THE COUNTRY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15752, 20 November 1916, Page 10

THE COUNTRY.

NOTES AND NEWS. MEAT INDUSTRY. TROUBLE IN HAWKES BAY. T\ ord tvas received in Wellington on Saturday that ecrtain meat-freezing companies in the Hawke's Bay district were paying their slaughtermen at tho old rate of 2<s 6d per hundred for sheep, and stated that tbey knew noth™cr of the war bonus of -s (id which had been arranged for. The position is. that, following the award of the war bonus by the Arbitration Court in W cllington a.ssoisors tor other companies agreed to recommend a similar provision in other portions of the district. Apparently (says the "Post") the companies are refining to make the extra payment until the recommendation has been endorsed by the Court.

HONEY CROP PROSPECTS. 'the Director of the Horticulture Division of the Department of Agriculture has received from the apiary instructors the following reports concerning the honey crop prospects:— Auckland. —The season is very late in the Auckland districts this" year, and beekeepers are having to feed in many cases to prevent starvation. There is an abundance of clover in blossom, and we only require good, warm days for tho ncctar to commence to tlow in. The prospects at present are good.

Christehurch.—Markets are bare ; priccs are good both local and overseas. Beekeeping in the Dominion has a very encouraging outlook if we only get the season. At- the present moment it i s doubtful what the season will be in Canterbury. 13oii,teroi7S weather that has been experienced during October with cold winds from east and south-west has retarded brood-rearing to some extent.. Less wind and a real good soaking rain with warm weather would put. quite a different aspect on the. future. My advieo is to stiTl feed a little, and'keep the queens laying, and hav c T our colonies strong and ready for the honey flow when it does come.

Dunedin.—There has horn a steady flow from the fruit, bloom, and generally speaking, the bees are building up rapidly. [I, is full early rot to form 311 estimate of the coming season's crop, as weather conditions are. a. decidiua; factor. The market is ba.ro of supplies. Beeswax is scarce. JOTTIXGS FOR FARMERS. Farmers in t.Jie Ashbtirton County arc busily engaged preparing for sow- • ing turnips, and .should the weather prove fa.voura.Wo a largo area, will be sown during the next few weeks. Several farmers in the Ashburton County. who sowed Cape barley early on for feed purposes, are now cutting it for bay, and some really good crops arc to be seen. .-\t -Messrs Wright-. Stephenson and Oo.'s cattle fair, held in Masterton on Wednesday, .noarly 1000 hear! of cattle ; were sold at, a n average of £12. 2s per bead. It is understood tbai. the averago price obtained constitutes a. record for sales held in the Dominion. Tn reply to communications which ! have passed recently at; the solicitations of farmers in the Eicrarton district, the Hon. W. D. S. MaeDonald, Minister "of Agriculture, has written as follows to Mr CJ. Witty, M.P.: —"With reference to your minute, of November 10th, forwarding correspondence from residents of Upper Riccarton in which they make application for a bull from ono of the State farms for the purpose of improving the dairy herds of the districts, I would like to state, for the „ information of your correspondents, that I would be glad to supply bulls to every district in New Zealand, but r unfortunately the animals are not . available. The two beasts that wcro i sent, to the West Coast are oil that are . available this year, but TF the Depart- ( ment should have any to spare next year I shall be pleased to consider tho application. I may say, for your inr formation, that I am now making the. » preliminary arrangements for the esC tablishment of an experimental farm 1 on ' the West Coast, aud when the neces- ' sary preparations are complete I hope s to establish a pure herd of Holsteins I there, so as to be in a - position' to ; supply the distVict with bulls to im- • prove the milking henJs. Next. season I I shall give your district every coni side rati on." Miss T). Caldwell, of Awahuri, Rangitikei, has a Black Orpington hen which a short time ago brought out 37 fine healthy chicks from -11 egg s in six weeks. She was first set upon 21 eggs, and batched If) chicks. These ■were taken away and 20 more eggs put under her, from which she brought out IS more chickens; and then looked quite ready to take another lot. Of the four eggs that did not batch, t.liree were crushed and one "was bad. Several others of Miss Caldwell's hens have brought out large broods, notably three which m one dav hatchcd .i 2 chicks bctwen them—l 9, 17, and' 16 ' each. The returns which farmers have to make in regard to their, incomes f° r taxation purposes are so complicated that mistakes are almost unavoidable. The Times" tells of a farmer ■who had filled up his return to the best of his ability, and had brought himself in as liable for the payment of some £2-50 in tax. In order to make sure that he was right in his figures he submitted iiis return to a certificated accountant, not with the idea that be would save anything thereby, but in. order to feel that his return wa 6 correct. The result of his consultation was that when his return was com- 1 plcted he had nothing to pay. < The wet "weather and the abnormal '

growth of grass combined are seriouslv retarding shearing operations, as in most instances tho grass is so long that it remains damp for some days after rain has ceased, and the wool i-annot dry so long as the long crass retains the moisture (savs the "Hawke s Bav Herald"). In spite of the liability of spontaneous combustion in wool that is dipped when damp; and also the increased danger of blood-poisonino- in the case of the shearers, the shearing of wet sheep has been going on in at least one of the sheds not a hundred miles from Napier, and it is desirable that some strong effort should he made j to put down a practice which mav result in serious loss. * ]

Farmers in the district, a r o troubled, strange to say. as a result of the abnormal growth of grass on. their land (says the "Hawke's Bar Herald"). Ihe difficulty lies in the "fact, th.it. the grass is getting away from the sheep, and as cattle are hard to obtain to keep the grass down, the sheep are not thriving too well. It is perhaps not generally known among townsfolk thai sheep will not- thrive nearlv so well an grass that grows high and thick as they will on fields that show a norma] grassy covering. Out Hastings way there is about 1000 acres of grass that is growing over two feet high. The sheep grazing there do not appreciate this: it is alto- ; gethor "too much of a good thing" for them.

At a _ nf tho Southland Farmers' Union to consider t-he question of sheep and cattle stealing. Mr

J. D. Trotter said it w as a question whether a public meeting should not bo called to consider the matter. He moved: "That a request, be made that the radius from -which juries are summoned be extended to twenty miles, in order to allow, the country districts to have representation." Mr William Ford seconded the motion and said that, if it was given effect to, it might have a tendency to discourage the stealing of .sheep and cattle, which had increased at aJi alarming rate. It was very difficult to sheet home a conviction at present, and farmers were not given sufficient opportunities to sit on juries, on which experienced men were required when such cases were being heard. Mr W. A. Cox said that, at present it -was very hard to get a •viction. and it. seemed strange that something could not be don© to preventthe many eases that were happening. Mr John McQueen said bo thought that the bettor plan would be for judges to decidc suoh cases without the. aid of juries. He moved to that effect, and said that, under the present jury system. injustices were taking place. Mr Trotter agreed to porate Mr McQueen's alternative in his motion, and in that, form it was ..car- . ricd and it was agreed to refer the resolution to each branch of the union before taking further action. LOWCLIFFE. C>n Wednesday a social was held in the Lowcliffe School, for the purpose of saving good-bye and making a presentation to Corporal Tom Lush, who has enlisted and has received an appointment with the Defence Department at Trontham. Mr C. E. Norrish presided, and Mr T. Evans gave a patriotic address. An interesting programme was submitted, and during the evening Mr C. G. West, of the Patriotic Committee, presented Corporal Lush with a shaving outfit. SPRINGFIELD. At n well-attended social held at the Springfield Hotel, Troopers .J. Foster, •I. Coffey, and Low. three district members of the 20tli Reinforcements on final leave, were entertained. Mr Taylor, who presided, presented each with a wristlet watch. wished them God-speed aJid a isafc icturn.

M.MRF.I-LAU. In spite of the fact that the Mairfthau Hali has been recently enlarged, it was taxed to its utmost Capacity to hold the. crowd who assembled to bid au revoir to Private. J. N. Mcynell on Thursday. During the first part of the evening a splendid concert programme was contributed by Mesdames Brown, Hughes. Whitmore. Misses Law. Emmett. Fuller. Hughes. Parish. R. Fuller. E. Heck, M. Fuller, Messrs Lewis Wilson. Whitmore. Bale. MeDonaJd. Mr W. J. Walter, on behalf of the residents of Mairehau. presented Private Mcynell with case of pipes, and tobacco pouch, "from the public of Mairehau." Mr Walter spoke in the. highest praise of Mr Mevnell's character, and wished him Godspeed, good luck, and a safe return Ringing cheer* were given for the guest, and the audience sang "For He's a .Jolly Good Fellow." Cheers were also given for bis parents. Dancing was indulged in to a late hour. Mr A. T. Fuller supplied the music, and extras were played by Miss D. Beck and Messrs Bale and Whitmore. Mr J. Paul acted as M.C. A very enjoyable evening was brought to a o.losc by the audience forming a ring round Private Mcynell and his mother, and singing "Auld Lang Svne."

■ELLESMERE. Mr F. C. Brown, (.lie Chief Government Poultry Instructor, who had promised to give a. demonstration on the Show-Ground on tho day of the Ellesmere Show, but was unable to do so owing to time taken in the judging of the arge poultry classes, agreed," atthe request of the president of the Association, to A'isit the district at a. later date and gu'c his promised demonstration'. This took place at. .the. Lceston Town Hall on Thursday evening, Mr Arch. McLachlan, vice-president, presiding, in the absence of the president, Mr Hubbard, owing to illness. MiBrown -was accompanied by Mr C. Cussen. South Island Poultry instructor. Both gentlemen imparted a groat deal of useful information. Mr Brown pointed out that in one period of fix months 204,000 dozen eggs had been imported from China. These were not in the shell, but. were in tins. During the «amo period &44.000 dozen eggs in the shell had come from America. The Department he represented was out to obviate the necessity for these importations, and this could only be done by increasing the production within the Dominion. The speaker dwelt at sonic length oil the up-to-date methods of poultry-farming, and demonstrated, by the aid of two hens, the points to be desired in utility birds. The great bulk of the eggs at present marketed in New Zealand came from the farms, and ho was looking to the fanners to so increase tb?" supply of eggs by modern methods that the Dominion would be self-dependent in so far as eggs and poultry were concerned. • He was not. advocating poultry-farming pure and simple in the case «f farmers, but more las a fide line, for the. fact that many waste products on the farm made good feed for poultry. gave farmers an advantage over other people. However, good money coulrl be made out of poul-try-keeping by experienced people, but he strongly advised those present, not- to go into the industry in a large way until they had gained a good deal of experience, for it was neccssary to serve an apprenticeship in the poultry 'business as in the case of other railings. Any person taking his advice would require very little capital to start with. Mr Cussen_ also spoke, dealing chiefly with selecting, breeding, housing, and feeding, and stated that he would be only too pleased to assist any person

by means of advice or help in culling, if his sei-vices were required. The speakers were accordcd a hearty vote of thanks.

HAMPSTEAD. "When granting excursion fares for public schools for annual excursions, the itaihray Department has insisted that the number of tickets issued to children must be in e?Cess of those sold to adults. These arrangements have often caused inoonvenience to school committees, who find it very awkward to regulate the number of adults. In the event of the adults outnumbering the children, the eommitteo are oxpeeted to pay'full fare for the surplus, and to make up for this the adults are asked. in addition to -purchasing an adult ticket, to buy a child's ticket. The Hnmpstcad School Committee., whose excursion takes placo next week, have, through tne member of the district, taken the matter up. and a recent communication from the Minister of "Railways states that the matter will rweive his earnest consideration.

STAVELEY. I In connexion with tlio opening of the Starcley cheese factory on Thursday last, a guessing competition was held to guess the correct number of rJiccsc caps in a box. The prize was a 121b cheese made at- the factory, and the proceeds of the competition (amounting to £3 lofi) were paid over to the Red Cross Fund. The number of caps was 967, and the nearest guess was 968, made by Mr Rutherford. The guesses ranged fiom 100 .odd to 5555.

. ASHBURTOX. The monthly meeting of the Board of | Governors of the Ashburton Technical School was hold ou Friday afternoon, when the chairman (Mr H. Davis') presided. The chairman reported a credit balance at the bank amounting to £'1211 Lig 6d. The Building Committer reported that Mr Porter, the Canterbury Education Board's architect, was now preparing specification for additions to the school. The Executive Committee recommended that, the following reply be sent to the Christ-r-hurch Technical College regarding the use of fh«' pernors of an agricultural instructor

from Christchurch ono clay a week : — ; 'That the present number of students attending lor agriculture does not warrant engaging the services of an outside instructor, but should a sufficient increase in students bo forthcoming at, tho beginning of the next year, and it the cost is not prohibitive, tie committee may be glad to avail itself of the services of the instructor." The committee also recommended that the position of commercial mistress l>e advertised at a salary of £'150 per annum.

fc TEMUKA. 1 On Friday afternoon, a large number e of Europeans and Maoris assembled at ? the. railway station to welcome Lieuieuc ant Tikao, a returned Gallipoli soldier. * who had aJso seen service in France. Upon the platform were Mr .lames t Rickns (the soldier's uncle), the Mayor. • and Mr T. Gunnion. President of the & Temuka Patriotic Entertainment Com- [■ mittee. Motor cars were provided, and '' with Mr A. Cooper and his bagpipes in the lead, the parly was motored to tne " Post Office stops, where about -300 C people had congregated to extend the ■ djstrict's heartiest welcome to the sol- ; dier. Mr Frew (Mayor) spoke of the - pleasure it afforded him to welcome the ' first returned officer of the Maori Con--1 tingenr, to Temuka. He spoke of the great work done by the Maoris on behalf of the Empire. Lieutenant Tikao expressed his thanks for the reception given him. Mr H. Uru, who accom- ! panied Lieutenant Tikao. also spoke. and said he regretted that he was un--1 able to proceed to the front on account of his weight. Ho pointed out that the Europeans and Maoris were now all of one race, they all belonged to the great British Empire. In the evening the Natives of Temuka entertained Licutenaut Tikao at a banquet in the Arowhenua Hall. The Mayoi of Temuka (Mr A. Frew) presided. and he was supported by Mr T. ' President of the Temuka Jatriotie Entertainment Committee, pr iiugg. President of the Temuka branch of the. Red Cros, Societv, tho Rev. A. H. Norris, and Lieutenant. C. H. Street. South African veterans. Mr H. Uru proposed the toast of the evening, "Our Guest." In do in'/ so he said he knew Lieutenant Tikao well, as he was a member -of bis firm before. • be joined the Main Maori Contingent. j Mr Heinione Torepe and Dr. R ugg also ! welcomed the guest. Lieutenant i Tikao. in hi.s reply, addressed a few re- i marks in Maori t G the .Natives, and i afterwards, in a well-chosen speech in ! English, he thanked the company for | the reception given him. Referring to his own men. he said that the .Maoris were wonderfully gallant, { brave and gnod soldiers, and Temuka was well represented among them. At the. same time ho must say that tbey were scut to GaJhpob with their nakeha brother*;, and it was due to their gallantry and bravery that the Maoris were able to show a little bit of theirs. Enough could not be said in praise of the South Island Natives. lien he was with the boys at the front they thought- that the people at home suffered worse than the men at the front. While the men at the front suffered physicallv, those at | home had to endure mental suffering, which was harder to bear. He could not say when the end of the war would be. but he knew we had got, the upper hand of tho Germans. They were a hard nut to crack, but tve were harder. had got the better of them in overs' branch of the service—in the air, on laud and sea.. As a. foe we must give the Germans credit for standing ui> f.n it. but they were going down in "the end Every man in the firing-fine had that, feeling and it would, carry them through. Onr thing ho must, refer to was the'hospitality of tho pooplo in England to tho Maori boy.*. A meeting of the directors of the Temuka Caledonian Soeietv was held on ' Fridav evening. Mr M. H. McLeod, president, occupying the chair. The Boxing Day programme was adopted. It was decided that the society's directors and officials pay for tbeir'luncheon* at, the. ground, and the visiting judges be entertained at dinner by the* president. It was unanimously' agreed that intoxicating refreshments " be"not. provided. The secretary announcer) that a. special train had hoen arranged for between Timaru and Teuiuka. and substantial support and assistance were anticipated from Timaru, Geraldine and surrounding districts. The Queen' eani V Pons Barker, had consents " ed to be present, and it was hooed to arrange a pageant, during the afternoon ■with tho assistance of Queen candidates from other Sonth Canterbury districts.

' SOUTH CA2sTERBUIIY NOTES. (srECUL to "the press.") TOIAjR.tr, November 10. Shearing is now in full swing on the farms of South Canterbury, and good ■weather is being experienced for it, though flock-owners would welcome an interruption through rain for twentyfour hours, as the. country is much in need of a good downfall to moisten the surface, soil. lhe sheep are shearing well this jear, much' better thaji at the previous two shearings, and the wool, owing to the abundance ol feed and the absence of winds, i s in good condition. Phenomenal prices a j-c still being paid for lambs by speculatore. ..Vientiou was previously made of the fact that 16s (3d had been offered for lambs off their mothers away back in the Mackenzie. Country, 80 miles from the nearest freezing works, and it was said that this was probably a record for tussock lambs at weaning time in the Mackenzie Country. Information is now to hand that early in October on one of the Mackenzie nans, there were sold at 17s (Jd, less a" o per cent, rejection, for delivering in the middle of February, all tussock lamb? on high country. On another run in the, Mackenzie Country all the ewe-lambs were sold at 20s, jess a 10 per cont. rejection. Some of the autumn-sown wheat crops, as well as some of the autumn-sown oat=. a .re now fully out in ear. and all are looking splendid. Hie indications are that j the harvest will be an early one. The root crops for winter feeding are now being sown, and a rain to wet the surface soil would be very beneficial. It was reported in Timaru to-day that another conference of wool-growers to be held in Wellington, would be called for Uiursdav next to consider the amended offer of the Imperial Government for the Xew Zealand wool clip.