JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12683, 22 December 1906, Page 6

JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS.

No better justification for the lately instituted courses of agricultural instruction for State school teachers, at the Agricultural College, could be advanced than the practical work which has consequently been undertaken by several of the teachers. As an example wo ("Queensland Agricultural Journal") may cite the work of Mr Thomas Henderson, head teacher of the State school at Glencoe, Gowrie Junction. Mr Henderson obtained seeds and plants of various grasses, cereals, sweet potatoes, rape, etc., and he and his pupils set themselves earnestly to experimental work, mainly in the direction of products suitable for feeding dairy cows and pigs, Gowrie _»ing essentially a dairying district. Ho has sent in a report of the work to the .Minister for Agriculture, which goes to show the usefulness of the instruction gained at the College. In tho matter of prairie grass, for instance, the firnt experiment ivjw carried out in the school plots, and since then ono farmer has sown 30 acres of this grass out of a 90-acre farm : niWther has 20 acres, another 10, another 5, and next year will see most of the farmers with prairie graas as the main winter feed. Rye gram has also been successfully grown. Thousand-headed kale, vetches, and paspalum have done well, and mangolds averaged 51 tons per acre. Tho Board of Agriculture issued a preliminary statement showing the estimated total production of hops in Kticland for the year. The total is 243,083 cwt., as compared with G1'5,943 cwt. last year, the estimated average yield per acre being 5.26 cwt., against 11.21 cwt. lastycar. As was anticipated, the crop is the smallest rsinco the statistics ware first collected in 1890. The comparison during the growing season was mostly with 1904, when tho yield was 282,330 cwt. This shortage in England should improve tho prospects of Nelson hop growers this season. Messrs 11. Matson and Co. shipped yesterday to Mrs B. H. Flack, Taikorea, Paltnerston North, on account of Charles Brice, 1 purebred Yorkshire bear; on account of the Lincoln Agricultural College, 1 purebred Sonthdrwn ram; and on account of Henry Punnet. 2 purebred Southdown ewes. The two freezing works, Smithfield and I'aeroa, resumed operations on Tuesday (tsays the Timaru "Herald"), and lioth are receiving supplies of stock in first-class condition. The season h™ l>eon all in favour of turning out wellfattened sheep and lambs, the feed being more nutritious than it was in last year's moister season. Both works are ehort of butchers, this being accounted for by some of their former employees being still engaged in shearing, and others have not yet returned from tho Australian shearing.