EDITORIAL FARM NOTES.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10095, 22 July 1898, Page 2

EDITORIAL FARM NOTES.

" Weekly Press and Referee.* THE AMERICA-. WHEAT CROP. A few weeks ago we gave an account of the American wheat crop for 1898, showing that the prospects of an abundant harvest were exceptionally good. The information received by the mail last week confirms the previous reports. In the winter wheat belt the returns show an apparent increase of 7.2 per cent, over last year's harvested area, bringing the total winter wheat now growing for harvest up to 25,6t>1,000 acres. But for the drought in California, where more than 1,0*30,000 acres that were sown have been abandoned so far as grain is concerned and are being cut for hay, the breadth this year would approach 27,000,000 acres. The spring wheat acreage shows a radical increase in every State, and in some districts this change is described as nothing short of a revolution. The total increase over last year's acreage is 17.3 per cent, and brings thp total area up to 17,868,000 acres. The price of wheat for the past year made it a foregone conclusion that the acreage this season would be large, but some of the more thoughtful American agricultural papers warned growers of the danger of too great a rush into wheat. A total wheat area of 43,519,000 acres is looked upon as a radical disturbance of the proper balance of the country's crop distribution; and there was a grave danger of such a surplus of wheat this year as was secured in 1891, when 226,655,812 bushels were exported. The fact that wheat supplies, the world over, are looked upon as small, and that foreign crops only show promise of a moderate increase over last year, may be taken as a set-off to the apparent mistake that the large American acreage it was feared, was likely to prove. It may be pointed out, however, that the American wheat crop in 1897 was estimated at 39,465,000 acres, and the total production 530,149468 bushels, whereas, according to the final report on the crops of 1897 by the statistician to the American Board of Agriculture, the area actually harvested waa nearly 5,000,000 acres more than had been reported to the department as under ct_t-va_ioi_i, and tjhe yield was 8,000,000 bushels more than was first estimated. It appears, therefore, that unless the acreage this year is under estimated, and if the yield be not heavier, the American harvest may not produce more than was finally returned •in 1897. Reports, however, generally point to the conclusion—whatever the rorrect figures may be-—that both the acreage and the yield will be larger than last year. With the single exception of California every State, both in the spring and winter wheat belts, has, it is said, enjoyed an ideal season for plant development; and the average condition up to the middle of June, when the mail left, was exceptionally high. Harvest had then begun in Texas, Arkansas, and Southern Kansas, and as the crop is generally forward, cutting will be earlier than usual elsewhere. Reports regarding the wheat crop in Washington are to the effect that timely rains give assurances of a crop of 20,000,000 bushels. Anticipating a large crop, the Great Northern Railroad is preparing to construct docks and a warehouse 1000 ft in length, to be completed by September Ist The bulk of this grain when harvested will go to the Philippines, Japan, and China. S_Z.TJ_.G _■__ CATTLE'BY LIVE WEIGHT. The advantage of selling fat cattle by live weight instead of by the head, as is usually the practice, is coming to be more fully recognised at Home. We are sure if this system were adopted here it would tend to much greater uniformity in the price of fat cattle, and the sellers of well-finished animals would receive fairer values than they now do at times. At a recent auction sale at Home, where a cattle-weighing machine had

just been erected in compliance with the Weighing of Cattle Act, 1891, the auctioneer, before commencing the sale, announced his his consigners, namely: —First, those who wished their cattle passed ova* the weighbridge and sold by the cwt, live weight: second, those who wished their cattle passed over the weigh-bridge. the weight indicated on the black-board, and the cattle thereafter sold by the head ; and third, thow who wished their cattle sold by the head without weighing at all. During the earlier p .rt of the sale, cattle were sold by the first two method-., and, ill things considered, those .old by the cwt. brought the best prices. About the middle of the sale, a lot of eight cattle, belonging to a well-known dealer, were taken in without passing over the weigh-bridge. The first animal sold for £20, the second for £19 2s 6d, and the bidding for the third stood at £18 7s 6d when the owner appeared dissatisfied. For No. 4, £19 5s was bid, but this was refused. Nob. 5 and 4 were then weighed, and sold together for £38 ss, showing an increase of 12s 6d on the original price of £18 7s 6d offered for No. 3 before its live weight was known. This would seem to show that some butchers are not beyond being influenced by knowing the live weight of the animal when offering. Those who have anything to do with fat cattle sales know the difficulty there is in obtaining the correct quotations for ruling values at per 1001b, for it is purely guess-* work, buyers and sellers usually differing considerably, as is naturally to be expected when their respective interests a__ considered. Thus quotations at per 1001b are more or less unreliable. The introduction of the weighing machine into the saleyards would simplify matters considerably. We recommend this step to the proprietors of our large public saleyards. AUSTRALASIAN DAIRY PRODUCE. By the recent mail was received Messrs W. Weddel and Co.'s admirable review of the Australasian dairy produce trade for the season of 1897-98 which has just closed. The season was distinguished by the unprecedently low prices that prevailed from its opening in October to the third week in February, and also by the Victorian supply terminating abruptly in March. The low prices were undoubtedly due to the large home production of butter, and to the dispute in the engineering trades, which affected for a long period the artisan classes, who are the largest consumers of imported butter. The Home production in the year 1897 is estimated to have been close on 86,000 tons, which is 6000 tons in excess of the estimated quantity made in the previous year, and 5000 tons more than the average production of the five previops years. The great drought in Australia, which has continued more or less uninterruptedly for three successive seasons, has had a very disastrous effect upon the dairy industry in that part of the M'orld, and very largely reduced the amount of bntter, which, under normal conditions, would have been produced. Thus the total export from Aus. tralia in the past season was 7868 tons, or 916 less than the previous season. New Zealand fortunately has not suffered so severely from drought as the sister colonies have, and her steadily increasing contributions of butter, during the four past seasons, have been 2305 tons, 2558 tons, 3,088 tons, and 3680 tons respectively. The colony that is making the greatest strides in sending Home dairy produce is Canada, -which, during the year 1897, supplied the United Kingdom with 5470 tons of butter, an amount which was exceeded only by Victoria. Being in the Northern Hemisphere, the butter does not compete in any serious degree with the butter from the Southern Hemisphere, because the sea. ons are alternate, but the high quality which much Canadian butter possessed last year made it a formidable rival to many of the Continental varieties in British markets; and European butters will find, in the near future, a severe competitor iv the Canadian production. Cheap fertile virgin land, light taxes, and economic means of transit, are advantages which Canada possesses in a marked degree over the exhausted soils, high rents, and heavy taxes of many European butter-producing countries. During the present New Zealand cheese season prices have been very low, mainly due to tbe very large make in the United Kingdom last season, the great increase in the import of Canadian, and the injurious effect of the dispute in the engineering trades before mentioned. QUALITY AND CONDITION". The quality and condition of the Australasian butter which arrived during the past season, shows ah undoubted improvement over former years. In referring to the butter from Victoria, Messrs Weddel and Co. mention one factory as deserving of speoial praise for the enterprise shown and success achieved, and .hat is the Euroa butter factory which has, by means of pasteurising its raw material, succeeded in producing a butter of considerably higher market value than that made -without the aid of pasteurisation. The colony, however, which has made most progress in improving the quality of its butter during the season just closed is New Zealand, and there are now several brands which for richness of flavour and excellence of manufacture are fully equal to any Australian. The great drawback to the more rapid advancement of the New Zealand butter trade is the want of regular and more frequent shipments* a disadvantage the colony labours under as compared with Australia, though it is satisfactory to find that the shipping companies have made a great advance in the method ot storage, ajn previous seasons butter and cheese were often so stowed that it was many days after arrival before they could be landed ; during the past season discbarge has been so satisfactory that no complaints have been heard. COI.O_aAL AND FOREIGN IMPORTS. The extraordinary capacity/*of. British markets for absorbing the enormous amount of imported butter is demonstrated by the fact that during 1897 the weekly import averaged more than 3000 tons, the total for the year being 160,890 tons, which was an increase of 9000 tons over 1896. In addition to this it is estimated that the Home production for the year increased by 6000 tons, thus shewing a supply of 15,000 tons in excess of 1896. Of the increased import of butter ia 1897 it is very gratifying

to note that 3600 tens came from British colonies, Australia in this respect shewing j an improwenient of 1529 tons, Canada 105- ■ and New Zealand 1007 tons, the total import J from the colonies being 19,014 tons against 15,426 in 1896. Turning to the import from foreign countries one of the most noteable j features is the falling-off in the import of German butter during the last four years. In 1893 the import was 8258 tons, while last year it' fell to 2530 tons. This decline is continuing, for in the first four months of 1898 the import is 525 ton 3 less than in the same period of 1897. It thus appears as if Germany, in the near future, would cease toexport butter to the home country. Belgium, France, and Germany now all send less than they did in 1890. On the other hand, the increase from Denmark since 1890 is considerably* more than the total import of Colonial in 1897. Russia also is outstripping Australia in its rate of growth, the import from that country last year being 9517 tons more than in 1890, while Australia showed an increase of but 8932 tons in the same period. The total import of cheese for 1897 was 130,160 tons, and of this the colonies supplied 79,782 tons, which is 61 "3 per cent, of the total import, and must be considered very satisfactory, as, ten years ago, the colonial supply was only 34,767 tons. In 1897 the increase in the import of colonial cheese beats all previous records, reaching the extraordinary amount of 15,239 tons, while that from foreign countries increased only 2,695 tons, thus making the total increase on tho previous year 17,934 tons. In cheese, as in butter, the Home production has not increased during the past ten years, but unlike foreign butter the importation of foreign cheese has been a diminishing quantity, being last year 13,500 tons less than in 1890, while colonial has increased since then by more than 36,000 tons. The cheese colony par excellence is Canada, which in 1897 sent 76,350 tons, or 34,000 more than in 1890. Last year, owing to a specially favourable season the make of cheese in the United Kingdom is estimated at 17,600 tons in excess of 1896, thus the supply of chcc3e, home-made and imported combined, for 1897 was 35,500 tons in excess of the previous year, and largely explains the fall in prices referred, ito in a previous paragraph. PROSPECTS FOR NEXT SEASON. The Australian supply for next season i 3 expected to be larger than last, as tho drought is hardly likely to continue for another year, and the import of butter from New Zealand will most probably continue to show that.steady increase which has marked ib during the past few years. In the United States and Canada there is not expected to be such favourable weather for dairying as existed last year, but the low prices which were realised for cheese will bo certain to cause a change in favour of buttermaking in the coming summer. In the United Kingdom and in Europe the past season has been phenomenal for large supplies, but as it is seldom that two such fertile periods come together, we may reasonably look for a smaller production and higher values, but as to the extent of this variation from last season it is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty, nor would Messrs Weddel and Co. venture to say how prices will rule at the opening of tho next Australasian butter season in October. Cheese is nob an increasing article of consumption even at low prices, therefore it will bo some ti_io before the excessive supplies of last year are exhausted, and both makers and buyers, owing to the losses they sustained, will naturally be much more cautious in the amount of their output and in their purchases. will - restrict the make, whether the season be fertile or otherwise, and thus there is a great probability of higher values being obtained in 1893 than in 1897. I RE-SHIPPING BUTTER. Some curiosity seems to have been aroused through the re-shipment from London to Auckland of 850 packages of butter, by the Aotea, and the explanation given that the butter was returned because of the local market being now better than the Home one, is no doubt quite correct. It is satis? factory to find that notwithstanding its voyage round the globe the butter is still in fair condition. The re-shipment of colonial butter from Home! has been clone before. Last year a shipment of Victorian butter was re-shipped from London to Melbourne and the transaction paid well; and quite recently 600 boxes of New South Wales butter were returned from London to Sydney. It is stated that supplies from the eastern colonies have lately failed Western Australia and that arrangements have been made to import Danish butter. This is very unsatisfactory news, and a fair estimate of the production and requirements of the colonies might have avoided the necessity for these unusual incidents in supply and demand, and enabled the producers to realise the good prices that are now going locally. INDIAN ARMY REMOUNTS. The news that the Indian Government have intimated that they will in future give an average of £45 for Australian horses for army remount purposes, will be very satisfactory to' colonial horse-breeders. Such a basis of value to look forward to should encourage the breeding of horses of the stamp that is required, and no country in the world can probably excel New Zealand with its mild climate and abundance of feed, as a breeding ground for horses. We understand that two well-known buyers are already engaged in picking up horses locally for shipment to India. • THE GRASS GRUB. Mr T. E. Chamberlain, Masterton, writes:— " In your correspondence column I see that Mr T. B. How son asks which is the best method to destroy the grass grub. I have had over thirty years' experience, and have found that if the grass land has not been skim ploughed, it is much the best way to let the land, after ploughing, lie for a month or six weeks before sowing the seed. If the seed is put in as soon as the ground is ploughed, the grub will subsist on the grass until the grain starts to grow and then it will attack ifc. If Allowed to lie till the grass is decomposed before seeding, the grub will perish before the seed takes root."