JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13171, 18 July 1908, Page 3

JOTTINGS FOR FARMERS.

Habbits having of late increased ii numbers so enormously in the north.jri portion of the Islo of Man as to con stitute a menaoe to Agriculture, ill* House of Keys has passed a bill navinj for its object tbo abolition of the pest The Bill empowers occupiers of lnn< to carry a gun without license for th< destruction of rabbits, and to authoris otiher persona to carry guns trithoa license for a liko purpose. An anr.?nd ment applying a similar provision t rooks was also carried. A report submitted to the annua meeting of tho Pastoralists , Union c New South Wales last -week stated tlia the Federal Arbitration Court award ■which granted an increase in theshe:u ing rate of about 20 per cent., had oc casioned tho council of the Union it! tenso surprise and disappointm-ml They considered that tho preponderanc of evidenco submitted was entirol against such increase, and that th rate- fixed—24s per 100—would yiekl ti' moii a wage altogether in excess of th value of the work they had to do. Thi opinion had been strikingly confirms by returns of the shearers' earning which showed that some of tho mc mado a wage of £10 and over per wool* If a successful stand wero to be mad against labour demands, it was absc lutely indispensable that statistics «! shearers' and shed hands' earning should be kept. According to tho Gundagai correspondent of tho "Sydney Daily Telegraph." Naugue and Kimo stations have made somo very successful experiments in f usilage making for dairy stock. The tnsilago has been raado chiefly from thistles and barley, pits being put down in the clay, with a layer of straw on tl'e bottom) and plank sides.- Ensilage made last year has opened up in splendid condition, saving the station owners the expenditure of some hundreds of Txvnnds in artificial feed. Xangu* Station made ensilapo from 60 tons «f barley and 40 tons of thistles. The pits were "opened on April 6ih, and 100 cows and cali-es havo been fed ever since <.n the ec-ntents, which will last another fortnight. Eoth stations intend Slicing large quantities of enFJlrgo Ijij* year, and other large dairym'JH are i':- -,- lowing their exam-pie, although it appears that the thistle crop will not be a large one. The foikrvrtngi-""paragraph in too '-Farmer /and £Stockbrwier'

sey Marsh sheep ai Home will be IBcrested in hearing thai,their confreres n New inland, or at'feast some cf ' hem. hare arrived at the decision. «oai he Kent or Itomney March sheen of v hat colony are better-than the sheep >r*d in their native country. Tho«»nly >oint in which these enthtmasts admit my superiority of the home-bred sheep s in bone and. constitution —two oUmportant points without ■wfiicfc no , sheep,/no matter how good or heavy ts fieeco, or mutton, or typo, can be mm >f much value. On the other hand, it may bo mentioned t2iat Mr E. Short, >ne of: the most important breeders in i.bo colony, -was a largo importer last , roar, and expressed pretty clearly His liigh opinion of his purchased sheop. Hien there were other largo importers last season, Messrs Murray, Elgajr, Wheeler, etc., none of whom ■would have gone to the great expense, *sto . had the native Romrieys been superior to the imported ones." Our Cust correspondent writes tbwt tho country is looking wcß, the crop* are in a forward state, and, given seasonable wrether, there is every prospect of a good harvest. ♦ At the beginning of this year there were 8,37 students iv attendance at the Ontario Agricultural College—whose first winter term was begun in January, 1875,' -with twenty-eight pupils-— and the- subject of what is termed. "Animal Husbandry" received a special degroo of attention. Recent investigations, for instance, have dealb with tho relative valno of short keep and long keep steers for feeding purposes ; tho relative advantages of feeding steers in looso-boxes or tied in stalls; tho cost of raising pigs from birth to market, so as to observe the chanco <jf improvement; and a start has boon mode in the crosSrbreedingof swine with the same object in view. The desire for progress in cattle breeding is also sufficiently pronounced.. In fact, students at the Ontario Collego aro given abundant practice in ' judging horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs; practical lectures aro delivered on breeding and pedigrees, feeding, management, and the history and characteristics or the principal breeds of live stock. A.s n result of the efficient manner in wh>ch ,this branch of tho work has been carried on, tho recent honours gained at the International Live Stock Show at Chicago are thoroughly satisfactory. From the section devoted to "dairy husbandry" at the College is taken the following brief passage:—"Th© herd consists of sixteen cows. Average i yield of milk per cow, 95851b: average amount of butter per cow, 3991b. One cow in 365 days ga-ve 20,7781b of milk, or 9131b of butter. Tho average cow in Ontario gives less than 30001b of milk per year; hence the need for careful selection, nroper feeding, and impartial weeding out." Great progress is evidently being made in that direction. The present apple season ha* proved disastrous *b South Australian dealers who purchased and exported largely .to.English' and; German markets, while growers who forwarded consignments, of their own accord lost, Heavily inisoine instances.. One large exporter in b/usiness in Adelaide (says the Syd-ney "Dailr Telegraph , ") is actually £1000 out of pocket; another £600, another nearly £1000; and etill another madte a dead loss of £150. Th© first two or three shipments in.; March were profitable, but for some inexplicable, reason prioas have been on the down grade since then, and every shipment result- . ed in a lose* The exporter ,must receive at least 10s per caee before he : gets back expenses, and the . returns received by one large exporter have been as low as 4s 3d. For a few cases sold in Germany, 16s per caee.-y'aa secured, but the average was about 7e. Even in London tlio price did/not ex-i oeed 9s 3d , , -though- he .sent 1724;: cases. . One exporter said that the eea«sa. had , been calamitous,. and if to keep this business going in theintorosts of growers primarily. Ehipping oootpanies and exporters and , growers would, have to rnako sacrificea..-The "growers will have to. come .more/into line with Hobarb prices. The exporter, mtwt be satisfied with sinalJer. profits, and the shipping companies will have to (bring [ down freights. • • '-' '•• Since the/advent'of winter rabbiters have been -busy (says >.tho "fy-dnej-Morning Herald")- Though prices have receded,, they eeem to be as numerous as ever, and thousands of men are finding in rabbiting a source of income, more or less substantial. In some districts, notably in the couth, there has been a phenomenal decrease, in the pest, tho general reason advanced for this being the late drought and the mr crease in wire netting around ings. Whatever views may "be held of the rabbit industry, this much ie granted—4hat it sustains .a large body of men. It has drawn from the crowded corners of the city many whose ooenpations wero of the most precarious, and given employment to thousands of bush workers to whom the winter was n blank as far as work was concerned. One result of the popularity of. rabbiting- has been .in the decrease of~ membership of the tramp brotherhood. Stock-owners and: farmers eajr'it ie fiuito an uncommon thing nowaday* to havo a swaggie applyinc for ration*, while a few years apo # the "sundownw" was to be seen plodding along almtoet every road on the countryside. Earmers 50. ■further, < and cay that befor* helping a now they want some very pood reason, ac asiT tnan, : harrwi«t those infirm throuerh old ige, can earn a decent living rabbiting. For 6ome time past public interest in Tasmania has been foeueeed on the operations pi the Closer Settlement Board, which has been inviting large landowners to submit suitable properties for acquisition by the Government with a view to subdivision. • But after waiting a considerable time for offers from .the- owners (says the Sydney "Daily Telegraph") the Board is left, without any estate to acquire, because uono has been offered to it voluntarily. It is now intended to try and get the Government to consent to 1 tho principle of compulsory acquisition. In this connection it is announced that 1 the Government, in pursuance of ite ' settlement policy, is arranging to ex--1 pond a sum of money in ploughing and 1 draining a block of swampy land , et Smithton for experimental purposes, iv order to see whether it can be madle suitable for settlement.