices available. It is quite a streak of luck for the Commonwealth that China has come in: as a heavy buyer of • her even if the'prices obtained rnmjh to be desired. DAIRY SHORTHORNS IN ENGLAND. The Dairy Shorthorn is England's leading dairy cow. It is on record that no less than 62 per cent., of . all the officially recorded, cows in England are of Shorthorn' type, while no other breed has a higher percentage than 15J. The I latest volume of the Government's RegLister bears testimony to the excellent.

ADDINGTON MARKET. WEDNESDAY'S SALE REVIEWED. . '' . . i The indications of a break in the prolonged period of dry weather had a hardening effect in the store sheep section of the weekly metropolitan market at Addington this week. Farmers who havo been running smaller ewe flocks than usual at this period were induced to enter the market, and the improvement in the lamb market, which has been sustained recently, has assisted in firming the market a r little. The entry, as is usual at this period, was very mixed in quality, but ewes . that had been reliably tupped, and wethers which would not require a great deal oi: finishing off, were in keen demand and values for those classes firmed on late rates. The offering of lambs was a small one, and there was little alteration in the trend of the market compared with last week. The demand for ewe lambs was a little easier, but generally it was a steady auction. The following is a comparison of prices with those ruling at the corresponding date last year:— N» . May 21, ■ Kay 25, 1930. 1931. S. B. E.wos — " Good 4, 6 and 8-th Sbd' .. 16 to 10 to 12J Ord. s.m. Jbd 12J to 18K to S Ord. 2-th Sbd 131 to 172 to 12J Ord. 6 and 8-th ltd . . F.m. Jbd . . 33 to 10 to 72 Good 4-year xbd Wethers— Good 4 and 6-th Sbd ..16 to 18 10 to 12 Ord. 4 and 6-th Jbd .. 12 to 15 Good 2-th Jbd j Good 2-th Sbd Backward .. I Lambs — i Ex, good owo —-■ —-to 14 Good owe Medium ewe .. 11 to 183 to 10 Cull ewe .. to 7b Ex good' wether 18 to 15i to 125 Good wether .. Med. wether .. 81 to 10 to 6 Cull ■ wether .to 5- .. to 41 Good w.s. . .

1001b wo may expect the advance guard of this North Island invasion. £ £ ~' £ Steers — Shew • . to 22 h - Ex. prime heavy to 20 to 168 Prime heavy . . to 27 11 ,to 13$ Prime medium weight . 11 to 144 85 to .'lO5 Ovd. quality 8 to 10J 7 to 8£ Light .. 6 to 73 to 6& Heifers— Ex. prime . . to loj to 10 : Prime •• BS' to Hi -68 to 88 Ordinary . . 05 to 8 4J to 6J . Light • • 5 to 6i to ' 4 Cows—- • Ks. prim© • • to 15 i —— to 11 Pfjmo . , S to 101 G to 8h Ordinary . . 6 to 7i 4 to 0 Light .. 4J to 5J to 3J

RURAL RIDES. CROPPING AREAS. NEXT SEASON'S PROSPECTS. (By H.A.M.)' Xo. XXXIV. Tho country is dry. It was .hoped that Thursday night's promise would dovelop into a solid rainfall, but it was little more than a blustery interlude. In the City the moisture represented only a few points, and enquiries show that except for a few districts the precipitation was less than a quarter of an inch. As an instance of the dryness of' tho soason only 5$ inches of rain have beon rccorded-in Christchureh since the commencement of the year, compared with 8} inches for the corresponding period last year. Actually less than an inch of rain has fallen in the seven weeks since the end of March, and this fall was principally in the first few days of April. The City fall is a fair indication of the precipitation nn lhe Plains, but, of course, valueless as a guide to the amount of rain on the downs and nearer tho hills. In these areas, naturally, the rainfall is much more liberal. On the Plains tho ground has been getting harder for. working, but operations have not. been retarded to any extent. As-a matter of fact farmers have not had such an uninterrupted spell for years, in the preparation and sowing of early wheat. The tractor has a use in providing surplus power when the soil gets into a stubborn mood, and, as a result, country blacksmiths have had a revival of business something akin to old times on ; account of the increase in the grounding of ploughshares.

A good, strong sale was experienced for fat lambs. The schedule price of ssd was exceeded in quite a few cases. Naturally at this period of the season there was a big showing of light lambß, but there were also many excellent drafts. Lambs which a; couple of months ago would hay*, sold, at 12s are to-day making , 15s to 16s. It has been quite a good for the fattener who bought lambs, in the store pens at 7s or so ahead. Well done •these lambs have more thiui: doubled in value. Comparisons are:—

The Wheat Area. It is undoubted that the favourable conditions have allowed more wheat to be sown than at the corresponding period last year, or for several years for that matter. Whether this advantage will be maintained under the reduced wheat prices is another matter. It is understood that some of the Arms which were prepared to finance the light land crop under a 5s or oven a 4s 9d price level are disinclined to undertake the risk at 4s 6d, even if that price ia guaranteed. In a bad season much of this land averages no more than 1.2 to 15 bushels to the acre, representing a gross revenue, of £2 14b to £3 7s 6d an acre—-not much more than half the value that would assure a margin of profit. This class of land requires to bo sown early in order ■ to secure the benefit of the winter rains, and possibly it is too lata to secure the maximum application of the restrictive policy referred to. Jscvertheless there is little doubt that some of the light land destined for wheat will be diverted to Bome other purpose. The Ellesmere District. One corner of the province where influences such as mentioned above vnter only to a minor degree' is in the Ellesmore district. It is essentially a cropping quarter and though seasonal vag-

Ex. prime to 27J to 22J Prime . . UB to 255 176 to 19 Medium • ■ 19 J to 22 } 16 to 171 Light 17J to ID . 12J to 151 Store .. 13J to 17 .11 to 12 The mutton schedule for export ap pears to be of a rather elusive character., but as far aa ewes arc concerned it at all events is definitely improving. It is only a few weeks since light to medium ewes were scarcely saleable. The number sold on Wednesday to representatives of export firms at 9s to lis was notable. Wethers did not show a, similar advance. Wethers—— Ex. prime .. to !Joi to 20 Prime .. 26 to 285 14 to 10a Medium .. 23 to 25* 125 to -132 Light ... 17 to 22J 8J to 115 Ewes— ..... t Ei. -prime •.. to 255 to 142 Prime .. 19 to .22} 11J to 13 Medium .. 15| to 185 10 to 115 Light . . 121; to 14i •8J to 93 Aged . . 10 .to 12 65 to 8 The history of the fat cattle market: this last few months raises a suggestion

| . . IN THE "GOOD OLD DAYS." One of the.original types of self-rake reapers. It had its vogue in the late 'sixties and the early part of the 'seventies.

i basis of, merit upon which the popu--1 larity of the Dairy Shorthorn is founded. No fewer than 15,065 cows of all breeds qualified for inclusion in the Register ' by attaining the standard of inilk yield 'for .tlieir respective breeds. Ixrthe case of Shorthorns the minimum yield is 9000 • pounds, and of the cows that qualifiedß299, were Shorthorns, which exceeded the next most numerous t>y 4922, Owing to lack of Bpace only about half the Shorthorn milk rocorijs coujdbe published, and of these the following exceeded 10,000 pounds within 365 days. Three cows gave over 20,000 poundtf; 50 between 15,000 pounds afld 20,000 pounds; 92 between 14,000 ponnds and, 16,000; 198 between 13,000 pound? and 14,000 pounds; 458 betweuri 12,000 pounds, and 13,000; 1078 between and .12,000 pounds; and 87.79 between 10,000.and 11,000 pounds.

that the public appetite for beef has disappeared. For some years the winter market could easily absorb 400 to 450 head at each sale. On Wednesday 60 per cent, of : this number served to meet the demand. No doubt the cheap prate ; of lamb has diverted the ; demand from beef, but'the margin between the two has now disappeared. With the cold weather coming on it is fair to assuniu that beef—that is ; good beef—will come back into favour. There have been few drafts of station cattle coming forward such as are generally ucen at about this time of the year. Doubtless tliey will appear when the market hardens by a few'pounds a head. Veryjittle beef on Wednesday made 30a per 1001b. It is understood that there are North Island drafts ready for shipment once the market improves by 7s or 8s per 1001b. When beef ranges from 35s to 37s 6d per

Aries affect results, they are not so extreme as in most other districts. Not infrequently. the : he.avy land is too wet for autumn working, so that it can bo realised that the dry conditions of the last few weeks have, been very acceptable. Wheat yields, generally—if no t ; u the year just, closed—average 40 to 45 -bushels to the acre on the better land and though the "cut" in prices is disagreablo it is not. expected to affect the area growers have , set out to bOw this season. Towards thf end of May sowing is at its peak, ind"judging front the area of land worked up there will be more than the;usual acreage* ini bv the commencement of next month. PBllesmere and Springs Counties in 1930 accounted for 16,000 acres. At 40 bushels to the acre' this acreage represents 640,000 bushelsrr-no inconsiderablefactor in the Dominion's wheat needs!

The Barley Area. Whilst wheat, came. through the vagaries of : the last harvest moderately well, v 6uch was far from being the case with barley. More thaa half the barley of the province is grown in the two counties, in 1930 the. total area being 4620 acres of . a total of 9114 for the province and 18,299 for the Dominion. The season was a particularly bad one, the proportion of under-grade sample of poor marketable value being a record. Occasionally growers came out satisfactorily. . One actually threshed .90 t6 92 bushels off an 15-acre paddock, and this he had contracted to grow at is 6d a bushel, but in , many other cases the crop was little more than worth reaping Particularly marked was the unprofitableness of the crop in those eases where no contracts were inade. It is understood that contracts for nest year's crop are difficult to secure. The apparent reason is that, the diminishing thirst of the multitude—*as shown by the beer returns—will reduce consumption. In any case Australian barley promises to be cheap, and supplies for the trade may be easily procurable without any necessity to contract. Bar-

ley is a spring-sown, crop, and on the surface it would appear as if there were no -occasion to discuss the matter of contracts so early in the season, but for tho fact that failing a reasonable barley outlet most of the land would go iiito .wheat, which it is desired to sow with little delay. Of the 5280 acres of peas grown in Canterbury in 1930. over 1400 wore r-iised iu the Ellesroere district, the total for the Dominion being less than 10,000 acres. Similar influences to those operating in regard to barley may divert a substantial proportion of this area to wheat. The slump in the Home demand has made peas a very uncertain crop for revenue purposes. ; A few growers have maintained a fair acreage, but others have expressed their to the writer of going out of the crop, this year.

The Potato Crop. This worst development "of theyear is the collapse of the potato market. Over 2300 acres were put under potatoes in 1930 in the district, and appearances indicate that more than thiß area.is to bo lifted this'season. Where operations have commenced the yields are turning out well, but digging is by no means general, Most growers are awaiting some recovery of the market Jbefore commencing operations. The average j yield for the ; district should rangfc about seven to < eight tons to the acre, or a gross yieJd of 16,000 or 18,000 tons. The difference between a reasonable price of £4 a ton and a slump one of.£2, such as is nOw offering, indicates the extent to which even a small corner of the province can be affected by the; present collapse in- values. Travelling along 'Well'-:- frequented roads in the motor-car is not a very helpful means, of estimating how the rabbit is being kept in suppression. It is when one- gets off the beaten track* that there is a suggestion of affairs not being quite-as well as they might be. j A few more rabbits are to be seen and j southern observers are quite frank, in ] their opinion that the position is not as good as it was a couple of years ago. There ; is no negd to look very far for the reason. The collapse of the export market has made the hunt for rabbits unprofitable, and/the hard times have discouraged station-owners from spending money to keep'-the pest down. ■ There, was a 75 per cent, drop -in the.. 1930; skin prices, compared with those, of, the preceding, year. The man or lad with gun, dog-,- ferret, and net. has, as a result, faded out of the pursuit. The. value for the year March Blst, 1931, of the skins exported, .was £140,129,. compared with £348,439 the preceding twelve months.. It is only a few years, since the export was worth £ 800.000. For the' twelve months ended June, 1929, the value was £555,811, for 11,278,431 skins. Movement in the rabbit pest one - way or another is difficult -to determine in the early stages, and when the authorities do awaken to the danger the trouble is fairly acute. It is to be hoped'.that the present "offseason '' for compulsory destruction will not allow the old condition of affairs to return, for another pest, of the virulence of eight or ten years ago,.would make much of our pastoral land not worth occupation. Shipments. of wheat to Auckland ill the past week or so have been exceptionally heavy, observes Tuesday's Auckland '.'Herald." Apart from large consignments arriving each week" from ' the South shipihents '• have also , coine to han& from Canada and Australia. A consignment of just on 3000 tons, of' milling wheat was brought up by one Southern boat last week. .The Waimarino from the south on Monday carried about 14,000 sacks, the biggest part of which came to the order of Auckland millers. The Aorangi from. Vancouver this week carried abbut 8000 sacks of milling wheat. At this time of the year Auckland millers generally make provision for their season's requirements, and large quantities v are put into store. - ' Threshing is well advanced and returns covering practically the whole district have, been uniformly good, anda large surplus over the estimated crop is considered certain,,-says a Timaru report. Some phenomenal yields •' (as 1 high as 113 bushels in a 14-acre paddock) are reported, and well over <SO and up to 80 bushels ha,ve been recorded amongst the 1 mill tallies.