AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS AND PROSPECTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1762, 29 August 1885, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS AND PROSPECTS.

So far the ruling prices for cereals in the markets of the Colony have been disappointing to growers, whilst merchants or speculators have had but slight inducements to operate. A considerable proportion of the grain offered has either been soft or discoloured, therefore unfit for long voyage transit, and unsuitable for foreign markets even were it possible to deliver it in the same condition as when despatched. Buyers therefore have been restricted to those who have had requirements for local use, and to a limited number of shippers to Australia. It is undoubtedly the case that growers of prime parcels have been holding in the expectation of higher rates, and the present feeling in the markets would appear to indicate an improvement in values, but judging from the latest European advices prices cannot reach the standard so confidently predicted earlier in the season. The intelligence of a much restricted area under wheat in the United States and the partial failure of the winter sown crop has failed to produce a sensibly-felt influence at Mark Lane or any of the other great European corn markets. The feeling in Great Britain appears to be that the protective duties just imposed by the French Government and. certain recent prohibitive enactments in Germany which must affect the grain productions of Austria and Hungary, will force supplies on the markets that are open, and especially those of the Mother Country. The idea of any substantial or permanent rise in the price of cereals is not therefore entertained, but rather the belief appears to be general that values of wheat, for example, will settle down to from 6s to 8s per quarter under those ruling a couple of years ago. In this Colony the results of the past two harvests have practically solved the question of grain-growing. A poor or even a medium crop will not pay, nor will a crop however good if the quality of the grain prove indifferent. But while this is so, it is equally certain that the average lands of New Zealand, fairly well cultivated, would give yields equal to the highest at present known. It will not be pretended that our cultivation can for a- moment be compared with the elaborate systems of the United Kingdom, and yet our averages of production amount to nearly as much; are more than double those of America ; very nearly two and a-half times those of the Colony of Victoria, and about three times those of South Australia. The conclusion is therefore irresistible that the different varieties of grain, if grown on suitable land and with proper cultivation, will continue to pay the grower in New Zealand. But it is notorious that the cultivation, and above all the harvesting of our grain, has been most negligent. The reputation of our wheat in the English markets at the present time is undeniably bad; a few years ago it was just the reverse. With improvsd implements, which have greatly cheapened cultivation and harvesting, farmers appear to have becqme more indifferent to the necessity of attention to details, and the consequences have been transparent in the huge quantities of chickfeed which have glutted the markets, A farmer in the old country would be ashamed to send even to a peddling local market such stuff as has been sent forward daily to Dunedin during the past four months, He would— knowing his business— put it to a better use on his farm by means of stock, but here it must in the usual way be carted, trucked, stored, and sold under the hammer, with results which many settlers are writhing under at the present moment. It cannot be said of lost harvesting " that it was exceptionally unfavourable. '"*'** more propitious than the two EBBOIIE 88011 ■ . this the It was certain \ -a am in the preceding ones; now. - - 55eaimmense quantities of damage markets discourage the hope that fcie* . land farmers have yet thoroughly realised their position. In regard to wool, mutton, beef, butter, cheese, and all other produce, the position is precisely similar. We appear to be passing through a peiiod of over-production, and during which the best articles only pay the producer. Take wool, for example, and examine the result of the London sales which closed on the 10th ult. Goldsborough's Monthly Circular says: " This, the third, series was brought to a close on the 10th insi, after one of the most depressing campaigns since 1869 Seventy thousand bales, or 18 per cent., were withdrawn, and much as we deprecate the practice we cannot feel surprise at the extent to which it has been carried when we consider the serious fall in values since the opening of the current year, the" decline being in greasy merinos from Id to 3d per.lb below last November rates." In

another part of the report the' firm — a leading authority on the subject — states : " It is difficult to account for the present depressed state of the London market, otherwise than that consumption is not keeping pace with production, and we are inclined to think that ,the present downward tendency will not receive a decided check until there, is a cessation in the present rate of increase of sufficient duration to allow* the market to recover its customary buoyancy. Each year the wools from the River Plate provinces increase in quantity and improve in quality, and they. are now competing' with Australian merino to a greater extent than ever before. Such. being the case, it behores our flockmasters to give every attention to the improvement of their flocks, for only by increasing the value of their fleeces will they be able to hold their own against the almost countless millions of sheep that graze on the fertile plains of the Argentine." , • m It will be remembered that owing to the drought in the Australian Colonies it was anticipated that the wool exports from Australasia in 18S4-85 would exhibit a great falling-op, The following table for which we are indebted^ to the circular already quoted gives the totals as compared with previous years : — Table of Wool Shipments vrom 'xiri the; Aus"traman Colonies ax» New Zealand fob the vkar kxdixfi 30th jvse, 1885, compared with StiiPMEvrs for Corresponding Period kndxxg 30th Juxb, 1881. , , „ - ' Colony. k88,!k 88 ,!" 5 J, 88 . 3-*3 -* ge|c'" in'crs J Bales. Bales. Bales. Balpa Victoria ... 329,911 329,828 — m N.S. Wales ... 292,993 319,913 26,020 — S. Australia ... 152,350 121,360 — ao oqa Queensland ... 74,002 74,650 648 — Tasmania ... 17,268 , 18,84-i 1 576 _ W. Australia ... 13,222 13.204 — jg Total Australian "879,746 877,779 29,144 31 Ofll New Zealand ... 232,100 226,984 — 5416 Total Australian 1,111,846 1,104,783 29,144 38,207 29J44 I Net increase ... ___ 7 ggg i It must, however, be borne in mind that the j season 1884-85 started with a surplus of Austrai lian wools amounting to nearly 30,000 bales, from the clip of 1883 ; and this year the\Colonies have been quite depleted. The following table shows the distribution of last clip :— - ' ' '' § 1 I" &f &f gS 'Total 3 I " Bales. Bales. Bales. Bales. Victoria. - • ...276,601;.) 47,089 ... 6,221 ... 329,911 NS. Wales ...266,345 ... 25,833 ... 815 ... 292,993 South Australia ...149,740 ... 2,610... — ...152,350 Queensland ... 74,002... — ... — 47 002 Tasmania ... 17,268 ... — ... ... 17 268 West. Australia... 13,222... ... ' " 13*222 New Zealand ...232,100 ... — ... — \\\ 232|100 1,029,278 75,532 7,036 1,111,846