DEAR FOOD.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 25, 24 October 1907, Page 4

DEAR FOOD.

; ; "everything.on the;rise." /;;.;; :, ' '..." ~ ..WHiT'NEXT?. \J ,'.t "I don't knbw : how some people are going to live," remarked a representative of one of the' big produciv' liouscst .yesterday', to.' , a Dominion representatives "Everything-is:oil tho 'riso/and' what withtralia and ( the wheat market; excited all hrjr the world oho cannot see where it will .end.!' " A fow days ago—six to bo correct—ani.en.:, quiry was mado 1 as to the price of potatoes; and wo.ivero informed thabtho ruling;price of good potatoes, was £5 per ton, against £4 a month ago. > On further enquiry' l yestef lay it was stated that- .tho ■■ price ■ was , now. £7-r--i rise of •£2 per tonrin six days. -.The, cause hardly needs repetition—drought ill -Nβ)? South Wales, a wet season here, and

disease.,: - ( , *-~ ; . ...,;■ -.. .'.. i... ~/,''' •Chaff must always .be: affected \>y dry sea:

soils',in Australia/Jand," however" bitter;the lessons that have been given in tlid pastV.lhf , Australian farmer, in., his .bright optimism is ever improvident in the matter of storia? feed;.r;Tho;-, sight.of top.' much y feed-.-.worries v him almost as'muoh as" too "little. ' The last 1 three or four months , have been extraordinarily dry, with. thh. inevitable,,.effect—stunted crops and loss'feed for tho cliaflr-cuttor. A month ago wo wore importing chaff from Australia; novr tho,Commonwealth is appealing to ! the' 'Dominion for 'supplies—qu'ito in ■vaiir. A month :ago.good-chaff was .to be . purchased at £5 10s.; a week ago, at £6 10s., to-dny sellers want £7, and they will get it. Melbourne 1 .-,;.' merchants who 'usually' export havehecH/ablo :to re-sell at n,.good, profit.

-..:■. M'Gill's -oatmeal,.is : ,quotcd;-at ■ the heavy figure.,of .£l7/ pcr : .tori,.£,.o.b., in ,thp souih; other brands range ;betweon,, that,,figure arid £l,less. ;.. „."•'', ~':.■,■.".'. -,^-. !-..-. '~'7?"":

Twp.weeks ,ago,good onipns/.werpj.brinDjmg £7 per ton; yesterday £10 was being.asked and, rceoivod. Most ,on the market aro from Australia) but supplies.have been found to bo short, so the price becomes long. ' ■-■•■■'■■■•"■ , ..

' It is hard ,fco .imagine why ilio general r ; se in cort'airi'important liiies of "produce should affect bacon, yet sides'havo advanced jd. per lb. within tho last; week, anil:aro now selling, at Bd. per lb. wholesale. Ham is unaffected so far. . iyvicfz vuiia_i:->•;'■";,',::• ~,:..,.:. ~ THE. FRUIT MARKET, ,: V , ~ It was mentioned that,.retail., fruit seemed very dear. Our infonuains (Messrs. Laery and , Co.) stated "that there were not many apples coming forward- at''present. '>"■■ ShipTnontafroni Hoiiart were moagro, and itvras too expensive to bring' siippiies'down from Vancouver. Tho only cheap fruit now to- be : obtained was Sydney oranges—lslaifd oranges wore in short supply.,- There wcrti,' howover, 4200 cases of ..fruit for-Wellington to; bo discharged from tho t<niay—oranges, ma'ndaViiisj'ilehionsV' passion', fruit,' and-pine-applos. . ~._...,.;. ■. ' •

' The growers of citrous fruit in New.Souhh Wiiics ar'o having 11 bad time with the vr.v season..: Tho VSydnoy , Morning;Herald" of a recent date states:— ■ _,-■ . -.'> >

Another week of dry weather, together with fierce westorlyfwinds, has been the la u t .straw to many of tho fruitgrowers,, who.have 'practically' now'' lost! tho' whole of their crops of oranges and lemons; "In sonic'places the trees havo also'beon stripped of-their fqliago and. blossom, and. what nalains of tho latter will, - in all probability,, wither, and fall, off unless rain falls very shortly, so it is not"only this' , season's 'crop lostj but tho' 1 danger alsj of losing next year's crop.. The fruit crop .is. : also .'in.,the same; danger.:, Thero: has practically beoh .no sail) or;,freshly-pulled oranges, as the markets' hrivo been so witli tho which have boon sent' :ri*:a tho market wholesale. The returns probably did not pay for tho picking' up and cartage, hut, sain or no sale, thei-growers are compelled by regulation to pick up'and remove from their .orchards. Destroying unsaleable fruit has this season- been a costly thing for the growers. It has 'neccssitatwl, ; firstjHho. payment'for gjitlioringit up, also for carting largo,/quantities''of wood to miiko, fires for burning it. Ono grower! roiriarkod: ; <"Wo havo been doing nothing but picking tip windfalls arid burning "them, until wo havo used m>;all' our wood." ■<' Undoubtedly,' , iri' soma places the treos were carrying too much fruit to be able to successfully resist a protracted dry spell. The trees were thus sucked dry, and then tho oraitgos foil, off with the slightost wind. Still, tho, wind was unusually sovoro, and trees that' woro growing undar tho most favoured,.conditions suffored lalmosu ns severely us did,the overtaxed trees. Since the closing of tho' Adelaide markets'to our fruits, and; tho uncertainty of getting the fruit into Victoria,.some;of tho growers hai-o boon turning their .attention to the Eastern markets' of Manila and Singapore,, also of Vladivostok, nnd tho returns recoired'for shipmonts made to thoso ports havo been satisfactory. The markets hayo only been freshly oxploited, but, 1 no doubt, : if there 13 any fruit for expert noxt year, a good trada wiil be worked up.'"' :