ON THE LAND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXVII, Issue 3965, 23 January 1917, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

STEMS FOR FARMERS

Cows are worth big money in England at tho present time. At a sale in Essex tho other day of a herd of a tenant farmer who is giving up milking, the entire herd averaged £34 7s a head. N-oue of the cows were pedigreed, yet two cows with their calves made £100 2s 6d. Fresh-calved cows realised £48, £46, £45 10s, etc.

As Professor Middleton pointed out

I in his recent report on the " Dovelop--1 ment of German Agriculture," the beet growers have been the pioneers of improved farming in many parts of Germany; animal industry has flourished where sugar beet is grown; it .is recognised as the crop which produces most human food per unit of use, and without it the. high level to which German agriculture has attained in recent years would have been impossible.

Reports to hand by the last mail from America state that Friesian bull King Segis Pontiae Koningen, 97,988, has just been purchased by the Fred. F...Field Holstein Go., Dutchland-Farm, of .Massachusetts, for v 35,000 clols. (£7000)/ His former owner was' Frank A ; ; Smith, of tyew.: York. Mr F:' F. Field states:—"The three nearest'dams of this bull have -the-largest mil]? and buttor records of any bull in the United States. I paid 30,000d015. for him, and believe this to be highest price evor paid for a dairy animal."

The remarkable manner in which the Holstein cattle,,aro.booming in Britain —they have made the most sensational advance in favour of any * breed is thus told by the North British "Agriculturist":—"There is no stopping,the Holstein-Friesian, for the demand seems to be far, greater than the supply. Accomplished in the short space of seven years, the rise and progress of this breed are phenomenal, and an average of £77 15s 4d for the 61 lots comprising Mr Dan Macßean's wellknown Gradlehall herd at •Inverness borders upon the sensational." ;

One of the aftei'-results of the war will be a stimulus to the establishment of the sugar beet industry in the- United Kingdom (says the Mark Lane "Express")- No longer will the country be ready to import from the Central Empire more than 1,000,000 tons of beet sugar a. year, and as a. consequence it may be, expected that the price of the commodity will remain at a fairly high level; putting sugar factories in this country' in a position to pay a price for beets which will be profitable to the growers. That is the crux of the problem, and the 'development'of the industry will bring a train of benefits in other directions.

One result of 'the war is very noticeable throughout the agricultural laiids in Hawke's Bay'-^Xsays^/the'yiJJajiier- :" Herald"). .The farms round Argylej Tikokinoi,.,; Ongii ' Onga *' and, T^kapatt before 'the" war-, at this /season tof the; year were always showing abundance of crops. To-day less than 500 acres are under crop, where previously easily 4000 or 5000 acres were producing oats, barley, or wheat. One regrettable feature is that the farmers agree that a better season has never been experienced in Hawke's Bay for many years, but the uncertainty of the labour market is the chief cause of the farmers not taking the advantago offered by nature.

The condition of many of the wheat crops this season and the difficuty of harvesting them, has led makers' of farm implements to provide appliances that reduce the loss from tangled and beaten down crops to a minimum (says tha "Sydney Mom ing Herald"). One maker of Australian harvesters provides such an appliance that can be fitted on to tho machine by the fanner, and ho is able to harvest a crop in a way that would have been thought impossible: The device is worked by means of an adjustible comb, a false comb, and a spiral beater, that picks up the crop, no matter how tangled it is. The cost for this appliance is according to the size of the machine, but It is not more than £6 or £7.

The i'.lveep-fly, is this summer proving a serious menace in Australia, and farmers have leeii exercising their minds as to means of eliminating, 'or .'at"least limiting, the ravages of the pest. Saj Ts the "Sydney Morning .Herald", :—

"Stockownens are awake to the menace of the sheep-fly,; which is so prevalent A. Cooiiamblo;.pastoralist has expressed the /opinion> that' l the sheep on ';■ every run will have' to. b9 carefully 'watched and examinee! periodically, and at short intervals. With this object in view, this gentleman, : who controls about 10,000 acres, has erected yards in each of his paddocks, so that the sheep can be expeditiously dealt with. Apart from the usual practice of crutching and treating the affected part with sheep dip or other preparations on the market, efforts made-to destroy the fly by poisoning a log of mutton which has been saturated with a solution of arsenic have proved most effective. One pound of arsenic is dissolved in six quarts of water, and then diluted by tho addition of six gallons of water. In this the mutton is immersed, and the baits are then hung on convenient trees. The flies* are attracted, and die in thousands when they lodge on the meat. It is contended that if this method was systematically adopted tho pest would be 'considerably lessened Some pastoralists have found that a weak dressing of eucalypti extract on the affected parts has had good results, ayS the flies appear to have > decided aversion" to the'smell." . „■