GRAIN IN SACKS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 9

GRAIN IN SACKS.

LIMITATION OF WEIGHT TO 2001b. IMPORTANT TO FARMERS. The Government regulation restricting he weight of sacks of grain to be carried >ver the railway to 2001b comes into operation on February 1, and reads as follows: — 'On and after the first day of February, L 909, the maximum weight of any sack containing wheat, barley, or oats to be :arried by rail shall be 2001b. Any sack >f wheat, barley, or oats containing a ;i eater weight than 2001b ehall be charged or at four times the ordinary rate of i-eight. " There is no question about the explicitless of the above regulation, and that rrain-growers will have to treat it with •eal seriousness 19 quite certain. "With t view to ascertaining how the new regulaion will affect the farmer, and what was >eing done to comply with it, inquiries vere made during the p^st week among: omo of the Dunedin grain merchants. irVhil« nothing of a very definite character :ould be said as to how farmers themselves vere prepared to accept the altered conlitions, it was generally assumed that they rould of necessity reconcile themselves to he position and simply fall into line with he change. What, however, presented ts-elf a<> a rather awkward situation is he fact that theie is a fairly extensive upply of last season's grain still on hand yhieh was made up in sacks which carry pver the 2001b, and which, owing to a fallng market last year, was not got rid of. topre.-yentation<3 were made to the Governirent in regard to exempting this season's :rain, on the score that farmers could not ie held responsible for the existence of a , tate of the market which prevented them | rom quitting their supplies, but the reply j eceived was that the regulation was to >c enforcer], and that no distinction would >& made between old and new season's rain. It was pointed out that farmers ad had sufficient warning, and there could *no going- back on it. The position, herefore, is that if farmers are forced to ail their stocks they will either have to eadjust the weight, or else pay four times he ordinary freight, which is most unkely. In this, therefore, lies a difficulty, ut jrrowers cannot .«av that they have not ad due warning. Then, in regard to the ew seawn's grain, another awkward bitua-

I tion arises. The position locally is thai merchants have ordered" the old stylo of sack, — namely, 44 's and 46's, and consignments have already come to hand. It will, therefore, devolve upon farmers, in ; order to comply with the new regulation, j to turn cheee sacks in, a«>d that -will certainly involve additional labour and no email amount of inconvenience, and mean, the using of a greater ■ number of sacks-. The regulation 6ets out the weight of any one sack must be limited to 2001b. In parts of Canterbury it appears that a new sack, 46ini by 24iin, has been ordered to meet the terms of the regulation, this sack being: the same as the old style in respect of length, but narrower. Limitation of the weight of grain sacks is a matter that has been under consideration now for some years, not only in New Zealand, but also in Australia, where the agitation for its introduction has at times been very strong, and where the same regulation has been enacted. The regulation is essentially regarded as a humanitarian one, bub it is an open question whether in these days of up-to-date methods and equipment, more handling of grain sacks is not done by the farmer himself than by the labourer on the wharf and railway, in whose interests primarily th« regulation has been brought about.