Farming Notes

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3101, 22 September 1899, Page 2

Farming Notes

[Bt R.s.icus.] In connection with the destruction of charlock and yellow weed by means i of spraying, which I dealt with in a previous note, it is only fair to say that all experiments in that direction have not been uniformly successful. In a recent number of the ' Mark Lane Express Mr H. H. Cousins, M.A. of the South Eastern Agricultural College, Nye Kent, writes that they had tested charlock spraying in a systematic manner, and the results were so much at variance * with the published results of other experiments that he felt constrained to place them before the agricultural public. The main results of three successive series of experiments were : — (1) That the efficacy of spraying is iv the first place limited by atmospheric conditions. Oopper sulphate is more dependent on a prolonged period of dry weather than iron sulphate. (2) That no solution capable of injuring the charlock has been without detriment to the barley crop. (3) That no solution employed (used at the rate of 40.80 gallons per acre) has effectively destroyed the charlock. From the above it would appear that the destruction of charlock by spraying must still be regarded as tentative and too much confidence should not be placed in the process until the whole bearings of the matter and the precise condition necessary for success have been established.

I have to acknowledge the receipt through the courtesy of the local Stock Department of the pamphlet on " Swine Fever " lately compiled by Mr J. A. Gilruth. After treating briefly of the disease as it appears in Great Britain and America and with its history since it was first noticed in New Zealand, the pamphlet goes on to deal in detail with the outbreak of the disease at Mataura in January last. It will be remembered that at that time a peculiar disease made its appearance among the pigs kept at the Mataura Dairy Factory Investigations by Messrs Gilruth and Reakes, Government Veterinarians, made these gentleman suspicious of swine fever. It having been asserted, however, that swine fever did not exist in the colony and that previous reports of outbreaks were simply errors of diagnosis, M r Gilruth decided before officially notifying the present outbreak as such to make a thorough investigation from a bacteriological standpoint, and in the meantime he gave a provisional report statino- that the disease was contagious pneumonia with strong indications o^ swine fever.

It is the detailed account of these bacteriological investigations which are given in the present pamphlet. To a layman the details are not very intellioible, being largely composed of scientific terms and explanations ; but there is one thing they certainly make clear and that is, that Mr Gilruth and his capable assistants, undertook an immense amount of laborious and careful work in order that they might pronounce without a shadow of doubt a to the nature of the outbreak. Just as Mr Gilruth had been before accused of making hasty and inaccurate diagnosis in the case of previous outbreaks so in the present case he was blamed in certain quarters for his tardiness in taking extreme measures. ~No one can look through his pamphlet, however, without feeling that he was quite justified in the course he took. In some cases of swine fever it is difficult to speak with absolute certainty, unless careful microscopical examination of the bacillus is first made. It was so in this instance, and it is pleasing to note that the final decision of Mr Gilruth that the disease was identical with swine fever was subsequently confirmed by Messrs Duguid and Cope of London, eminent authorities to whom Mr Gilruth submitted portions of the intestines of one of the pigs which had suffered from the disease.

While there is no one who would not be o-lad to see some permanent improvement in the prices ruling for grain and other farm produce, there are few, I think, who would be inclined to support offhand the heroic measure by which the Tuapeka Agricultural .Society would effect this improvement. Their idea is that legislation should be introduced giving agricultural associations power to meet and fix the minimum price for grain each season. It is only fair, however, to the Tuapeka Association and also, I believe, to the member who submitted the motion, to way that it was carried not so much because they ]? eltered it was practicable

and would effect an improvement, as that they considered it would direct attention to the whole matter and, perhaps, be the means of something being done to better the lot of the grain grower. Both the originator of the idea and the association generally, deserve credit for tackling an admittedly difficult and important subject with a good deal of courage.

Political economists would, of course, object to the measure on the ground that the price of all commmodites must be regulated by the law of supply and demand. From a theoretical standpoint thia position in relation to the matter might be unassailable. But then we know that practice sometime 8 drives right in the face of theory, and in New Zealand it has already done so in the case of a matter somewhat analogous to the one at present under consideration, viz., the price of labor. This has not been left to the tender mercies of the law of supply and demand. We have introduced Conciliation Boards and Arbitration Courts which fix the price of labor so that the workman may never have less than a living wage. It is with the knowledge that the laws of political economy have in this case been defied with ' success, that Mr Fraser laid his proposal before the Tuapeka Society. If something has been done by legislation, he argued, to better the lot of the toiler in the town, why cannot something be done to better the lot cf the toiler in the country also.

Without having given the subject that serious consideration which it no doubt deserves, I should say that on the surface the main objection to the proposal is that such legislation could only be practically applied in a colony which is entirely self-contained — which is cut off completely from and has no communication with the outside world. We here in New Zealand are far from being in that position, and so far as the best interests of the colony are concerned, it is to be hoped we never will. Even supposing we had the power to fix the minimum price for which our grain is co be sold, what is to prevent millers and other from buying foreign wheat if it can be landed here cheaper than wheat which can be bought locally ? Naturally, we would have to look to high protective duties to do so. But with Colonial Federation thick in the air and Imperial and Anglo-Saxon Federation likely soon to become something more than poet's dreams, it is almost heretical to talk of protective duties. The spirit of the times is all the other way, and to tax the necessaries of life is every day becoming more and more of an anachronism.

And again it cuts the other way as well. New Zealand must for very many years to come be an exporting country. It will be a sorry day both for her and her bond-holders when she ceases to be. Supposing that the price fixed here for Avheat be 3s 6d per bushel, and that owing to abundant harvests elsewhere the price in the London market is low and wheat sent from here to that market will not realise more than say 2s 6d, the question arises who are to have the privilege of selling in the comparatively high local market, and who are to be compelled to accept the lower prices. Naturally all will hang on with the expectation of selling locally, and things will become pretty well at a standstill. More mature consideration might enable one to see a way out of these difficulties, but in the meantime, much as I would like to see an improvement in' prices, I should scarcely care about supporting Mr Eraser's proposal.

Britain imports annually are nearly half-a-million pounds worth of poultry. Of this trade France and Belgium claim nearly three-fourths between them. The annual import of eggs is about 1**0,000,000 dozen, valued at £4,000,000. The greatest proportion of these come from the Continent ; France, Germany, Belgium, and Ivussia supplying the bulk. While Britain pays the foreign egg merchant over =£2,500,000 sterling, the market with her own colonies is represented by the comparatively humble sum of £100,000. In New Zealand the interest taken in the production of eggs and poultry has very much increased during late years, but we are yet far behind other countries. In the Cnited States especially, great attention is being paid to poultry raising, and the products from that branch of industry now top the list. It amounts annually to £58,000,000, while cotton stands next at £52,000,000, wheat at | £47,000,000, and wool as low asl -£7-600,000. It is md that ia 1896 1

" the year's surplus of poultry and eggs from Kansas farms amounts to within 2 per cent, of the total value of all milch cows owned in the great cattle raising regions of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah; more than the value of all cattle owned in Oklahoma, with the swine of Colorado, Montana, Nevada, and Wyoming added ; for about the same value of all the sheep in the six New England States, and those of New York and South Carolina added; nearly as much as all the sheep owned in Texas are worth ; or as much as the value of aU the corn of New England with that of North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming thrown in for good measure."