ON THE LAND.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 399, 17 May 1922, Page 3

ON THE LAND.

FARMERS AND ORGANISATION. WHAT IS LACKING ? HOW TO PRESENT' A UNITED FRONT. At i lie moment Iho principal topic of conversation in local farming circles is the light that is on between rival propagandists —followers of (he Farmers’ Union and those who claim allegiance to the Dairy Farmers’ Union. “Ploughshare” would nol bo surprised if die latter organisation made, appreciable headway in (ho Palmerston North and surrounding districts, in which territory the Farmers’ Union no longer exercises any largo sway. Thu Farmers 1 nion cannot nowadays be said let be re'proseiitalivo of the majority of producers—certainly not in the Mauawatu—and in the last year or so branch after branch has seceded from its ranks. To-day the Palmerston North branch of the Farmers’ Union is one of the financial branches in the district, not,that it should he held tip for a model on whic h to base future eflort, for it has only succeeded in getting a quorum of members at only one meeting cinring the last twelve months or so. 4ha .Mauawatu snb-fmaneiaU executive of the union is on tlie wrong side of the ledger, and it is also on the wrong side of the fence in many mailers alltcling the true welfare of the farmers. Its intentions are good and undoubtedly it has in a general way accomplished a certain amount of good, hut ii lacks “punch” and initiative and it has lost the respect of many producers through dabbling in fanciful ami philosophical discussions about all manner of things which have no direct bearing on the original aims and objects of their parent body. What il needs is a few more members of the sane, sound, shrewd, comtnonsense as Mr >l. Balsillle and Mr Loud ; But this is by the way. To revert to the quest ion of the rival factions ihe writer is of the opinion that seeing that there are so many branches ol farming, each with its separate organisation, it is surely nol unreasonable for the dairymen to follow suit and establish a 1 Donmiion-wicta union lo cliroolly luuullo *ill matters appertaining to their own partiem. lar industry. At present the sheepowners. the fruitgrowers, the beekeepers, the poultrymen, and innumerable breeders’ societies’ have i heir own ’separate organisation and yet are fairly well represented, unodiciaily as individual members, on ine Farmers’'Union. The woolgrowers are imdouhiedly tlie moling sjilrii in the union, so much so that the charge has more than once been made that very often the dairy fanners’ interests are lost sight of altogether. In this connection anyone perusing the l report of tlie last meeting of the Wellington provincial executive at Marion cannot help being si ruck by the fuel that wool and meal occupied about nine-tenths of the discussion--and this is not an isolated the real solution. The way out of the diflieulty was suggested ui the llrst place at a meeting of the Dominion executive ol the I'armeis ( nion held at Wellington a year or so ago, when a proposal was tabled that the union should he reorganised so as to form “one big union'' of till the farming interests, its constituent parts to comprise represemalivcs appointed by the sheepowners, , the dairymen and other separate organisations. The latter, it was suggested, should have ihe sole charge of their own organisation and domestic affairs, and all matters appertaining to their own particular branch ol ll„. industry. The Farmers’ Union, which would be a federated council representative v ol all producing interests, should handhj <Vii!y those qiuv-tions common lo all anil peculiar to none. It would he simply an executive body sitting in Wellington, and whenever the "occasion arose it should approuob Parliament on behalf ol the whole of the farmers of the Dominion. In this wav. b was urged, the producers would fin- the first time in their existence he able )i, present a really united Lout to I arlutmem, and consequently would he able to malm their presence fell. Recommenda iions to this end were adopted at the meeting ,0 which “Ploughshare” refers, hut s iiice then nothing more has been heard ol ihe matter. 'Hie fuel that U did nol an ped de’ president of the union and Hie •Auckland delegates present at the meeting j,. v possibly have something lo do wiih its" being shelved, in any case, events which have happened since, the meeting in question have only served to emphasise the iUhI for a move somewhere m Iho direction indicated, and until tnw is consummated the farmers will be unable to raise j heir voice in united protest or appro! i;i----(lion of any subject of importance allecting Glieir interests. qf!P. woof. OCTLOOK. NORTH INLAND FARMERS’ position. I Rcl'emim to wool in the course of his presidential mldr.ss at the \\ elhngmmM tune I rapa inter provincial conference of the Vw Zealand Farmers' I mon at Wanmmm \eI ,ctdav, Mr Hugh Morn-on remarked:I“ j lu- North Mam! far ?• as producer.- ol I i|,e cro-shred wool of dm coarser qualities. L.,,1 lo Fee ihe biggest slump 111 die wool 1; ,-kei The liner wools, such as merino which wo don i produce have mnintame. a. fairly reasonable price. Dm crossbred w< ol at: its lowest point was le.-s than hall ih c o sf of production. It is a limb mb mi male worked out by experts that to come ,o the cost: of production we will hate 1,, „ el between 9d and. ICH .P'tr lb lor our , i ii lam risen iroin 4d nil the ;;Sge ,-Hp now, realises SAI. Wool will

MOTES AMD COMMENTS.

have to realise another 4d before it is a payable proposition to produce wool. Hie accumulated wool slocks of the world have decreased (hiring the last 12 months. It is not possible at present to say whafi the Farrv-over will be at Iho end of the sijtsou, but, the lasl estimate was about 8!|0,000 bales, and at the end of twelve mtmlhs there will be very little, if any, old slo(|ks ol wool left. Looking at it from the imbiber of sheep in (he world, die billowing are the official statistics: --In 1914 there were 328,722,633 sheep in the world, in 1920 there were 256,005,321, a decrease of 71,817,312, which worked out at a clip of fibs pjn sheep and 3501bs to the bale, means 1,436.34 c ■bales less Ilian in 1914. Considering these facts the outlook over a number of year-' oiifr)ii lo bo ii steady ri.so in prices. Although wool is so low at the present lime the lutum prospects ought to lie fairly bright. An advantage wool has over dain produce and meat is that, while the ktUci fan only look to England for a market, woo is required by die whole civilised world Ii is to Ire regretted that ihe Genoa. Confer cnee is not meeting so jar with tin* success we hoped for, because ii has been the lug* vale of exchange that has been the duel cause of Ihe low price ol wool. It du (lenoa Uonference is siiccesslul ami oxehangf stabilised in Europe we can look for a fairly rapid rise. If the eonlerence lails to adjust rile exchange (he probability is that the rise will not be so rapid.” A WOOL EVOLUTION. AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS, AW FRANUISUO, April lE, Somelhing new in die sheep world icausing some siir in die I idled Stater owing to the announcement that experi menis have been conducted by \\ ilium Riddell and Sons, ranchers (4 MoninoU'lh Oregon, looking to possibilities tor tin development ol a lamb with the valuable curled wool so desired by lurriers. Some of tile leading flockniusters ol New Zealand will probably recall the linn ol Riddell, owing io the Oregon ranchers e\hibii'ing such a big interest in New Zealand ('orriedales, Uineolns and other varieties which have attained such popularity in the Dominion. The Riddell linn was deeply impressed by the wonderful prize sheep which New Zealanders sent to die I'animnc Pacific International Exposition in San Fra in Leo in J 915. where all the principal prizes were easily carried off by the New Zealand exhibitors. It was at ibis time that the Riddell firm decided to maierially improve their large American sheep (locks on ihe Pacific Coast, and they commenced importing some of the prize slnd sheep from Xe.w Zealand. Ever since that period the Oregon ranches have won a leading place in America lor I heir high-ehiss .sheep, thanks to die importations from the Dominion. The Monmouth ranchers, appreciating the successful experiments carried out in New Zealand, have been working on similar lines with other breeds of sheep which have a vogue in the United Slates, 'toward the production <4 a curled wool a truss of a Karakul ram imported Iroin the Karakul district; in Asia Minor, with a (,'oiswold owe already lias proved partially successful. The lamb produced was entirely black with (ho exception of two small spots ami the wool had the curl which makes it valuable for trimming ladies’ coats. One of die pelts Iron) a lamb produced by ibis cross was exhibited in Portland, Oregon. by A. U. Gage, who estimated the value of the pelt at from 12 dollars to 15 dollars. He expressed the belief that fnrdier crosses with the Karakul ram would do away entirely with white spots on the lambs and possibly add a gloss to the wool. Thc> wool of the lambs from which dm pelts were obtained bad the desired curl for iln- first eight days after birth. After die eighth day. however, die curl disappeared. HAIRY FARMERS' ('NION, BRANCH FORMED AT RONGOTEA. A well-attended meeting of dairy farmer? was held at Roiigolea lasi evening, when Mr A. E. Fear, organising secretary for the Dairy Farmers’ ( nion. delivered a most interesting address, in which he stressed the point that, in spite of alleged misrepresentations, the body which he represented was in no way antagonistic lo the Farmjrs’ Union. The union was being formed in order to look after the dairy fanners’ section and it was intended that it should form an integral pari. of ike present Farmers’ Union. He pointed out that there was already a Sheepowners’ t’liioii m connection with the Fanners I nion, and he could see no reason why all sections of the farming community should not have branches of their own. and form one big organisation with the present Dominion president of the Farmers’ I nion us their head, each branch of the industry having representation on that body. At the conclusion of the address il was unanimously agreed to tone a branch of Ihe union at Roiigolea. and at a meeting held subsequently Mr E. Rose was elected president. Mr I van Johnston secretary, and the following were appointed a committee: Messrs T. McDonald, Sandercoek, Scott, Kilpatrick and R. E. Dickson. NEW ZEALAND APPLES. By Electric ToWraph.—Copyright. LONDON. May 15., The Aihcnic's New Zealand apples in moderaie condition are lelching from 9s 6d to 12s 6d per case. Many arc brown inside. similar to, the \\ hangaralta s. —A. and N.Z. cable.