The Farmer

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 2762, 2 October 1923, Page 7

The Farmer

The South Taranaki Returned Soldier s' Association passed ' a resolution pointing out that the provision made in the forms provided lor a re-valua-tion of land was inadequate in respect of the period allowed over which to estimate the productive yield of the farm, namely, February 28 to June 30, and advocating:, that a better guide would be the average prices ruling in the district for five years Immediately preceding the war, and an estimate of prices and the production yield over a period of five year 3 from now.

An amusing story is being related concerning the sale of a horse lately, at a place not a hundred miles from Dunedin. A resident (maybe he was a farmer) brought the horso Into a certain town, and the animal was duly disposed of at auction. The purchaser was probably an out'-back faring He worked the horse for some time, and then decided to dispose of It. . 'So once again the animal was brought into the self-same hamlet, and put up for auction. Among those bidding was the man who sold it in the first place. He looked the horse over, and decided it was a good, sound, useful animal, and outbidding the other buyers again came into possession of the animad. But ho wm not aware that it was the same horse. He learned this several days later when he informed a friend that he had discovered that he had purchased the "blooming nag at almost double the price I received for it when it was first sold."

A Nelson fruit-grower who is at present- on the coast securing orders, says that matters are not going very well with some of the returned soldiers who. have taken up this means of earning a livelihood. Almost every week mortgagees' sales were being held. The reason for this was that this year prices for apples had dropped tremendously. Apples which brought 12/ per case last year were now down to 6/ and even 5/ ( During last week a drop was recorded on the coast from 6/6 per case to 5/. This was a most un-r----usual occurrence at this time of the year. Last week (says the carres: pondent of the Christchurch "Press") the grower had visited tho mining towns of the Buller district, buf the housewives were evidently anticipating trouble in the mining industry, and very few orders were placed. .

HIGH COMMISSIONER'S CABLE.

The Department of Agriculture has received the following cablegram, dated September 29, from the High Commissioner for New Zealand, London: —

Butter: The market Is quiet but firm, best quality being in small supply: Colonial quotations are:—New Zealand, salted, finest, 198/ to 202/ per cwt. (1/94 to l/9i per lb); unsalted, 212/ per cwt. (1/104 per lb); other qualities, unsalted, 180/ to 196/ per cwt. (1/74 to 1/84 per lb); Australian, salted, finiest, 186/ to 190/ per cwt. (1/7Jd to 1/84 per lb); other quail. ties, unsalted 172/ to 176/ per cwt. (1/6J to 1/63 per lb); salted, 172/ to 180/ per cwt. (1/65 to 1/7 per lb); Argentine, finest 180/ to 186/ per cwt. (1/74 to 1/71 per lb); other quantities, 154/ to 176/ per cwt. (1/41 to 1/61 Per lb); Irish, 190/ to 194/ per cwt. (1/84 to 1/8? per lb); Danish, 212/ to 216/ per cwt. 1/10J to 1/11 per lb. Cheese: Market quiet buf steady. Official quotations are: English, finest farmers', 135/ to 140/ per cwt (1/25 to 1/3 per lb); Canadian, Finest, coloured, 120/ to 122/ per cwt (1/01 to 1/1 per lb; white do.; New Zealand. finest, coloured 122/ per cwt. (1/1 per lb); white, 120/ to 122/ per cwt.

(1/0! to 1/1 per lb); other qualities, coloured, 120/ per cwt. (1/03 per lb); white, 118/ per cwt. (1/0 3-8 d per lb) # A shipment of New Zealand produce arrives this week per s.s. Fort Hunter. Casein: Only small business doing on account of high prices. Nominal quotations. French rennet £7O to £79 per ton. Honey: Good business has been done with New Zealand, best quality realising 62/6 to '65/ per cwt. and occasionally 75/; common grades 38/ to 42/6; Jamaican in good supply, selling at 31/ to 50/; Chilean 30/ to 45/; Californian in small supply, and trade quiet, white prime has been sold for •62/6.

Hemp: 'Manila market easier for shipments near at hand but better demand fox distant shipments. "G" grade October-December shipments now quoted at £35 10/ per ton; "J" grade September-October shipments sold up to £3l 5/; October-December shipments now quoted at £3l 10/. The output of Manila hemp from Ist Janu. ary to 31st August, was : \1,003,000 bales, against 777,000 for the same period last year. Stocks of Manila on 31st August', 172,000 bales, against 187,000 for the same time last year. Stocks in Great Britain, 22,957 bales against 10.603 last year. New Zealand market unchanged. Highpoints spot offered at £3l 10/ without business. Nominal values for forward shipments, highpoints £3l to £3l 10/, fair £3O.

Wool: Sales closed firm. Total offerings 223,000 bales, of which 192,000 were sold; Home trade taking 96,000, Continent (principally France and Belgium) 95,000, and America 1000. Competition was active through out, and broadened towards the close on account of improvement in French oxchango. Merinos (a fair selection) have maintained prices, closing on a par with July rates, Scoured showed a slight advance. Fine crossbred advanced about 5 per cent., coarse crossbred closod par to 5 per cent, above July rates; medium crossbred unchanged. Average closing values: Superior 60/04's (merino) 2/2 to 2/6; ordinary 60/64's .merino) 1/7 to 1/10; 56's (super halfbred) 1/9 to 2/2; 48'S (fine crossbred) 1/ to 1/1 j 44/4G's (medium crossbred) 10Jd to lljd; 36/40's (coarse crossbred) 9d to 10id. In view of the unsettled European conditions, the results are regarded as satisfactory, while the possibility of the Ruhr settlement and the decision Of the Japanese Government to suspend for six months the import duty on wool textiles tend to encourage Home trade. Next series commence on October 23. LONDON WOOL, SALES. Messrs. Levin and Co., Ltd.. have received the following cablegram from their London agents, dated September 28, 1923: The auctions closed here today firm. Buyers operating freely compared with opening rates. Greasy Merino, super, are unchanged; greasy Merino, average, Id. per lb. lower; halfbreds, 50/56, unchanged; crossbred*, 48/50, 46/48, 44/46, id. per lb. lower; ciosabreds, 40/44, 36/40, Jd. per lb. lower. SALE REPORTS. Messrs. Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Palmerston North, report on the sales of the week as below: At the Ashhurst sale on Tuesday, September 28, a very small entry came forward, which met with a ready sale. Quotations: Fat ewes, 30/- to 30/6; spr. heifers, £4 7/tS; spr. cows, £6 12/6; ylg. heifers, £2 6/- to £3 3/-; light fat cows, £3 17/6 to £4 7/6; store cows, 26/-, 30/to 39/-; bulls, 20/. to 30/-; weaner pigs, 17/6. TARANAKI FARMERS' MEAT COMPANY. MORE CAPITAL TO CARRY ON, [Per Press Association.] NEW PLYMOUTH, Last Night, A well-attended mooting of shareholders of the Taranaki Farmers Meat Company this afternoon unanimously decided not to"liquidate, and about £40,000 of new capital was subscribed to carry on. SHEEP IN CHINA. ENORMOUS OUTPUT OF WOOL China, with Tibet, is said to possess 70,000,000 sheep, and the output of wool from these is about 200,000,0001 b in; weight', or something like a twelfth of tho world's output, Fow people realise' the large part China plays in the wool trade of the world, but with improved methods sho may yet play a still greater part. Her stock of sheep, enormous as it is, might easily be much larger, for there are in Mongolia enormous stretches of fertile pastures that would support larger flocks than they do now. The winters in this part of the world are very severe, and the wool produced by the sheep is both long and of very fine quality. There arc five big wool markets in China —Tientsin, Calgan, Mukden, Paotao and Tangkerh, the last-named being the most important: Some think that China may one day rival Australia as a wool-producing country, but there will have to be a revolution in Chinese methods before that can be. The Chinese industry is badly organised, and much of the wool is spoiled by ignorance. From some parts, for instance, the caravans arrive with tho sheep's wool mixed up with goat and camel hair.