PRIMARY PRODUCTS

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 78, 28 June 1928, Page 4

PRIMARY PRODUCTS

INCKEASE IN OUTPUT. | DOMINION POSITION SATISFACTORY. i , Although, owing to drought conditions, the aggregate gradings of. butter and cheese showed substantial decreases for February, March and April, the decline was arrested, in May, and butterfat production for the Dominion at the end -of that month was 2.12 per cent, in excess Of the 19S&-27 seasons output, which itself was the previous peak year for the dairy industry, the ; Minister of Agriculture (Hon. o.' 'M HaVften) stated at Hawera yesterday. V ' ; For the ten months of the present season to May, inclusive, the total jgradings were 72,419 tons of butter and 74,565 tons of cheese, representing an increase of 3.8 Per cent. in .butter and a decrease of 1.4 per ! cent, in cheese. The following figures give the quantities of butter and cheese forwarded to the Taranaki grading stores (Moturoa and Patea) for the ten months ended May 31 last compared with the corresponding, period of 1927:—' . ' Butter. Cheese, cwt. cwt. 1927-28 143,715 639,123 : ;';■; 1926-27 141,750 648,890 It will b e seen that butter shows some increase, and cheese a moderate decrease. In net combined butter-' fat production the two seasons are. about even. ; \\ Prices of dairy produce for the past year have been satisfactory, 'as isj indicated by the Customs statisr tics of the value of exports. In-r eluding butter, cheese, dried mite, casein, condensed and is&Vs, sugar, Dominion values for the y6ar ended March 31, 1928, reached a total of £18,590,866, as compared with £15,232,471 for the previous increase of £3,358,395.; . /„;" £s£;

INCREASE IN PRODUCTION. • The increase in the production • of our primary products since the 1920*21 season jias been. o;U|te satis* factory. The average annual increase in the first five-yearly period since that year was 22.9 per cent., compared with only 8.9 per cent, during the period 19i6-17 t0 '102031. Taking the dairying industry separately, the statistics disclose that. the production of butter-fat increased by 70' per cent, during the period 1921-22 to 1925-26 over the previous five years. That is a very satisfactory rate of progress in the dairy industry, being particularly remarkable on account of the fact that during the period in which it has occurred, very little new land has' been brought into cultivation. It is clear, therefore, that the increase has been brought about almost' wholly by improving the dairy beids and by more intensive use of the land—in! other words, by better farming practice.

INTENSIVE FARMING. "I cannot stress too much the necessity tor more intensive farming," said Mr Hawken. The efforts of the Department of Agriculture:, to. induce farmers to adopt better/methods are bearing fruit; but "the is not so rapid as one would like. One of the principal means of increasing production is by the use of fertilizers; and it: is interesting to note the extent to which. they are used in different districts. Some set a good example to others in this connection. For instance, I find that Piako County, with 57,000 cows, top-dressed 70 per cent, of its grassland. In Waipa County, with 45,000 cows, 61 per cent.: of. the grassland was top-dressed. In Matamata County, where there are . 41,000 cows, 60 per eenfc. of the grassland was top-dressed, doming to Taranaki, the figures are as follows: •/..■";• '■"■•' County No. of COWs. -Appro*, percentage ; of grassland top-dressed. Taranaki 27,000 34 Inglewood 17.000 24 - ■ Egmont 25,000 21 Stratford 31,000 .21 > Whangamomona 2,000 2 Waimate West IS',OOO 32 Hawera 2 < [ ' 000 16 Eltham 22,000 18 Patea 18.000 8