GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 762, 10 March 1910, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

:An Adelaide'merchant" who attended the JastV hide^. i% sal« iiu;We,Ujngton Temarkpd that Tie jcourd-obtaiii'hides'-cheaper' from Europe than., from-. .Sew - Zealand. The , European hides were, cheaper .in the first place;;an'd "even 'the freight out still left a saving .qyer what,would have to.be paid' for the New. Zealand article with transhipment charges;' ~ ' ' ■■•■."•'• •' Messrs.' 2)algety. and': Company, of 'Napier; have effected .the sale oi the- wellknown. OKnka Station,, Wairoa, Hawke's Bay,' on'.a'ccbunt of Mr. B.'K O'Neill, to .Mr....J.-E. Gear, of Te" Horo. The • was.,a oue. ■ Every precautjaiij;*is ..being, taken to make shipment of apples from Nelson-a success.;'ivlr. Kirk, as reported, Has'.b'een'bver'jatl vising growers as to the varieties.to pick and,how to pack them, and ilr.' F.-:K. Hallam;the local orchard inspector at Nelson; was recently dispatohed across to • Tasmania, 'his native State, to make ' himself thoroughly ac"quninted.with, the latest methods in.'the apple' : export' trade .there. : -'" .Yesterday Mr.'. Hallani arrived in Wellington on h.'is'-way... back from:.Tasmania, and ..will now .proceed''to'Aiiiak'e 'the /necessary '■ ai'rangoa)ep.t;s\for..;.the shipment..' The New Zeal'aM i .Ship)iug;;Co'nip ( any. is stated by lhW.'Kini.sterUo , .de'''uiakjrig'.'fuli and careful arrangements for. handling the fruit on its afrival;.in vGreat';Btitain.'' Mr. C. J..'Eealces, chief veterinarian to • the ■llepartine'nt of, Agriculture, •is at pre-,-sent on a visit, of inspection to Auckland, and is not expected-to return to the city until next week.. . <. . • Thousands of sheep and lambs are coming to Rangitikei from the higher country for' the- rape and stubble, and. according'to a correspondent, it isj re:mafk'able to I see''what .the country will carry. One 300-acre' f am; for instance, . carried 620.' breeding, ewes .arid. 30' catjle,, through last winter. 'Tho' owner docke'd l 120 per cent, .61'-lambs, - these 20S went away fat off their mothers; 100 ewe lambs were reserved to go back into the flock, and the whole of the balance were sold a month ago for 6s. Cd. Of 200 ewes that wer.c. culled at;weaning. 62 have- gone away, fat, and- the. rest.are finishing off on about 10 acres of rape. Mr. Alex. Griffen, the owner of the above property, is a great believer in Border Jjeicester rams on LincoMSomney cross ewes' the production . of fat lambs. This method, he claims, leaves a good . useful; lamb; the; fats are, picked out.. The Hawke's Bay. Fruit-growers' Association let a contract last spring for 100,000 fruit-cases. Up to last week 125,000 cases .had been used, and it is calculated that the total for the season will be 150,000 cases; equal to half a million feet of white pine. Thb:Kawhia Dairy Factory has realised ,lp7s..' for 'its' first consignment of butter and 109s. I '6d. ' for the second, equal to the quotations for the finest Australian of the same date. With the exception fii one small parcel, the butter from the factory, which is in its first season,' has been graded first-class. ' ; '; , , A ( meetjng was _^d :i Hawke's ■ 'Bay,';recently ,'tb iconsi'der a 1 proposal for: the estabHsnme'ntl.qt but-'' tor factory.-- 'JAVstrong- committee -of re-, prescntative settlers' Was appointed, and a canvass of the district is at present being made. Reports ■' from Hawera' state that the caterpillar has' commenced to play havoo with the maize crops at Manutahi.'and evidence of its ravages is visible'all r along the coast.

In the orchard at the Weroroa Experiment . Station there are. 230 varieties of apples, over 'Varieties each of pears and plums, amISISO .of peaches'. The season is .stated to. haVe I .':been an abnormal one, with Heavy yields Iromall .varieties.'-. . ' ...,.„««/ . :' Advices received from Gore show that the oats coming to hand exhibit considerable variation in the weights per bushel. Lines bought, on samples showing the average weight i to be 441b. are turning out very much lighter and portions of the bulk do not run to more than 411b. This irregularity of weights is rarely noticeable in the eastern part of Southland, but this 'year. the dry season seems to have affected parts.:of laud more.than pthera. The difficulty-' is one which is likely to the English markets? '': requires heavy "oats/.not!less thanM3lb'. or 441b., arid rekrports.'bt;lighter height, would- hardly be acceptable. The condition of the grain 'ii'; 'hqwe'Ver,' ■(lecide*diy l "goo(l', ;, and almost superior to last year's growth. '■ Tlie ilarlborough A.' and P. Association at its meeting on Saturday discussed the question of experimenting with sugarbeet in the district: ' It iwas decided to endeavour to make/.arraugoments with the Department; of,; Agriculture'for tho planting of a trial crop." Mr. X. Duncan, M.P., was present, and pointed out that though the machinery was an expensive item, he thought a plant could bt obtained at a reasonable ligurc. Once the industry was established he thought it would be "iy splendid thing..' What they wanted first was tho farmers to take up' tho question and give conclusive proof.what the laril and climate'were capable of producing. The Government had withdrawn its offer of £10,000 for the first 100 tons of sugar grown, but he felt sure the offer would bo renewed, and,it would, assist and encourage the 'industry. • Apart from , the plant being a sugar producer, it was, he said, a splendid fodder root. , . Reports from the Wyndham. district (Southland) show that as regards dairying, through the milking season starting much earlier than usual, the supplies forthcoming for October and November were very much in advance of the corresponding periods of other years, and that although tlio cows started lo< go back earlier' than is generally the case, the farmors hud the advantage of having tlie most. profitable portion of tho year for .heavy supplies. ..;..•,, I It is probably many'years since poisoning operations were carried out in the \Vairar,ap'a'to the extent to which'they have'been\ this season; Tho Mastcrton ! "Times v says that every day almost witnesjes the departure of a consignment of ' poiscjn, either; by. express or by train, for I remote parts of the district. \. ' ■ ' •'

The maggot fly hns made its appearance in one or two instances nmorig sheep in the Waira'rnpa this'.season, although its ■ravages have not-been-very severe. . A Eangitikei. correspondent states, that good chalf has .every appearaucc of bringing a much better price than last year, having already reached, .£3 7s. 6d. for best. '. ' ■••'■■■'■, The .Marlborough' Fruitgrowers' As:ociation is making inquiries as to the cost of. a cool store. . Mr. Wm. Shaw, of Lake Hayes, Otago, has been advised by the 'Department of Agriculture that the best ea.Tiple of barley shown in the British International ■Exhibition.was obtained from oue of his farms. It was also the best sample shown at tho winter shows throughout the Do-minion-last year. . This season's oats.are now being forwarded in fairly considerable quantities to the Bluff to await orders for shipment. One .firm of merchants at the Bluff towards the end, of last week received 3000 bags of oats and 9000 sacks were dispatched by the Wanaka for various northern ports. It is quite evident (says the "Southland Times") that South-, laud'oats have a strong hold of the New Zealand markets as well as of calls for consumption at Borne. Referring to bis recent, visit to % Cheviot, the. Hon.' 'i'. Mackenzie states that on the whole crops, etc., uro looking well, and the ' settlers. are in good heart. There >vere fine displays of roots—mangels and turnips—at the show. Everywhere grass appeared to be fairly plentiful. According to some of.the settlers, the threshings ,out of the: crops was not up to expec- ' tations. The Waimate district, South Canterbury, has had five weeks of splendid har,vest weather, with one day's rain. A .good many crops of wheat and oats are not turning out so well or so heavy as expected, but' generally wheat will turn out fairly well.- Dairy and sheep farmers prosent conditions and -future prospects are very good. The weather, as in the north, is still like midsummer. "Yes," said an. Eketahuna pioneer to the writer the other day, "wove got to pay our'dairy factory hands fortnightly now. Talking about pay, I can't help thinking' tho old way we had in the early days was the best. ■ A young fellow couldn't help getting a nest egg for a start then. Take my case. I came out here away back with-iMO in my pocket. I got a job on a station at .£1 a week for the first year, with a rise to .£1 10s. the second year. I drew what I needed ikuii "the runholder' was glad enough, as they all were, to pay me five per cent, on my money. At the end of five or six years I left with-'a tidy round sum to make a start on. Of course oue used to hear of men knocking down their cheques in a few weeks, but there were plenty, I can tell vou, who kept clear of that. Take the young fellows to-day, with their dribs and drabs coming in every week. Iney never have anything. It's through their fingers like water." .

An experienced Pahiatua farmer reports an unusual occurrence. He had a purebred Jersey cow in calf to a pedigree bull, and at seven months the cow slipped her calf. Later on, at the time when she' should have como in, the cow had an 'attack of milk fever. The farmer was positive that, the symptoms of milk fever were present, but a veterinary expert, when questioned on the subject, said it was impossible. The cow must have been suffering from some disease mth a resemblance to milk fever. CO-OPERATION IN VICTORIA. . ''•"■';: NEW COMPANY. \ As an outcome of recent discussions on agricultural 'co-operative enterprises ..in Australia, there nas been formed at 13endiEO a Victorian Producers', Co-operative Co., ■ Ltd.,, with a capital of • 45u.000.in: il shares. • This niiyr, .combination has eight travelling • .among, farmers,' with the object' 'of .promoting :the success of ' the;., cu-oporatiye system of handling produce''ih,bulkX.withput...tli(), intervention of middlemen; ■■■■■■■-;, ::■. ■•.:.'-_.