GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 763, 11 March 1910, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

■'.By the'. "Ulimaroa yesterday Mr. R. ,D. Knight, thq"well;kriown ; draught-horse, breeder of Lougburn, shipjied 24 horses tor' Melbourne.; ;By: the-same'vessel! Mr. Allen of Victoria is taking .two draught stallions, one purchased'from Mr. Cany of Eeildihg, being. Eliminator • by Burf.rough. Drayman out of Flower of Armi-. dale;' the;otheris Royal .Dandy, by Royal Star; out b;P Nell;' ahdSvas purchased from Miy P. "'BrDmner, of Waverley.- '' To-day Mr;' G,' F. Moore's Hereford cattle; from Par.k...Jierd. are be- . iugJshippe'd'by;;'the'.',lfoa"ni;,fqr- the lloyal .show'at Sydney;' Mr! llooro; is sending 'over .three[yearling;bulls,' two' by.the- imported .:English',-bull ; Sirdar/ and "the other ■by Ensign'(imp.), as well as'a four-year-old which holds an unbeaten-record—Con-fidence, by' .Colonist' :(imp;) '— Cyn.this 3rd. .Colonist was imported by Mr. .;' James;;; Stuckey".in • 1898, and is - still, doing .stiid The Moana's consignment->_of live stock is' a large one,- totalling" 29 horses, Ave ..bulls, and one .cow. Hfrlan Duncan is sending.ovor'threeyearliugs'by Kilcheran,. Mr.' (}. P.- Moore' has, .in addition to his cattle, two Birkenhead yearling costs, one out .'of. Penelope, and the other from 'St. Evangeline, and Messrs. 'J. and S. Whitworthi;o£ Wellington, are shipping : two racehqrsest;;;;;',";' ~':.. :, .According-to;the leaflets issued by tho '^epartmentTiOf/Industries the'exports of jneat..for,the:'three months, December to -February.C.a'rabuuted t0".317,121 carcasses 'of ; '-:m'uttou;'; ; .as.. ;, ag;ainst 571,711 .carcasses 'for. the' .corresponding"..'three'"'months of ;;the' previbus seasoii," a decrease of 254,590 carcasses.- TlieV-sliipnient ofi lamb, according to the'.':'samp; authority, totalled Col,'327^carcasses;..;'ns^against' 625,911 carcasses' uie.:p'raVi6jts*seasbnV.'a'- decrease ,of 24,584 carcasses'. -The total shipments ,of .lamb and sheep for the three months amounted - ; to' carcasses, asngainst 1,197,022- carcasses-; last ■year",':: thus showing a tola' 6l-i 274,174 carcasses, or-.approximatoly-.25 per cent; As tho sheep returns' year showed over a'"million-imbro"'sheep in the Dominion than iri'li)Cß'it will lie interesting, to watch tho export. returns, during tho next few .months. ;.;.;,.; - The manager of the Hawke's Bay Dairy Company's factory at Maugatainoka states that the. supply of. milk at the factory is' exceptionally good, - considering' the lateness of the season. The company's output at v present is G7 boxes per dav, only .13 boxes" less than j-in-. tho heightof the season. ... ' ' The'-rainfall ..recorded ot the Moumnhaki' Experimental Farm, for Fcbrnary was 2.13, and rain fell oil seven days during the month,' the maximum was" .41 on February, 24,' and the minimum .02 on February 15. The rain for the corresponding month of February, 1909, was .35;-.-.-'• '- :■'■ -.'.;: ..'." There are now over COO members oi the Farmers' Union-in Soutli Canterbury. Twenty-two new members joined on Saturday last, , and the , Hon. J. Anstey was elected a member of the executive.

Ihe greater part of the cropped land between Timaru and Studholme lias been skim- ploughed. What winter feed has been sown presents a healthy appearance, although not "so niuch has been grown as in previous years. During the past few days a large quantity of grain has been carted into Ashburton. The greater portion of the oats brought in is being, loaded directly "on to trucks, showing that the outsido demand is keen. The. "Guardian" says [that a visit to the various grain stores, during unloading operations,, shows that a good .deal of grain is being rejected on account of not being up to, sample. Most successful bush burns are reported from. Kawhia. Most of the Native land, according to the "Settler," is now leased, the bush is coming down, and, adds our optimistic contemporary-, the en- of unoccupied Native lands'blocking Kawhia's progress must soon cease.

Sonio experiments in growing crimson ' clovor have been made bv Mr. W. Long, of Kyle, lie .sowed 21b. "to an acre at a cost of -lOil. per acre for seed, which came up in an oat crop, seeded, and shook out. Ihis year the same field has seeded again, and be ; has reaped three clover stacks, which are waiting to be threshed. Mr. Long hunks that the ordinary bees liove inoculated the clover heads. He noticed the bees leaving in a cloud for' an adjacent field of rape that was in flower. When that was over they rose as rcuarly and went in the opposite direction to the crimson clover field. From this Mr. Long surmises that they are 1 able to reach the honey in the flower. . The Tiinaru A. and P. Association, after reducing ,£175 worth of debentures and spending ,£237 12s. on improvements, has closed its year with a credit balance ■of .£4BB 10s. 6d. . The profit on -tho last show, was .£243, being -.£23 more than in the previous year. ' Soys "Drover" in the "Witness":--There were big yardings of lambs at both Addington ■ and Burnside last week, and prices were down Cd. per head at both markets,. The price is still good, howover. A prime :361b. lamb is worth 13s. at the works, but the keen competition occasionally runs the price a little higher. The' lambs are running Light, and several .buyers of drafts'of -lambs have been rather disappointed when tho weights were examined after killing. A good ninny of the' lambs yarded at both, marksts were unfinished, •' and eventually went, to graziers. There is a good demand in Canterbury for forward store sheep, both wethers and ewes, and also for well forward lambs, arid a very strong demand for two, four, arid six-tooth ewes. Export buyers compete keenly for moderate- : weight mutton and ewes. :

..Mr. William/ long, of Kyle, • has obtained a yield of 45 bushels of Garton oats from an area of 100 acres. Potato blight has made its appearance in nearly all the crops between: Tiniaru and'Gcraldine, and crops that were giving promise of a large yield ,of. sound potatoes have now their tops all blackened with'. blight. Mr. C. Pritchard, of Pendarves, AshbUrtqn County, has been experimenting in the.growing-of a fodder plant, phaloris commutata. -.Although the land in •• the Pendarves district is light, Mr. Pritchard has some, grass which measures Oft. lOin. in length, and it attained this growth without artificial watering. It is stated that the grass is much relished by stock. Farmers and millowners and those who . are engaged handling grain sacks complain that the quality of the 2001b. wheat sacks imported this year is very inferior, and in many instances bag hooks cannot be used in consequence of the flimsiness of the material. In speaking to an Ashburton reporter on tho matter, one fanner said that 31b. had to be allowed for tho 'weight of the sack, and many of this season's new sacks barely weighed 21b., so'that, tho farmer was compelled to lose at least ,11b. of-grain per ..sack. NATIONAL DAIFIY SHOW! . FACTORY ENTRIES;,.; / ; -. (By Teleeraph.-Press Association.) Palmerston, March 10. Splendid entries have been received for tho dairy factory division of the National Dairy Show in June next'. Closo on 300 entries .we're received in these classes, as against 201 last. vear. The entries have come from every province „of the Dominion, and the largest entry .is 48. for box' export-butter. The Wendell Challenge Cup shows another lar»e entry, as alio does, the' .. Shnw-Savill Challenge Cup lor best box of butter from cold store. The New Zealand Shipu.ug Company's Challenge Cuip for the best three cases of full cream cheese coloured, brought 21 entries,' and the best white 22' entries.