THE FARM INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 488, 22 April 1909, Page 8

THE FARM INDUSTRY

WOOL-PICKING ' AND CLASSING. AM INTERESTING DISCUSSION^ ; An Auckland Press: Association telegram states that an idea of importance.,to tho Dominion .was spoken, of at tho meeting of the Auckland Education Board yesterday. Mr. Geo.' Georgo-suggested the holding of classes for three weeks in winter' for instructing in. wool picking and classing. Ho understood that farmers had gone down heavily this year owing to'tho bad classing of their wool, dirt and all sorts of things, having got in. ' : Mr. ; M'Kenzie said that for tho last two years ho had had difficulty in dealing with his! wool. Some people who did not class their wool at all, and took no' pains to arrange it, did just as well as. those. who did. Ho went to a lot of . trouble last; year, [arid; got'his wool put up in first-class order. [ Ho; got fivepence -for* it' in London. ; This year_lio .took no trouble at all, and put'!in .anything and everything,' and '.got; •• here; This was' on the advice' of ' othorsil who . had dono likewise.' .Then .they ..we'ro. tho. American: buyors would buy nothing but clean; wool. If the people, lierei were; taught to put [their- cleim wool, in one .lot. and keep it separate from other,wool," the buyers from other countries would .know;.what .'they,,were doing, and ' competition would bojfair. If [there. were .[Government., . graders, .- : tho ' men :who took-; the' trouble, to classify.; their .wool . would.'got''tHe [benefit "of,.'it,-and' classified' .wool would bring .the best price. There was no country, world which could produco hotter wool: Zcaland... .-/ ■ Mr. 'G: J. Garland said that one year ho classed his . wool, 1 .and 'received -a' penny, lesi ■ than, if he had only-taken the ordinary procautions and put in tho wool straight off the' sheep's back. . . Mr. C. J. Parr (chairman of tho board), explained/that tho idea was that at tho winter show <in Auckland they -should: have a man giving [instructions farmers and their sons. Ho moved in. approval, of Mr. Georgo having-.brought'the matter up and requesting him to report: WAIRARAPA AND EAST COAST A. AND P. SOCIETY. ' ANNUAL REPORT. Tho annual ireport of tho Wairarapa and East ,Coasti A. and P v Society "(jiist issued) states, inter-'alia, that the-annual show, as to tho litimbor of "entries,;.was -a. tho quality of tho stock exhibited also,;being very good.Oneof- the chief features of the, show! was the parade, - which-.was .acknowledged.; to have been the best ever seen in'the Dominion, and the stewards who had charge _of,-the : . Same-, are deserving. of, very great' credit. [' : [;, . Tho overdraft at tho J3a;nk of (New Zealand is in oxcess of that at the beginning of the year,[butywhen; all-assets .have. been realised and outstanding accounts paid[ it, is anticipated that the -amount/will bo reduced; to within, a -few .pounds of last yearns balance. Prize' money, at tlie- last show .was,; increased: : the amount paid being [£125 in.'.advance,,of tho -1907. figures, and, .as a . Tcsult,. outside entries .wereconsiderably'[in. advance, of'those of the previous years. ■ Thero was 1 an increase in entry fees of £50 ss. .- 1 ■ '' During the year: improvements' have been, out to,tho extent.of .£85135.;'5d; _Gato receipts show a'■ falling off.'.'on' the_, previous year's figures by £28'llsU3d., ;which'i;is ac-. counted for by < tho'; increase in-; membership. .Donations' in -cash and trophies were:.£l22 short of the 1907 receipts. '-The membership [ has increased materially during tho year,- not-, withstanding l numerous [resignations,. and is now. 553. i ' • Tho butter-fat competition inaugurated, last year;was a complete : success,"and ; promises. to bo more popular in the futuro. Mr. H. FeastJ being the .owner of the winning 'cow,' holds tho challenge cup presented for tho competition;[ in . this , section .till;' tho';;l9o9 show. :Mr. D. Noak's "MignonV having won tho challenge cup in the jumping [competition lost year, for; th<> third timo 'in succession, tho'cup now,;b"ecomea : the property of ;Mr.. Noak/ .; The other challenge cups ,were won. by , Mr. .W. M'Kenzio's-Mahomot (best lady's hack, won outright); Messrs. Nelson Bros. (Quibell's cup for stud sheep); and Messrs. Nelson Bros. (Douglas cup for Southdown sheep).; Offers havo been-received from Messrs. D. Nbak of £10 [towards-the cost of purchasing-another challenge[ cup' for, the; jumping [competition: from Messrs.* E..-Eagle,, jun., of a Jersey hull calf value £10 10s.; and from Mr. D. Buchanan, jun., of an Aryshiro bull calf value £10 10s., :for tho. best Jersey and Ayrshire [ cows in the ISOD. butter-fat competition respec-, tively.-. Thcso offers will be dealt with ,by : .the incoming committee.- . '-iV■ -. *,[- v .>"=?. i: [ : .The' committee wishes;[-'to thank [all' those who .contributed towards the prize fund, .andalso the Belvedere, Dalefield, Parkvale, 1 and Tarat&hi [dairycompanies, for [the -[challenge cup presented [for. competition, in tho butterfat competition. ; ■: Tho president, . vice-president, treasurer, auditor, and a proportion of the committee retire according to tho rules.

JONES-EVANS TESTIMONIAL. The testimonial subscribed in 'acknowledgment'of_the service's rendered to'farmers in 'Arbitration Court : proceedings'at Christchurch will probably be presented during the Provincial Conference.- of the. Farmers' Union at /Wellington next' month. "CIVE ME NEW ZEALAND EVERY TIME." Having spent,threo years in Bcchuanaland, Mr. E; F. Morter, a nativo of Christchurch, New Zealand, arrived' in London by an,intermediate Union.Oastleliner,in March. -Mr: Slorter told an interviewer he intends to' return, to the land of the inoa, which,'' lie says, will; always, be . good , .enough 'for . him. "If l saw the best of Bechuanaland,'' he remarked, "its worst side must be very- bad. You cannot carry on farming on an extensive scale; and ; make much."out pf, it, becauso there is- no .ready ,market-there aro cattle diseases to be .contended with, and tho natives aro not tho peaceful angels some people think. If a man wants to live a proper;- en-, joyablo life, give me New Zealand, every timo before South Africa/ Thero are a ; few Australians: in -Becliuanaland .doing weE out , of gold, and : by.' tradings but'.when ■ ; they' have made enough ,they will-get out of it." ; ';' ■■;;'■■■' '■ ,''•:>-'-.J;.', BONUS FOR STONE-CATKERINC •, J : ,r MACHINE. The. Minister- for Agriculture for South Australia, offers a bonus of £100 for an, efficient stone-gathering-! machine. The-' public trial will bo hold nest August, and entries', miist. be;'made: to the Department of Agriculture at Adelaide, not later than, July 1, ;190y. The amount of bonus may be allotted in two prizes, but 110 prize shall be awarded unless ! recommended tho judges. Machines will bo required, to./remove or gather into convenient rows all Stones of not less than 4 inches, and,' not exceeding: 281b. in weight. •: The 'points that •, will be considered in judging the are.: , . V ;1., Efficiency ! and cost of clearing. - 2. Lightness of draught, strength of machine, simplicity of construction, and working. ; 3. Cost of machine. 4. Gathering ; stones, freo from soil. : SCARCITY OF FARM LABOUR. . A great scarcity of labour exists in tho Methven and surrounding districts (writes a correspondent of "Tho Press").' A wellknown threshing-machino proprietor pulled his machine.: into, his yard a few weeks. ago, as;: the grain in, stack then' was not ' sufficiently' matured; but owing- to tho demand for machines now this- owner carao:'into Methven to get men to go out with his machino, but failed to get even ono man. Neither could ho procure any : in. tho district. Another machine owner, owing to two of his men taking ill, wished to get .others to tako their places, but was also unsuccessful.; As tho price of wheat has gone up materially during tho last few days, and as very little Wheat threshing has been done in this district jet, farmers are anxious to get their threshing dono as soon as possible. It may-be mentioned that the wages being paid for this class of work aro higher than they liavo vbeen: for. a number of years past. . If tho men in tlie large centres of tho Dominion [who are now. idle could be induced'to:come

into the country districts, they, would find plenty of work at a very satisfactory re-, muneration, and the unemployed, problem would be.solved. 'It is very unpleasant for farmers and others'; in the country districts | who, are crying out for men and cannot get them-to learn that 0110 or two hundred men are unemployed in Christqhurch, Wellington,;, or some of the other largo cities of {lie Dominion. This difficulty in getting then to leave the towns', is becoming very acuto. THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. Mr. It. M'Nab, who was in Christchurch on Tuesday for an hour or so, was asked to. ex-, press an opinion in regard to the roorgunisat)>n of the Agricultural' Department,' of which he had charge'when he was in the Ministry (writes ;our He said that ho. did: riot 'know/what alterations wire proposed, but it'" was ; a; Department which, under stress of/.financial conditions, ; might be reduced' • enormously. , If it. was • proposed merely to make a. reduction of : cost, that, could bo done by abandoning a number of the duties undertaken by the Department in the interests; of agriculture. That , course would bring about a very marked reduction in. the expenses- connected with the Department's affairs.; In that, case, of course, the farming compiunity would have to forego a. number of luxuries they enjoyed in the same way as a private person had to * relinquish luxuries when he began to cut down his expenses. FARMERS' UNION CONFERENCE DATES. ' , 'Farmers''. Union Conferences will be held this .year as follow: — ''. May' 24, 25. —Wellington Provincial, at Eke--tahuna. ■ - May 27, ■ 18. —Auckland Provincial Conference. ■ End of May.—Canterbury Provincial Confer- ■. '• erioe. .■■ / ' .... .v..■ . Otago.—Date not yet:, notified./ J. i-^ End of July.—Dominion. Conference, at Wellington. . v■. ; _ A biennial conference of. agricultural societies , will be ; held in 1 Wellington this year, 'probably at the end of June! ' SHOW DATES. Juno 1 to 4. —Dunedin Winter Show, Juno 16 to 17—In vercargill, Winter Show. Juno 22 to 25.—National Dairy Show (Palmerston North). July 6, to 10.—Waikato Winter Show (Hamilton). ' ■ ■': . ; October 20 to 21.: Hawke's Bay , Spring ■' . Show. ' '