ECONOMICS OF BREAD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11512, 7 October 1915, Page 2

ECONOMICS OF BREAD.

l,;iM evening, si I I lie inert him; ol flii' I'luliiMiphiciil I iisl il nic, It 1 )' 'l''. \V. I i dgendoii, ol 'bo <-n!n Ahi icnil ura I ( 'ullege, 11< 'ilV't'j ci I ;i ;I ;i(|fll V' ('lt I lie '' Kconoll) of Uwiiii.l>r H idealt lirstly n iili (lie rr-l u) pIT-dlirl inn of wheal I t*i (h" ijinocr. ilx'ii v> it b the pmeos ol milling, : 11: (I !>n;dly Willi t la< ■ halving ; 111 ■ I <ii-inl.uiiiiti (if till' Vnv;i (I. _ 111 1 1|<* j (-(.iir'.i- Mi iii > r*-111:• s In" i M'.ii'h''' l "! <>n I till* '"HI <il I ll '' *'i n-1 I nil 01 t lir I pneov, -,v hj, ai and 11-mr, and .showed j •«>n;;■ hitereM im;: j;< aphs ijdilos, | il!us I'rai< 1 tin' para I !e! imii thar r.M.'.tt I be I wi'rii v!"lils and pricey. ! ( . :ili tho Meters ol produeiion, In- said. il t'osf, at tie* present tune about .(lb to grow, harvest and j hl'esh < I»IU ili'l'C <>t M Ileal ■ < ' ,KS "leant that v.iih wheat. aI, (lie average prjr-<> ol ;is Id | in' I.aslu-I. (lie la rnicr Mould require lo grow ;Hi bushels tit the acre t'i pay expeiiM-■ A" ;ivt,'i ii)Io crop ot v. 11< J u(• yielded )*» Ine-hel'- 'to ihe «»cr*.', 111-olit/ there!ore ot nmo Inlsiiels' lo the acre. if tbr yield uns raised lo -17 bushels the crop would |„; increased U pur cent, but; the profit to the farmer would increase; by >22 per rein. It- was therefore clear liialcomparatively small increase ,in the yield per acre meant a. large mcroaMf. "ji, profits to the fanner. The knowledge of this fact had prompted Mr Alexander, Hie principal ol the Lincoln Agricultural • College, to asx the speaker'to undertake tho task or oxpcrimcMitin# with whoiiis foi tllO p\U pose not only of increasing the averago viol (I In.i t also of ascertaining the varieties most suitable for /Sew /calami's peculiar climatic conditions. the method. adopted by tho speaker m his experiments was ouo of simple fielec--1 ion. From a, crop ol: wheat be. would take tiftv or one hundred ol <- u? strongest, and best beads, and to make sure that these heads were pro the tie would take tho grains from each bead and sow them separately in rows. >A <me row vielded better than the others under tho same conditions it would probably have an inborn advantage. Referriii"- to the price ot wheat in liilgcndorAaul that there was a prevalent idea that war raised the pi ice of wheat. This indeed was perfectly true iu the past but it had lost much of its application at tho present da}. The sudden rise in tho price or whc;nt on the outbreak of the great European War was due to the shortage earned by the locking up of tho laissian export supply of wheat. The had descended suddenly, on and +h p outside of Europe had no time to adpis-, tb.emselves to the changed order of things. ?vow, liomover thev were meeting every con-tin-cnev With the result that wheat had fallen from its .abnormal _ hidi finaire in Britain to about os per br'shol. Once tho Dardanelles were forced and the Russian ej jP o1 "'' renewed the bottom would fall out of the market . . . r Touching on tlm high price ot wheat v'hich prevailed in . the Dominion until a few months ago, Dr Hilgemlorl pointed out that iii yeais ol ovei pio(iliction.prices i" >vcw Zealand were settled by English pr:ces. In .years of under production price.s were generally determined by Australian yields. 3n his opinion the drought iu Australia coupled with under production, in New Zealand was tho cause of tho high price of wheat in the Dominion in 1914. Perhaps sSxpenco per bushel increaso might bo ascribed directly to with the profits made by the farmer, tho miller and the baker, Dr Bilgendorf said that the miller was often wrongfully accused of making huge profits, but with wheat at, say, 3s "-id a bushel, in forty bushels the farmer made over 39 per cent profit, the miller only a little over 10 per cent:, and tho baker as muck as 50 per cent, When wheat was dear, however, at, say, 5s 3d a _ bushel, the farmer's profit would bo 06 ptMccentt t tho miller's profit 10 per cent, and the baker's profit 34 per cent. Thus irhon wheat was dear tho bakers' profits were not nearly as great as when wheat was cheap. ,\t ilie conclusion of his address Dr Hilgendorf was asked a number of questions, and WtivS accorded a vote of thanks for bis interesting lecture.