GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 792, 15 April 1910, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Cabled advice has- been received that the;first of the experimental consignments of bacon sent from Wellington to London.- has arrived at its 'destinatioii in good condition,, and has been sold at a satisfactory figure. .

■ The- Wpodsido correspondent of Hie "Taicri Advocate' , ' states . that tho drought still continues in his district, and everything has put on a-parched arid dry. appearance. Grass is disappearing .very rapidly, iu fact on tho plain it has almost gone altogether, and on , a number of farms turnips pjc being fed to the 'nrilldof cows to keep up the supply of milk. The dry weather has ruiived the turnip' crop, and farmers' who have been fortunate enough to sow mangolds will. have to rely on them solely for whiter, feed. ; ;...

The returns' of linseed in. the Drumniond district in Southland hove been disappointing tliis harvest, although Hie current price of 7s. per bushel is something of a set-off npainst tho reduced yield. One grower, who last .year threshed out twelve tags io tlie acre, only has an average of six.. ba2S:',;;'this •■ harvest, whilst in another instance ■eicht-baas'(o the acre shows a reduction'to fiva> :

f at the , recent meeting of the poison District Fruitgrowers' Association, the chairman, Mr. A'llnort, said lie hoped Nelson fruit. would be , well represented at the l'alinerston Winter Show. Last ysar he visited th-o show, and he could say without exaggeration that the Nelson apples were the cleanest and best on exhibition. However, it almost seemed necessary at Piilnitretbb Nwrti to have black spot and blight on apples to win a prize. Had the judging been what it should have been, Kekon would have done belter. As a result of representations made by himself and the secretary of the association (Mr. E. B. Tzard), a new rule had been inserted in *.io Palmcrston schedule disqualifying blighted fruit. Some verv high prices were realised on March 2 at the sale of Shorthorn bulls at Birmingham, when the animals entered in several of the classes , for bulls were disposed of. Mr C. F. Raphael's Shenley Banner was sold at 1000 guineas' to Mr. D. Mnclennau. Mr. E.- N. Casares gave 900 guineas for Mr. .T. Graves's Fanfare; and Mr. C. V. Raphael's Shenley Adonis made 700 guineas ■ to Sir William VanHome. Others sold at 470 guineas, 240 guineas/aud-300 guineas. Advices from the central' district: of Queensland show that the rainfalls there guarantee a splendid season. Mr Carl vlo -Sonny's farm, situated, on the town side of Makaraka, Poverty Bay, was one of the.few dairy farms between Gisborne and Patntabi that escaped inundation during the late flood. For some days Mr Bonny, had over 170 dairy cows, besides his own herd, milked at liis yards, milking going on. up to: 12 o'clock at night, and, as the milk could not be got to the factory;'Mr Bomij-'s two separators were kept working until 2'o'clock.in the morning. ..:-.. -..■■■ . The wool classes at the Feilding Technioal School were started lasts week with entries as follow:—Cheltenham, 15; Kimbolton, 15; Apitii.lG; Utuwai, 20; Komako, 20; Pohangina, 12; and Carnarvon has promised 20. Waituna farmers consider .the classes foo early, but will have a large' class later on. The Feilding classes bare-not been commenced for the sanio reason. . .'■■•■■■

It is estimate! that the output of tho Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Company, this season will be between 60 and 70 tons in excess of that of last , year.