Agriculturalists' Troubles at Home.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume IX, Issue 1604, 20 April 1887, Page 3

Agriculturalists' Troubles at Home.

In a Home paper we have been shown a letter Bigned " Agricola," in which the writer, after showing how utterly hopeless the growing of cereals has become, owing to the ever-iucreas-ing import of wheat, &c, from countries lees heavily handicapped than England, goes into details to prove that other products give little J better encouragement. "I am told," ' 'says the writer, " the British farmer - must, turn his attention to more enterprising cultivation. He must grow luxuries more, necessaries less. I. In ..'our county he has been largly doing .this. We haye grown hops at .van oil May of about <£20 per acre, and r "not VJ bhly do" we 'find many of our brewers making beer without them, but foreign hops are driving them from the market ; and many a poor fellow has groaned over returns that have not even paid the pickers. We were to fiud in fruit a panacea for our ills. ■ "VVe take our, early cherries to Co vent Garden, and find foreigu produce, steamer-borne from warmer countries, has already taken the market by Btorm, : and left us to accept prices ntterly unremunerative. We grew this year the heaviest crop of plums known in recent times ; they did not pay for the mere cost of picking, and thoqsands of bushels were left to perish in the orchards. New early potatoes " once paid us. Now, Spain, France, and Germany glut the market before we put a spade in. Fattening stock is a heartless business, for the tallow-chandler has all but followed dodo, and paraffin is burnt everywhere. "We have to buy lean stock, knowing the' margin of profit when we sell will, oftentimes, barely pay interest of money, and leave nothing for the food pohsumed. Dairy business and poultry raising near our better local markets still has something in it, but this is necessarily a very limited occupation." A retired Berkshire farmer, lately gave as a reason for his giving up farming the fact that for seven years he had been losing £300 a year. His farm was one of the best wheat and barley farms in Berkshire, and he was a thoroughly good farmer. The fl.s. Waverley arrived at Batea this morning from Nelson and Opunake. She eaves for Wellington tomorrow.