GENERAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND 57 



for his own price, but the financial position of many of 

 our farmers necessitates an immediate sale. Conse- 

 quently they are at the mercy of circumstances which 

 may be favourable or otherwise. 



In forwarding our wheat to the market we experience 

 a serious disadvantage, when compared with other 

 countries, on account of the method of handling the 

 grain. Our output is not large enough to warrant any 

 system but that of handling in the sack. This conse- 

 quently involves a great amount of labour which is not 

 required in some other producing areas. 



New Zealand railway facilities are somewhat inade- 

 quate for the traffic in the very busy season of the year. 

 Small country stations experience considerable difficulty 

 in getting the required number of trucks ; and often the 

 grain must be stacked at the station, sometimes outside 

 the shed, which is a risky procedure, for an autumn rain 

 would damage large quantities. Farmers throughout the 

 country, however, recognise that the railway authorities 

 meet them as far as is possible, but the lack of 

 sufficient rolling stock is responsible for the delay in 

 transportation. 



The export of wheat varies from year to year, as 

 reference to the graph of exportation will show.* It will 

 be shown in Chapter VI. that the yearly exportation is 

 a tolerably good index of the productivity of the indus- 

 try in any year. What we are concerned with here is 

 whether our methods of exporting are efficient. Details 

 have already been given of the almost perfect system 

 of marketing and exporting in the United States of 

 America, and even if we remember that the widely 

 differing circumstances of production and output some- 

 what nullify an attempt to compare New Zealand with 

 that country, still such a comparison would not only 

 show how much inferior are methods in New Zealand but 

 would also open the way for reform. Mention has been 



*See Graph VIII., page 101. 



