SHEARERS' DEMANDS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 823, 23 May 1910, Page 10

SHEARERS' DEMANDS.

Writes our Masterton correspondent: ( 'A meeting of members of the "Wel-i , lingtonl Shearers' Union was .held on i Saturday evening, when assessors re- , ported on the recent' case before the . ' Conciliation Council, and were awarded a vote ,of thanks. The action of the ( ' employers in refusing to discuss the conditions laid down' for the; employment of shed hands was severely criticised. It has been stated that until the dispute as to wages and slkkL hands is settled, Australian shearers have promised not to come to tha Dominion. FOOT ROT. Singularly enough, although the past few months have been drier than usual in the Wairarapa,.foot-rot- is more prevalent among sheep than has been the case for some years past, writes our Masterton correspondent. i anous reasons have been assigned for the recrudescence of the disease, but tho most popular theory is that the sheep have not had to travel for food, and the standing in one position has caused the feet to dccay. Tho disease, though troublesome, is not regarded as a serious menace to sheep-farming. Last year the supplies at the London 'Metropolitan Meat Market consisted of 426,615 cattle, wlulo at Doptford 122,000 head, were slaughtered 111 the foreign cattle market. The London City Corporation is making urgent representations to the British Board ot Agriculture to remove the restrictions enforced with regard to the importation of animals from tho Argentine, which country has been officially declared free from disease. The removal of these restrictions, it is considered, will not only prove of great advantago to most consumers in the United Kingdom but will result in tho revival of many important catt-lo trades which have been languishing of late years. . - \ ,' '

DOMINION LAND VALUES. j ANOTHER VIEW. 5 [To the Editor.] j Sir,—hi "J.T.K.'s" letter about a : couple of weeks ago comparing land ; values here and in . dili'erent parts of the world, I saw mentioned there a . farm of 269, acres adjoining the town ! of Franklin, Nebraska,' United States of "America, at a price of £23 per acre. < I have farmed in Nebraska State for seventeen years, and know Franklin Co. welli I have been located in •Taranaki for - tlie last three years, and am engaged in dairying on a leasehold of 100 acres. The above-mentioned farm is probably mostly plotted into to™ lots, which accounts for tho seemingly high price, as good improved farms, six miles from Franklin, can be bought for £10 per acre. To my untutored uiind one can do much better in the Western States of the _ United States of America than in this Dominioi), as it takes so much less capital, there to make a start. Suppose a person' goes over there with £1000 cash, he can buy a snug little 100-acre farm by paying down £SOO, and leave a ■mortgage of £200 at 6 per cent, for five' years, then, with the surplus of £200 he can buy implements, horses, etc. Ho will raise alfalfa, maize, oats, and hogs, and a very conservative return would be £2 10s. per acre. He would do all the work himself oxcept harvesting, when he would need a man for a month,, or perhaps exchange work . with a neighbour, and live in a climate hard to beat, hot summer days, with cool nights, and a sharp, invigorating winter. He -would always have a steadilyinereasiiig home market, besides tho foreign ones. Now what can be done with £1000 in New Zealand? TYo will take dairying, as everyone seems to think that the most paying occupation here. The 100-acre, 45-cow capacity place I am on is valued at £4000. Wo will pay £700 down, take the £300 for cows, etc., and allow £500 for the year s returns.. Now, after paying interest, rates, .and something for your help and living expenses, a man will hare mighty little towards paying off tho principal at the end of five years, besides having had his nose at the grindstone all that time. I find a good deal of loss{ from death, cows slipping their calves, or failing to get in calf, which mean?/ an outlay every year for more stock; I have nothing against Zealand* whatever, except the unreasonable price for land,' and am'.not; surprised to. see' ' so many young fellows migrating * to- . Canada, where they have a chance toi acquire a piece of land and become independent in time.—l am, etc., _ ii.i.