WHEAT PROBLEMS

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 262, 29 July 1908, Page 3

WHEAT PROBLEMS

A STAPLE INDUSTRY LANGUISHING. \ INTERESTING CONTRASTS. It is apparent that Now Zealanders as a nation do not . tako readily to, wheat-growing. Soe how the acreago sown in wheat has diminished in" tho last ten years :-— . Year. ■ .. . Acres. 1898-9 ............v:............. 390,034 1899-0 ' 269,749 1900-1 206,465 ' 1901-2 ■ 163,462 1902-3 ; 194,355 19034 230,346 , : 1904-5 258,015 1905-6 '.....v.......'... 222,183 , 1906-7 '206,185 1907-8 193,031 Wheat has only once before in that , period boen so utterly ignored as it was last year. Yot all this time the population has been increasing:' Ten years ago New Zealand's people numbered 743,463; to-day it numbers a full million. But, though our population ten years ago was only three-quarters of what .it is .to day, our wheat , fields were double. In ,those days we could export twothirds of, our wheat yield and .still have an ample remainder to feed all our local wants. . To-day'it is doubtful if, without importing, we could, at the end of tho season, avoid a ; bread'famine.' .' . ■ Our Bread Bill. .An average-New Zealaiider is estimated to . eat—and; waste —in a year in the form of. bread. sconesj cakb, etc., six bushels of _wheat. But the Now Zealand:wheat fieldsthis-'year have not produced enough wheat to go round oiir million 1 peoplo at the rate of six bushels per head. .Instead of 6,000,000 bushelsj tho ; harvest.'has produced only 5,567,139' bushols. This' shortage would mean thit .-if we could not' obtain"supplies from abroad, an;average household now, using six, loaves of bread' per , week would'have ,to: be content'with five and : a half'loaves!' Tliore would doubtless then be' : fewer crusts thrown-into';the : waste pan, and. possibly wp Would" all learn a' valuable 1 lesson • on" frugality:'! -.Even- then ; there would be;in-, sufficient - wheat'loft>;tb provide' tho 400,000 or 500/000 bushels of seed required'for future crops}'and'tto wheat for,poultry feeding. 1 ; Some Contrasts. Great Britain, whoso meagre • wheat: production causes constant alarm to those who anticipate foreign; invasibn, grows enough wheat for .ten million people—one quarter of, hor population.- Here are the yields, of the past: season in the two countries:—•> Bushels Total - ■ . . Per acre. Bushels.. Great Britain ...... 33,97 55,209,328 Now Zealand •. 28.84 , . 5,567,139 ■ The' smallness of our-wheat yield is > seen m another way when contrasted with our yields ;of iothor-produce. New Zealand produces— .- ■ ••••■,. Enough wheat ...... for 1 million people Enough':,butterfor . 4J million people Enough mutton and ' - . lamb for 4 million people But ten years ago a smaller number of New Zealanders : produced enough ■ wheat. for i 2i million people. - : . • 'J/ A Matter of Money.' ' But tho. real state- ; of the industry ;is shown' not so much iii the actual yield as in the actual area 'so\yri;; ; arid that area has' shown a cpnstaut decline. • The reason-gene-rally -assigned'-; for this neglect of wheat .is ' that ; other things pay tojr''and are- less risky. After all, it does riot greatly affect-the welfare. and: safety of the -nation-, whether : wheat; is /grown; or;not. While, Australian, wheat is available at ,a low / price, and' while ;;foroign '-invasion, presents no danger (as it presents it to of: -bringing.about a'bread famine; it is riot of very serious consequence if farmers turn from wheat and cultivate instead butter and cheese, mutton and,, lamb, beef ;or wool,; so long, as: the; change increases the country's income. The Australian output of last . year, is sufficient for eight;million .people; the ,1908, surplus' for' export' was seven." times greater than the total consumption in. New' Zealand. It is"ratherremarkable, "however, that while it pays in Australia to grow 11 bushels of : wheat;to the . acre, it, does-not pay-in -New Zealand..to grow crops of nearly. 30 bushels per acre. : ■•' ■ ■ A Labour Point.; . . It is -said'.that wheat-growing, employs more labour,than . other branches of farming, but .the''difference, is not so great, nor the demand for;farm' employment :so keen that the 'abaridoriment of wheat i.could be called a' national'calamity from that,. pointVof■ view. The!, main!' question, .however,, -of - whether wheat really pays, is open to discussion; ; . Professor Lowrie,' in evidence in the, farm' labourers'. dispute " at;.;.'Christchurch. ." this month, -said an active man could possibly 'manage,'', a . 200-acro . or.. 300-acre., sheep-farm single-handed.- Probably, however,;ho-would preKr'-'to 'have' a"boy[to help him. In comparison with this, a 300-acre farm'on which wheat was the:ch,ief crop, would need,:besi(l6 ' the 'owner, • about;three 'labourers;,' and a dairy- farm of area would provide '•wort for the owner i and three 'labourers'.; Thus wheat growing; and-dairying employ about .twice, as many ;hands as sheep-farming,, . and- at hai-vest/ time 'the'.' staff ' ; on- tbe'.wh'oat . farm' wbiild :be, doubled.'. ' ' The most successful .mode of wheat-farm-; ing is considered'to be a'systdm urldcr which about one-third''of-'the farm: is: cropped with " tliei rpst devoted to 'rootq and 'other crops, 'and sheep,-, thus giving the necessary rotation required.by tho'whpat. The question' of suitability of soil -is also important, and mufet always have the' effect of specialising 'whoat-g'roiving, as it is 1 'already . specialised in South '■ Canterbury and North ; Otago. Does It Pay? ■ : ! ■. v As to the .income from each of the three branches' of'farming, these . can only be gauged approximately.". Probably these figures will show-the maximuiri that could be . ■ ' Sheop Farming (300 "acres) :. . 600 owes, by wool and limbs' ... £600 ' . Dairy Farming (300 acres),: 100 cows, for:butter :.' ... ..... . £800 ... Wheat Farming (300 acres): £6.per acre;...; ; ...£IBOO : Thoro is, however, tho anxiety -of -harvest timelto bo paid for arid the risks of disaster. The wear" and tear on a man's" life through strenuous ; hairests 'is l worth , a substantial allowance, but tho'. risk of loss from any • cause but low prices is, perhaps,'less real, for, 'with' all/risKs'cpuntecl in, the New Zealand average yield still remains -somewhere 'i near 30 bushels' peracre. • •-••■■ Does Wheat Rob the Soil? :The .question of whether, wheat is more or less exhausting -on the .soils of New Zoaland m'ay>,perhap's- be, worth, considering while, 'discussing the other -phases'of the , subject. Thirty bushels of . wheat extract from the soil (in . the grain), , among other, matters,■ 'about:—'.''' . _ ' Nitrogon . 331b. /• -Phosphoric acid '- ' '■... ... 141b, Potash ~.. ' ... ... ... ' 91b. . "These loises can bo .fully replaced by i Sulphate of ammonia •... ljcwt. Boriediist .... .... , ■ ... 1 cwt. Kainit ... ' ;'. ... 1 cwt. Losses Roplacod. : . But it is by no means necessary that this actual balance should be rigidly maintained, nor (if it were) that ;it should be maintained, in regard to its nitrogen, by purchased manures. 'The rain, dew, and atmosphere deposit) in the form of ammonia, 1 about 331b; of nitrogen upon every acre of ■ land in tho coiirso of a year. Some of Viiis becomes fixed in the soil,, some washed'down beyond tho reach of roots, and some taken up by-the roots of growing crops, and weeds. Thero is,' therefore,, a,valuable natural accession of nitrogen to tho soil constantly occurring. ' ,

A still more important factor is -the ability of leguminous plants to seizo hold of the free nitrogen of which the air is chiefly composed. One average crop of clover ploughed under will add to an aero of land, in tops and roots, as much nitrogen (from the air) as would be removed by four average- crops of wheat. ' Fertility t>? the Soil. But it is really not necessary to be so greatly concerned, as wo of ton are, about the quantity of plant food drained from the land by our crops. The top nine inches of an acre of rjood soil contains; approximately— Nitrogen ... 3,500 lbs. Phosphoric acid. 5,000 „ Potash ..; 1 25,000 „ It would take moro than 100 wheat crops to remove all this nitrogen, oven if tho rain and dew and clover restored none of it. It would take 350 wheat crops'to remove all the phosphoric acid j and 2700 wheat' crops would be insufficient to remove all the pot-, ash. Then it would-be nccessary to plough deeper and use the fertility locked up in the ■ subsoil.- ' .But in reality the deep-rooted plants themselvos do this, and constantly bring the buried treasures of the' subsoil to the surface. What the Other Crop? Take Off. . . Other crops than wheat extract plant, foods from the soil approximately in the following amounts: — .; Phosphoric '.Crop. Nitrogen. ABid.; Potash. Bushels, lbs. lbs. ; lbs. Oats • ... 45 38 13' ; 9 Barley l ... 40 35 16' 10 ■Wheat ... 30 33 . 14 9 1 • tons. • ■ Clover hay ... 2 102 25 83 Turnips ... .17 63 22 108 . Potatoes ... 6 47 -.211 76i lbs: " . v -".V ' One ox ... 1000 23 15J li Fat sheep ... —20 , 10} 1} Fat pig "... — l'i 61 . li Milk ' , ... 1000 5i 2 . .' 1J Wool ... 1000 .54 . '.J- v 56. Mor.o Wheat Next Year. ■ It is : anticipated that' the, areq," in -wheat in the coming- season in the Dominion: will be considerably greater ; than -that', of the past'soasori., Some authorities estimato the probable area as high- as 250,000 acres —an increase of over 25 per cent.: But' the increase is attributed only in part to tho shortage in the present local-supplies. •' The'increaso is ' said'.'to ■bo more due 'to tj>e .fact that, a large numbor of southern Pastures have been ploughed up for tho purpose of renewal, and a wheat crop will bo inserted merely-as a link in tho chain of crop rotation; Tho growing of'.part of nest; year's wheat on rich pasture, land, the fertilising influences of the dry woather of last , summer, and the recent abundant rains. are all incidents .that should make for heavy yields when the .next wheat harvest arrives.