SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3298, 30 May 1917, Page 9

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

(Fhom Oub Own Coerespondent.) The fine weather of a few weeks ago has ; given place to climatic conThe Weather ditions which savour of and winter. A low temperature , tho Farm. and drizzling rains are coni ditions which are not conducive to spirits of an optimistio nature. True, the weather is seasonable, but it is. almost tho antithesis of what we experienced just a few short weeks ago. Ploughing is well advanced, and should the usual frosts be experienced the ground should be in a good condition to receive tho seed in tho spring. In some eases farmers have not definitely made up their minds as to whether they will sow the land they have ploughed in grain or work it up for turnips later in the year. Tho average farmer, Jiko tho average business man, is daily become more frank in expressing his opinions on questions arising out of tho war. In conversation ho will candidly admit that he purposes fr blowing tho branch of farming which will give him the best return for his money and labour; and even although 5s lOd for wheat seems a good price, wool, mutton, and cheese are more profitable productions, and aro not so dependent on tho labour market as is grain-growing. The later phase of the question is not taken very seriously, however, and those who have studied tho question state unhesitatingly that it has not been a scarcity of farm hands, nor yet a fear of being unable to harvest the crop, that has been responsible for the marked decrease in the area under wheat in any one season during the last 12 years. Such a circumstance as a crop spoiling in the field because hands could not be procured to harvest it is unknown as far as this province is concerned, and there is little fear of such a co"' 1 of affairs eventuating, even if douL., the usual area were sown in wheat and oats.

Tho annual meeting of the South Island Dairy Association, 'which Export of will be held in Invercargill Cheese. on Wednesday of this week, directs keen attention to tho cheese industry as far as this part of the Dominion is concerned. The " dairy year," which ended on 30th April, shows in striking fashion how important the industry is to the Dominion. Butter and choose exports together totalled £5,887,655, and there yet remains to be shipped dairy produce worth at least £2,000,000, taking into account butter and cheese held in public and private stores and in the making. This industry has grown with extraordinary rapidity, for in 1895 tho total exports of butter and cheese were worth only £423,624. The 1916-17 season, although marked by hitherto undreamed of prices, has been one of great anxiety by reason of the shortage of shipping space, and tho future is by no means reassuring. The market is there, tho price is there, the demand is there; but 12,000 miles of blue water intervene, and the means of transport have been substantially reduced by the war. With respect to prices, it is interesting to compare those ruling for 1917 with those of 30th June, 1914. Cheese at the end of June, 1914, averaged 66s per cwt. whereas until requisitioned at 9£d per lb, or 88s 8d per cwt, f.o.b. at usual Now Zealand ports of shipment, it ranged from 88s to 112 s per cwt in London, after deducting freight, insurance, commission, exchange, and other charges. Incidentally it may be mentioned that some soreness is felt by cheese producers that their cheese should have boon requisitioned at a fixed price while Canadian and British cheese had the run of the British market to themselves, and received the subsequently phenomenal high current values without let or hindrance upon tho part of the Imperial Food Control Board. The British Government went over the -buyers and agents' heads direct, and acted through tho Government of New Zealand. Armed with tho powerful lever of owning all the refrigerated space in the export steamers, it made an arrangement with the Now Zealand factories to acquire tho whole output on tho basis of 9|d per lb f.o.b. New Zealand, and cancelled all sale contracts made for forward delivery. The withdrawal of the New Zealand cheese from this market naturaly further forced up the prices for English, Canadian, Dutch, United States, and French cheese of every description, to the enormous benefit of the farmers of these respective countries. If our cheese is needed for the Forces no one is going to complain; but why should Holland and the United States, for example, be allowed to benefit from the extremely high prices ruling. Tho Government must I have known that it needed the New Zealand cheese, for it offered 8d when the j season opened. This matter does require explanation, and it is quite possible that tho Prime Minister on his return to the Dominion will be asked to clear it up. [ The difficulty of getting space to any extent for tho produce of the The Shipping Dominion on refrigerated Space steamers is reaching an Problem. acute stage. ■ This applies more particularly to the perishable products. With the stores full of moat, mutton, and cheese and a reduced numl jr of ships, there seems little proba- I bility of effecting a clearance before tho ! new season opens —in fact, it is doubtful if j killing operations at tho three freezing ' works in Southland can be continued unless the position improves. The meat bein< T

purchased on board and paid for on shipmerit, while there are very few ships on which to load it, means that the producers have to wait for their money or arrange for advances from the companies or their ° s y“s ors - There are in store now nearly I 5 000,000 carcases, and the probability & i that it will be many months before the bulk of it will_ find accommodation on the steamers._ It is surely due to the Acting Prime Minister to make some definite statement as to the actual position. There ia always a tendency to optimism, and the producers continue to produce in the hope that some way out of the difficulty will Ibo found. It is unwise to keep producers |in the dark. It is intimated that there are | at least half a million more carcases in the 1 works than there were at this date last : year. Extra storage for about that numj her has recently been provided in New [ Zealand, and these will take some getting away. The average apparently per vessel is 63,000 carcases. If that is the case it will require 44 vessels to clear the works. That is not likely to bo done, and os the meat which is required least by the Imperial Government is_ lamb, most of the meat held up in store will be lamb. The cheesemen will be safe, for the soldiers want cheese, and that will be shipped in preference to butter. The effort that is being made to produce rennet within New Zealand Miscellaneous, is mentioned in the annual report of the National Dairy Association. This document mentions that the _ cheese companies throughout tha Dominion have formed a co-operativo rennet company, having for its object the saving of all raw material for rennetmaking, and eventually the manufacture of the rennet in the country. The company was successfully incorporated; but unfortunately the number of veils collected has been somewhat disappointing. About 25,500 veils have been received, and 7000 of theso were lost in the Rotorua,* the balance bejng now manufactured into a commercial article |in England. It cannot bo urged too | strongly that every farmer interested in the I industry should make every effort to preI servo veils. Should the war continue for a further period the supply of Continental rennet will not be available, and it is almost certain that its substitute, pepsin, will be obtainable only in quantity inadecyiato to meet demands.—-If .treated as leather, the annual value of paunches of sheep killed in New Zealand would be fully £300,000. If cattle paunches wore added the valud would be nearly £1,000,000. Other by-pro-ducts associated with the industry would increase this, and the wages bill would exceed £IOO,OOO a year. At present paunches, livers, etc., are treated as manure by the freezing companies.—The use of i New Zealand beech timber for butter boxes iis advocated by a (Southland sawmiller. ' Beech had been tested by an expert butterI packer in Melbourne and found absolutely I free from faint, while it was also light and I easily nailed. The timber would now be used in Australia for butter boxes if shipping space could be obtained, and be suggested that it should be tested officially. There was sufficient beech (or birch) m Southland to supply the whole of tha Dominion for many years.