The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1927. WHEAT AND FLOUR.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17277, 13 December 1927, Page 6

The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1927. WHEAT AND FLOUR.

The Government Abstract of Statistics gives various details respecting the wheat grown and the flour ground, and as everyone has to contribute towards the income of those who carry on that industry they should be interested, in hearing about it. The increased duty on wheat has led to an increase in the area sown, which is estimated at 270,000 acres for the current year against 221,689 acres last year. On the oilier hand, the area under oats has fallen about 20 per cent., and that under barley about 30 per cent. Last year the yield was particularly good, the average being over 36 bushels to the acre and the average price was 7s 3Jd per bushel, and it would seem to the outsider that a return of over £l3 per acre should he sufficient without demanding increased protection. It would have been of much interest if the Statistician could have told us how much labour was employed in raising the wheat, for it is hard to imagine that it can be any very large proportion of this return. W,e come then to the grain mills, and it is stated that last year the trade was again unsatisfactory. The reason given is that there was not enough wheat produced in the previous year, so that millers had to import wheat, and as merchants also imported flour several mills had to work short time. The figures show that the business is not flourishing. The value of the land, buildings, plant and machinery has fallen from £782,184 to £744,405, and the number of men employed has fallen from 639 to 610. The wages have fallen rather more in proportion and average £5 per week. On the other hand, there is an increase in the number of engines and of their horsepower. The materials used are less, and the value added per £IOO of wages is less. On the whole the point to be remarked is that the industry is a small one to be subsidised at the expense of everybody in the Dominion. In most countries an effort is made to keep; bread from taxation. It is recognised that the price of bread is a serious matter to a poor man, though it may cause no concern to a rich man. It is reserved for New Zealand to tax with especial severity the food of the poor man. It is clear also that though wheatgrowers and flourmillers combine to bring pressure to bear on the Government in order to secure increased duties, this is the only point in which their interests coincide. The flourmiller wants sufficient wheat to be grown to make importing unnecessary. The wheatgrower does not want enough to be grown to bring down the price. It is, of course, impossible to gauge with any accuracy the yield of wheat; it depends on the season, and the farmer has to make his own estimate of the area being sown, as the Statistician’s figures are too late to help him. In order to run no risk of overproduction he sows an acreage well below what could be handled, and that will not help the flourmiller. If it is necessary to import it pays better to import flour than wheat. About next year we may look for dissension between wheatgrowers and flourmillers, and shall be told of influential deputations waiting on the Government and asking that they be guaranteed some high price for wheat, while the millers ask that an embargo be placed on the import of flour. Mr Amery preaches Empire trade, but without success. We tax Australian wheat and flour and they tax New Zealand butter and potatoes. The curious thing is that with all their protection the wheatgrowers and flourmillers are always complaining, while dairy produce, which gets no protection, increases steadily in quantity.

It is somewhat remarkable that so little wheat Is grown in the North Island. It is not that the land or the climate is unsuitable, for large quantities were grown in the past. There should be a market for fowl-wheat. The price is very high, being often higher than milling wheat. . This of course is one of the iniquities, for the Government deliberately injured one industry to help another. The freight from Canterbury would act as some protection to the local man, and there should be an' opening there. It is distinctly desirable that we should widen the range of our production. Much has been said about the heavy clay lands, and the Government experimental farms might test the possibility of their being used for wheat. In England, before the days when the western portions of tjie United States and Canada were opened up for wheatgrowing, heavy clay lands were extensively used for purpose. Essex, Cambridgeshire and Lincoln were examples. Much work was required, but a large yield was commonly obtained. It would be worth while to see whether some'!of our gum land could be used for the purpose. The land would b'c improved at the same time, and when the duty is removed, as will happen some day, it would probably be still found to be a profitable crop. It costs us more to raise the crop than the Australians or the C: adians pay. Our land is more expensive and our costs are higher. At the same time, wc must remember that freight is higher than it used to be. If the poultry-farming were carried on in the neighbourhood of the wheat-growing two industries might both profit.