SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1957, 23 May 1889, Page 6

SALE AND DISTRIBUTION OF NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE.

One' material .disadvantage experienced by farmers in NewZealahd, and which growers of grain in the Australian colonies, are not subjected to, is the uncertainty during the cereal year in regard to the stocks on hand and the volume of exports to any given date. The official agricultural statistics give an approximate estimate of the harvest yield, but no timely records are available at short intervals which would enable that portion of the press which devotes attention Jko rural topics to furnish a debit and credit account showing the stocks of grain in the colony and the volume of exports from harvest time to date. In the adjaoent colonies^wbence a considerable surplusage of wheat 1 is exported, the lead, ing journals publish statistics weekly, which afford information concerning available supH plies and exportations so far in the season. But in South Australia and Viotoria there are facilities for readily acquiring the necessary information, while no such opportunities offer here. Adelaide is the principal shipping outlet j for South Australian grown whqat, and the weekly clearances at the Customs of wheat exported supply the necessary information for tabulation. Sb in Viotoria, Melbourne princi-, pally, and to a lesser extent Geelong, are the outlets, and the Customs authorities there supply the press with particulars of exports from week to week.- The circumstances in New Zealand-r a colony with many ports—are altogether different. Not one or two, but at least seven or eight, returns from custom houses wide apart would be required for the compilation of information of vital importance to the considerable community of grain-growers. The information, . would be acceptable to the journals published at the various centres, and- by its publication summaries of exports could be regularly compiled, which would supply a want long felt by producers and occasionally by the public generally.' ,It will be remembered that a scare was occasioned last 'spring by the rumoured over-exportation of wheat. It was feared that stocks remaining on hand were insufficient for local wants. Inquiries on the subject instituted by us elicited only vague and conjectural statements, but no reliable figures > were available to definitely determine the question. In the present season an immediate interest attaches to the necessity for the frequent publication of grain statistics. The Australian markets will certainly absorb all our surplus productions of wheat, oats, and' barley, and because communication is rapid stocks may very soon be depleted. Competent authorities say that although the harvest was late, never before were shipments of new grain (oats principally) from Dunedin so considerable up to datel Ther particulars are certainly procurable, but would prove of no practical utility unless supplemented by returns of shipments from other ports. The quarterly gazetted tables of importa ,

and exports will ultimatelyvsupply.ttie information, but too late to be of much avail, The weekly issue of returns by the Customs authorities of grain exported, classed under separate headings, would certainly not involve .much additional clerical work, while substantial benefits would be conferred on important producing interests.

" Jri, no other of the colonies is there 'such divergence in the coaditions under which transactions in the sales of produce are conducted as in this colony. In some markets "bags weighed " and " bags extra " counter the quotations, discounts are conceded or disallowed, and even the terms for disposal of dairy produce vary, while •to crown all there occurred the wrangle at the wool sales' regarding the minimdm, bid acceptable. Certainly before the advent ! of another wool and grain season a combined 'effort 'should be made to harmonise market transactions. That terms affecting the sale of wool should be definitely determined is of the; (utmost importance, as will appear from the.^ubjoined extracts from a letter published in a London journal and written by a foreign manufacturer. On the policy of purchasing, wool ,at the colonial sales, he says :— " As the subject is a very important one, permit me, as a Continen.t'^l washer and spinner of wool, to give the following reasons why I imported some 10,000 bales last year direct to France, instead of sunplying'myself from the London market as I formerly,did. Finding that some of my competitors ■did not attend the London sales, and that they were selling tops of like value to those I produced^ a less price than I could, l made inquiries and found that they were importing bales direct.' ; I therefore sent out one of my sorters to buy for me in the colonies ; and the result has been so satisfactory that it is a matter of regret to me that I had continued for' so many years in the old groove) as I should have been much ! better' off had! adopted the plan earlier, the advantages of which are as follow :—l. I receive the bales intact, instead of being cut about, and some of the original wool abstracted and its place often supplied by an inferior article. 2. Instead of frequently receiving short weight, I found I had on an average a gain on the colonial weight of over 101b a bale, which went a long way toward paying the freight. 3. I now attend to my business here instead of wasting my i time at the London sales. 4. I obtain my wool cheaper, taore 'quickly, and in better condition. 5, The colonial account sales do not involve a tenth of the work in checking, and many items of London charge are happily absent. ■ 6. No doubt there are other incidental advantages attending direct |importations, but I think I have given enough to prove that the time should not be far distant when, unless London alters her ways, all Continental and probably English manufacturers will .obtain their requirements from the cheapest market. It is self-evident that someone must bear the expenses 'incurred in perpetuating the curious, the ridiculous system still partly in vogue, viz., that of double carting, sampling, and re-shipping the great staple wool. It may seem quixotic in me, "a Frenchman, to. give all this information ; but, as .well as my own, I have my oountry's good at 'heart."