MY COUNTRY NOTEBOOK

Otago Witness, Issue 3714, 19 May 1925, Page 68

MY COUNTRY NOTEBOOK

MURIHIKU.

By

(Specially written for the Otago Witness.) So wool has slumped disastrously! Well, well, we are all fairly accustomed to these periodic slumps and booms by this time. Most slumps are due to unregulated floodings of the market. Temporarily there is an embarrassment of supply; buyers hold off; prices drop ; the weak holders sell to the waiting speculators ; then there is a gradual rise in price again. Whether in wool or butter it is always the same—a quick drop and a slow rise. Only a month ago we had Sir Arthur Goldfinch (who ought to know) telling us that there is no over-supply of wool. Now we find that wool is at a discount. It is these manipulations of markets that have brought into being the meat and dairy control boards—boards whose main function is to regulate the supply of cur meat and dairy produce on to the London market. They can never fix prices, but they can steady markets. There is threat activity on the Taieri Plain these days getting the banks ready to protect the plain against the next big flood. From the railway bridge back towards Henley there are over 30 fourhorse teams working, ploughing and scooping. For a big job like that one would have thought that some bigger mechanical appliances would be used ; but it is evident that some one in the Public Works Department does not despise the horse. But up at the other centre of activity, near Outram, there is mechanism a-plenty Here the effort is being made to raise and strengthen the present stop-bank. For some months this locality has been of great inteiest to all those who frequent Outram Glen, first of all half a dozen tunnels ere driven into the hill on the Outram Town Board reserve really to discover the exact nature of the material, and to prove that it was suitable for the stop-bank. The tests being satisfactory work was commenced in real earnest. Gangs were set to blasting, and the useful “ Osogood ” grab then commenced its work of lifting the spoil and dumping it into the waiting trucks. These when filled are drawn down the little tramway line by a diminutive Public Works partment engine. By these up-to-date and efficient methods the stop-bank up near Outram will soon be able to defy even the “ Old Man ” flood. There are always croakers, however. One man whom I know lives at Waihola, and unburdens himself to me in a letter: “ Yes, they'll make the plain safe all right; but they’ll drive all the surplus water down Waihola way, and during every high tide there’s bound to be a foot or two of water on the Main Soutli road near the White Horse Hotel.” Still in flood times travellers will not be able to complain of a lack of perfectly good drinking water! One who is closely' in touch with the wheat position said to me the other day: “ This is going to be a hard year for the dairymen m the North Island who handfeed their cows. Bran and pollard will be very scarce; the demand in the last year or two has increased tremendously. And now South Australia has decided to stop the export of both bran and pollard, «3 they want all the wheat offal for themselves.” It is becoming more evident every day that the dairy farmers and the poultry-keepers in the North Island are becoming increasingly dependent on the wheat farmer in the south. The workers on sheep stations, dairy farms, and orchards are being organised solidly these days. The latest demands deserve close consideration by every farmer; especially should attention be directed to the overtime rates. Here are a few : Ploughmen—4B-hour week, £3 10s md found; overtime, 3s per hour (six horses, £4 per week). Ordinary Farm Labour—4B-hour week, £3 10s. Dairy Hands—4 B-hour week, £3 10s; overtime, 3s per hour. Regular Orchard Hands—4 B-hour week, £3 10s per week. Preference to unionists. The case will come before the Conciliation Council in Dunedin on May 26. Nobody wishes to see men working for less than a living wage, but if these wages come into effect then those employed will, in very many caseg, he receiving much more per week than the employer. These demands remind one of the planks in the platform of the Labour Party. First ve have the demand for the legislative 40hour week, then the establishment of State farms to provide cheap food for the people. But just how the 40-hour week will work on a dairy farm overv dairy farmer knows: there would need to be two shifts, or else a formidable number of hours’ overtime, at “3s per hour! M It would be interesting to know if Mr Holland has worked out exactly what it will cost to produce a pound of butter on his proposed State dairy farm? I know a dozen struggling farmers not far from hero who will appreciate a vear or two on the State farm: it will be much preferable to the Old Men’s Home al Caversham, and the work will not b« very much harder.