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

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 21 December 1880, Page 2

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

( Concluded.)

oi wheat growing countries, it will perhaps be not amiss to mq,ke reference to the cost of producing wheat in the great consuming country—namely, the United Kingdom ; and fqr that purpose the figures as given hy Mr. A. H. Savoy, a practical English farmer, to The Times, will be used, and who states that wheat at 40s per quarter in England is less than it can possibly be produoed for, and in support the following is his estimate : Cost of Growing One Ache of Wheat in

1878. Cost peir acre.

£9 11 6 Producing in quarters, four, or net per quarter 48s, equal to 6s per bushel. Mr. Savory goes on to say, "Should4os per quarter appear likely to be the ruling price in future years, we cannot fail at once to witness a gigantic fall in ren,ts of the arable land under a rotation in which occurs, on a total of some 14,QQQ,0,0Q'acres. The question that should now most seriously agitate the minds o,f the landowners and occupiers of this country must be • Does the present price of wheat leave a profit to the Anjerioan grower, and will he continue to produce it at that price ? Upon this point, it is most important that wo should have some reliable information, which some of your readers are, doubtless, able to supply." It is clear from the facts supplied in this paper that wheat-growing, both in Amerioa [ and South Australia, pays at the cost of 4Qs per quarter for wheat landed in the United Kingdom, and it appears on the face of the incontestable figures which have beenadduced that the English farmer will have to content himself that ere long wheat may probably be' even less than 5s per bushel in' his country, because there will be other wheat-growing nations developing themselves. India may be instanced as one, as the wheat yield of that country has now increased to over 20,000,000 bushels annually. She now takes

fourth place in the world as a wheat-growing country.

In dealing with the all-important subject, i.e., your present and future position, it would be futile on my part to do more than point out to you that yqu will under the force of circumstances, from the irresistible facts which have been laid before you, have tQ devise means whereby you can produce wheat so as to enable you to land the same in the markets of the United Kingdom at 4Qs per quarter. As to how- you are to accomplish this, is a matter for your most 'serious consideration. Truly you have the controlling power to measure the cost of production, but in respect to values ruling in the consuming markets the competitors of other large—one might say almost inex-haustible-producing countries have a voice in this most important question. There ia one other-great point for you to keep pro* minently before you; and that is, that none save the very hegt of articles will oommand the free sale at full quotations. You all no doubt understand what this means. It is that if a commodity, no matter of what kind, is. of a slightly inferior quality the buyers have unquestionably the advantage, because the latter, being skilled, know more about their business than either the producer or and hence it is that they do not meet on a level platform of trading. . . It will not be inopportune to deal with thq subject matter of this paper a step further, and for this purpose twQ will bg introduced. The one as taking the price of in London at say 52s per quarter of 4961bai, and a freight =af 60s per ton qf 22401b5, with a 5 per cent, primage. AUqw* 1

ing that the wheat was delivered f.o.b. at one of your ports, the gross reaH'ation would be, say, 6s 3Jd per bushel of GOlba. The expenses of realising according to authentic and verified account sales may bo reckoned at 2s per bushel. Of course you will bear in mind that if you are subject to a wharfage rate of say 2s per ton at Port Lyttelton, and a railway rate of say 20s per ton, which would be the average rate you have to pay that these would reduce your net proceeds by 7d—from 4s 2.{d to 3s, 7{<l per bushel! This then, for the sake of distinction, may be set down as your present unenviable position. The freights for the past season were exceptionally high, and therefore for the purpose of showing you clearly what you may expect to have to combat with; in the other case, the rate of freight will be taken at 409 per ton, which may be looked upon as a tolerably favorable one for the coming season, with wheat selling in the most favored porta n the United Kingdom at 40s per quarter—--5s per bushel, the expenses of shipping and ■ealisation may be set down at Is. s|d, eaving to the grower 3s 6Jd per bushel, igain, it will be necessary to deduct the ;harges of transport from your farms to f.o.b. it Port Lyttelton, 7d per bushel, which •educes' your net realisation to 2s jer bushel. This then, is your future josition, and until you load the ships lirect from Timaru to the consuming narkets, it must remain so. The most niquitous charge of 7d per bushel, which, rou have to pay as a rule, for inland charges 1 rom the railway station at which you deliver rour grain to f.o.b.' at Port Lyttelton, is nore than the productive industry can jossibly stand. Why, gentlemen, it is equal ;o one-sixth part of your net productions ; >r, in other words, 7d out of every 3s Cid vorth of wheat goes in railway charges and vharfages ! While this is unquestionably so, ret the American wheat growers are, fronv idvices of a recent date, having one bushel >f wheat conveyed by inland carriage over a listance of 900 miles for 3Jd, and that it is iow reckoned upon with almost a certainty hat'wheat would be carried from St. Louis ;o Liverpool by the Mississippi route, the: listance of which is over 5000 miles, at a rate >f 6d per bushel, which is less than you are iow. paying for carrying your wheat to the iliip at Port Lyttelton. Now, gentlemen, vhafc do you do ?. Farmers like you submit ;o such with your proverbial grumble ; you vill find that it will require from you more ictive steps being, taken to enable you to ,vork your own corn growing to a profit; and f your astute statesmen of the present day. :annot work your internal affairs of the Colony to bring about a more satisfactory ssue than they have hitherto done, some of rou will have to turn politicians in the true lense of the word. So long as you have insxperienced men placed in responsible posi-* iions, so long will you find your railways grossly mismanaged and other important State matters improperly carried out* With respect to yourselves, gentlemen, ron are, as farmers and practical taitn, better üble to realise your over-burdened position ;han anyone else can do so for yon. To :ome extent the cost of your production can >e lessened by your taking more economical iteps in the method of realisation upon your iroductive industry. It is only by reducing ;he cost of production that you can roeefc /our strong competitors in the open markets >f the world. You cannot for a time look or any reduction in the system of transportng your produce, &c., to the most advanlageous shipping port, for the injudicious sxpenditure of a large portion of the publio lebt on many of your railroads, prevents a ■eduction of the railway rates as a whole 5 md while on this topic, it will not bo amiss ;o remind you that with a State incubus in ihe shape of taxation such will be a serious lrawback to your future prosperity. It will ,ake the wisest of your men to pull yon ihrough your present deplorable mismanaged itate of affairs. You will have to devote no e of your time than you have hitherto lone to the due and proper administration >f public matters. In this paper I have not touched upon the> ;apabilities of Amorioa as an export fresh neat country. In this respect she takes the eading position, and from her natural situation there is little doubt but that she will ully maintain her pre eminence in the UTOre. r

Before ooncluding this paper, I would wish to point out to you the commercial importance of the Australasian Colonies. Their revenue is equal to that of Great Britain in the year 1795, and the value of their joint exports are fully equal to those of the Mother Country for the year 1534. It is, therefore only reasonable to predict that, with ordi-. nary State management, the Colonics will in future take a leading position iu the com-i meicial world.

Your great aim should bo ta keep inviolate the freedom of your commerce ; to avoid all tariffs which are in the least protective, aa national prosperity can be only permanently established on a free commercial basis; to inculcate into the minds of the rising generation the fundamental and great principle of religion; and above all, use your best endeavors ta keep all insincavo political aspirants from obtaining a seat in any public position. It should obviously be the study of the true statesman to legislate for tho welfare of the many, and avoid making laws tcs benefit the few whose object is invariably to obtain selfish ends j and as a consequence, national retrogression is iuovitable. Your present dormant position is clearly traceable to a total want of a proper - one would bo almost warranted in saying honest—administration of public affairs. For has not tho order of the day been to scramble for place and power, to carry out some deep or occult scheme ?

£ s. d. Ten loads of manure carted on to land, at 7s Gd per load 3 15 0 Spreading 0 2 0 Ploughing, four horses, at 3s 6d per diem 0 14 0 Twenty-four bushels of S6ed wheat at 6s 0 13 6 grilling 0 2 0 Two harrowings, at Is 6d 0 a 0 Rolling ... ... M( 0 1 0 Hoeing and weeding Q 4 Q Cutting, Tying, and stooking ,.. 0 12 Q Carting and stacking ... ~ 0 6 6 Threshing ... 0 10 6 Winnowing, is, carting to marl$et, Is 6d ... 0 2 6 Proportion of sundry expenses, 3a, rent, rakes, tithea, and taxes, 43s 2 8 0 Interest on capital, at £12 per acre, at 5 per cent. 0 12 0 £10 7 0 Deducting manure; value of straw, 1J ton, at 12s 6d 0 15 6