Strings the Bow.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 870, 2 November 1888, Page 29

Strings the Bow.

A wise old maxim asserts the imprudence of one basket.” When the eggs are very numerous and the-persons depending upon them are still more so, even .two or three baskets may be too few ifdr safety. In New Zealand it has always been one of our mistakes as a comthunity that we have had our eggs in too fpw baskets. Consequently,wbeii\»nyi mishap has occurred to • one -bawptful; the results have beea very?Berimia : still more so when several baskets, have gone at once to what the Americans,call “ everlasting smash !”SJprftseveral years this Colony has from the fewness of its egg-baskfets, or ; —to descend to plain language Sits industries. First we trustedwbollytbtwpol,and tbatwas a tower of strength‘ s loDg as its price kept up, the rabbits 1 kept away, and the mortgagees ,>/kepfc off, But when prices fell, whett ijhe rabbits poured in like a rent, and when the mortgagees camp dotyn on the hapless wool-growers failtlfeir pound of flesh, which had to bd forthcoming whether prices were good or bad, and whether sheep or rabbijic ate the feed; then we awoke to the insecurity of the woollen support; do which we had trusted. Grain was bur next resource, as bad English harvests created an increased demand. and: improved means of conveyance enabled tbe corn to be placed on the t- Hbrne market. But other countriesj saw: their chance too, and sharp competition soon rendered the corn-growing'industry a precarious one,.especially. ; aS;.4there was, as in the previous case,-the inexorable mortgagee to be reckoned; with, irrespective of harvests and, prices. Frozen meat in turn assumed a.place as one of our leading • exports, '! S.nd when, a few years back. New Zealand mutton was realising 7id ; .per " lb in the London market, we once.y thought our fortune Was. mafe?? But when the prices gradually. slM' down and down until they ; 3d, then we all began to doubdwdether we should really be saved :.byot£e&b. Gold, once upon a time,' item in our export trade, sed great things, but of our gold export has Bteadiljr New discoveries may ybfe bd.made; probably they will obe j we do not yet know what Mahakipawa vis going to do for us, but so far as'can be judged we have seen the best of . our gold days, and must henceforward be content with something;more auriferously modest -than we to of yore. These have four staple products, and all fhayb in some degree failed us of lately ears. If appearanceSycan be trusted, however, “ there is agopd time coming.” Improvement and', better 'prospects seem looming iff all directions. Wool is a little higher in price. Frozen

meat has gone up appreciably, and is coming more and more into general Use in Europe. Wheat promises to be in large demand at excellent prices. Even the terrible drought in New Pouth Wales, sad aud lamentable as it is for the pastoral and agricultural interosls of that unfortunate Colony, can hardly fail to be New Zealand’s opportunity in more ways than one. We are far from desiring that our neighbours should suffer that we may profit by their misfortunes, butifNew South Wales inconsequence of her losses through drought should become a customer for various things that New Zealand can supply, there is no reason why we should not derive such benefit as may accrue. There is one point which ought never to be lost sight of in appraising the position of New Zealand as a producing country, and that is the artificial obstacles with which her agriculturists have had to contend in the shape of high-priced or encumbered land. It may be said that that is their own fault—they should not have given so much for their land, or borrowed so much money on it at such high interest. No doubt. But it should also be recollected that it was to a large extent “Hobson’s choice” with them. They had either to give that price or go without. They had to raise that mortgage to pay part of the prico and to stock the land, or else to let the land slip from them or remain idle. They could not obtain money at a lower rate of interest. There was no alternative but to do these things—imprudent as we can all now see that they were—or to lose what then appeared a capital chance of establishing themselves well and prosperously. Prices were, good, the Colony was going ahead, and all was seen through rose-coloured glasses. The farmers can hardly be blamed with fairness for their failure to foresee what very few foresaw. Yet the fact remains the same, that these farmers who obtained their land at a reasonable price, and who were not led away by the spirit of speculation to “plunge” and mortgage, can produce wool and meat and corn at a good profit even at the worst of the recent prices. It is the excessive and artificial cost of the land, and its monstrous burdens, that have proved the main obstacle to pastoral and agricultural success of late years. This anomaly will no doubt adjust itself in time. . We suspect it is even now on the bigh load to adjustment. But meanwhile it will not do to trust wholly to these leading industries, which once seemed all in all to this Colony. We must Beek for other strings to our bow. There are two industries of a quasipastoral or agricultural character which have latterly been creeping up steadily into importance and prominence. One is flax and the other is the dairy. Regarding both of these we have most cheering and encouraging reports. New Zealand, as the potential producer of virtually boundless supplies of the finest dairy produce, is becoming daily better known, and now that we are learning how to systematise our method, while the means of conveyance in good condition are being constantly improved, it is evident that no bounds can bs set to the capabilities of this industry. That it is destined to be a very* important one, and to save many a struggling farmer and stockowner we entertain no doubt at all. This country is pre-eminently fitted, both by soil and climate, for dairy farming, and there is a practically unlimited market in Europe. 0 he flax industry, too, has recently made a long step abend. It. is estimated that when New Zealand flax realises £22 to £23 per ton it pays the colonial producer very fairly after deducting all shipping charges and commission. But the latest reports from the Home market show that New Zealand flax is now fetching £29 to £3O per ton. This extra value is nearly all clear profit to the ffNew Zealand producer, and if it be maintained the flax trade will be exceedingly profitable. There seems every reason to expect that higher prices will continue to rule, as each mail records some fresh development in the use of the pTiormium tenax, one being in the manufacture of twine for the reapers-and-binders. The demand seems without limit, and there is wide scope for the remunerative employment of both capital and labour in the industry. There is much to bo done also with the Irish flax when that is properly taken in hand. All of these industries are full of promise and hope for our agriculturists. The time has gone by for trusting everything to wool or meat or grain alone. Farmers- and settlers must novr have several strings

to their bqw. Let them grow wool and grain by ail means, and breed stock, but they must also produce good butter and cheese ; milk for preserving ; flax; poultry, honey, and a host of small products, which will all help to make up an income, and it one or two should fail in any particular season, the others can be fallen back upon. The colonial settler and farmer of the future will have to be a far more versatile being than his predecessor, able to turn his hands to many things, and having a variety of resources; He must no longer have all his eggs in one basket.