WHEAT IN NEW ZEALAND

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 68, 17 September 1927, Page 21

WHEAT IN NEW ZEALAND

"Wheat for Profit." By G. 11. Holford, B.Sc. (Christcliurch: Andrews, ; Baty and Co., Ltd.)

Mr.'Hertford' hag done good work in compiling this little' book on wheatgrowing in New Zealand. .Publication of the work was financed by the flourmillers of New Zealand, who bear the full cost of printing and of distribution gratis to all wheatgrowers. Its main purpose is to assist farmers to raise their yields per acre, and to do so economically. In his introduction Mr. Holford shows how wheatgrowing was influenced by advance of the science of refrigeration, and how on that account capital and energy were diverted from, wheat to other products requiring pasture land. Fluctuations in acreage and in yield of wheat havo been most marked in New Zealand for many years past, and: Mr. Holford states that this is not a good thing for farmer, miller, baker, and consumer. The average production of wheat in New Zealand for over sixty years it 27 bushels per acre. Th IS is a high yeild compared with that of other countries; but some.authorities hold that.it can-be increased by possibly another ten bushels per acre' However, Mr. Holford thinks an increase of five bushels on the present average yield is within bounds of possibility. ■- •' . . . : Professor Tocker makes out the case for protection of the wheatgrower on the grounds of the vital importance of theundustry to the Dominion. Mr. A. H. Cockayne shows how wheatgrowintr pays, notwithstanding the repeated threats of farmers to discontinue growing it; but he insists that the costs of production should bo, and they can be, reduced. Mr., Holford deals in simple language with tho technique of wheatgrowing, stressing judicious use of fertilisers. From what he has to say the average reader can come to no other conclusion than that-the wheat-farmers of New Zealand as a whole have still a. lot to learn which no protection by tariff or embargo can teach them. They have-also to much improve the quality of their wheat and so render imports of flour or wheat unnecessary. It i B shown by the author that the wheatfarmer is vitally interested in maintaining a high quality wheat, as well as pr??Uol£Lthe £rain in Quantity. Altogether "Wheat for Profit" is an excellent manual on this great question of wheatgrowing in New Zealand, and it la commendable quite as much to, economist ß as to farmers for whom it is primarily written. - Surgeon Captain O. W. Andrews,- the author of "Seamarks and Landmarks " voyaged in H.M.S. Eingdovo in 1891-94 and visited'many strange islands in the Pacific. He tells us of a method by. which certain French convicts in KNew Caledonia might marry: "In one of the prisons, nuns known as Soeurs do Saint-Joseph of Cluny had a number of girls and widows under their supervision, and; were permitted to select those they considered suitable for marriage. : When a marriage was about to be permitted' between a convict and one of these women ' prisoners, the prospective bridegroom stood behind a grille while the eligible woman paraded before him like a mannequin.'-?