JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13104, 1 May 1908, Page 9

JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS.

Out Dunsandel correspondent writes: —Splendid autumn weather has prevailed during the past week, light frosts bc-ing experienced at night, followed by beautiful days. Food is plentiful at present, there being more grace now than in the spring. U,rass umd oats eowu for winter use aoro making gtwd lieachvay. • A suleuuiid paddock oi capa Uui-Jiey, is to bo seen oji Htsieriou estate. In regard to tlio turnip crops about the district, in most cases the leaves are all pcrlorauxl wit,u h*>]£&, and in a few iustanctb an aupleasaui odour is noticou as tuo pa~tlouks ax© passed. Wliatever tho cause remains to bo eeeo.

The "Oamaru Mail" says:—The new Otekaike settlors are losing no: time in getting their 'farms ill oraory'aVid already quite a transformation has taken place on the " liouudary and diviiiiooi fences aix> everywhere bfiug erected, and. in sooio lrustiiuiccs the timber is already on tlio giotmd tor buiicuing puryoßcb. ilille and <iiaXc«> that hitberto liad never been aoimnuuil bj a * ploughsiiaj-e have been turned over, aud , wbat was onco purely grazing country will soon be green with ciop. There is all ovor Uio estalo an abuudauuo ot" teed which cannot but bo gratUying to the new settlors.

The statement that several farmers predict a severe winter this year euiv priced a few tarnwirti round uhie way (say* the Kltkam "Argus')- -In conveitsation with a repri**aututive of thia paper a Alangawiiero farmer tuat things lou-sed very well. After tJie dry spoil i-eed lias come away spleai-Uid-ly, wh'il&t tiie dry weatner ltab e.uburt<i good huybtacKis bt-Jny haa-vested. Willi rcgaad to ovor-stocKuig, those who iiad plenty of yu.ung stocii mignt liavo U> < dispose at sm-tUi prices, but many farmens have gone in lieiavily for pigs and the latter fetching good prict-s would ineaii although thoiie with young pi&i now nyula have to keep thorn through the winter. His opimoji on tne approaohing season was tuat it would compare ivor« than favourably with, lust year.

Eleven years ago (writes the Wairarapa correspondent of the ■'Dominion"; a. settler loft this district for Hastings, where no took up eight acres of n Government loaec-hokl section, and planted an aero of rhubarb. Ho continued to grow an aero of rhubarb ©very year, with, other things, and today he is an hide"endent "man. He puts his wealth dow-n to xhubarb.

It is sua-priising hxnv littlo maize or sorghum i* gjonn m ".uianaki (tass tho "Now Zealand Dairyman"), where dairying is the staple industry of the land, T"he value of these as fodder crops lias been pointed ou.t from time to tune, but, sorghum especinllv. has boon almost wholly n ejected by the Farmers. Sorghum i* not only excellent feed cut green for cows* but it has tlio decided fldv.-Mj.-tji.yo of being ono ot the best foods for oon-vcrtins into silage. Althouch sorghum does not produce a crop equal io maize, it has tho decided advantage, in a district such as Taranaki. of keeping prcoa later m tho season, aad dots not have the same, tendency to get woody Wo had an- opportunity 10----cp)\ t ly of inspecting some splendid I samples of sorghum grown by Mr \V. Am bury on his farm at Fr;-nkley road. Th<? crop was as prroon and tender as sprhw grass .i.nd of oxceptjonaj weight, Ktandrng from firo to nine feet in hemht Mr Arabury solved just before Christmas so tho result is a warrant of the drought-resisting properties of sorghum. Tho cows are extremely partial to iho fodder, nnd tho fact that tht> herd's test on this particular farm has risen to over 6 since sorghum was int rod need speaks for itself. It is Mr Ambury's intention to convert about three ncres of tho crop into ensilage. Mr Nolan informs us that his firm disposed of a fair quantity of tho soed during the summer, and in view of the excellent crops raised by Mr Ambury and a few others who gave those- •' a trial, anticipates a 'big demand for sorghum next sowing season. It might bo mentioned that very exhaustive trials of various kinds of sorghum have bsM>n conducted at the Government experimental farms, and full information respecting tho highly satisfactory re- j suits aro obtainable from tho Agricultural Department.

New South WaJrts Ls a lona: way from boing able to adequately supply her

own requiremente in the matter oi t jork at pr<a>eiu, but it may be states i.Uat Air auttor, the iNcw t>outh Waito i'rudo repivsiiiututive in tho ±iast, o.iiis iicteiiiion to the demaud ior hog?> uiv.ii (preiUiiiahly pork) in tin. a,nd he pays .Mauihi iorius no exkt.pi.iu n l<j the rtilo in tliis respect. t>iuui;4 las recent visit to .Manila ht was lalormed by tbe manager oi tia i'luiippmu-s Cokl Storage works thai il wus aiiticult to obtain .suitablo Iroauu from Sydney, lie also mado enil.iniesi in auoLher quarter, and astvicained that tlus Sauio diiiiculty exiateU, aid that resort hud u> bo had to America. He ako noticed a rtjceiu uriisignmcnt trom the Pad tic Slope jud was iniormevd that a compan.»jii iiad bet.>n made wiuli a shipmeiK from Australia, and that tte xeaulu I'lt.'io unlavoiii'iiblo to Australia, thy Australian pigs boi:ig much smaller, very lean, and suiticient attention had net been given to "tODping-up" before Jiiilii.g— tilt, flesh and fat being very iuio otiinparcd with the American iml>ortativ)ius. iiu.iis' thtih now forms such an important it<-in i/i o<>nnection with io.)d jiijpplk-s at .Manila and the Orient «e:iorally that the people of X<-iv 6<j:itii Wale*. .Mr Suttor thinks, would Jo well to tlcitly t>rudy tuo qiiesr-iou or' hog raising on tiie hives of tJie American system. .Mr Suttor, there tore, euggtfets that prominence bo given to the mattor, .seeing that the Chinese and other Orientals aro such large consumers. Gold .storage works Jiuw exist at .Manila, lions' Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and JJatavia; , and "it would apoe-ar that Australia (ow:np; to could piaoticallv control the above markets by paving clove attention to the qucstioai of rai.sinnr nn/ j p rO p, r feeing au d 'top-ping-up' before killing."

There woro four divrTeee of frost at AfJiburton yctstcrday morning. Tlie rawitiaJl at Kai.ipoi lor the twemty-four hours widi-iy «J. 30 a.m. wa« .11 in. For the montli "the fall was Iw3in.

At a meeting of the members of tOie \\ a!.mrr,pa A. Amd P. Association, at Ca-rtortoij, yesterday, a prop-csaj to join w ,th tho Alafiterton Association, n.iwl liol<| 080 s-how for tlio A\'airarapa at toxwny, nc«j- Mubtorton, was lest by 2d-i vctes to 80.