10 



ROYAL r<>MMlvv|,,\ MX AGKICI I.TIUK. 



. \919.] 



MR. R. J. THOMPSON, O.B.E. 



[Cnntinunl. 



wild hi; at 21s. for last season 



im| at 'JiK. fr thi* coming MM- n. which in- 

 dicate* that ill. i . \j.. et the price to ho somuuhcr<- 

 bout the i... 



;i||i.. AIM how it ill not be dearer?- ^- 

 !i|17 M ^immunt: 1 am rather struck by 



th<- i qnoti t"i i'a-ie slag. Is tlnit imu-it - 



You h.n. L-l i'-V H ton for 1910, and \u -nm.ii. at 

 L'.'t a ton for 192O. 1 am quoting from 'I able II. \\t 

 in Table I. sou put tin- price at i'.'t ll's., hut in 



I .u i 



.Mimiiif in Table II. you put it at 

 afraid that that must he an error. 



911s. Hut even 3 ll's. strikes me as being rather 

 below the market price-:- In tli. io slag 



then* ia an agreed price which has been fixed by the 

 Board, ana that is the figure for 3U p. i . nt., 84g. 

 per t<>n delivered to farmer's station. 



9119. That is what 1 recollect as being the | i .. . 

 that is being paid? The explanation is that . l r.- 

 price of 3 128. Od. is not the delivered prie i-. hut is 

 ex-works price; because at the beginning of the table 

 wo. were only able to give f.o.r. prices for 1912. 

 Therefore, in order to make the comparison fairly 

 correct throughout, a deduction was made lor tin' 

 cost of delivery. The *ls. per ton which is the price, 

 in* hides 12s. Gd. per ton for delivery. 



912<1. Thru with regard to the other prices, are they 

 delnvr.-d prices, or ex-works prices: 1 For instance. 

 sulphate of ammonia 21 l()s. Od.. and superphos- 

 phate i.7 I. "is. ltd., and so our The sulphate of 

 ammonia prices you will sou from the note for a << T 

 tain period were f .o.b. prices at Hull. We take it 

 that included a certain amount for delivery, and they 

 i|Ucntlr may be compared with the later prices 

 which include delnery. Hut in the case of the super- 

 phosphate and basic slag, we were only able to give 

 f.o.r. prices. 



iipJl. Jhen the i:f should In-altered to 3 12s. (Nl.r 

 Yes, I think that ought be altered to 3 12s. Od. 



9122. Mr. .\-lilnj: Does it not allow for two grades 

 .if -lag:- In Tabu I., you are dealing with one, and 

 1 imagine in TahU II., with another;* Yes, I think 

 that is quite corri-ot. I have- forgotten the exact wny 

 in which tliis Table was made up. 



912.'). You arn taking one grade in one case, and 

 an average price in tl ..... tlierl- Yes, that is the ex- 

 planation. I am much obliged to you. 



Mr. .In/.'' i SiwiHiKiis: To put it in n sentence. 

 .ms you estimate it will cost the farmers in I'.i'Jit 

 t.'i.tKliHKlO more fur fertilisers than they had to ex- 

 |*-nd in I'H^-IV. an. I something like 9,'000,000 more 

 than 'i course you ill observe 



that this is partly accounted for by the tact that 

 is an additional quantity of potash, nnd that 

 the sulphate of ammonia lias gone up in price in the 

 year. 



'.'PJ.V Of ,..:; ill aj, they refer to 



le-itili.,rs and so-ds or agricultural machinery, ure 

 very instructive to us for the moment. You have 

 already been nsked what your opinion wa.s with n 

 gard t<> the future price of seeds. Have you any 

 information which would enable you to form an'v 

 judgment as to how long these high prices for fer- 

 I lor agricultural machinery are likely t<> 

 continue!- In the course of the inemoVandum I have- 

 loured in one or two cases to look forward to the 

 .11 beyond next spring. Of course you will 

 appreciate urn- can only mnke A gurf at it ; hut many 

 of thcs. material* are dependent on freight, and the 

 l-ntioii IH undoubtedly IM-C ouiing ca.in-r. 



9126. But with regard to prices, would not you say 

 that labour would have a very much great* i . II IN ' 

 upon the future price of, at an- rate, agricultural 

 machinery than freight? On agricultural ma< hinery. 



"127. And - I ,hi llk the only thing 



that the freight position influence- in the rase !>f - 

 ' !iich is imports! fr.. 1. It 



i not freight in that ca*. It IK the diffi< ulty of 

 ' 



12-< I do not qnifc- follow why you rstimt. a .|i ,, 

 f 2V in the price of turnip sce<ls ami of !> 



f9T rent, tn the price of swedes. and of .'. p.-r 

 ..i.t in thr price of mangeld. One would bav 

 thought that inuwnmch a the ^n-M.n i-. .1 l.ad one for 



all kind* of root* I should say there are hundred:* 

 n's ploughed up. more than ill almost any other 

 iop tin- price would !* rather more ..|iial than \<>u 

 have it a between those, three kinds? The i 

 of .seed* are much more difficult than of any 

 other .ut :.! . tie MI ligurefi are based on the rcplic* 

 we ha\i from a number of merchant*, 



and they are I I'o that extent I think they 



are valuable. The trade docs seem to lie of opinion 

 that there will IN' a difference l'twecn mangels, 

 seil<-. and turnips. I ha\e a letter here from Mr. 

 Miln. who is the I'rcMclelit <>f tli. -. .1 Trade Aseo- 

 (lation. who e.-tinuitcs that mangels are likely to 

 decline by '.I per cent., s\, edes by 8 per cent., and 

 turnips by S per cent. 



i'l'J ' \ : iiiist 2'2 PIT ecu; fee, These figures 

 an' the averagi> of a number of opinions; bu' you will 

 observe that they move in tl mic dire tion. 



9130. You are not able to jzive us, are you, wh. t 

 the percentage of lalonr would be in the cost cf any 

 article of machinery taking them generally. Take 

 harrows, drills, sowers, and soon; what percent. 



tin' cost of production would apply to lahourP- 1 do 

 not feel that I ran make a statement on that. As 

 regards machinery, the general impression in the 

 trade is that no gceat change may I d for 



some considerable time. That is the general view. 



9131. Of ccniisc. you can sec it will he nece-sary 

 for us to form some judgment as to what the ne\t. 

 five, six, seven, or possibly eight years will produce, 

 and we could not very well base calculations upon tin- 

 present prices. What I am driving at is, to asceitain 

 if you have formed an opinion yourself from your 

 knowledge of tlu> question, what the ultimate- increase 

 on pre-war prices is likely to be with regard to 

 agricultural machinery ? I am not a prophet. 



9132. Mr. I'initli'ii: 1 have only one or two quc.v- 

 tions, and one or two general one's to legiu with. 

 Are the prices that you have given in Tables I, III, 

 and IV all obtained from manufacturers, or In 

 Broadly speaking, they are the statements of manu- 

 facturers. 



9133. Are those manufacturers selected by the 

 Board? We have taken them as fairly reliable. 



!>1.'M. I want to know exactly on what you base 

 these figures!'- -May I take tin' articles individually? 



9135. No, I did not want that; 1 wanted them 

 generally? Then that is the reply, I think: that 

 they are the most reliable statements we could get for 

 the' earlier period, and for the' later dates \\e> have the* 

 information of the' control price, or something equiva- 

 lent to it. 



9136. I am more concerned with the present pn. 



In tho case of the present prices, they are the eon- 

 trolled price, or such price's as \\e may have' special 

 opportunities of obtaining information in regard to. 



9137. So far as prices are controlled. I can under- 

 stand that: that is an arrangement fix< d l.y the 

 various controllers. But so far ng they are not con- 

 trolled price's, on what principle have you gone';' It 

 applies mainly to seeds. 



9138. And machinery? Yes. As I explaine"! in tin- 

 case of seeds. Me have' only taken the' replies e> have 

 received from a number of reliable seed houses. 



9139. Stopping for the moment at seeds, have- vou 

 averare-d those prices, or have' you selected one manu- 

 facturer? No. these are- axerage pi i' 



III in A\e'i-age price's from a number of firms you 

 have' se'le-e ti'd !' Yes, that is SO. 



!'lll Then as to machinery? In the- case f 

 machinery, the prices ore based on trade catalogues. 



9142. Is that after allowing for any discounts? Are 

 they the- pi ie-e's to the' pin e lia -. r - S'cs. those are the 

 estimated prices a farmer would have to pay. 



I'M.'t. But on what basis have ye.u estimated them; 

 that i>- i\hai 1 want to know? Tlie' price, for I'M! 

 and for ]!)!! were taken from the catalogues at the 

 Kepyal Agricultural Show. 



91-14. They ar' catalogue print.; they are not from 

 actual trade lists in September? No. I might 

 thc-w prices were not pot. out by myself personally. 



