PASTORAL INSTRUCTORS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17181, 11 February 1930, Page 9

PASTORAL INSTRUCTORS

ENCOURAGING BULLETIN 3 INCREASED PRODUCTION f No hotter barometer the Dominion 's prosperity can be found than the ; statistics relative to the country's pastoral and agricultural industries. A glance through these should, be a B snffioient tonic for the most pessimistic; they show that even though the ’ farmer may be getting low prices for his produce, his aggregate annual turnover, collectively, is steadily increasing. “In the past the development and 1 prosperity of New Zealand has been very closely associated with the expansion of the pastoral industries, and a survey of the Dominion's resources should convince the most sceptical that this condition is unlikely to he changed in the visible future," states the latest bulletin of , the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce. The article shows what the pastoral and agricultural industries mean to New Zealand, and indicates also the steady move toward increased production per acre which has followed the greater use of fertilisers and better farming methods over the past decade. During the three most recent years for which figures are available, the official estimates average New Zealand's annual production at £115,000,000 a year. Of this total the share directly produced from the land may be divided as follows: — Value Percent Industry. £ millions, of total. Pastoral \ . .. 36.3 31.6 Dairying .. 26.3 22.9 Agricultural .. 8.5 7.4 71.1 61.9 All others .. .. 43.9 38.1 Total production.. 115.0 100.0 The table shows that the land produces directly nearly 62 per cent, of our estimated total value of production. Agriculture produces 7.4 per cent., dairying 22.9 per cent., and the pastoral industries, wool, meat, and its by-products 31.6 per cent, of this total. In export trade, on which we depend so greatly, the farm industries bulk even larger. Over the same three years pastoral products accounted for 92 per cent, of our total exports, or for an average value of £45.4 millions, per year. The exports of wool, meat, hides, and tallow alone were valued on average at £28,000,000 per year,, and constitute 56.3 per cent., or well over half of the total exports of the Dominion. Again, of the 43,500,000 acres of occupied land in New Zealand, about 10,000,000 acres are in fern, scrub, and bush, or are barren and unproductive, 31,000.000 arres are in grass, and a little over 2,000,000 acres arc used for all other purposes. Thus, more than nine-tenths of our productive land is used for the pastoral industries. The statistics do not distinguish areas used for different kinds of pastoral fanning, but it is well known that dairying is concentrated mainly in districts of regular and abundant rainfall. Over the greater part of the Dominion, particularly in eastern areas, the production of meat and wool and the agriculture which serves that production, constitute the staple industry. At the present time it employs directly and permanently more than 50,000 people, and it. provides seasonal employment in shearing sheds, freezing works, etc., for many more. In addition, there is a network of more or less closcly-rclatcd trades and industries wholly or partly dependent on the production of meat, wool, etc. In the past the development and prosperity of New Zealand has been J very closely associated with the expansion of the pastoral industries, and a survey of our resources should convince the most sceptical that this connection is unlikely to be changed in the visible future. One of the happiest auguries of the future, too, is the fact that, despite the difficulties of the past decade, those pastoral industries have undergone steady expansion, as the following figures show.

]J)2P .. 29,001 13, H0.-! 1-91 Tho tabic shows a marked increase in sliccp and lambs, which reach record figures in 1920, and the Government estimates of lambs for the present season forecasts an increase exceeding 1,250,000 over last season’s record. The total cattle have declined slightly since 1020, but the number of dairy cows has increased. Since there lms been a slight decrease in the' Area .of land occupied in the period .covered by the table, tbe figures indicate that a steadily-increasing product per acre has been secured. This is the best indication of real progress.

(In thousands.) Total Lambs Total Dairy slieop. tailed. cattle. cows. 1921 . . 23,285 9,615 3139 890 J923 .. 23,081 10,896 3481 1124 192", ,. 25,548 11,467 3504 1196 1027 .. 25,649 12,609 3258 1182 1 000 oo noi 13 £53 3446 1201