THE ENGLISH TURNIP CROP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXV, Issue 7838, 19 April 1886, Page 3

THE ENGLISH TURNIP CROP.

(Canterbury Times.) Among our extract matter this week will be found an article on the " turnip failure," written by the well-known agricultural statistician, Major Craigie. The New Zealand mutton grower will, we have no doubt, read it with a feeling of sincere sympathy for the inuch-enduring British farmer, but which feeling will be tempered and rendered less painfully acute by the sense of philosophical resignation with which most people bear the misfortune* of their neighbours. And we fear also thai; the deserving, but not too flourishing New Zealand mutton grower, will not find hist fellow feeling for the British farmer less endurable on. account of a certain dim consciousness that the failure of the English turnip crop must affect the supply o£ home grown meat, and consequently, the price of frozen mutton. The depression of trade, and the reduced purchasing power of consumers has undoubtedly more to do with the fall in the price of meat at Home than anything else, but it is nevertheless obvious that the smaller the supply of English grown meat, the more room must there be for the imported article. Our local markets are more in sympathy with English prices than most people are apt to suppose. Laßt jear saw a ruinousfall in the value of sheep at Home, butsheep here continued to sell well. This year, < however, the course of events has followed the English markets, sufficient time having elapseji for the influence totell.

Local' circumstances necessarily affect prices independent of those at Home to a ' certain extent, such as wet or dry summers, accompanied by an abundance or scarcity of feed. The price of wool, of course, affects the vaLue of sheep both here and in, Great Britain, although it is of more consequence to the Colonial than to the ■English sheep growers, on account of our large merino flocks. But the value- of our flocks,especially on cultivated land, is larggly ruled by the price realised for our annual production of mutton. The number of surplus fat sheep over and above local consumption is small in comparison with the total number of sheep kept; but it is the value of that relatively smalL surplus which holds the balance in the scale of prices, and the value of that surplus is in turn ruled by the condition of the English markets. More sheep are fattened on the arable than, on- the grazing farms in Great Britain. Sheep are seldom fattened on grass, and fat mutton is mostly the product of artificial feeding stuffs, grain and roots. A failure of the turnip crop means, therefore, a reductionin the production of meat. How serious the failure is will be seen by the article alluded to. The total estimated yield of turnips falls short of the average by eleven, or twelve million tons, so that it would appear that the " meat corner" which, has been fallen back upon by the British farmer as a citadel of defence against the foreign enemy will not, at least for this year, furnish that measure of safety which was expected of it. From Major Craigie'* figures it would appear that an English farmer's idea Jof a failure of the turnipis somewhat different from . that held by the majority of Colonial turnip growers. About fifteen tons per acre is considered an average crop in Great Britain, although • the Scotch and Welsh farmers look for aton or two more, and an average of nine tons is a deplorable failure. It would be difficult to form an accurate idea of the average production of turnips per acre in. this country, but we imagine tha,b most turnip growers would be fairly well satisfied with a yield of nine tons. But at home a turnip crop involves a heavy expenditure in manures, besides much labour. In the Colony no great amount of labouris devoted to the crop, and the average cost of manure per acre is infinitesimal. It would be a rash prediction to say that a failure of the English turnip crop necessarily means good prices for frozen mutton, but that the value of frozen mutton will be favourably affected there can be little doubt. Perhapsdt would be more correct to use the past and present rather than the future tense. The English winter is now over, and it is only reasonable to suppose that the substantially improved price for Colonial mutton, which has ruled for som* time past, is to some extent, owing to the failure of the English turnip crop. The English spring is now well advanced, but. it takes some time before the effects of a short supply of winter feed ceases to be felt. Other influences may have been at work tending to improve the quotation for the colonial product. The values {of New Zealand and English mutton are becoming more nearly assimilated, and from this we may infer that the imported article is becoming more appreciated by the English consumer, and perhaps also that the sales are better managed. Two •or three year 3 ago, when English meat was selling at extremely high rates, New Zealand mutton was quO'ted at prices which no supposed difference in quality could account for. So great a disparity of prices will probably not be seen again, and a substantial rise in the value of Home-grown meat would be felt in-due—~ proportion by the Colonial producer.. But no such rise is likely to take place, except with a revival of trade. The purchasing power of consumers has been reduced, an*, especially so in the case of the wageearning class in the mining and manufacturing districts. It is said that during a brisk condition of trade the butcher has no better customer than the North of England miner. He makes good wages and spends them right royally in those fat things of the land, which people of a higher and more provident class very sparingly indulge in.