LOWER PRICE FOR STAPLE LINES TO BE EXPECTED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17862, 2 June 1926, Page 13

LOWER PRICE FOR STAPLE LINES TO BE EXPECTED.

minister urges GEATER PRODUCTION. Per Press Association. DUNEDIN, June 1. In addressing the Otago Farmers* Union conference to-day the Hon O. J. Hawken said he did not know that people in Otago had had a bad year. He thought it had been an average one throughout New Zealand as far as production was concerned, but the prices of our staple products were slowly decreasing in value. There were those who theorised and said that post-war prices would be on a higher plane, but that was only theory and had yet to be proved. Seeing that our staple products were going down in price, it behoved those who were prudent to see that they did not base their calculations on prices such as had prevailed during the past five years. He was not saying that prices were going down, but he would say that the prudent man would take notice of facts that were staring him in the face at present. Ek£>orts would be down for the current farming year, and undoubtedly returns would not be so great. The farming community had had a shortage of funds which would be to their detriment and make their difficulties somewhat greater than they had been. Wool had decreased considerably in value, and cheese and butter had fallen a little. Meat had fallen very heavily in price, though lamb had not decreased so much. These were our staple products, on which New Zealand as a whole depended, because, after all, exports must be considered. One of the great objectives of his Department was to bring before farmers the necessity for increasing production in order to make up for the fall in prices. It had struck him in going through New Zealand that one of the main things which farmers had to go in for was the use of more fertilisers. He had seen so many examples that he was certain that the use of manures was absolutely essential for successful farming. They had had a new country to work on, and until now the natural fertility of the soil had given them good crops, but he thought that in future they would have to help nature, and if that were done carefully and sympathetically they would get just as good crops as they had got in the past, and in some cases much better than ever before. Referring to fertilisers, the Minister said the Department had in hand schemes for decreasing the cost of fertilisers to farmers. He was sure that the Government would help, and he hoped that manufacturers would help. They had had a bad year in Nauru last year, and had not been able to get the usual supply, with the result that they had to get several shipments from other countries. As showing the value of the purchase which the late Prime Minister made in conjunction with Australia and the Old Country he mentioned that shipments from outside had cost 15s per ton more than those from Nauru. He hoped the Department would be able to reduce the price to farmers, and thus enable them to increase production, but he wanted to say that the Farmers’ Union and cooperative societies in New Zealand would have to study the market and buy much more than in the past.