MR. BATEMAN'S LECTURE ON FARMERS' CO-OPERATION.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 15 December 1880, Page 2

MR. BATEMAN'S LECTURE ON FARMERS' CO-OPERATION.

The following paper was read by Mr. Bateman to tbe farmers of South Canterbury : Gentlemen, —From observations which came under my notice when on a recent visit to your highly fertile district, and by the request p,f sevoral influential gentlemen in your locality, 1 have been induced to contribute this paper upon a subject of great significance. Although the views which will be submitted for your calm consideration may be in many respects o.f a character by no meang new to many, yet, as a comparative stranger- in this locality, I trust that you will not think it presumptive on my part in giving a general outline of what naturally strikes one with -egard to your present and future position.

You are no doubt fully alive to. t\7o important facts, namely—The great drawback thftt you are subjeot "to with regard to the want of natural facilities for transporting the rosults of your productive industry to the consuming markets of the world ; and (2) the inherent wealth which is hidden in your district for carrying on successfully agnqultural and pastoral pursuits, :ye the great features which at o.nce strike a stranger who niay be of a thoughtful or practical turn of injhd, The solution, which one cannot possibly get over, is : How is it that as a progressive and competitive people you have not utilised Nature's gifts to a mnch greater degree than you have heretofore done? It caunot but be generally admitted that while your district is unequalled for natural richness, yet the means for t:he exaltation of your productions are surrounded with difficulties of a most formidable character; and that is not until quite recently that you have actively bestirred yourselves to attempt to surmount the existing drawbacks. Nevertheless, it is patent to the unprejudiced mind tliivt if you had taken at an earlier stage more I'csolute and active measures to provide artificial means as a substitute, in the absence of natural ones, you would have occupied probably the foremost position in this Colony, in places of allowing other parties to take credit for that which they are really not entitled to. This ig briefly your present position. ' To assist hi elucidating the subject of this paper it will be necessary to make reference to statistical return,?. Jn some respects these returns are indeed far from being of a reliable nature, caused from a totil want of judicial arrangement in their compilation. In'a great measure they will, nevertheless, form some data to work u; on : imperfect as thoy are, yet sufficient evidence can be hro.ught tq the surface to impart tp you a general kno.wlecige as to the cprrect state of affairs appertaining to your position. Tp clear up the allegation tha,t the statistical information as compiled by the Government authorities is unworthy of credence, and which it is necessary to establish before the main question is dealt with, it will be desirable to carefully analyse the agricultural returns ; and for that pur? pose those of the province pf Canterbury friths yejira JS79 and 1860 will bo carefully considered,

Taking the returns for the year 1879, 173,595 acres are recorded as under wheat crop, yielding, according to estimate, 3,621,820 buShelg. By that very high authority, the Chamber of Commerce, Christchurch, the export returns for that year ending the 30th June, the Port of Lyttelton is credited with exporting 1,492,376 bushels, as well as 1937 tons of flour, representing 59,102 bushels ! and the Port of Timar.uwitli 435,473 bushels; in sll, 2,006,951 bushels of wl>eai. To the last named quantity has to be added requirements for aeed qonsump. tion. Assuming the population in Canterbury to be in round numbers 100,000 souls, for local consumption, at "5 bushels per head, 500,000 bushels would be necessary, and for seed purposes, at 14 bushels per acre, 260,842 bushels would probably be required I together making 760, Sl2 bushels of follows that mulpr. thosp headings, £,<?,, exported, seed and eonsrimptlou rerjuirein ents, 2,767,763 bushels are accounted tor, leaving nearly one million bushels of wheat still left. Now, if the Government returns were correctly compiled, the exports for the year 1379 shoitld have fj,QOP,OOO* bushels pf wheat instead of only 2,000,000, Calmly reviewing these figures as they are presented, there is only one conclusion that can be reasonably arrived at, namely, that the Governmeut . tatist has overestimated the wheat yield for the crop of 1878 by about p.ne million bushels !

Turning to the state of affairs for this yesir ? thp. results are much worse. The estimated wheat area for this year, 1880, is returned as 193,754 acres, yielding 5,465,700 bushels. The wheat exports for the present year ending 30th June from Poit -Lytteltoij foreign, intercolonial, and coastwise —are reqorde4 by tfte game liigl} authority (the Chamber of Commerce) as equal to 2,450,45S bushels, and from Timaru 467,867 bushels; t0gether2,918,325. Makingthe usual ?tllo\yance for seed and locfvl consumption p,f mifiS bushels, there is accounted for 3,708,491 bushels of wheat, showing an pver-estimated return in the wheat yield of 1,757,201 bushels for the last yeaps cyop, The average wheftt yield the'province of Canterbury would consequently be reduced in 1879 from 20.8 bushels per acre to 15.9 bushels \ and for the yield in 1880 from 28.2 bushels per acre to 19.6 bushels, These deductions are arrived at on the assumption that the Canterbury wheat productions have been exported exclusively from the ports witlliii. this province. After -making an ample allowance for a part of the produce of South Canterbury finding its ->vay to the ports in the Qtago province, there Ca,nno.t be a, shadow o.f a doubt but the mode

of arriving at the grain yields is not only totally unreliable, but requires to be administered in a more businesslike way. Before leaving this subject would it not be well for your various Agricultural Associations to consider this blundering and highly unsatisfactory metho 1 as now existing, with a view of taking a different course in endeavoring to procure true returns ? The following is suggestive :—That a short Act of Parliament should be passed rendering it necessary for the owner of each threshingmachine to pay a nominal fee as a license under a penal condition return the actual number of the bushels threshed, and also that every farmer should furnish the owner of each machine with a statutory declaration setting forth the acres of grain produced after his crop has been threshed, any negligence on his part to be punishable with a severe penalty, and that these two returns should be furnished to the Government Statist, and from such the statistics should be every year corrected. It is one of the fundamental duties of the true statesman to devise means to meet the irregularities which have been pointed out.

In the United Kingdom, the agricultural returns are viewed with such vital importance that a variety of means are brought into use for gaining reliable information. It is worthy of note that they are so far perfect that the results arrived at, although through distinct functions, yet in the maiu agree. Cases are on record where these returns have not varied on an average half a bushel to the acre. This is given as au instance to show with what preciseness the statistics in the Old Country are attended to. Such a system is necessary, because the Governments of nations are responsible for the wellbeing of their subjects, and in the absence of such wise essentials, it would, in thickly populated countries where importations of the common necessaries of life have to be counted upon, be utterly impossible to make due provision for a supply of food at such periods as requirements demanded. In fact, if it were not so, it might so happen that extreme famine would follow ; hence it is that the imperative duty of the heads of all responsible Governments, whether Colonial or otherwise, is to carry out State functions with some degree of business tact. It is equally true that if some of our august Colonial gentlemen were worthy of the name of the real statesman, their conduct should be exemplary, and they should also be the first movers in "all progressive matters, whether national or otherwise. ~lu many instances, the very opposite is more generally the rule than the exception. Referring to the rate of freights which haa for some time ruled in New Zealand, if you expect to procure such on reasonable terms, more expedition will have to be exercised iu loading foreign-bound ships. Take, for example, Port Lvttelton, where at times one notices that there are chronicled marvellous attainments in the loading of grain ships. The Padishah, according to records, from the day she wa§ berthed at the wharf to the time she was. ready to leave the wharf was ten I days ;■ and took on board during that time I 15 656 sacks of grain, or say at the rate of j 150 tons per day. The next best work done was in loading the N ebo. She was eighteen days at the wharf, and during that time is reported to have taken p,n board 18,510 saoks of grain and a few- bales of wool or skins. This ?hip tftok cm hoard at the rate of about IQ3 tons per day. The Garlock was fortynine days at the wharf in taking in 17,769 sacks of grain, or less than 38 tang per day. This, gentlemen, may be looked upon aa satisfactory to those who, are at this particular conjuncture engaged in the shipping trade of New Zealand, for tho attempt is a mere apology, and the freights have to pay for all such incompetence. In open roadsteads in many parts of the other colonies, where all the cargo has to be shipped in lighters, better work has been often done than that even in the loading of the Padishah, in Port Lyfctelton. These unprecedented delays in shipping in New Zgalaj}d are also niattors which those who are oonneoted with the productive industry will have to take in hand if they wish to prosper. As the best work yet don? when attempting to despatch vessels in the famous port of Lyttelton, possessing all the rnqdevn appliances for discharging and loading ships, has been given, it w-ill be well to give the other extreme. The Orugader and the Lady Jocelyn were each reported to have been at the wharf respectively 134: days and 103 day, and several vessels from 50 to 81 days. For this shipping mismanagement productive industry, in a great measure, has to pay. In speaking of this important industry, yp.u will cl arly understand that all those in oonnoction with agriculture are mainly concerned. To place before you your unsatisfactory position, reference will be made to the vast amount of your grain productions, which, on account of your vory defective harbor accommodation, has to be carried over an avor. r i.gti of one hundred miles by railway to Port Lyttelton, and probably to the principal port in the Province of Otago, at a cost of as, the least lus pur ton, which, by-the-bye, is a little under the cost of carrying the same by railway in America one ton « di's-: tance of over nine hundred miles, or nine times the distance |

Jp your twa counties, Geraldine and Waimate," last year the estimated grain yield was returned as 4,333,043 bushels, in addition to which may be taken, say, one-half the grain which was produced this year in the adjoining County of Ashburton, 1,818,317 bushels, in the aggregate 6,25.1,360 bushels, all of which natuvaUy belongs to your port, and no doubt if you had a, aafe harbor with modern shipping facilities the portion of this production which would be available for export would be shipped from Timaru, in plftoe of which this year you are only credited with shipping the insignificant quantity of 467,567 bushels of wheat. The port of Lyttelton is not only brought into note through your want of a harbor, but your land is subjected to two.rentals. This is clearly so from the fact that if your land is properly farmed you may on an average grow in grain fully one ton to the acre, for which, as you are at present situated, costs you over fifteen shillings for railway oayyiage from the capital town of your district to the only available port in Cj\utorb.iry. To meet this great barrier, would it not be prudent for you to be more reliant and to perfect your harbor works on an extensive scale, even though you had to resort to the levying of a harbor rate on t e landed property within your district ? By such a course all of you would immensely benefit; it would unquestionably be fsir- better for you to have a free port and pay. a few shillings in the pound on the valued annual rental of your property than submit, as you are doing at present, to a positive direct tax of over fifteen shillings per acre upon yor,F land which is now under cultivation. Under such a course you would reign pre-eminent oyer your neighbors who, to. ship at Port Lyttelton, for the item of two shillings per ton wharfage must tell in the future upon tlw shipping trade in that port, and which is alone equivalent to two shillings per acre of a yearly tax upon good agricultural land. Moreover, it is indeed very questionable if the present rate would suffice were you to exert yourselves in retaining your productions to the rjatuvfy pari. Such a course as has been suggested will force itself upon you at no distant elate, for in the competitive race, you have to meet other producing nations, and this to a much, greater- extent will inevitably be your future position, Economics will have to he one of your teachings, as well as self-reliance, In addition, it will be in the future an important consideration for you to take care thatthe money for national purposes is not improperly employed, and that if your Government is important you will act wisolt' in loaning your own money and making provision for the interest of such, If this system had been more general, you would find less of what arenavyadaystermedreproductive works and sewer " white elephants " in the Colony, because, as a simple fact, there would he less scrambling for public undertakings, or what might be correctly oalled political jobbery, if the burden e,f the interest tax fell upon that section of the community which has benefited i b.y the expenditure, It niyafc be admitted that in all matters, whether with respect to State administration or that of the individual, the most judiciously managed must eventu ally survive, and to support this view a reference will be made to your great competitors, the Americana, and others. Before proceeding with the position of the Americans as a wheat-growing people, it will be necessary to impress upon : the farmers of the colony, and others interested, that the price obtained in the free: and open markets in which their commodities are. sold will have to the measure as to the cost of your production. Various papers have been read in England upon the cost of the production of wheat in America, the short particulars of which may

interest you ; and this matter is one of tlm most vital importance to thiswoSlony. reference will also be made 0 the cost of wheat production iu one <Jt your sister colonies, as we'l_ as to that in England Although the not backward in publicly telling yoirthat they "carc not a jot for American " system, " or any other foreign organisation," yet such mißleaders have indeed much to learn. Is it not by t| lo force of example and following the precepts of wiser men than ourselves, that wo gain knowledge? It is, gentlemen, ineontro. vertibly so. -.The farmers of these colonies have yet much to gain by acting up to the teachings ofi others. Keen rivalry and ox. periencc are thfi best of all lessons. The largest wheat farm in America is that of Mr. Oliver Dalrymple's, which is situated in the valley of the, Red River, at Casselton, in the territory of Dakota, consisting of 75,0„|) acres. Some five years ago this farm was a wilderness, with no sign of human life visible. The soil is rich and alluvial, varying from 12 to 20 inches deep. The management of thia large farm is carried out with the greatest preciseness. The general working of the vast area is more systematically arranged, and the minor details receive far more consideration,, than the ordinary farm of a few hundred acres. The first cost of the land is authoritatively stated to have been from 40 cents to 5 dollars per acre ; that is that the price varied from Is 8d to LI per acre. There are few taxes, these being mostly for educational purposes, and are estimated at 10 cents per acre. The estate is divided iu portions of 5000 acres under separate superintendents. The whole of the work is carried on by day labor, the rate of wages varying from 18 to, 25 dollars per month—lßs to 25s per week—, except in harvest time they advance to '2.25 dollars per day, or 9s, including board. Tho threshing is done out in the .field directly the wheat is harvested, and as many as 000 men are frequently employed. Provision is made for men who are sick, whore such has arisen from causes beyond their own control. They are nursed with tho necessary medical attendance free of charge. Although this, estate has been but quite recently taken up,, yet there are 20,000 acres under crop, ani 5000 acres are annually brought under cultivation. No less than 400 mules or horses are engaged preparing the land for crop during the early part of seed time. The iields arc, conveniently laid out in 100 acres. The prairie land is easily broken up. No impediments of any kind are met with, The cost of breaking up the natural land is calculated at 2.50 dollars per aero - say Ids. Stubble or cross-ploughing costs 1.75 dollars, jor 7s per acre. The feeding of tho teams [ when in constant work is carefully attended to, each mule or horso having 12 quarts of mixed home-grown oats and barley daily,, with 15 to 20 lbs of prairie hay. During the winter months seed is carefully cleaned and made ready for use. No picking or dressing is adopted. Tho seed used is about If bushels to the acre, and is sown by broadcast machines • aa many as 100 are at work daily for three weeks during seed timo, Twq hundred sets of harrows are used, four united wo,rk in a set, covering 20 foet in width, and are drawn by four mules. Harvest commences early in August. One hundred and fifty self-binding harvesters arcemployed, and tho reaping operation is done in the short timo of about fourteen days. Twenty-one steam threshers are employed, and ten waggons are engaged in carting the grain to the railway stations, at an averngo distance of two miles. Every busy day sft railway cars are loaded, each containing 400 bushels of grain, and are usually despatched to Lake Superior, which is distant some 250 miles. Mr. Dalrymple's crops have averaged twenty bushels of wheat to the acre; tho natural weight is 891bs to the bushel. Tho wheat on arrival at Lake Superior is run through the winnowing machine, and thew graded as No. 1 hard. His oafc crops; yield ; 0 to 60 bushels, of 401bs to. the bushel, per acre ; the natural weight is only 391bs to the imperial bushel. The barley crops, yield an a« average 40 bushels to the acre.. (To be continued.)