CURRENT TOPICS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19467, 14 November 1928, Page 13

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE WEATHER BREAK. I The break in the weather over the week-end could have been well done without in Canterbury. The warm I week preceding had made a wonderful difference to growth, and had hardened feed well for lamb fattening. There had been some i'ear that the heavy downfalls of October would make feed too soft for the lambs to do well. The intense cold thai accompanied the week-end burst would he very hard on newlv shorn sheep. Early shearing has been very much delayed, particularly in the northern part of the province, where the rain appears to have been more sustained and heavier than in Mid and South Canterbury. Tillage work for rape and turnip crops, as a matter of fact, has been completely held up in some parts on account of the wet condition of the soil.

OATS EXPORT FUTURE. Up till last season oats had accumulated in Southland to an extent that was puzzling morehants where to get rid of them. Fortunately a slight export demand developed with Australia on account of the drought there, and a good outlet opened up with the Old Country, where two successive bad seasons had been experienced. The result was that stores wero well cleared for the now crop when it came in last season, and as further inquiry was coming from London with some export business prospects again looked better for the grower. However, some time ago, oats in England receded sensationally in price—from 40s to 27s a quarter —and judging by Home advices there is little prospect of a resumption of export business. A Home farm paper made the following observation in a recent issue:—"The grain trade is also in a state of flux at the moment. Oats are being talked down to 20s (2s 6d a bushel). One of the surest ways -to bring about a poor price for grain is to talk pessimistically about it before trading takes place. .. _ Prices quoted are not high, there being no strong demand at present, and all who can should, more particularly as the .crop .is-well got, stack the grain-instead of threshing and overloading a nonabsorbent market. Unfortunately many growers are compelled to sell at an early date, as cash is required for other purposes. It seems a pity that something after the lines of the Canadian wheat pool is not in operation. Under that scheme a farmer may thresh and deliver his produce and receive an advance in cash against the final price when the grain really changes hands." POTATO POINTS. I

Investigations arc now taking place in the Dominion in regard to the purity, cropping power, and diseases of our potato crops, and it is bound to be of value to the grower. - However, the actual handling of the seed and the planting have not been experimented with to much extent here. V potato bulletin, issued by the Onf- o Agricultural College, arrives at .c conclusions which should be interesting. The experiments conducted by the college show immature potatoes have a greater seed value than the matured tubers; that the size of the set planted has a very marked influence on the yield produced and that the larger sets of two ounco weight produced a much higher yield both of the total number of bushels harvested and of the number fit for market. Many growers have claimed that potato sets should be planted with the cut surface downward, but in experiments in which one lot was planted with the cut surface up and the other with it down, the results were practically identical and nothing could be gained by pointing the sets in any special direction. Another interesting set of results was obtained in tests with sets having one, two, thrco, four, and five eyes respectively. The sets with fewer eyes produced a higher percentage of marketable potatoes, but those with the five eyes gave a very substantial increase in yield. Another subject of controversy with growers is whether or not potatoes should be cut several days before planting. Experiments recorded in the bulletin show that potatoes cut and planted the same day gave higher yields than 7 those cut four or five days previous to planting. The cutting of seed was much more general in New Zealand 30 or 40 years ago than it is to*day, but in the light of recent practices one is inclined to think that this was due to reasons of economy more than anything else. MAKING FOR THE TOWNS.

A good deal during the election campaign has been made out of the movement of people towards the cities, and the consequent depopulating of the country, but this cry is as old as the hills. However, we have a long way to go in this respect before we approach Australia. There the problem is a real one. The four citieß in New Zealand carry, approximately, slightly less than 500.000 people, or 33 per cent, of the total population. Figures recently published _in Australia show that in 1927 45.88 per cent, of the population of New South Wales was living in Sydney, 55.98 per cent, of that of Victoria in Melbourne, 56.91 per cent, of South Australia's in Adelaide, and 49.00 of West Australia's in Perth. If the population of cities containing 10,000 people or more are added to those of the capitals considerably more than half the people in the Commonwealth dwell in the larger towns. From information supplied by the Commonwealth Statistician it appears that, during the six years 1922 to 1927, three people settled in one or other of the capital cities of the Commonwealth. for every one who went to live in the country or provincial towns. In a country where unoccupied land can be measured by the millions of acres this iB a far more serious problem than in New Zealand, where /empty farm lands come within small compass.

FOOT EOT. Tho heavy rain that has fallen recently in various parte of the Dominion is likely to increase tho liability to foot rot, a complaint, howevor, which is less general in Canterbury than in the North Island and further south. The trouble is not serious in that it causes little mortality in a flock, but it is a i most painful affection and the affected animal rapidly loses condition. The inability to move and feed properly during the troublo accounts for some of the loss of condition in an affected flock. When this trouble mokeß its appearance, care should be taken to treat the first animals affected. Hand treatment of the foot when only a fow sheep are affected can be carried out. All loose horn should be cut off with a knife and a good application is a dressing of tar and bluestone. Jf a number of sheep are affected they should bo put through a foot bath containing a solution of blue-stono of a strength of from four to eight ounces to the gallon according to tho severity of the attack. The necessary measures* adopted to control the troublo entail a certain Rmount of caro and management of the pastures. Lack of exercise, the hoof becoming overgrown, lowlying, wet paddocks with softening of the hoof, and stoppage of the small canals situated between the claws, are ' contributory factors. Long grass is also an influence, and it in itself may cause the condition known as "scald," which j is troublesome though not so severe as foot-rot. In any case long coarse grass i pastures are quite unsuitable for sheep from a general health point of view. CORRECT STATISTICS. Apparently wo are fortunate in Now Zealand in possessing an accurate method of compiling our stock statistics. Either that or we are lucky that there is no other body that undertakes the job to conflict with the official compilations. In Australia they are not so situated. Last year, based on figures supplied by the New South Wales Graziers' Association, a forecast of a 400,000 bale decline was made in the Commonwealth wool clip. The Government Statistician, who was concerned solely with the number of sheep, estimated the total sheep much higher than tho Graziers' Association, and results proved he was right. The wool decrease was only about 70,000 bales, and Bradford and other wool trade people were quite justified in the strong complaint they voiced at the misleading information. The same difference of opinion is featuring this year's figures. In the recently published estimate by the Government Statistician of the number of sheep in the State, reference was made by him to the total losses of sheep and lambs caused by adverse weather conditions in 1927. He put the loss down at about 8,000,000. He also estimated that the number of sheep at the end of that year was approximately 49,000.000. The president of the Graziers' Association, commenting on these figures, says:—"l would point out that while the Government Statistician estimates that there were' approximately 49,000,000 sheep in tho State at the end of 1927, tho P.P. Bodrd figures . show just under 45,000,000." The difference between tho two estimates is only four million, but it represents, approximately close on 100,000 bales of wool, enough to In the recently published estimate by again tfie wool trade's complaint of statistical unreliability. PONIES AT THE SHOW.

Mention was omitted in the report of the Metropolitan Show last week of the awarding of the champion ribbon and shield in. the 14 to 15 hands class. This distinction went to Miss J. Maginness's cob Scandal, N.Z. ROMNEYS ABROAD. Last July a small shipment of Romney ram hoggets, bred by Mr J. G. Alexander, of Wanganui, were shipped to an American client. The rams did particularly well with the result that it was decided to exhibit one of them at the Washington State Fair. This ram was first in his class and was finally awarded the grand champion I prize.

TOP-DRESSING.

WHEN TO DO IT,

Some months ago the correspondence columns of The Pr?B3 contained the experiences of a number of farmers in regard to the results of top-dressing in Canterbury. Some were very successful, others only moderately so, and others again -distinctly disappointing. Among tin latter was that of a prominent Ellesmere farmer, whose grasslands showed little return from the expenditure. he mentioned that he top-dressed in August, and this, doubtless, is where he erred. Experience in Southland, where the practice is much more general than in Cantorbury, is that the best results were achieved when top-dressing was "done as early as March. The full benefit of the autumn rains was then secured. However, it would seem, from investigations in England that the class of fertiliser is a factor in determining tho best time. . An article in a recent issue of the "Scottish Fanner," written by a prominent authority— W. Smith, M.A., B.Sc., states that "there is still a widespread belief amongst farmers that if artificial manures are applied in the autumn they are to some extent washed away in the winter drainage. This is only true as far as nitrogenous manures are concerned, but does not in the least apply to the case' of phosphatic and potassic manures. This fact has been clearly demonstrated by investigators at both Bothamsted and Aberdeen, where the drainage water from manured plots has been carefully analysed to find out what happens to manures when applied to the soil. Phosphates and potash are not washed through, but go into combination i with other soil constituents, and although they still remain available to the plant they are no longer soluble in water, and therefore are retained in the soil. This should dispel any doubts the farmer may have about applying dressings of these manures in the autumn; indeed, it has been shown by frequent experiments and by the best farming practice, that bo far as grassland and young seeds are concerned, the best results are obtained from an autumn application of theso artificials. They get thoroughly incorporated in the soil and are readily available in the spring when growth commences, with the result that there is an earlier and stronger growth with a more robust clover plant. When these manures are not applied until the spring, some time necessarily elapses before they become available to the plant, and the farmer thus misses the early bite which he is so desirous of obtaining. The practice of autumn* manuring of grassland and young seeds (unless the nurse crop was dressed) cannot be too strongly recommended." So Canterbury top-dressers, who have had disappointing results, should find in the experience in the Old Country, as well as in the southern end of the Dominion, one explanation of their failures.