SOUTHLAND NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 15

SOUTHLAND NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

BETTER WEATHER.

With the exception of a few cold, windy days the weather lately has shown a de aided improvement, and there has been quite a growth, but not before it was time. Lambing may be said to be in full swing, although back-country stations will not start for a fortnight yet, but it is too early to make any ’ forecast as to the percentages. A couple of weeks of fine weather will keep the death rate down, but as a rule there is not a great deal of difference in the percentages from one year to another. Nearly every good sheep farmer makes a point of keeping twins separate from the singles, and someone passing.along the road and seeing a paddock where twins are being depastured immediately jumps to the conclusion that this is a fair sample of the season’s lamb-

ing. The intake at dairy factories is naturally increasing day by day, but in several cases is not up to the amount being received at this date last year. A number of annual reports of dairy factories drew attention to the big drop in production experienced after about the end of January, and there is no doubt that this is a weakness in Southland dairy

’arming, and a little forethought at this ;ime of the year would make a vast difference to the milk cheques in the autumn.

NO DEMAND FOR STOCK.

The only way to shortly describe the stock market for the past fortnight is to say that it has gone from bad to worse. The numbers of fat sheep penned at the weekly Lorneville sale have been more than sufficient for requirements, and as sellers have in nearly every case been prepared to meet the market some cheap sheep have been sold. Several lines of unfinished sheep have been sold in the fat pens at very little over £1 per head, and if wethers fit to shear in a month are not good buying at this price it is hard to say what is. In other years there have always been graziers on the look out for good-conditioned wethers to shear, but just now it is not so much the want of confidence in the

future as the shortage of feed that has caused the give-away values ruling. At the usual sales at Otautau, Winton, Riversdale, and Wyndham the yardings have been big for September, but id each centre the demand was anything but brisk, and when low-conditioned stuff was offered it was not a question of getting somewhere near the value, but of getting a bid of any sort. Lines of ewe hoggets that in other years would have been snapped up long before they reached a saleyard have been selling at from £1 to 21s. and then only at the point of the bayonet, and thin two-tooth ewes have been knocked down at 15s, a price at which the buyer will not require or expect a large percentage of lambs. The beef market, is holding its own, and a few trucks are finding their way to Addington and Burnside, where the prices for heavy cattie seem to be higher per 100.

THE FARMERS’ DAIRY FEDERATION.

The balance sheet of the above concern has just been circulated among the shareholders. and has caused considerable comment b.v those interested. The statement of profit and loss shows a net profit, of £4OO on a turnover of £114,000. which is rather a slender margin, but the balance sheet docs not attempt to give the shareholders any useful information in its figures, while the annual ’ report mostly deals with matters in connection with the industry in general, and leaves the affairs of the federation itself severely alone. Certainly one paragraph mentions the fact that the federation has been able to temporarily assist farmers over financial difficulties, a very dangerous business, and it would be interesting to know how much of the item of £9OOO shown in the assets belongs to this branch. . It is generally recognised that those responsible made a huge blunder when they bought out the Waitaki Dairy Company for £23,000. the cost to the suppliers having been far greater than the benefits or savings, and with the present outlook for butter in the world’s markets the federation has a rocky road in front of it. and the suppliers a poor chance of making ends meet. As mentioned already it is impossible to learn from the balance sheet where all the money has gone, but there is no doubt that the overhead expenses in the form of high salaries are helping to cripple the whole outfit, and it will be very surprising if some pertinent questions are not asked in regard to th is-at the annual meeting. If the dairy farmer has to accept a big reduction in his revenue whether he likes it or not,’or indeed whether he can afford it or not. the men employed by and paid by him - will- also have to be satisfied with salaries of less than from £lO to £2O per week. If not, and the markets remain as they are, in a short time there won’t be any suppliers left to pay the salaries.

CLASH OF SHOW DATES. Until the other day it looked as if Winton and Otautau Summer Shows were going to be held on the same day, as both associations had decided on November 26 as the date of their annual fixture, and neither body would admit the other’s right to show on that date. However, the directors of the Otautau Show have now changed to a date in February, and with •ordinary luck in the way of weather it would not be surprising to find that the change is all for the better as far as the finances of the association are concerned, as we have far too many shows crowded into a few weeks, and farmers- will not waste the time attending them all, whereas in the autumn a show will be more of a change. Some of the most successful country shows in Canterbury are held in the autumn, and there is no reason why the same should not apply to Southland, and sheep men at any rate will undoubtedly welcome the change.

THE BLUFF TO MELBOURNE SERVICE. A deputation from the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce, the Southland League, and the Bluff Harbour Board waited on the Southland Executive of the

Farmers’ Union on Saturday, September 20, with the object of convincing the Farmers’ Union that the attitude they had taken over the above service was wrong, and that the Government was justified in paying the Union Company a subsidy to maintain the service. Those in favour of the subsidy had a weak case, and the facts they put in front of the union certainly did not make it any stronger, Mr W. J. M'Gregor’s reply completely squashing their arguments. The Farmers’ Union at a later meeting stood by their resolution, and in fact added to it that under present circumstances the Government was not warranted in paying the subsidy on the SanFrancisco service. Some of the statements made by the advocates for the subsidy were extremely threadbare, others bore a distinct trace of looking after number one, and altogether the' deputation would have been a good deal better to have stayed at home and let the Farmers’ Union look after its own affairs. There will no doubt be indignant resolutions passed by all sorts of bodies over this matter, but Mr M'Gregor and his colleagues are talking sound hard facts, quite a refreshing thing these days, and-they are not going to allow themselves ; to be dictated to by anybody when they are in the right.

GOOD MANAGEMENT. Edendale was the first district in Southland, if not in the Dominion, to start a dairy factory on the co-operative principle, and right from the commencement has been tin example of management that could well be copied by other concerns in the same line. As usual last year’s report showed a pay-out to the suppliers higher than probably any factory in the province, and when any good offers are about Edendale seems to get them. The directors have invariably been prepared to sell at market value, and not led away by visionary schemes which have a habit of failing just when they are most required, and it is a wellknown fact in the trade that some Home buyers when cabling offers to their New Zealand agents express a preference for the Edendale brand. The manager, Mr G. Dickson, has a worldwide reputation for the. article he produces, and in the two most essential points of management, quality of output and expenses of running, lie has few equals, and certainly no superior in the Dominion. Situated in the best dairying district in the South Island, and controlled as at present, this concern will make money at prices that would put many other factories out of business.