The Moumahaki State Farm.

Otago Witness, Issue 3015, 27 December 1911, Page 21

The Moumahaki State Farm.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I have just read in the Otago Witness of the 13th December the letter signed "Interested," and I write in reply as an old «ouibhern farmer, and as on© who has for many years lived in the Taranki province, and., having had the experience, I am/qualified to say a little on the subject matter of " Inteirested's " letter. One would have thought that the question of Mr Gillanders s management of the Moumahaki State Farm had passed out. When Mr Mackenzie took charge of the State Farm the Opposition were calling out that these farms were expensively and badly managed, and that they shouild be. abolished. Mr Mackenzie, in taking over the farms, reformed the management, improved the educative value of the places, and greatly increased the quality of the stock. This matter of the State I 1 arm was brought up in connection with the Egmont" election, and the electors there know that he made very short shift of his critics. He pointed out that Mr Gillanders retired o£ his own free will. What had occurred was that the Moumahaki Farm was costing too much, and Mr Gillanders, the then manager, was requested to reduce the expenditure. Not seeing his way to do so, he tendered his resignation, and Mr Primrose M'Connell was appointed. Mr_ Mackenzie at onoe had the fruit portion of the farm done away with, thus saving £SOO a year; and since then another division has been eliminated, also saving about £SOO. Tine abuse that Mr Mackenzie (received was very considerable, one man alone writing to the newspaper 6 . under some 20 nom de plumes, as this extract of the writer's confession, taken from a Taranoki paper, shows: —"I unreservedly confess to having written (entirely on my own initiative) various letters to the New Zeaiand Times, Dominion, Feilding Star, Wanganui Chronicle, Wanganui Herald, Patea Press, Eltham Argus, Stratford Evening Post, and Farmers' Union Advocate, signed variously 'J. G. Niool,' 'Advance Agriculture,' ' Cow Spanker,' 'K. Daly,' 4 Wavorleyite,' ' -Anti-humbug,' and 'it. L. Johnstone,' and also several summaries of tJhe Moumahaki experiments which appeared in the March and April i numbers of the New Zealand Farmer." j The writer was an ex-employee of the farm, Despite the criticism and abuse, Mr Mackenzie quietly carried on the work of reform which he had undertaken, and the good results are acknowledged by all those who are familiar, with the Moumahaki State Farm and the circumstances surrounding the matter. It is only by chance that I saw " Interested's" letter. The) cunning part of the letter you publ.ish is that the writer makes it appear that it was Mr Gillanders's management that Mr Dunlop, the Scottish Agricultural Commissioner, so much approved of. That was not the case; it was Mr M'Connell's work that Mr Dunlop so especially commended, and the reports of that able agriculturist can be produced from the newspapers as showing it was Mr M'Connell's work he was alluding to. Whether Mr Mackc nxie is a practical man or no% he, however, has shown that he can so improve the management of the State farms as to carry on the useful work and that at a profit. All the information that I give in this letter was made very clear during the elect.on, when Mr Mackenzie had to reply to the criticisms levelled against him, and the people of Egmont have shown their confidence in him. by putting him in Parliament to continue the' work he i s doing.— I am, etc., Fair Play.

OAMABU MARKETS. (From Oub Own Correspondent.) OAMARU, December 23. The market is practically at a standstill, and will remain so until after the New Year. No sales of milling wheat are reported, and nominal quotations are from 3s 4d to 3,s 5d net, at country stations, but there are no sellers at these prices. Fowl wheat is in request, and is practically worth a<s much as mining, a sale having been made at 3s 9d, f.o.b. A small lot of Garton oats has been sold at 3s net, delivered in Oamaru. Chaff is nominally quoted at £4 5s net, on trucks, with a downward tendency.

DUNEDIN MARKETS. WHOLESALE PRODUCE REPORTS. Lindsay and Golumb. Princes sttoot south, report under date the 23rd inst.: Wheat per bushel. per ton Best milling 3/10-4/0 Oaten chaff Medium do ... 3/9 l'rime 85/o—9o/0 Fowls' ... 3/6—3/9 Medium 75/0-80/ Milling oats 3/!—3/2 E.yegrass and clover Feed oats ... 3/o—3/1 hay ... 90/0 Malt barley ... 4/9 Straw: . Feed barley 3/4—3/6 Wheaten 37/6—42/6 Cape barley ... 4/0 Oaten... 45/0—47/6 Maize 3/8 Onions, g00d260/0--SSO/0 per ton. Rolled bacon ... 9sd Flour, in 200's ... 185/0 Side bacon ... 9d Flour, in 50''? ...200/0 Smoked hams ... lOi Pollard KiO/ Cheese ... -. 6£d—7d Bran 957 Good salt butter... lOd Oatmeal, in 25's 270/0 (according to quality) Pearl barley .. 280/0 J Potatoes.— Market showing a decided de- : dine. Sound, freshly-picked lota are inquired for at up to £1 5s to £1 10s, medium and inferior difficult to sell. FARM AND DAIRY PRODUCE. | Messrs Irvine and Stevenson, George street, report paying for produce during the week ending the 23rd inist., a® follows: I Press eggs. Is Id duz I Separator butter, Sid i Salt bucter : not buying | per lo | Fresh butter, good ordinary (in lib and Jib prints), 9d to lid per lb. Pigs, 130 lb to 160ib, s£d. Honey, 3Jd. Fowls, 3s to 33 6d (toiling). Potatoes, £1 per ton. SOUTHLAND MARKETS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) INVERCARGILL, December 24. The market for oats continues firm but quiet, and. there is very little doing owing to the near approach of tne holidays (Quotations, are about the same is last week —viz., from 3a 2d to 3s 3d f.0.b.5.i., Bluff, for A grade Gartons. Prices to farmers are unchanged, merchants being prepared to give farmers from 2s 8d to 2s 9d on trucks for A grade Gartons, sacks extra. The market for chaff continues very quiet and offerings are net more than sufficient fox local requirements. Unless a demand 6ets in from the North Island there is likely to bo a further easing in price. At present Invercargill merchants are offering farmers £3 15s to £4 (and supplying bags) acceding to quality and distance from destination. The market for old potatoes is practically done, and retailers are only buying from hand to mouth. Some locally grown new potatoes are finding their way on to the market and- are being retailed at 2d per lb. Owing to the holiday season there i 6 nothing doing in hemp at present, but it is expected that after the New Year a better ; demand will arise for local consumption, as various twine mills in the Dominion will shortly bo starting to make for 1912 and 1913 harvest. The number of flaxmillers who are working in the South Island is so limited that it is more than probable that their outputs will be seoured for the purpose of being manufactured locally into twine at a slight advance over London rates. HIDE SALES. MELBOURNE, December 21. At the hide sales to-day there were moderate supplies forward. Light weights were irregular, but other sorts were steady. ■ CANTERBURY PASTORAL LANDS. CHKISTCHUROH. December 20. Balmoral Station. Amuri County, nt 45,000 acres, subdivided into 15 blocks, was offered by auction to-day. The keenest interest was shown in the sale, which Wfld attended by nearly 300 people. The bid- j ding for the larger blocks was very satisfactory, and a complete clearance was effected at good prices. The demand for tho farms wai not quite so good in some few cases, but a few lots were passed in, ! and will probably be disposed of in tho near future. The total amount realised was £140,226. and the prices ranged from 30s per acre to £l3 per acre. The larger areas realised £2 5s per acre to £4 7s 6d. j LAND SALE. The Balmoral Station, in the Amuri district, was sold by auotion by Messrs Dalgety and Company in Chri6tchurch on Wednesday. There was a large attendanoe of buyers. Bidding was brisk, especially for the grazing blocks, and. with the exception of two small lots, tne whole property changed hands in less than an hour. The area Bold was about 45,000 acres, divided into 15 blocks. Mr W. D. Stewart, who conducted the sale, stated that Balmoral had been in the Eossession of the late Mr F. G. Dalget-vand is executors for the past 40 years, and it was being offered practically at first hand. The following are details of the sale: — Homestead! block. 6640 acres, £4 ss—Mr Allan Latter (Barrv's Bay); the front hills block, 3000 aores, £4 ss—Mr D. G. Matheson; the limestone block, 2120 acres. £4 7s 6d—Mr R. Furze; the erorsre end block. 2130 acres. £4 7s 6d—Mr W. W. M'Rae (of the Gjens of Tekoa); lot 7, 820 acres, £7 ss—Mr A. C. Reid; lot 4, 540 aores in extent, £l3—Messrs Graham Bros. The next lot, 5230 acres, contains the bush, centre and Cascade blocks, £2 12s 6d—Mr D. H. Sidev; the The Kooti block, 7850 acres, £2 ss—Mr D. O. Rutherford; lot 12, 4230 acres, £2 7s 6d —Mr D. Dwyer. Five hundred and fiftv acres was the area of the next lot, which was sold to Mr A. L. Joseph at £5 15s per acre. Lot 15 contains 1230 acres, £4 15s —Mr W. Bowman. Lot 13,

506 acres £s Messrs O. and D. Macdonald. It was subsequently sold for £5 10s. The next farm, 590 acres, £6 10s—Mr J. Taylor. The next block, 4220 acres, £2 2s 6d—Mr A. L. Joseph. The last block, 5450 acres, £1 10s—Mr A. S. Thomson. The total amount of the sales made of the estate was £142,000. ■