FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1510, 5 August 1912, Page 8

FARMING AND COMMERCIAL

J NEWS AND NOTES.

fi THE DAIRYING BOOM. I LAND' PRICES AND THE SPECL rjj. . ' LATOR. ■ . I FARMER PRESIDENT'S VIEWS jj Somo interesting remarks on the devel- | opment of dairying and the price of land wero made in tho annual address by the - president of the Dominion Conference of I Farmers. . Tho dairyfarmer, said Mr. Wilson, was in us transition stage. Most of those n-ho Had done well i n tlio business had takan tho earliest Opportunity to go oiit of it, either sell or lease, their 'farms, cr had I adopted the share system of dealing with. r their land. If they sold or leased their > larnis, these were often cut up into F smaller areas, necessitating houses and i yards on each. The purchaser or lessee p had, for a time, to put up with a niako- ; ' shift yard, and as dairying v.-as oulv i earned out in the moister climates, tho ,1 conditions for a time were not very satisJ laotory, but.they were gradually changed S for the better by gentlo {.ressure from a tne Agricultural.Department, aud in con--9 sideratiou for the milker's own personal comfort. As more and more kml was ' being brought into dairying, this process was continually going on. It was the most wonderful instance of a successful industry lie had any knowledge of. it I'ad been quite a common practice for a company'to start a factory,'!borrbwinalmost tho whole capital from the. bank, and for the former to purchase land, and pay liothii-g (town, thert is-to lease the mrni with a purchasing clause; h> borrow laoncy to pay fov his or ■to have them purchased for him to .pay interest, and a weekly sum to' pay off' the cost; mid oven to got assistance, to put up the hfliiso and yards, perhaps from the i nearest storekeeper. Yet, -with all llieso •disttdvantagps, especially, those of the 'long'price," fcoth companies and suppliers had teen able not only to carry this load, but to'prosper under ■'#, and to pay oil , thoir debts. It was small won(iprthat a man with such a load to carry Moiild, if the opportunity occurred, sefl out lor. a small profit, to another man ■who : was.prepared to carry perhaps the y .aimitiounl load. It was not conducive to _. good farming, but it was human nature. : The Pries of Land. 'i'be coniiimi.il rise in prices, said Jfr. 1 Wilson, li:i;l had a marked effect upon the'price of land suitable for dairying. At first .only the very richest ■ of'laud was considered suitable, . but as prices ■• rose, and the effect of the training given ... ,oy the expert officers of,tho Agricultural Department became general, this with. ,' grading and co-operation .hod improved the quality of the article; it nlso brought in larger areas of land ; of not quite so . (?ood a quality. As prices rose further, land at ono timo considered quite unsuitalle was,brought into use. The land . of the first quality in a suitable locality , began to rise in a most remark'a'ble man- . nor. This brought, in its wake the specu- ! - lator. In any tradfc or business when there ivas a boom on, he was certain to . follow; in some instances, even, he was , a benefit, in giving thoso who were willMg and able 'to work, the opportunity. ■ i'liis state of things \\;as not conducive.to good farming, under the best'conditions. It was ■ inevitable, .however, and would continue until prices find their, own lov'el, which must bo upon the'basis of income derived. But if prices fell there would . be a .v.pry serious time.' Therefore, if . we were wiso we would' not base our' prices of land upon the capitalisation of our, utmost income, but leave a very 'ample margin, so that in tho event of a set-back, our income would still be sufficient for. our wants,, though curtailed. j Wβ were yet in a transition sta«?o. and I as new districts were taken in, and dairy--5 ing became general, land then would rise j to the dairying value according-to the income derivable from .it, and as the pToduct was in a concentrated form proximity to rail was not of so much, consequence. ■ So in the case of land suitable ior-litinb fattening—here .again the process of adjustment , had gone, and was still goinjj on. Wherever it had been possible to fatten lambs it was beint; done. At one time Canterbury-was almost alone ( iii this trade, and it was still tho largest - exporting province of New Zealand, but I with the uso'of.Downs, it has been found that almost ths whole of the Dominion ■ had been able to adopt this system, and thy warmer climate and flush of grass in , spring in the North Island, had enablf-e large quantities of ,tnilk lambs to be , turned off, even in tfte' bush districts, . where.it was never thought of before. The , fact was,.we were reclassifying our lands [. nccorclir.3 to -a nov state of trade. It would .etisily be seen that during tho process he had been talking about, there was no mention of population affecting prices and output. The human factor did . not come in, except the country producer .. and the distributor. Yet New Zealand had enormously profited by it. The railways had become profitable, the question of nnemploymqnt had scarcely been mentioned, in fact, the cry for more labour had been general. Did this, he asked, not I dispose of the cry of "unearned" increment? Did it not shoiv more and more need of the encouragement of farmers and land-owners, rather than > the constant threat of increased taxation? IAIMIGRATI'ON..'. -. DOMESTIC HELP AND FARM . ' LABOUR. TWO PRESSING NEEDS.. "We cannot expect under present conditions of. labour, apparently, any general scheme of immigration," remarked Mr. J. G. Wilson, president of tho Dominion Fanners' Conference, in his annual address. Continuing the address, Mr. Wilson said that the two most pressing wants, viz., domestic help and farm labour, were receiving assistance.. As far as the latter were concerned, they all hoped that it would receive more and more assistance. Their first venture in tho case of tho "Sedgwick" lads proved a success, eicept in very few instances. ' When tho union wanted the process continued, the Hon. J. A. Millar said, "Wait until twelve months are up." The union did so. On further application ho said, "Parties aro too, unsettled." . A change, of Government occurred, and the union at once applied to the new Minister for permission to uso the Labour Department as guardians of the boys during their apprenticeship. Thi* was refused. Another changeof Government has taken place, added-Mr. Wilson, and I hope the new Minister, when we again make the application, will bo more favourable. ■ ,^. : Tho union had a number of applications from farmers to take ians.-and to • '■pay their passages,'but it was essential to'the scheme that somo responsibility should be assumed by the Government, so that the parents of tho lads will know that (hey will be looked after in tho Dominion, and to whom the lads can turn to in times of difficulty. The Labour Department was the proper one to undertake this, and did so in the last case very efficiently. Mr. Wilson said, ho was sure . they all hoped that this system would be '-continued, for it meant that tho lads would-be carefully selected; would come to a place waiting for them without delay 'in town; would'be secure in good homes, . and that their inleresfe would bo watched oVer by a perfectly disinterested Department. It would 1)6 to the mutual interests of all parties concerned, nnd add much to the progress and advancement of the Dominion. ; Tho secret of the great success attending "Victor , '.. Vats is due in a largo measure to tho excellent ■ workmanship and to ■"tlio! fir.sfc-class materials used in their manufacture. Managers of the largest f'actorieS'.recojniso the superiority of "Victor" Vats, and order them in preference to other makes. At present very large numlxTs of these splendid Vats are bsing manufactured, and factories should pluce their orders now to ensure early delivery. Albert J. Parton, CaTterton.* ; ; A WINNER OP COMPETITIONS, i- The Egg-laying Competitions for 1910-11 i aud 1911-12 were both won by pens reared i. on ''A. and P." Chick Raiser. The first a, essential for profitable poultry keeping. . Obtainable froja ail StpxekwDora. ,

N.Z. PRODUCERS'ASSOCIATION. HOME REPIiESKNTATIVE'S REPORTS. .The following official report is given of a'meeting of the executive of the New Zealand Producrrs , Association held at the Fanners' Union rooms,. Mr. H. D. - Vavasour, of Blenheim, presiding. The. [1 meeting considered flic reports received 0 from tne Home representative, Mr. F. .1. , Sliolton, which showed that the asfocia.tion had achieved a measure of success iu •so far as Retting the Port of London Aus thority definitely to promise certain im--3 provenients at the- Albert Dock. Tho 1 meeting, however, was of opinion that , the confere-nce in London had been too 1 hasty in approving the proposals without v first receiving an assurance of securing r the larger and better scheme at the ) South-West India Dock, which was un--1 der negotiation between the Port of Lon--3 don Authority, and the Producers' Asso- ■ ciation. Thoso interested in the trade at ■ the London end were apparently blind to i their own interests, as it is evident that a • united effort would have secured a com--1 pleto scheme, whereby the whole of the i New Zealand trade could be centralised, ■ and which would have been reserved ex- . clusively for our produce. The efforts of i the association to secure the best for New ■ Zealand .have to a certain extent been i frustrated by the hasty acceptance of the least preferahle scheme. : The. association decided to await the result of Mr. Sheltoii's further ropresen- ' tntions, before taking steps to fully'lay! : the matter before the producers of tho . Dominion', whose best interests appear to • have been subservient to the vested in- ' terests of the trade.