FARM AND DAIRY NOTES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11253, 11 May 1904, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY NOTES.

' By " Farmer's Boy."

The price of butter and cheese still forms the chief topic of. interest amongst farmers just now. Butter, at 85s and cheese correspondingly low is enough to make theme in the best of circumstances pause. ' Sheep farmers, on the other hand, have, the gratifyng- news that" crossbred wool is keeping well up, with a tendency improve. The slump in butter may prove a blessing in disguise, for it will teach the farmer the wisdom of not having, all* his eggs in one basket, and that the development t . >g£ ,- poult ryieeping, B*p^^t»?'"fEuil;jgrowitig, and otKer Fndurories i^which:"' may well, go hand ' in /hand wftn. dairying; r," \ .• , ' , .Another, p&>Tss& . jwMch,. ■ Zealand diwi7m«» rhay6^:l!Mie.iB r hay6^:l!Mie.i8 the. altered" conditions^ so l^rea^ihe,' disgosajU&f winter produce is coaircewled:. • A« > aywell-informed Tarailftki"au|^iof&?pQU»^^»t' for several yea& 'back they fiaffs^sjtralia to look to ak an, outlet and on the whole received ft6m'. there satisfactory prices. Last year the Australian market opened up well and several "companies that we know of sue- a ceedefl in placing their autumn make there' at iCJ^d . per lb. Later on in the winter the/ demand collapsed and resulted in a larger q^afitftlT te autumn " and 'tfarly 'info, frozen 'stori alg^r.atui'/beHig to London in the early, spring* % /Fortunately it met a good market and proved jßajbfcfaptpry. in .the results, to. the conip&'iies; concjSigi^ " : Thjs a"usnnin there 1 has; been absqjh&ely^jSo demand frbm Australia and cpnßequentlyislrippiiig/lias .beeni continued' lftkHh& jend^of-- April, , td,:"stys London.: niarWgJ^ .jßuK.&ocordi?tgA Ap , adjrieeSL t4e^e/late,'sjfiipmentB, wfli' meet" aiHrfery u'nfavotirable.'market' as th^e ' cable', advices quote-' a verslow price ~4ot choice- colonial buftter. : "MelljDuin.ej used to be' a. good customer^ for-New Zealand butter;, is nosfjverj- largely supplied from Gippsland, bu|?3E£e>Tn^lcet^ a^uptatiQns^iQr are V^ryc .-flttir j&Ofl&ng "For " the dairyman, as extW^ofce^i^qttoter at* ML-- tiT'Ofd/ and cbJoic6;Bi,dL^> ; ,.§Jd.,, " '^£hen it? is '"remembered that there is a dv%" of 34 pjer lb it will be seen that the fceet lvalue" of New .Zealand^ for that market* Would- Be Bid per Jb less charges, friejght^^ and: insuranjee. to land it there. In r §|d^iey again, the quotations given were f^yr.PJinieJg'd^per .lb, and' for second quality worse .even' than Melbourne. Softie <jf j'tli'e. Government instructors have beetle ye^-^t'rong. in urging the New ZeaJa^4',. dai^yjpaan^to take.. up winter, dairyin^ wj^ch. wquM, mean, hfiav^ extra expe.nBreT^h,''|^e3ing, ejfccl, but, unless they can foiffe'&eib*' JvißTyJ viBTy great change in the returns at&%hsnnels of .outlet, we.'think £he daiiryina^^illtrijriiio avoid rather than to cultiVa^ the,^ winter business. '""V^e. fiav? "bejen. alwaya assured that it "WQjild.,be impossible for, New Zealand to . overproduce; so as to glut the English market, and we < daresay that, it is quite .correct. • It, is, f however, only by means ojt.-tnl.e-, refrigerating machine ,that New Zealand can -reach the English market and t,he:sanie ; ;meanB are open to every other country which is possessed of land suitable f qr r daiiyjthg, so that when all, other countKps" "po ••situated" start to ship.,their surplus 'ioj London a glut ensues, which has opcWjted : tiiis season, resulting in' a very f depreciation -in values. As far as£t|e '•outlook at, present forecasts', it will be only>Bpring, and summer dairying which will^ay/ ■"" . vVT^JjCA.IJSE OE LOW PRICES. ':'Seja)rclirncf for pauses undprlying- the renife^'.sl^mp;'in prices, " the. N.Z. Tsmes ptittt«ka''very interesting account of an inteript^.WNTrith. Mr J. G. . fiarkness, secretajcy. of the National Dairy Association. y"Ot-jy "Ot-j, cou jse th^ price is, low, but our "btrfite^'lias^D^en down to 8d before in the I^oiiiiori market," said l^r J.G. Harkness. '^PfiSee'^ years, ago , we" should • have- been g^dito. receive 8d for our autumn butter ; l^tl the-jxpint is that those 'in. the know' nfiyp/^&Biii predicting that the price iof oukfr'butter •would peep up this autumn, in 1 - consequence of -the BussoWTapanese war. that the" war would reE^ict , the output- from Siberia, but it has n.^'di^ae. so', Moreover, as, the. result of the^depjession in trade in ' England, f ollo'wMijf' the "South African war, the speijicL-.itfg.-pitaex of' the consumers ' of l^ew ~.ea'lai^djbtitter is. not so great to-day as.it has bl|.eni-^w&fisi; at the same, time we- have V^e^'aeiihmg larger quantities of dairy produce' Home than ever before. All these cawed~tha > ye; operated' against us. f'*?@hfe?affficulsy., J '' continues Mr Harkness, ''i^tlwdb";TO hjave. been. {putting our buttet inlo^.S^he I*an4s; 6$ too. many, people at Home.' It' w^as supp9sVd, tliat the effect of tKs'^wduld be^'tq. 'induce \cpjnpetitlon" bje-txtJeen-'i-the'dealers,'and that' good prices /ttGjddythufJbe dbtained; but, as-, a matter ■ oflf^ct^^it.Sas^had just the contrary effect. I* think the time h^s arrived wnen/lJetter arrangements should be : made ( t&i?iiie" distribution' 'of our" * produce at -HSmet*v -'.- -• •. ■ '•-•; ' • *';J^ai^^.what x better arrangements he . w(tfiid2^uggest,' Mr. Harkness said. the pror p6efaKhadbee,n made that exchanges should,. 'bjr/'#feb;HsTibd; vhel-e our ttafry ' produce ; B|(QulffsbS lofferedr for - public r competitibn, jo>t;"a% wopl -isi- "*At v present, half 1 the* factgj^iee^a^. sending- their 1 goods Home by openYonsignmyn t/' /' -/.I^JM^'erjKglit'iß'th'town upon the situation %^^A^lißtter 'xec&.ived- in' Wellington ' last ■ • ar'Bondpn- firm. - -"TWe^ butter . ma^ket ! >- is. .'utterly .-denloralise'd, chiejßy t|t|ft{jgtf ', tfie .Sctiob ' of . T.hie t P^J ie s« TJi eir . jfrjc^Jiap"fix,e'd,by the^biAfnitteein GopehJ»Bgen^ l Buc'tuate "violently. In "two" weeks ""t^e^JSaiie/the- price ten-, kroner, aid immed4l*el^dlterw'qfds,'dq the very, opposite." New,!.' Zeath^nd biitter, the jvrlter stateSj wa^w6jPth''ffom 100s to *Io2s before the B^kouraV arrived, but 'before that butter wap Miecharged the" price : for the Danish article dropped six kroner. - This action waf.metby a drop in prices on the part of some holders.- of- 4^st^alian and New Zealand butter, and as some firms had apparently more -butter ,than they could conveniently handle, they let it go for the ■bestj.^pr.ipe they could get. New Zealand bUtte*' was. thus selling at 93s and 945: On the..J24th March New Zealand butter was bfiing offered in Liverpool at 02s and 935, attdcjs, ( waseven then,"difficult to find buyers: "On the 30th March the price of Dan*S'k- !^ ter a S^ n : reduced four kroner, dn4 this' forced .the N ew Zealand price to 90s. Be3fc Siberian, y^asi. worth only 88s bef bre - tpis fall, and since then it has been selling; at from ,78s, to ~Bps. '*The v ,Danes»" said one commercial man yesterdays "are able, under their excellent system, of. control, to. watch the market, and;,regu]ate tlie quaniities and the prices. We,ron.tho" other. hand, have no fixed conirps,,%ii& 9u9 ur .shipments of butter and thqse.frpm Australia, and the Argentine, ar .« P!jt on the-, market in a haphazard way to";face' falling prices, I hope the severe lesßon, thfi factory owners have learned will induce them to pause before they continue this policy." " • ■ NOTES. "The Mqtorua Butter Grading Works, whiaßJ'wer^^destroyed by fire yesterday mppiipg, represents a rather heavy blow, to tiie dairy industry in North Taranqki. Some/two' years ago the works were. a<v rjiutp'd from a company by the dairy com-

panies, who formed an Association for the purpose. The works have always paid handsomely, though in view of the erection of works at Patea the equipment was too elaborate for the output handled. The new works will probably be on a modified scale. It is fortunate the fire occurred at the tail end of the season; if it had occurred a few months ago serious dislocation of trade would have been the result. As it is the works should be in going order again by next season. < During .the year ending the 31st March, 21,657cwt of butter, valued at .£IOO,OOO, and 6277cwt of cheese, of the value of. nearly ,£15,000, was exported from New' Zealand to S(>uth Africa.' '- ■ 'At. a- meeting, of. the, Ekctahuna -branch--of the Farmers' TJn;oii, a. member inquired why 2£d was only paid" for North Jslarid 'pigs, whilst the quotations in the South Island were 3Jd- The reason was given that- pigs "in the ,south were grain-fed, whilst those in the NoTth were fed on skim milk.

One reason why Danish butter has a more steady position here (says the Pastoralists' Review) is because in many parts of that country it is retailed .as Danish at the, shops. There is nothing to steady an article in value like this. Australian j butter is not known, so you are at the mercy of. the trade, wholesale and retail, gold as. Dorset,, a large,. proportion „of. your" butter in New Zealand goes to Wesjt of ;> Engrartd factories, and is 'there mixed) with local produce, and I have no doubt but that where no mixing takes place, and the highest qualities are retailed, they go as "prime Dorset." ;, "'Some comparisons' 1 have been made to show- how the Poverty Bay district has progressed • in, a very, short time. . Land atrout.thiioe miles frxMii. Gisborne /: that. 13 ,i jipars ago w^s purchased for. £3 12s per acre, has" lately been sold! at £86 per acre; land about three-quarters of a mile from the Gisborne Post Office that twelve years ago was purchased, for per, acre, has. been soid afc.£6jrio per acue. Thirteen years. ago Messrs Nelson Bros, started a freezing works on a guarantee of .6000carcapcs ol sheep, but- the first year/" they put through 35,000 carcases. This year the two freezing companies will put through about 370,000 carcases of sheep and about .10,000 carcases of beef. Five thousand bales of wool weto exported" 13 I years ago; this year about 30,000 bales will be exported. In addition tKe. dairy industry has made enormous strides.