J. W. COLLINS.]

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1,-17.

Mr. John William Collins, Secretary of the Department of Industries and Commerce, further examined. (No. 7.) Mr. Collins : Mr. Chairman, I would now like to submit some further statements. In addition to the statements I submitted last week, I would now like to submit some further statements which were asked for. Mr. McCombs asked for a return in regard to flour-milling for the period 1896 to 1928. When I gave my statement last week I merely gave the position for 1928, the last available period. Some of the particulars cannot be given for each year from 1896 onwards, for the reason that the statistics were not collected yearly. The yearly collection of the statistics started in 1918-19. This is Schedule H. [See Appendix ll.] I would like to place this return before the Committee. [Handed in.] I also gave in my statement the prices for wheat, flour, bran, and pollard for the State of New South Wales, and a member of the Committee asked for similar information with respect to Melbourne, Victoria. I have therefore prepared this statement. The current price for bran is £7 10s., and pollard £7 10s. Those figures, which were asked for this morning, are included in the return. The current price for flour is £13. The current price for wheat is ss. 9d. f.o.b. Melbourne. This is Schedule I. [Handed in.] I would also like to explain that I have prepared these maps, showing the whole of the wheat-growing area in New Zealand [referring to large maps of North and South Islands placed on a board]. The densest colouring shows where the bulk of the wheat is grown. These lighter colours show where the wheat-growing is very much smaller. It is all explained in the marginal notes. They give the volume of wheat produced, the area laid down in wheat, and the yield per acre. You will notice that in the North Island the bulk of the yield is centred in the Rangitikei district, although there are also very small areas in Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty, and North of Auckland. In the Rangitikei district there are approximately 2,611 acres, Hawke's Bay 569 acres, and North of Auckland 133 acres under wheat. In Marlborough there are 3,617 acres, in Canterbury 218,672 acres, and in Otago 29,993 acres. In the Southland District there are 5,522 acres under wheat. I will leave these maps, as they may be useful to members of the Committee, and to wheat-growers when they are giving evidence. Information was also desired by members as to the cost of fowl-wheat. I did not touch on that in my previous statement, and I have now prepared a schedule—Schedule J—showing the fowl-wheat prices in Wellington as at the 26th August, 1929. I have not merely shown the f.o.b. price in Wellington. I have given all particulars of costs from Lyttelton to the poultry-farmers in Wellington. ' The freight is 5-62 d.; the harbour-rate, 0-36 d.; wharfage, 1*28 d.; sampling, weighing, branding, insurance, exchange, and cartage to store, 2-54 d. :or a total cost of 9-80 d. Members will know, of course, that fowl-wheat in the North Island is sold " sacks in." That is equal to 4-20 d. per bushel. Then, there is the wholesale merchants' profit, which varies from Id. to 2d. per bushel according to quantity and distance of delivery. With regard to prices in Canterbury, quotations for under-grade wheat on the 26th August, 1929, were ss. Bd. per bushel f.o.b. Lyttelton, sacks extra (Is. 2d.) ; good fowl-wheat, ss. lid. per bushel f.o.b. Lyttelton, sacks extra. The cost in the merchant's store in Wellington is 6s. lOd. and 7s. 2d. respectively ; and the cost to the poultry-farmers is 7s. and 7s. 4d. respectively. [Return handed in]. The Chairman.] We are very much obliged to you, Mr. Collins, for all this information. Have you anything here which shows the cost of fowl-wheat to a man who keeps only a few fowls ? —To a man who keeps only a few fowls it would come to about Bs. a bushel retail. Mr. McCombs.'] With regard to this return —Schedule H—l would really like having another column added working out the value of the flour produced per ton. This return goes to show that in 1911 the millers were getting about £1 Bs. per ton for manufacture, after having paid wages and everything else, whereas you will see that in 1927 the millers were getting £5 per ton. Now, I would like an additional column showing the average value per ton. This information, I take it, is Year-book information ? —Yes. What I wanted was —and I would like the Department to get it out —the added value per ton ; and you might also work out the wages cost per ton. —I will go into those matters. There is a feeling in the country among the farmers that the millers are getting more than a fair share out of the deal. The amount they receive to-day is certainly very much larger than what they received in 1911. When giving evidence before the 1912 Commission Mr. Virtue stated definitely that the millers would be delighted to net 7s. 6d. per ton : what I want to know is what the millers are netting to-day % —I will endeavour to get that information. Mr. Bitehener.] I have a few questions here on behalf of Mr. Jones, who is not here at present; and I also want to ask a few questions of my own as well. I want to ask, in the first place, Mr. Collins, if it has not been the settled policy of the Government for some years to get sufficient wheat grown in the Dominion to meet the requirements of the Dominion ?—1 do not know what the policy of this Government is, but that was the policy of the last Government. Well, the object has been to try and get enough wheat grown in the Dominion for its requirements ?—That was the object of the tariff and the sliding scale. It was to make New Zealand entirely independent, if possible. What has been the result of that ? —The result has certainly been most satisfactory during the last three years as far as the production of wheat is concerned. Can you account for the shortage of bran and pollard in 1925 —you refer to it in your statement (Appendix II) ?—Well, presumably, it was a year in which there was a drought in New Zealand, and on account of the shortage of grass there was a tremendous demand both for pollard and bran. There has always been a difficulty during the last three years, because of the big amount of wheat produced, in supplying farmers with bran and pollard. Would it be natural to assume that if a farmer was encouraged to grow wheat for flour there would not be such a great supply of bran and pollard ?—-Yes. The skin of the wheat would not give the bran material, and probably the pollard. The aim, of course, is to produce plenty of flour.