"STRATFORD EVENING POST” THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1928. OUR INDUSTRIES.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 50, 3 May 1928, Page 4

"STRATFORD EVENING POST” THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1928. OUR INDUSTRIES.

Are we making progress? Beyond any shadow of doubt the Dominion is forging ahead on a wave of prosperity. For staple lines the season, has boon a good one despite the drought and in secondary lines exceptional progress is recorded. The cables consistently reading “butter market —slow” or “dull” might lead one to believe that the dairy farmers were having a bad time. But on the contrary the dairying industry has done remarkably well this year. The returns show that, the pay-out for butterfat has been good throughout the season. Cheese outputs have been sold at 9d to 9Jd and the payouts for butter have Tanged from Is 5d to Is Bd, and when all is cleared up at the end of the season a return of Is Sd.to Is 9d appears likely.

Again the drought was not so serious a factor as many people believe; that is, comparing the outputs of various seasons. The eailier months of the year showed every indication of eclipsing all recoids, but production fell off rapidly during the drought only to increase again when rain came. The total of butter and cheese shows an increase as compared with 1927. The figures to March 31st were: , 1927 1928 Tons Tons Butter 61,255 64,797 Cheese 63,665 62,763 124,920 1(27,560 The comparison shows an increase in butterfat of 3.4 per cent. Production was higher, quality was higher, and prices were higher. Wool growers were equally fortunate in as much as the weather favoured a good lambing and good wool production. Then the market proved firm—German and many American buyers operating without a reserve—and the prices were exceptionally good. Many of the our hack country farmers in Taranaki are “in clover” this year as a result of carrying a number of sheep in addition to cows. Mixed farming, where the land will permit of it, is a safeguard against fluctuations on one market and is coming info wider practise.

I n the secondary linevs, pig production is assuming an important position. Research work is being carried out in regard to selection, breeding and feeding, and before long the New Zaland product will be one of the finest articles on the export market. Our lands and climate are admirably suited to this industry, and with the help of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Industrial Research, progress towards a refined product is being rapidly made. The demand is assured if the right class of pig 18 provided, and as an adjunct to dairying we know of nothing or more profitable than pig raising. With regard to the class of pig and quality it can be expected that buyers .will show a far greater discrimination when the requirements of the British market are more P ro " perly appreciated. New Zealand fruit is winning its way to first place on the London market. Record shipments will be

made this year, and the prices are such as to stimulate confidence in this industry. Honey ig also being rapidly developed. There is no better flavoured honey than that produced in New Zealand, and the value of this product is not yet realised. The farmer who neglects bee-keeping pays a penalty. Apart from the fertilisation of his crops, which is important., the ffirraers must realise that the overseas demand for really good honey i s insatiable. The food value of honey is just being recognised, and its use in all forms is increasing by leaps and ’bounds. Another product which will shortly reach export proportions is tobacco. The Hawke’s Bay growers haVe won an estimable and profitable place in the New Zealand market with their tine product, and with the extension of the area under tobacco cultivation, export of the finer grade s must automatically follow.

Prom a general review of the Dominion’s industries one must conclude that steady and satisfactory expansion is being made.