CANARY SEED PRICE IS TOO HIGH?

Northern Advocate, 22 June 1937, Page 7

CANARY SEED PRICE IS TOO HIGH?

Bureau of Industry to Investigate ■ S [Special to “Northern Advocate ” 3 CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. The Bureau of Industry does things thoroughly. At the moment its officers have' turned its attention to the matter of canary seed and prices are being investigated. It was stated that seed was retailed at 8d per lb, compared with 3d per lb a few years ago. At the same time, Mr D. Dunnhy, whose business is birds, explained that American, crops had failed last season, while the Continental demand had .increased out of all proportions. The New Zealand demand, too, had increased largely. More people were interested in birds today than ever before. It would not be too high an estimate, he said, to say that every third or fourth house in the city possessed something feathered. Supplies were due from the Argentine, and it was considered that the price could be reduced to the vicinity of fid. . '. . - . ‘ ' , Opening For N.Z. Farmers. Mr. Dunphy said that canaries did not require as much food as the common sparrow, but they were more wasteful. There seemed to be, said Mr Dunphy, an opening for New Zealand farmers in growing the seed. ■ One Canterbury farmer had planted four acres last season arid his return, was amazingly good. He had advanced the proposition before, hut the farmer’s invariable reply was, that the local birds would have their feast first and leave little for the harvest.

That same argument, however, must apply to the countries where the seed was grown and they still seemed to make a success of it.