Farming Column

Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1933, Page 8

Farming Column

NEW ZEALAND FARMERS’ UNION NEW AND NOTES? According to Dr. Miller, Chief of the Entomological .Department, at Cawthron Institute the outcome of the researches there is that the control of means of insects must, be definitely abandoned. The reason 2or this-is-tworfold; that:the most virulent type of insect has not .been found capable of holding blackberry, in check, the plant recovering from the i most severe attacks; and that the insects most likely to be of use in the control of blackberry have been found to have a weakness for imported related plants such as apple trees. AA * « At Ottawa New Zealand agreed to two tariffs principles. The first was that protection by tariffs Should be extended only to industries that were reasonably assured of success. ..The other principle was that such protection should be restrained within the bounds of moderation—-that is that the protection iniposed would give United Kingdom producers “full opportunity of reasonable competition on the basis or relative costs of economical and efficient production.” The Farmers’ Union is opposed to protective tariffs altogether ; hut if we must have them, and until we can get rid of them, it approves of the spirit, of these principles, which lay down a policy of moderate (protection fori,infant industries suitable to the natural resources of the Dominion.

In reply to a-remit asking the Government to enquire into the.high costs of poisons that are used to combat Ithe rabbit and ragwort-pests, the Minister of Agriculture wrote stating that this Department was keeping in close .touch with the question of:available supplies o. sodium chlorate,,and with the prices charged for the material, and there was no reason to believe*-,that an-iiii-cessive price had been charged by importers or by distributors generally. So far as phosphorised pollard was concerned, the Department recently, found it necessary to increase the price in the North Island, as previously, it had been retailed at a loss, due largely, to the reduced output' for- the last few years. The increased price was imposed in an endeavour to somewhat reduce the loss, land not in anticipation-of any profit- over .the? cost of production. At the present time the .Department was doing all .that was possible to ‘let fanners have phosphorised pollard and other agents for the destruction: of rabbits at the lowest possible price. # * * *' - '

If Tinder reasonable conditions, an industry cannot stand on its ,-own feet without a tariff, it is obvious that some o, 1 the - commiV.iity—the consumers as a being taxed to support it. Such an industry is not a national asset ; it is* a running drain on our economic strength; in a period when it is essential to husband our r-eouurces t 0 the utmost. We- should aim to establish such industries as qan pay their way and are natural to our circumstances. It is generally -admitted that mass production of manufactured articles is not possible in New Zealand. Our domestic market is too small to absorb the output of great mass produeing plants, and we could not pro- 1 duce at the point of maximum.efficiency and cheapness. * *# # #

Since the passing of the original Noxious Weeds Act in 190 S, -its' administration has been in the hands of the Department of Agriculture. From the point of view of. economy thi s seems sound as the various stock Inspectors also act as Inspectors of noxious weeds, It has been estimated that the cost of administration of the Noxious • Weeds Act is approximately £IO,OOO per annum.. As there.are 125 County .Councils throughout the Dominion this expenditure would work out at £BO per.county. It is extremely doubtful if any financial gain would be made by transferring''the administration to County Councils. Such a transfer would probably mean the appointment of additional Inspectors by County Councils; moreover, as the personnel of most County Councils consists • mainly of farmers, it is problematical if the interpretation of the Act would he as strictly enforced. »# * • Investigations made by the Union into the deterioration of the quality ot our cheese show that one of the contributing factors is unclean milk supplied to some of our cheese factories. It is axiomatic that good cheese cannot be made from unclean milk. Pasteurisation ihas had ;to fie resorted to in order to.make sure that all milk was ; fit to be -made into cheese. The effective way of dealing with unclean milk-would he to grade all milk for cheese and pay out according to grade.

As > regards' wheat * duties.- thev ar« merely a-' necessary . counter-balance to the burden of .‘tariff protection, and farmers generally would approve cf their abolition if 'the same treatment yore accorded to other forms of industrial protection. Thev are pot defender! in themselves, and should he.eliminated as and;when protective tariffs are removed from other industries as well, ***..* At, the TVTvrtiorv wool sale..in ‘Wellip'Hon 95.379 bales nut of 3P.137 bales offered were sold. The amount realised £189.740 which averages out at £7/9/6 a halo, or 4.96 d per lb. ,

PRODUCE REPORT.

Messrs A. H ; Turnbull and Go., Ltd reporting on Bth Maicli state: — Butter.

Quotations -for New Zealand hotter during tlie past month have reached the. lowest level for a.period of twentylive .years and, at tne moment, it is difficult to make any forecast as to the immediate iuture; -.Heavy shipments kire still ■ afloat, ,■ both from Australia arm New Zealand whilst Continental Countries are preventing the importation of butters' by surrounding themserves with diigh tariff barriers. During the month of February, the market steadily weakened ~ until the mean, quotation reached as low as 74/6 per cwt. on the 24th February. At this time considerable alarm was occasioned by the steady accumulation or stocks of butter in the United Kingdom and the fact that arrivals were not being cleared promptly. Suggestions Were made by the London importers, that Australia and New-Zealand shouia restrict shipments of butter for a per-

iod in order to give the market a chance of recovery. Apparently buyers anticipated that this representation by the /London importers and the 'British Government would have some effect oil restricting the immediate imports and a considerable firming took place. On the 26th February, the market ran' tip to as high as 80/- per cwt. but with 1 the decision of the New Zealand and Australian Governments not to adopt any plan of restriction of exports, fell to 76/- with a slow market. Messrs W. Weddel and Co. Ltd., cable that determined efforts have

been made to raise prices, hut they have been frustrated by the continuance of severe selling pressure, caused by the fact that spot stocks continue to increase. Very.cheap forward offers of Australian butter are‘also preventing any improvement in the spot quotations.

•Cabling on fbo;-'4th ; March,'Messrs W. Weddell and 00., Ltd., state, that the immediate future is very uncertain hut much will depend on the Vesnlt-of the conference . to restrict imports. These conferences between the British authorities and>the Australian and New Zealand Governments and also the representatives iof Denmark and. other exporting countries, still continue. /Forward Butter. There was quite a fair amount of forward activity at round about 9d ana 9£’ at the time that the spot market; ihowed -an improvement, alnjut- the, 25th/26th February but since then,) forward buyers seem to liave withdrawn altogether and very little business is, being done. . Buyers’ ideas, of value, are pound about to B£d per in. f.O.b.

Stocks. The butter gradings for February show, a considerable -increase on previous years; whilst, the . quantities in store in ,New Zealand at the end of the month are also some 3,000 tons above last year’s stocks. Cheese. The cheese market has been particularly disappointing with a continuous drop in prices. Coloured cheese has suffered, most in this respect- and although the proportion of coloured leaving New Zealand is still below the customary 33 per cent., there is apparently sufficient now on hand to meet all demands, and the premium - which’has existed, is rapidly disappearing, being 1 now only 51- per cwt. Messrs W. Weddel and'Co., Ltd., cable us : that >spot 'df Colonial, cheese are light, but the Home production is increasing‘rapidly - .- However, they anticipate a steady market. -There has 'been ; practically tto forward activity in cheese for some months and buyers do not apparently show ally interest in cheese for forward shipment.

FARMER’S INCOME.

MILK THE CHIEF CONTRIBUTOR.

Taking the world as a whole, milk ,is a . more important' contributor -tothe farmer’s income than any other single product, and eggs probably rank he ore wheat and rice and immediately after imilk. This is one of a number of striking comparisons, showing the importance oi dairy:produce to the different countries of the world, given in a new Empire Marketing Board pamphlet, “Dairy Produce—-a Summary of Figures of Production and Trade.” More milk is used for drinking or cooking (it is stated) than is made into, butter, and more is made into butter than into cheese or any other product. Empire countries take second and third places on the list of butter and cheese exporting countries, but 'make only- a poor showing in the export trade in eggs and preserved milk. In most countries eggs are mainly rroduced for home 1 consumption, and it is pointed our that only Denmark, among all -the.exporting .'countries of the. world, export's as much as half' its total production

of eggs. Tables are given showing the part played by butter, cheese' and eggs in the external trade of the chief‘exporting countries. Butter represents nearly a third of Denmark’s exports, and over a fifth of those of New Zealand. Cheese forms about 13,per cent, of New Zealand’s exports. Exnorts of eggs and oor<T n"nibints fake third place in the list of China’s exports. ' The United Kingdom is easily the. world’s largest importer of. each of the - ‘five products—butter, cheese, pre-

served' milk, eggs and egg products—dealt .with in the pamphlet, and the magnitude of this country’s imports from foreign sources make's the 'Empire, taken as a unit, a net importer, on a Considerable scale, of each of the five products: -The balance of the Empire’s import trade amounts to between 3,000,000 cwt. and 4,000,000 cwt. of butter, 300,000 cwt.' to 500,000 cwt. of cheeSfe, about cwt ol preserved milk, "' nearly 2;500,000,000 eggs, ' and nearly 1,000,000 cwt. of liquid eggs.