THE SEED MARKET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16338, 19 September 1916, Page 9

THE SEED MARKET.

NO SHORTAGE SHOWN. TROSPECT OF LOWER PRICES. A matter which is of vital interest to farmers in the Auckland Province at the present time, when spring sowing is being pursued with all possible speed, and preparations are being made for autumn sowing, is the position of the local seed market. A message from the Christ-church correspondent of the Herald a few clays ago indicated that the position of tho Southern seed market was abnormal, there being just about sufficient imported grass seed to meet requirements until the new crops came in. Prices, of practically all grass and clover seeds wero stated to bo very much above normal.

Inquiries made yesterday among local seed merchants, should, however, tend to relievo anxiety on the part of farmers in the Auckland 'Province, for they show that there* will be amplo seed locally for all requirements for spring and autumn sowing, by which time the new crops will be in. They show also that the current prices, which compare favourably with those at present prevailing in the South, have a tendency todecrease. The latest reports from the South indicate that there is every probability that the crops of cocksfoot and ryegrass will be good, while information received from England by the last mail points to the fact that the yields of linglish grasses will be above the average and that in consequence the prices show an inclination to fall and should substantially decrease by the time the requirements for autumn sowing arc due to be met. There has been some perturbation among farmers in regard to the high prices for seeds that are at present ruling in the local market. The increased costs of New Zealand-grown seeds, however, are due, it i 3 staled, to internal causes and have not in any way been affected by the war. Best machine-dressed cocksfoot is at present commanding Is 3d to Is 4d per lb, as compared with 7d and 8d two years ago. Southern and imported machinedressed ryegrass, which two years ago was worth 5s to 5s 6d a bushel, is now priced at 8s to 8s 6d a bushel. The present price of machine-dressed Italian ryegrass is 9s to 10s a bushel, as compared with 5s and 5s 6d two years ago. The increases are due solely to the fact that for two successive years the Southern crops were a failure on account of the drought. In the case of other seeds, white clover is the only instance where a substantial vise in price has taken place. It is quoted at 2s 2d to 2? 3d a bushel at the present time, while before the war it realised about Is 6d a bushel. This is one instance—practically' the onlv one—where the price of seed has been directly affected by the war. White clover was very largely produced in Germany and, of course, a supply from that source is now unprocurable. It has been shown, however, that other countries are able to grow white clover for seed purposes quite as successfully as Germany, notably, England, and they nave thus been able to counteract to a very large extent what probably would have been a serious shortage, and also to prevent the seeds from reaching too excessive a price. The current prices of other seeds are as follows:—Red clover, Is to Is Id per lb; colonial clove*, Is 2d to Is 3d ; alsyke, Is Id to Is 2d per lb. There is very little variation in the prices of these seeds compared with those of pre-war days, and those advances that have taken place are the result of the increased freight rates.

It is stated that on account of tho scarcity of labour, due to men having enlisted and gone to the war, there will not be the demand for seed in the Auckland Province this year. Far less bush country will be cleared and cultivated, while even the land that has been under the plough will not be sown down again on account of farmers being unablo to secure labour.