The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God’s, and truth’s. Saturday, June 29, 1889. THE FARMING INDUSTRY.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 318, 29 June 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God’s, and truth’s. Saturday, June 29, 1889. THE FARMING INDUSTRY.

The movement which is on foot in this district, to organise some joint action among the farmers in the disposal of their produce, is one which is worthy of the fullest consideration, and on the matter being well considered there can be only the one conclusion, that the project is entitled to such a large amount of support as will bring it to a successful issue. At present the scheme is only in a crude state, and at the last meeting there had not been collated sufficient information to indicate in what practical form the object of the farmers should be attained. But delay in matters of this kind is in the preliminary stages unavoidable, and, if it were not, it is preferable that there should be no haste to rush the thing through. The ground must be made sure in the first place, so that there can be no halfheartedness at the outset.

Careful management is the main point required to ensure success, and there is not the slightest reason why there should be any difficulty in that respect. The fact is patent that the farming industry of this district has not kept pace with the times, and townsmen and settlers are alike interested in anything that will increase the general prosperity. There was a grand opportunity this season to reap some benefit from the large export of produce to Sydney, but we were quite unprepared for it, and instead of being large exporters were importing a great quantity of produce into the district. Our import columns every week show to what a lamentable extent this sort of thing prevails. Many causes have been assigned for it, and the farmers have had a great deal of the blame thrust on their shoulders. At least one of the causes may be the want of unity in the furtherance of the general interest. People are too much inclined to blame the taxes, the seasons, or some other cause, for the stats of things existing at present, but the truth is that these drawbacks get referred to so much that they assume imaginary proportions, and are made to account for a lack of energy when their responsibility in the matter is very small indeed. In a lecture delivered the other evening, Archdeacon Williams told us that at one time there were forty thousand bushels of wheat exported from Poverty Bay per annum, and besides this there was an enormous export of stock. Certainly the prices obtained were a great deal higher in those days, but when both sides of the question are considered, can the disparity account for the vast difference of the output of the present time ? In the days referred to, when our relations with the natives were of such an unsatisfactory nature, no one could tell when trouble would occur—as it did occur—that would force the settlers to abandon their holdings. The implements used must have been of a less efficient nature than those of modern improvement, and the rate of labor higher; added to which the facilities of transport had no comparison with that now obtainable. Who, then, can explain the difference ’—the reason why, at the present time, we have to import flour, potatoes, hams, bacon, etc. ? All these matters have to do with the subject of a Farmers’ Association, though in dealing with them at present we may be overshooting the main topic.

There are indeed so many points which are entitled to more attention than they receive, that if the proposed Farmers’ Association did no more than debate them, its existence would be of no great service. There has been too much “ waiting for something to turn up,” and though the past few seasons have been really good, and prices have been better than for a long time previously, the improvement has not been anything like what it should be. The establishment of the freezing industry has been a great step in advance, but even that would only be faintly in prospect now were it not for the interest taken in it by Mr C. Evans, Mr G. L. Sunderland, and a few others. A meeting in connection with the proposed Association takes place on Wednesday evening next, and if those interested are as alive to their own interests as they ought to be there should be a very large attendance. We have before us now the last balance-sheet of the Farmers' Co-operative Association of Canterbury, and it shows a net profit for the year amounting ; the usual dividend of 7 per cent, was made, together with a bonus of 3 per cent, on called up capital, and a bonus to shareholders of 3 per cent, on their purchases and amount of commissions paid during the year. Twenty per cent, was written off machinery and office furniture, and/“iooo added to the reserve funds, Z'6oo dealt with being a balance from the previous year. For the present year the profits are certain to be much greater. Of course results such as these cannot be expected in this district, for some time at any rate, but small beginnings often achieve great results. We understand that it is not intended to establish a store in Gisborne to compete with the tradesmen, but arrangements will be made with the local storekeepers to allow special advantages to members of the Association. We trust that, in the interest of the district, as well as of individuals or any one section of the community, an Association will be formed, and its formation lead to the success that it deserves.