AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Press, Volume L, Issue 8485, 17 May 1893, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

The Wanganui A. and P. Association has appoin|«Sd ia to report on the Codlin MbtH Bill..""Nomore important matter is at country. We know that- dairy : farming is <?ood, but it appears that skilled bacon curing may be better. The Rangitikei Advocate notes that Mr W. B. Reteiueyer has given up tbe former for the latter. Mr W. C. Buchanan has been re-elected President of tbe Wairarapa and East Coast A. and P. Society. Vice-presidents, Messrs J. Donald and H. Braithwaite; auditor, Mr F. Feist (re-elected); treasurer, Mr Wm. Booth (re-elected). The Presi-dent-elect congratulated the Society on the great improvement in the breeding of the stock at the last show, and on the extensive attractions and additions to the Society's grounds. The secretary, Mr E. D. Dorset, had shown great energy and ability. - Judge Kettle of Wanganui, has held the Railway Commissioners, for neglecting o trim hedges, liable to the owner of adjoining lauds for damage from spreading gorse. Mr James Gemmell has beeu appointed President of the North Otago A. and P. Association. Mr Gideon Rutherford was elected vice-president, Mr Hedley was elected treasurer, and Messrs D.S.Montegu and E. A. Atkinson auditors: committee, Messrs Morton, Dawson, A. Thomson, T. Little, J. Macpherson, Rorrie, D. M'Gregor, J. S. Holmes, A. Murdoch, J. Mitchell, E. Menlove, P. Aitchison, JosJ Williams, R. A. Chaffey, R. Aitken, E. P. Burbury, J. Johnston, C. Todd, Jas. Reid, Geo. Livingstone, J. Donaldson, Thomas Reid, T. Hall and W. Gardiner.

The Feilding Star is responsible for tho following :—'• Just fancy a mushroom three feet four inches in circumference 1 There ar- three iv Mr Lever's window, from Mr Peter Stewart's, the largest of which is over thirteen inches in diameter, and weighs 21b 3oz. It would be interesting to know whether the soil of the old world could produce such monsters." A Herbertville settler having travelled to Napier and found the doors of the Stock Department there closed, made a claim ou the Department for loss through inability to register an ear-mark. The Chief Inspector's reply is published by the Napier Telegraph; it regrets the inconvenience, explains that the Napier officer had to be away in town, advises that settlers should apply through the post, and regrets the claim cannot be recommended. The Telegraph pertinently enquires what chance letters have of being attended to if the Inspector is away when they arrive; and declares the reply is a confession of the Department's inefficiency. • We must say it appears chat* the Hawke's; Bay settlers have a genuine grievance; they are taxed to support a Department which, when, they wane it, may be practically non-existent.

Mr W. W. Corfe in Feilding. Star:— " Threepence per gal. of 111b for milk means over 7Jd for the butter ; add to this Jd per lb for the box, id for freight to Wellington, id for wharfage arid other charges, brings it toßd f.o.b„ Wellington. Add to thi* 2d per lb for freight and other charges to London, which brings it-up to lOd per lb or 93s 4d per cw„ Now, last summer not one half of ti_e factory-butter fetched 100s ; this leaves, at 100s, 6s 8d per cwt to pay all working expenses, interest on capital, and taking all risks. Bur, it may be said, butter will go up. I think not, and my reason for believing so is from the fact that quantity of butter will be shipped to Great Britain next and following years. Canada i* going in for butter-making on a large scale, and Denmark's output of butter has increased in nine years from 19,000,000 lbs in 1884 to 80,000,000 in 1892." Southland farmers are "trekking" to the Waiau.

The mating of a ferret with a large Norwegian rat doe is reported by a North Island contemporary. Both were captured, the doe not far off littering. Whatever the character of the progeny it is consoling to think that ft must have proved infertile. Mr F. R. Jackson has been elected President of the Wanganui A. and P. Association. The following are the new general committee:—Messrs R. Hair, W. Ritchie, J. Laird, A. Lees, C. Smith, T. Cowan, J. McGregor, W. D'Arcy. T. D. Cummins, R. Rqss, J. Rendell, A. Higgie, J. B. Murray, J. 'Higgie, A. Burnett, A. Cameron, and officers ex officio, fire to form a quorum. Mr Buchanan further said that North Island farmers had been asleep in ignoring the frozen lamb trade. Where, he asked, in this district, could he place his Auger on large areas of feed grown to put lambs on till a good bite of grass came on for them. Yet in the Canterbury district it was tbe regular thing. The Waikato A; and P. Association has appointed Mr Duncan McNicol, a member of the executive committee, in lieu of the late Mr John McNicol, to whom a memorial is to be raised in the admirable shape of an endowment for each of his children on their attaining the age of twenty-one years. Mr McNicol was held in the highest esteem in the Waikato. Evaporated apples and vegetables have been shewn in Napier, locally produced. Work on a commercial scale is contemplated. The Hawke's Bay A. and P. Association considers the compilation of a Hock studbook should be left in the hands of sheep breeders.

Waipa stockowners have combined to offer a reward of £50 for discovery of a sheep-stealer.

13,000 acres of bush lands, situated in the survey districts of Waimate, Opunake, Kaupokonui, Cape, WalrOa, and Waitara, has been offered for lease. For these 54 lots nearly 170 tenders, closing on the 2nd instant, were received, the highest giving an increase on tbe upset reutals of, in some cases, over 150%. It should be mentioned that the result is due in a large measure to the hearty co-operation of the natives interested. Hitherto these reserves have been the battlegrounds of all disputes with the settlers for the past twenty years, being lands within what is known as the " Confiscated Territory " and "the stronghold of Te Whittisra. So successful has been the leasing of these 13,000 acres, on which about sixty families will settle, that the Public Trustee is arranging that within a few months surveys may be completed to enable him to offer similar land for which there is active demand, for competition by tender. The areas of the leases ranged from thirteen acres to 620.

Mr Forrest, chairman of the Queensland Meat Company says that the American chilled meat men reckon that when Australian chilled meat can be landed in

London their occupation will be gone, as they admit that alive it is better than theirs, but- at present tbe freezing deteriorates it.

The Manawaftt Herald, referring to the bad colour and specks iv the paper made at the Agent-Geuerai's instance from Phorinium Tehax tow, says:—"Any hempmiller in the colony could have told them such would have been the case if thsy placed the whole of the tow into a vat and used the result for pulp, as every long fibre jis encased with a skin very similar to the gross outer green skin of the leaf and is simply lighter in the tow from bleaching. This skin is allowed to dry over the internal fibres aud in drying, after the dressing aud brushing it receives it is likely to stain the " ultimate fibres " which are about an inch and a half in length, pf Eure white iv colour, and of a remarkably ne and soft nature, and which combined build up the single fibre that appears in the dressed leaf. We are aware that the result to be obtained from tow, by a proper and cheap treatment, is a fibre that would compare with snow iv colour and with a spiders-web in fiueness. We are further enabled to state, from having viewed the' result obtained, thtit the fibres have the property of subsequent cohesion, as was instanced in a sample of wadding, soft, white, and strong made from these short fibres, the real ultimate ; fibres. We are aware therefore that the tow possesses all that is needed for the finest white paper, but the papermaker needs to be informed of it. It would be an inexpensive work to have a few tons of tow reduced to the condition we have described, and sent to the papermakers. We have the address of a geutleman who produced maietial such as we have described and who probably could be induced to superintend the preparation.' There is, perhaps, no larger or tiuer stretch of first-class dairy country to be found in the world (says the Wellington Post) than exists iv the southern pare of the North Island of New Zealaud. Beginning in the Hutt Valley, and stretching through the Wairarapa aud the Hawke s -Bay district on tbe one side, aud from the Manawatu to Waitara ou the other, there is a country of unparalleled dairying capacity. Already the settlers are beginning to realise its peculiar adaptability for this pursuit. One of the latest developments is the formation of the Provincial Farmers' Cooperative Association (Limited). The capital is iiIOO.OOO in 40,000 shares, of which half only are to be issued at present. Tbe Provisional Directorate consists of thirty well-known representative settlers residing in various parts of the vast district in which the Association proposes to operate. Ouly the milk supplied by shareholders will be dealt with, and it is intended to establish creameries and central factories throughout the several districts. A new and very simple, inexpensive form of separator will probably be used, and the Association will aim, by the employment of specially skilled labour, at producing an article of ffrstclass quality. Probably most of the butter will ba tinned on the Danish system, in which-case- a very large: demand may be depended on iv certain parts of Australia, in the Straits Settlements," South and Central America, and -in ludia, where Danish butter now enjoys almost a monopoly. The Agricultural" Department is now having .lithographed new sets of plans for various sizes of dairy factories, together with suitable printed specifications of tender and full instructions as to erection, which are to be ready for distribution before tiie commencement of the building season, which usually extends from June to September. Over twenty new factories are to be put up during the coming winter and the constant demand for information on the subject presages still further expansion. The Argus London correspondent says the best provision dealers suggest that each factory should be registered, as iv America, and that Government inspectors should be appointed to guard against tbe pernicious practice of blending. One of the best-known co-operative supply associations has now gone into the trade, and retails tbe very best brands at Is 2d per lb. It is pointed out that the butter only keeps in good condition for a short time after the cases have been opened. It is. admitted that the butter has been priced as New Zealand regardless of its source of origin, but this injustice will probably be remedied. The colonial butter, owing to its being all salted, has been chiefly sold for kitchen use. Another large co-operative association states that it is now selling Australian and New Zealand butter at Is l_d per lb, but that it is only doing a small business, as few inquiries have been made for the colonial article.

Dr. Babcock, the inventor of the famous milk-tester, never received a penny directly or indirectly from his invention. The doctor held that, inasmuch as he was in the public service at the time he invented his test, receiving from the public treasury full payment according to the contract for his services, the result of his labours belonged, as of right, to the public, and therefore, persistently refused to apply for a patent. Anybody may make 'these testers. "*** ...'._

We have received the prospectus of the first private agricultural school established in Victoria. It is being started by Mr J. H. R. Halford, a son of Professor Halford, of Melbourne University. This school, situated at Moyarra, South Gippslaud, in the neighbourhood of the Koruuiburra coalfields, and in some of the best agricultural and grazing lauds in the colony, offers exceptional advantages to those who wish, by gaining a thorough training in general and special farm management, to become competent managers either of their own properties or those of other people. The school also affords a comfortable'home to pupils, and, in virtue of itssurroundiugs, any change from town and city lif $is very little felt. The following subjects are taught, but pupils may confine themselves to special departments :—Agriculture, dairying, cattle management, gardening, general and home work. The fees are £50 per annum, which includes instruction, board,, residence and washing. In addition to this Is 6d per week is charged for grazing to those pupils who keep their own horses. . The mushroom that is coming into our markets now by thousands of bushels is (says the Horticultur.il Times) known to bcicntific men as Agaricus campestris, but of this there are many varieties. Naturally it grows only on the open pasture-*, meadows and downs which are exposed to tbe winds ; the unwholesome members of the tribe like the shade and are clammy to touch. Even persons whose fields abound with this plant cannot always distinguish the wholesome from the unwholesome fungus ; but whoever bears the following facts in mind will have no difficulty :—l. The table mushroom, or Agaricus campestris, is usually white on the outer surface, and has a skin which readily peels off. This is not true of the unwholesome mushroom. 2. The gills or under-radieuts are of a beautiful pink in tbe A. campestris ; but the gills, as well .as tbe whole plant, turn to a mahogany brown after it has been exposed to sun and air in the open for two or three days. 3. But this is the most definite test:—The iuner ends of the gills are not joined to the stem in the wholesome mushroom, but they are joined in all that are not edible. The flesh of the campestris is solid, and the perfume sweet and nutty. There is another edible member of this family, known as the horse mushroom, which grows four or five times larger than the one described: but it is coarse, stringy, and almost devoid of flavour. The plant, however, above all others to be avoided is the Agaricus fasiibilies; it looks almost exactly like the edible fungus, but tbe gills are joined to the stalk, though many of them are of a salmon or coral pink on the under side. The natural crop of mushrooms in late summer on the Continent each year supplies only a part of the market for six or seven weeks. Mushrooms, however, are sold all through the year, and the great bulk of these are produced artificially. Some mushroom farmers in the Parisian caves send from 4001b to 30001b to the surface every day through the year, and these are shipped fresh to the near market, while the remainder are sent ro the canning factories. The French mushrooms are yellow, tough, and almost without flavour, and are nearly as indigestible, as leather. Nevertheless millions of pounds of these mushrooms are imported every year and sold to private purchasers and the keepers of restaurants. We cannot understand why our people don't use more mushrooms. It would pay a profit of 50% to rai*e mushrooms. Of course those engaged in the business keep* their business quiet, and it happens that there is very little known about mushroom-raising. Think of one mushroom-farmer in Paris haying-twenty-one miles of mushroombeds 1 *This country is more adapted for the business than France, and there is more ample financial encouragement for those who want to go into the business. Choice samples always sell well and pay well.

The South Australian Government has rescinded two proclamations which prohibited the importation of horses, cattle, and swine from Western Australia, and also from other places beyond the limits of the Australian colonies. This decision has been come to in accordance with the recommendation of the stock conference held in New Zealand last year.