THE RURAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24635, 17 June 1941, Page 9

THE RURAL WORLD

cßomm> wools POSITION IN ' AOSTRALIA A contradictory position has .arisen in regard to the production of crossbred wools, in Australia, says the latest report of-Winchcombe, Carson, Ltd. They are specially needed to equip the British with"' clothing. The basis of them underthje appraisement scheme is satisfactory. If the export sitdSlioh vfere normal, production of - them would expand. Because of war-time circumstance*, prices for lambs arc very uncertain. From the viewpoint of rhonetary returns, the outlook is, therefore, not encouraging for the r increased of" crossbred sheep, which are chiefly run for their lamb producing capabilities. The prospect of a larger clip of crossbred from Australia is consequently not as promising as it was, unless the temporary prohibition on lamb for "ffifsbtt T xs lifted.

LINEN FLAX GROWTH OF INDUSTRY MORE THAN £1,000,000 SPENT NEW FACTORIES TO BE ESTABLISHED Work is to be started .at once on the erection of six new linen flax processing factories, and on the installation of tank retting equipment in five of the | : factories which are already in. operaj tion. This work will involve an expenditure of upwards of £500,000, and will bring the total spent on equipment and operation of the linen flax industry in New Zealand to more than £1,000,000. The Linen Flax Committee set up last year by the Minister in charge (Mr D. G. Sullivan), met in Christchurch this week to consider the progress of the industry so far, and to make final arrangements for the-addi-tional plant that will be required for processing the greatly; increased; acrer age;of flax that;will be grown in the South Island this , Venn Mr F. Johnson, .under-secretary of . the Department of Industries and ' whdJ.. is chairman of the committee, said that it was thought that, the, first two years’ operations would return- payments for. i linen flax fibre sufliffidftt not',;paly, to nay all running expenses,' but to cover a proportion of the capital cost as well. . ,_ With the establishment of the six new factories at Seddon, Fairlie, Geraldine, Gore. Clydevale, and Woodlands 17 factories will be in operation in New Zealand. They will deal with the produce of an area of 25.000 acres against* the 13,800 acres that were handled'this season by 11 factories. It ■is expected that the production of linen fibre will; exceed 4300 tons next year; and that in addition 2000 tons .of tow. and 6900 tons of seed will be produced. , To separate the valuable fibre from the woody stalk of the flax plant, three processes are used. The oldest is by dew retting, in which a rotting process occurs spontaneously when flax straw is left exposed to the weather for. a certain time. A relatively new process is by tank retting, in which the fibre and wood are separated by a carefully controlled rotting process carried but in concrete tanks. The third process, but one which is so new that it is not vet fully understood by the users of the resultant fibre, is the natural flax process, in which .straw is* sent to the scutching machines •: without any retting process at all. Its ;gteat_advantage, and specially in New 1 Zealand* -where labour costs are high, : *is ,thdt it does away with the greater ■part 'of the extensive hand labour that the other two processes require. When Mr J. W. Hadfield. director of the linen flax industry, was in Great Britain in .1939, natural flax fibre was attracting great attention, and some of the largest users, including some of .the Imperial Government services, were eager buyers of the fibre. When ‘■the' industry was; established here, therefore, provision was made for the production of a big quantity of natural fibre in the total output of the Dominion, and a number ,of factories have already produced quantities of fibre by this process. Tank-retted Fibre Preferred

Since the war began, however it has been found that users of linen flax fibre prefer an article with which they are thoroughly familiar, and with the Imperial Government’s request Tor a greatly-increased production in New Zealand this year came a request that tank-retted fibre feferice to dew-retted’or'nattiral flax. -•(Five factories equipped this year only fof dew-retting will therefore ,be equipped for tank-retting next year, beside the six new tank-retting units to be erected. Only one factory,', that at Leeston, will next year produce natural,fibre. Beside producing' a considerably^Ph’sc,e, valuable grade of fibre, tdnfcretting'-'wilL allow production to be speeded up to a marked extent,, an important /consideration ijt view of the urgent needs of the Imperial Government. -vy/'ri'P.;

Beyond the statement that it was expected That the value of the crop in the first two years would .pay all running expenses and repay, some of the capital expenditure, Mr Johnson was able to say nothing on the 1 value of the crop.. .He said that the; value of the fibre produced here, though it was acknowledged by experts to be of good grade, was not so far-aeccufately known, and production costs:’at ' the factories were only approximate ; yet. He said that reports received by the ■committee indicated that farmers: were keen to grow the crop, which, had for most growers turned out to be a profitable addition to their farming operations.’-" ■■■■'- { ’ YOUNG FARMERS CLUB NOTES

The monthly meeting of the Lawrence Young : Farmers’ Club was held in the Council Chambers, c Lawrence, on June 7, with a fair attendance of members. The only business discussed

at the meeting was the question of the club’s participation in the radio talk from 4YA. It was subsequently decided not to .take part, this year. Mr. W. Labes gave an interesting talk on the South Otago District Committee meeting which was recently held in Balclutha, and also addressed members on the annual meeting of the Otago-Southland Council. c

The Roxburgh Young Farmers’ Club held its meeting on June 9, when 14 ‘members were present, with Mr D. Lister in the chair. After the.formal business had,.been dispensed with, Mr A. Bain? reported the business transacted at the annual Provincial Council meeting at which he had been a ■ delegate. Mr G. Calder, ; .of the Department of Agriculture, then addressed the meeting on “ Limiting Factors to; Production.”

The Upper Clutha Young Farmers’ Club held its meeting on the evening of June 10, when 12 members were present, with Mr R. Rowley in the chair. Two ngw members were welcomed by the chairman. After the formal business had been concluded, the meeting was addressed by Mr G. Calder, of the Department of Agriculture! At the conclusion of the meeting a vote-of thanks was accorded to Mr S. Kane and Miss Kane, the host and hostess of the evening. * * * Inspection of the membership.roll of the Lawrence Club shows that, numerically, this club is in a good condition, the total number of members being 35. The advisory president is Mr R. McCaw, of Waitahuna, and the club fchairman Mr A. Cameron, of Waitahuna. The club secretary is Mr J. H. Robertson, of Waitahuna, Lawrence. • _■r* ■ - : ¥ The .annual meeting of the Moa Flat Club was held towards the end of May. Mr G. N. Love was elected as president, Mr S. N. Mclntosh as chairman, and Mr H. A. Duff as secretary. * * * The last meeting of the Enfield Club was held on June 9, when 13 members were present. After routine business had been disposed of a debate was ’heldii the 1 subject -being' “Horses; v. Tractors.”

By RUSTICUS,

DAIRY PRODUCE INCREASE IN OUTPUT TOTAL VALUE £27,759,789 An increase in butter-fat production in the Dominion of approximately 10 per cent, for the nine months of the season to the end of April is represented in the gradings of dairy produce ifor export announced in the annual ireport of the National Dairy Conference. ; The total gradings for export for the ; period are summarised as follows: — i Nine 1939-40 1940-41 Increase ; months. (tons). (tons). (p.c.) Butter .. 125,084 131,859 5.41 Cheese .. 84.705 106,726 1 25.99

The quality of the butter graded, the report stated, had been irregular, with a slight downward tendency in comparison with the previous year. The reason was found largely in soring feed flavours, a problem which appeared to be becoming more serious. Cheese quality had been well maintained, in spite of the large change-over of supply. ■ Some districts in the north had experienced difficulty due to staffing and plant problems. The aggregate value of dairy produce exported in the financial year ended March 31 was £27,759,789, an increase Of £4,852,089 over the 1939-40 figure. Included in the amounts are all types of produce—butter, cheese, casein and dried,,arid condensed milk, etc. ■ Statistics furnished by the Government Statistician reveal that in the 1939-40 financial year of the dairy companies operating expenses totalled £3,611,188, of which salaries and wages absorbed £1,074,138 and materials £1,197,383. The cost of butter-fat (payout) was £26,134,755, and the undistributed surplus £94,894. The averages per pound butter-fat for 1939-40 comoared with the 1938-39 season as follows: —Salaries and wages, 0.69 d per lb (against 0.73 d); milk and cream cartage, 0'.32d . (0.32 d); materials, 0.77 d (0 74d); other expenses of manufacture. 0.54 d (0.57 d); total operating expenses, 2.30 d (2.36 d); pay-out, 16.66 d (16.48 d): undistributed surplus. 0.06 d 0.02 d); total, 19.02 d (18.86 d).

ARTIFICIAL BREEDING AUSTRALIAN EXPERIMENT REMARKABLE RESULTS Extraordinary success with artificial insemination is claimed by a New South Wales breeder of stud merinos, a Mr W. T. Merriman. of Merryville, claiming that nearly 2000 of the top ewes of his flock are expected to deliver lambs this season from a 10-year-old ram. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Merriman was of the opinion that artificial insemination was no longer in the experimental stages, but could be accepted as a proven factor in stud stock breeding. In unskilled hands its tremendous potency might prove dangerous, but in thte hands of expert breeders it offered the means of advancing stock standards at a rate previously Undreamt of. Nearly 10 years ago he had bred in the Merryville No. 1 family an outstanding ’ medium-wool ram, which, because of its bold and handsome frame, he had called the “Master Builder.” He decided to reserve this ram for show purposes, and won consistently with .him at die principal southern show's, as well as in Sydney arid Melbourne. Unwilling to part with him, Mr Merriman sent him, at seven years of age, to his breeding depot at Laurel Hills, where for the ■"following season he served as a syndicate sire. It was here that outstandr ing progeny, were traced to his influence, and he was brought back to Merryville. * “ ■■ . , v , .In 1939, about 200. stud seminated to him, about 50„ : pjS^-cent. of which delivered lambs”’alt healthy, normal, and promising. The experiment was repeated in }940, with a somewhat better percentage result. By this time the 1939 lambs had developed so, that they opened their account with show victories, and have added to it this season by taking championships for rams and ewes at shows. Rating the crop of lambs ,as the best ever produced in the 60 years’ history of the Merryville stud, Mr Merriman set out this season to take the fullest advantage of the sire. Accordingly, over a period of three’months, which finished a few weeks ago, 2000 selected ewes were artificially inseminated to him. For this purpose the sperm was taken from the ram seven days a week over the whole period, each batch being tested for virility. .At the enof of three months he was still highly virile, arid in . good condition, and will probably be used, again next season in a similar way; It has since been revealed that, following the improved'technique adopted this season, at least 86 per cent, of the ewes are in lamb. About 500 ewes_ were also .inseminated-to , other top sires of the ’ stud.

DAIRY FACTORY PROBLEMS FEMALE WORKERS UNSUITABLE )?. “ The absence of a large number of dairy factory workers with the lighting services has created serious problems, and, with the necessity to work shifts in many of the cheese factories during the coming season, it is absolutely essential that remaining key men "should be retained in , the industry,” states the annual report of the National Dairy Conference. The matter - had become a national problem, the report continued, and it was to be hoped that the Government would heed the urgent representations which had been' made by the Dairy Industry Council. The Minister of National Service, it was stated, fully appreciated the position. The proposal to utilise the services of women and girls for light work in the factories would not relieve the situation to any great extent, added the report, as most of the work involved in the manufacturing processes was of too heavy a nature for female workers. That scheme was tried during the last war, but the scope was found to be very limited. Mentioning that the drain was accentuated by the drift of rural workers to secondary industries, where shorter hours and higher rates of pay were attractive, the report states that the Dairy Industry Council has urged measures to make it compulsory for employees to remain in essential industries unless granted permission to transfer to other employment.