NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2501, 19 February 1902, Page 8

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

My brother contributor, "Drover," has again drawn attention to the Imperial advantages that farmers and Zollrerelii. all producers would derive from, the formation of an Imperial Zollverein, and as the matter will soon engage the attention of the Farmers' Union, I think it would be well to give some explanation of the term, as it is probably little understood by the general run of farmers.. . The word "zollverein" is made up of two German words meaning a customs union, and originated in Prussia. It was felt that internal commerce was hampered and depressed by the collection of revenue at the frontiers of every petty State, and that it was expedient to adjust the duties upon a uniform basis all round, both with regard to inter-State and foreign commerce. The idea was mooted early in the nineteenth century, but was talked about for years before any attempt was made to put it into practice. After being started it wa3 a long time before it was established upon the satisfactory and permanent basis upon which it has now been working for c ome 65 year*. It was in 1863 that the bulb of the German States joined the customs union, but it was not until 1868 that it was recognised by all the States composing what is now known as the German Empne. The establishment of the zollverein was hindered by the jealousies and special interests of the small States, but ultimately all opposition was overcome, and it is now* acknowledged to be an excellent thing for all concerned. A British Imperial zolverein would embrace the United Kingdom of Great Biitain and Ireland and all the British colonies and dependencies : at all events that is my impression, but I do not profess to be an authority upon fiscal matters of a deep and profound nature. That it will come in time I have no doubt, but not without much discussion and opposition from various quarteis Federated Australia has now got a sort of customs union, and as this colony declined federation, Australia will probably oppose making any sacrifice by which we shall benefit. I gather from good authorities that the principle guiding the working of a zollverein i, this : — All the countries and State* included within its action are, commercially-,, a-> one State as regards trade and customs relations with other countries. The duties and fees collectable on imports, exports, md throughtransports are based upon a uniform tariff (subject to concessions which may be made on special grounds to individual. State 0 ), and the proceeds, after paying expenses of collection, divided among the different Stales forming the union according to the number of their population. As applied to the British Empire, this would mean, I supptose, freetrade among all the colonies and the mother country, but a uniform tariff in respect to all trade with foreign countries. I do not see that it would benefit us as farmers unless it means intercolonial freetrade in all produce. In any case, there will be a lot of jealousy and prejudice to overcome 'before a British zolherein can be firmly established, and, meanwhile, the only objection to it is that it was "made in Germany."' The Witness of the sth inst. contained an Article upon thi-, subject, by New Zealand -'A ■> Southlander," which T Mutton. '' read with interest, and I _ though I agree with his remarks In the main, I should like to point out one or two aspects of the matter which I think admit of further discussion. Though ' Mr Gilbert Anderson seemed dubious about our mutton being sold as English to any great extent, it is a fact that he stands alone in holding that view, as returned | colonials have repeatedly drawn attention to that practice as being very common. Mr is reported to have said that ho fwiskAd- Ju* axMilii hali&vQ there W*S SUOII *

demand for our mca!' thai i: could 1-e soid as English, b-it 1 cannot see that ilie de mand lias anything to do with it, for it appears to me- thai, -z simply means ignorance on riic part of the cousumer and dishonest greed on the pait of the retailer. If the latter can buy Xew Zealand mutton e.i M and retail it at Cd per Ib, or whatever may 1)2. tho euricnt priie of Knglish, l>e is not doing ouv irade any limm, but \s simply obraini i& monr-y from his customei^s by false picteiicj-, and it is difficult to see how his di-hojie*ty can be ?aid to mean tliat theie is a good demand for our mutton. The demand is for Home-bred, and consumers think they are getting that, as they pay the usual price for it. It is immaterial to to us whether the practice referred to is prevented or not, but there is another one which more nearly concerns us, f.nd which not only robs the producer but also h nils to injure the trade in frozen meat. I refer to the practice of selling inferior Argentine and Australian mutton a= prime New Zealand. There is no question about the prevalence of that swindling traffic in connection with New Zealand mutton, and nothing could be more injurious to the good name of our mutton than the fact of consumers being supplied with inferior frozen meat -when they ask for the best New Zealand, and think they are getting it. Butchers have been prosecuted and heavily fined for perpetrating that fraud, but there is no doubt "that it is still going on,, as it pays them so well that, like sly grog-sellers, they can afford to ran the risks of detection. "A Southlander " makes a few pertinent remarks anent our methods in producing meat, and says we are half a century behind British breeders and graziers. He fcurely is aware that the circumstances of soil and climate must be considered in this matter, and that we cannot possib'y procure artificial foodstuffs, such as oil-cake, meal, etc., at a price that would allow U3 to use them with profit in fattening stock. Moreover, a good deal of labour is involved i* stall-feeding beasts and hand-feeding sheep, and that is a costly item here in comparison with the prevailing rates at Home. When population increases and land is trebled in value and held in smaller holdings, the present methods must and will be changed and conform more to tho?e of tho mother country, but it is, 1 think, scarcely just to make a comparison as things are at present. He is quite right in pointing ouifc the folly of farmers trying to follow the fashions in regard to wool and changing their flocks according to prevailing prices ; but I do not think there are many nowadays who adopt that system of sheep-farming. For my part I have written notes from time to time in deprecation thereof. Reverting to the practice of selling New Zealand mutton as Homeqi^wn, I would refer the writer of the articles t.nder notice to notes of mine upon t\>e subject — one in the Witness of May 6, 1897. and also a quite recent one which appeared on November 11, 1901. Authorities aro therein quoted which state that a large quantity of our best mutton is dit-posed of in that way. A Select Committee was appointed by the House of Commons to report upon the necessity of legisli ing for the purpose of identifying foreign meat, and the secretary to ihe associated Chambers of Agriculture said: 'Thousands of the upper middle class never taste really good meat, because their butchers palm off foreign meat upon them at the price of the best Home grown." Five years ago Mr Coopej, editor of the Scotsman, paid us a vi<=it and wrote a good deal about our meat, and said that no Scottish mutton could be better.

Settler,*' luapeka, ask 3 for particular? anent temporary atack Stack covers, and say*) that I ha^e C'OTfrs. mentioned these before, but

that he neglected to» keep a' copy of the note. I Hippose he lefers to home-made covers of .racking or jute, of which wool-packs are made. The jute is stoutei and stronger than sacking — that h, ordinary 6acks cut open — and stands wear and tear much better, and, being in. wider breadth*;, has fower seam«. The jute material is about a yard wide, and a sheet 6yds wide by 7yds 01 Byds in length is a handy size for using as a temporary covering "for hay or grain stack, while being built, or fur a stack of threshed grain. I alwajs have several of these jute hheets on hand, and when caught by rain with an unfinished stack I find them very handy and quite rain-proof if the stack is well hearted up before putting them on. These sheets are very much cheaper tlian canvas tarpaulins, and can be made more durable by toating them with a mixture of melted tallow and tar in the proportion of one galJon of fat to fiVe of tar. If "Settler" does not are; to try the wool-pack, material, he can >jjht ujj "some sacks and j^aint tneifl j

nir'i thi-> mixture, ard v. ill laid ihoxn very 'sandy, clioap, pihl durable. A hhePt 6yc?s by 3yds icquires 27 sacks, md if new sacks are used at 6d each, the cost 15 13s 6d, besidoa the labour and the twine for sowing. A p.-cpar canvas sheet of that size would cost about six times as much, and I am sine it would las«> six timc3 as long. At any iate it is very necessary to" have .t jihect of pome toic to pop 011 a !>t:>.ck at a moment's notice, and if "Settler" can afford a couple of good canvas sheets, so much the better, but the sacking or jute sheets are an excellent substitute. I have heard that a Canterbury firm supplies, or did supply at one time, stack cover* of woolpack material to take the jilace of thatch, but I have not seen any in use at all. They were made up of a number of triangular pieces to fit the head of a round stack, and were 10ft from point to cave, and 65ft round at the oave, so that the stacks would have to be built to fit them. They would cost more at the first than a coat of thatch, but could be used for several times, more 01 less, according to the time they remained on the stack each season.. AGRICOLA. ,