CURRENT TOPICS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19757, 23 October 1929, Page 15

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE SEASON. I*. is rather singu..ir •':.»: wr.i. .: :j:i. ' fall up to the cad of last month ,Vi per i cent, higher than for the corresponding r'Tiod in 1928 tfc»r<- should be a very ifnTal desire for a "good rain.'' October to date has b<»cn practically rain- !<**, only two point* having "fallen, j <»rriinarily the preceding three months' j moisture wo aid have carried matters : along Offltil November. However, a suc- ' ■•'•••sion of drying wind* ha* the i 'tirfaee of the soil hard, and tillage j work for spring erop» has been retarded. Autumn sown wheat, which has the Seat-lit of the soaking the soil received in the winter, is looking well and is responding satisfactorily to the warmer weather. However, i->ring sown wheat is very slow in coming away. »I rasa growth has improved markedly during the !a»t fortnight, hut it c., u ld a!«o do j with a ram. j THE POTATO EMBARGO. The ' - i!I wind'"' represented by the : Australian elections may bring tome ' good as far as New Zealand potato pro- , dnrers are concerned. Hostile tariffs | and high protection have had s great j inning* in Australia (hi* las: ,deeade. I New Zealand potatoes are not allowed J into the country on the flimsiest of prej text*, the butter tariff is practically ! prohibitive, and now a proposal i* under j serious discussion to pot a duty on ' onions substantially in advance of the ; average price the New Zealand farmer receives for his crop. All this is for the ■ benefit of a small bat powerful circle of Victorian producers. The thoughtful and serious persons in the community ', can scarcely view the Australian election results with delight, but to the j average observer the thought is ineviI table that the late Government lent too ' kindly an ear to a small but noisy pro- ; during element in Victor:. , hacked by a very keen organisation of middlemen. i The embargo is as much in the interests of the merchant as the grower. There I is more money in handling £ls a ton | potatoes than £9 or £lO ones, and this I is about the difference that the mainten- } ance of the embargo made in the price ' last year to Melbourne merchants. Syd- ! ney folk have been paying on an averI age £lB to £25 a ton for potatoes rigftt through the season—in effect, a population of a million people has been "salted" for the benefit of two or three thousand producers in Victoria. VALUE OF LUPINS. Apropos of the correspondence recently on this page in regard to the cultivation of Inputs as a stock feed, a contributor to the English journal, the "Parmer and Stockbreeder," says:— "Some time ago, I mentioned my intention of growing a crop of lupins on a comer of my farm where the land is very poor and sandy. I duly sowed the lupin seed and this field is now covered with the most dense growth I have ermr seen. The lupins have choked every weed, and one can see nothing bat the lupins—not an inch of soil is visible anywhere, even when one walks among them. 1 shall plough this crop in next month (August) and confidently expect good results from the piece of ground next year."

A OOOD-ORADE HERD. Instances are coming increasingly to light of th% results that can be secured by tie proper testing, culling, and feeding of dairy herds. The latest is from Biverton, on the extreme southern edge of this Island, which locality offers no suggestion of any advantage in climate. Mr O. E. Woblers report* that bis grade Friesian herd of 29 head for the 1928-29 season averaged 349.241b butter-fat in 238 days. The herd comprised seven two-year-old heifem, which averaged 239.81b fat, ami 22 cows which averaged 334.51b fat. For several years Mr Wohters has been using pedigree Frieaian bulls for grading up his herd. Speaking of supplementary feeding, *Mr Wohlers reports that in September he had eight acres of rye corn, and hia herd had two hoars on that night and morning. After this was finished, the herd was on grass alone until February, when he had eight acres of rape and grass on which the herd again had two hours night and morning, after which it was fed a load of turnips night ":.d morning until the end of the season.

SOUTH AFSICA'B EPIDEMICS. Xew Zealand stock-owners scarcely know how fortunate they are in comparison with those in other countries in the comparative freedom they enjoy from stock epidemics. A calculation has been made that the losses in South Africa by the death of eattie, sheep, and goats from disease, drought, exposure, and the ravages of vermin aggregated £6,000,000 for the year ended August 31st, 1928, if the value of the cattle be reckoned at £5 per head and the sheep and goats at 10s per bead. Cattle losses *'rom drought, disease, and exposnre at the Cape were tboot 350,000, aa compared with 150,000 in the Transvaal. The latest Agricultural Census records that daring the period referred to a total of 700,000 cattle and nearly 5.000.000 sheep and goats died in ail fonr provinces. Vermin accounted for half a million rf the sheep and goats, namely, about at the Cape, 100,000 in the Fnm State, 30,000 in the Transvaal, rnd 35,000 in NataL The Cape also suffered most ia small stock losses from drought, disease, and exposure, the figures approximating 2f million, es compared with 660,000 in the Free State, (850,000 in the Transvaal, sad about 240.000 in Natal. Livestock hi the Union at Aogn«t 31st, IM3, amounted to 1>>,477.77; cattle. 39.242.191 woolled sheep, 4,253,033 non-woolled sheep, and 332,325 pig".

It is the intention of the 1 tetorian Minister for Agriculture (Mr Pennington) to introduce an Amending Stock Foods BiH to control the sale of stock licks in a manner somewhat similar to that provided for the control of the »ale of fertilisers. In making this announcement in the Legislative Assembly Mr Pennington said that the manufacturer will be compel!.-.! to register his braad of stock l.ck with the Agricultural Department, to give an in*o<« cert.icate of warranty, and to Lb*-! th« material, showing the gaaran- { of mir.cra! '»•]*'> "*' n j* Ba d he amount of preserved fo eigu • «,»;.» n \nr person who sells a I ZI SI not T of the guaranteed Inalysis" ,11 he liable to prosecution. Germ*. bo«uty-f,ed oats are arriving ta seotkißd «•»•* , £ l ,k " it ;* p ; n y d „™ »i««-n*> with the weai pnu*. *»» IK f.nT bodies are holding meeUnn I f e Tne German oat, are being &JKJ -Uler. *t 21. P*r cuarte*.