FARMING INTERESTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18643, 12 August 1930, Page 3

FARMING INTERESTS

Notes and News for the Man on the Land (Conducted by “Agricole.”)

THE WOOL MARKET. AN IMPROVING TENDENCY CAMPARATIVE VALUES. The labour dispute in the wool textile trade having ended with the weaving overlookers reporting for work the good effect was immediately manifested at the London sales now current. There is general competition with French and German buyers operating freely, and values show a hardening tendency. That the wool textile industry in Britain was in a serious condition was recognised as long ago as 1925, when a Court of Investigation probed the wages question. They found no real dispute as to the depression of the industry at that time, but the chief difference was whether the depression was permanent, or merely temporary. The more recent investigation by Lord Macmillan showed that the condition was not merely transitory. The home market had been relatively constant, but as regards exports, tops were back in 1929 practically to their 1925 level, while tissues had fallen far below it, the decline amounting to no less than 13 per cent. The obvious conclusion was that if Bradford w’as to retain a due share of the world’s business, reduction of costs to a competitive level w r as necessary. This was the conclusion reached by Lord Macmillan. That the deable, but that opposition to an unbiasscision would be unpopular was inevited judgment would be pushed to the length of forcing a prolonged stoppage was less to be expected. However, the trouble is now at an end, and if Bradford’s export trade in woollens expands the result will be a marked improvement in raw wool prices. Prices at the current London sales are lower than these ruling at the close of the May series, but they seem to be equal to, if not better than, those ruling at the close of the March series, as will be seen from the table appended:—

On the whole, the prices are better * than in March, but not up to the May . level; if tranquillity prevails in the in- . dustry, and Bradford, through reduc- 1 tion of production costs, ie able to re- J; cover the export markets, there must J follow an improvement in wool. This * makes the outlook for the new wool . season very promising, but too much must not be expected. ( i LIME IN PASTURES. y 1 EFFECTS ON HEALTH OF CATTLE. } i i Dr J. B. Orr, of the Rowett Institute, > dealing with the importance of miner- 1 als in the feeding of dairy cows, says: j A cow giving four gallons of milk per j day secrets daily in the milk l.Ooz. calcium, 1.30 z. phosphorus, 0.40 z. sodium, ] and 0.640 z. chlorine. These are taken 1 from the living tissues of the animal, and unless she can absorb from the in--testine sufficient to replace this loss, the tissues become depleted. In most heavy milking cows there is, during 1 , lactation, a progressive depletion of the skeleton. It has been estimated that a cow may lose as much as 20 per cent, of the mineral matter of the skeleton during a lactation period. The \ writer has suggested elsewhere that this depletion of the tissues of heavy milking cows may be the cause not only of decreased milk yield in subsequent lactations, but of difficulties in breeding, and in increased susceptibility to disease. The element which presents the most difficult problem is calcium. The fodder fed, especially if it includes good hay, will contain more calcsium than is secreted in the milk. Even if an abundance of calcium be provided in the food, however, there is difficulty in getting a sufficient amount absorbed from the intestine. The calcium in green food is more easily assimilated than the calcium in concentrates. It is also better assimilated from well got hay which has been little exposed to the elements after cutting than from hay which has been badly weathered. The statements made by this authority suggest that the addition of lime to the pasture and keeping up a sufficient supply of lime at all times in the soil would increase the supply of lime in the grass and particularly in the clovers and trefoils and this would not only tend to increase the milk yield, but would be largely instrumental in preventing diseases and disorders in dairy cows and would play an important part in developing the frame of the calf. The presence of rock salt on pastures where the cow t s can lick it when so inclined is also valuable in maintaining the health of cows. THAT DEEP TILTH. A deep, mellow tilth is needed by many crops, but by none more than by potatoes. There is no chance of growing a paying crop of these roots unless the tilth is deep, friable and | well worked. The best results seem I to be obtained on the Fens, and the i rich black alluvial loams, for when such land has been well manured it will grow practically anything, and the yield per acre will be a large one. Once the potatoes are planted and through the soil, the horse-hoe should be got to work and kept at work, for it has been proved times without number that the more the ground is stirred round potatoes the better the yield of tubers will be. Whether the crop will be a paying [ one this year no one can foretell (says ' a Home writer), but for the sake of the growers, and especially those on the East Coast, it is to be hoped that prices will be more remunerative than was the case last season.

WOOL AND W AGES. PROBLEMS FOR GRAZIERS AND MEN. To the Editor of the “ Timaru Herald.” Sir, —While the graziers are welling to dispose of their wool, without intelligent control and marketing thereof, it is absolutely wrong to insist on reduced wages to shearers and other station employees, and as the serious position existing in the shearing dispute in Australia is of special interest to woolgrowers and shearers in New Zealand. I forward you the enclosed article copied from “Stead’s Review,” March 1, 1930, and trust you will be able to publish it and that its publication will assist towards creating a more intelligent outlook and thereby obviate much of the ill-feeling and strife that is inseparately associated with the pursuit of fatuous, ill-conceived policies.—l am etc., SPARTACUS. Timaru, August 7, 1930. (Enclosure). “FACTS FOR BRADFORD MEN AND OTHERS.” (By Bruce Pratt). “A Sydney wool man discusses some aspects of the wool industry which are seldom mentioned.” When your tailor sent you a bill for thirteen guineas for that suit you are wearing, perhaps you thought dimly, “I wonder if it is worth that price.” Maybe you have read that cheaper wool will mean cheaper goods. Let us look at the facts. Actually, the price of the raw material has little effect on the price of the finished product. By the time the wool has been removed from the sheep’s back and converted into a suit, so many processes have been involved that costs have soared mountainously. Examine these figures, taken from “Wool and Wool Manufacture,” by J. P. Warburg. The book was written when wool was selling at a high figure. As costs vary in different parts of the world, the figures can only be taken as approximate:— Costs of greasy wool, per lb 40d. Converted into cloth, per lb 19/7. lib of equals approximately one yard of cloth. Therefore the cost of the cloth for a suit would be about £3 8/6. Such a suit, tailored decently, would be sold for about thirteen guineas. Between the original cost of the cloth and the finished article there is a difference of over £lO. Now please examine the next paragraph very carefully. Take the same costs with wool at half the “greasy” price, namely, 20d per lb. Thus we get the following highly interesting figures:— Cost of greasy wool, 20d per lb. Converted into cloth, 15/4 per lb. Cost of cloth for suit, £2 13/6, instead of £3 8/6. Same difference between cost of cloth and price of suit, £lO. Price of suit, approximately £l2 12/-. In the second suit the price of the raw material is 50 per cent, below that of the first, but the price of the finished article has dropped only £1 1/-, or less than 8 per cent. Am I stressing the obvious when I point out that those figures demonstrate that manufacturing costs play a far greater part in the cost of clothing than the price of the raw material plays? Yet critics on the other side of the world, notably the Bradford gentry, persist in telling us Australians that we must reduce the cost of the raw material. That may be partly true, but until costs through the trade are reduced also, we men in the street will not see woollen goods much cheaper. Despite all the wailings in the newspapers, there is hope for the wool trade, provided the manufacturing costs are lowered. Cheaper goods will increase the demand, and I think I have shown fairly conclusively that the price of the raw product has little or nothing to do with the ultimate price. Lower those manufacturing costs, and wool win te-

gain its high position in the textile field.

In the meantime, the woolgrower, reasoning on the lines set out above, may develop an overweening sense of rignteousnes.s. Let us now „.i a few facts concerning his end of the business. During the 1928-29 wool season the average price of wool sold in Australia was approximately ioj.a per io. From September 1929 ithe commencement of the 1929-30 season), until the end of the year, the average price was approximately lOd. This difference of 6id per lb represents on the whole Australian clip something ; like £20,000,000. Since the commence- i ment of 1930 a further serious decline has taken place, so that it is unnecessary to do any further moaning about the very serious position of the Australian wool trade. As for the wages bill on a sheep station, it is almost a negligible item in comparison with the value produced. Apart from special occasions, such as shearing, crutchings, and so on, two men are able to look after a flock up to say, 500 sheep. Even if wages are reduced, and already, for shearing, they have been reduced in Queensland, the cost of production would not be greatly reduced. Let us not make any pretence about the matter any longer; wages on sheep stations are not a vital problem. The big problem is the cost of suitable land. The price of pastoral land in recent years has risen in sympathy with wool values. Five and six pounds per acre have been common prices for even medium-class grazing country. Many growers are unwilling to face the fact that, as land values have followed wool values upwards, so they must follow them downwards. In this connection I should like to point out that the growers are still throwing away annually £5,000,000. A small item, doubtless, as against the total value, but surely half a million is worth keeping in the country? I refer to that old bone of contention—the “draft.” “Draft” is an allowance make by the woolseller to the buyer to the extent of one pound in every 112 pounds. That is to say, if a buyer purchases a bale containing 3361bs of wool, he pays for only 3331 b, the 31b difference being the i “draft.” In a few bales this does not mean much. Last season, however, Australia sold overseas over 2,500,000 : bales of wool, averaging nearly 3cwt per bale. The draft on this is ap- ; proximately 7,500,0001 b, the value of [ which was about £500,000. Why i should the growers lose it?

A total of 7,295,845 freight carcases of 601 b, were killed for export in New Zealand to June 30th last. These figures include 181,550 quarters of beef; 1,137,970 carcases of ew’e mutton; 1,448,625 carcases of wether mutton; 6,778,320 carcases of lamb; 131,942 of pork and 311,232 freight carcases of frozen sundries, which embraces boneless beef, etc. .The increase on last year is 1,143,180 carcase^.

RURAL NOTES. “The recent rains are going to do a wonderful amount of good to the farms in South Canterbury.” said a well-known farmer yesterday. “They have come just in time. Of course, it would have been better if we could have got rain in July, but it will do a lot of good now because we are not getting enough sun to draw the moisture out of the ground. The subsoil should be well soaked, and this will give the crops a good start when the ground commences to feel the influence of the warmer weather. Last year’s record of stocks of sheep in the Dominion have been eclipsed by the figures announced as at April 30th this year. The total given is 30,637,390, which represents an increase of 1,586,008 over the previous year. The expanding lamb production of South America is noteworthy. In 1914 that country exported 837,903 lambs to the United Kingdom, whilst this year her shipments for the month of March alone amounted to 866,029 lambs. A total of 4,333,241 lambs were exported from South America to the United Kingdom, representing an advance of 902,586 on the previous year, when the total was 3,430,655. It may here be mentioned that 40 per cent, of the South American lamb which was shipped to England in 1929, were landed at Liverpool, likewise 45 per cent, of the mutton and 27 per cent, of the beef. With New Zealand’s contribution of 6,778,320 lamb carcases for consumption in Britain, it will be noticed that we have a serious rival in the Argentine and other South American States engaged in pastoral pursuits, for the meat trade at Home. A Mangateparu settler possesses cows which have given him lengthy service. He bought 16 cows in the autumn of 1919, when the Soldier Settlement was first opened, and he still has two of them. These were heifers in 1919, have milked well for eleven seasons, and are carrying their twelfth calves. When tested several years ago, they produced about 3501 b of butter-fat. The figures of the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture show that the salted butter graded for June, 1930, was 968 tons, and the unsalted 1,. tons, a total of 987 tons, compared with 1241 tons salted and 2 tons unsalted, a total of 1243 tons, for June, 1929; a decrease of 21.13 per cent. For the eleven months ended June, 1930, the respective quantities w'ere 92,989 tons and 1601 tons, a total of 94,590 tons, compared with 78,693 tons and 2167 tons, a total of 80,860 tons, for the corresponding period of the preceding season; an increase of 16.97 per cent. The cheese graded for June, 1930, comprised: White 1314 tons, coloured 1014 tons, a total of 2328 tons, compared with 1282 tons white and 790 tons coloured, a total of 2072 tons, for June, 1929; an increase of 12.35 per cent. The quantities for the eleven months ended June, 1930, were: White 57,409 tons, coloured 29,253 tons, a total of 86,662 tons, compared with 58,822 tons white and 27,314 tons coloured, a total of 86,136 tons, for the corresponding period of the preceding season, an increase of 0.61 per cent. Converting these figures into butter-fat equivalent, there is an increase of 10.491 per cent, in butterfat production for the eleven months, as compared with the corresponding period of the 1928-29 season. Stocks held in the various grading ports as at June 30th, 1930, were: Butter 7039 tons, cheese 8701 tons, as compared with 3812 tons butter and 4370 tons cheese held on June 30th, 1929.

The West Australian Government is prepared to generously assist heavyhorse breeders in that State who desire to secure high-class draught stallions. The Government is prepared to advance to approved applicants 50 per cent, of the price of a stallion up to £4OO. Any amount in excess of the sum stated must be borne solely by the purchaser. The applicants must undertake that the stallion will be available for service within the district for at least three years. The stallion must not be younger than rising three years, nor older than rising six years, must possess a Government certificate of soundness and be eligible for registration in the stud book. The horse is to be selected by a representative of the Stallions Board, or, if selected by the applicant, must be approved by the representative before the subsidy is available. Stallions may be purchased from breeders in the eastern States, or from local breeders, provided the animal is sold direct from the breeder to the applicant for the subsidy.

It has been mentioned that the ab- ! sorption of water by wool creates heat.! If one pound of dry wool is completely wetted out the heat generated is sufficient to raise one pound of water through 43 degrees F., or one-quarter of the way to boiling. The practical . consequence of this evolution of heat, may be serious, and recently two cases have been brought to notice, which can j be attributed to it. Wool baled in j California was found to be smoking in ! the ship’s hold within twenty-four j hours of loading. It was removed to j the quay, and after a short time actu- ! ally burst into flames. Tests on the wool for its moisture content previous j to bailing showed that it had actually 1 been baled with a regain of less than j 3.6 per cent. Prior to loading, a down- ! pour of rain had thoroughly wetted the j outside of the bales, and as the water penetrated to the centre, heat had been generated by wetting, and since the outer part of the bales formed an effective insulator for heat transmission, the interior of the bale gradually became hotter and hotter, until actual combustion took place. A similar incident occurred when a delivery of New Zealand wool was opened in England last year. The interior of the bales was found to be yellowed and of charred appearance, i although very damp, while the outside portions were exceptionally dry and rendered brittle. Hence, it is evident that the correct moisture content of the wool previous to baling is of importance as a safetv nrecautipn. MARKETING BOARD PRAISED. Mr David Jones, M.P., chairman of the New Zealand Meat Producers’ Board, has returned from the Old Country loud in his praises of the work done by the Empire Marketing Board in Great Britain. “It is doing exceedingly valuable work for the Empire,” he said. “Its big posters are to be seen all over England explaining the need for buying Empire goods, and quite recently the Board held a huge exhibition in Glasgow, at which each Dominion was given a period. The meat salesmen in Glasgow say that it gave our trade there a big help. “The Board is also doing valuable research work and to-day is sharing with the New Zealand Meat Produce Board the cost of a survey of refrigerated meat from the freezing works of New Zealand to the Home market. Dr Griffiths and Dr Vickery, with their assistants, were in New Zealand, and are now investigating in the cold stores in London.” A

“SIDE LINES” ON FARMS. ENGLISH WRITER’S VIEWS. From time to time farmers are heard to say that they are doing this, that or the other as a bit of a sideline; but, frankly (remarks an English writer), I do not like the word when it is applied to agriculture, as it suggests something which is not given much attention, and it may or may not turn out satisfactorily, according to circumstances. To mention a specific, poultrykeeping has too long and too often been treated as a mere sideline on many farms, just as if the production of eggs and table birds was something which did not call for serious consideration or much attention. But surely this and similar ideas of sidelines are wrong, and if any crop is. worth keeping it becomes a part of the | whole scheme of the farm, and is as 1 deserving of as much attention as any other.

March July Merinoseries, d. d. series, d. d. Super 11 to 121 14 — Average .. 91 to 101 11 to Ill Halfbred 56/58— Super 12 to 13 121 to 131 Average .. 11 to 111 111 to 12 Halfbred, 50/56— Super 101 to 111 12 to 121 Average .. 91 to 101 11 to Hi Halfbred, 48/50— Super 10* to 11 11 to 12 Average .. Crossbred, 46/489 to 91 101 to 11 Super 10 to 101 101 to 11 Average .. Crossbred, 44/46— 9 to 91 10 to 101 Super 91 to 10 10 to 101 Average .. 81 Crossbred, 40/44— to 9 91 to 101 Super 91 to 10 10 to 101 Average .. Crossbred, 36/408i to 9 91 to 10 Super 9 to 91 101 — Average .. 71 to 8 9 to 91 Pieces 71 to 81 7 to 81 Bellies .. .. 6 to 71 61 to 8 Locks 31 to 41 31 to 41