GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 823, 23 May 1910, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

.. .The followiiig'iuii'hfir..Taranaki dairy factory'. for, milk r supplies■ dminc April are announced: —Moa, ±,z4Jb, Maketawa, £1234;-Tariki, £758: Lepperton, £588; Waitui, £2(1; larata, £260. The Moa Dairy Company intend paying a bonus of Id. per lb. on June 20 nest.

The Dannevitke' Dairy " ponipany has paid out '£564 lss.'Bd- for milk supplies during April. - • Mr. Donald Green who was until recently managing Poplar niill, of tho - GretJn •• -Flax'-Di-essirig • Company (says a northern pager), is likely to start a mill in* the AV&irarapa next season.

Spraying blackberries and other noxious weeds is now coining popularly into vogue in the Waikato (says the "Weekly News"). Those farmers who favour this mode of dealing with the weeds should take. l precautionary measures to . reihova : all-stock from -the areas where spraying ■ operations are I to be carried out, as the solutions used for the purpose contain arsenic or other injurious poisons, and in spraying the weeds a proportion of tho liquid is bound to fall on the pastures, which, if eaten.by tho stock, is almost sure to produce* dire* results. I have heard of several cases where cattle have been taken bad from tho effects 'of eating or licking the grass. Farmers say the cattle affected stagger about much the same a-s if they had eaten deadly taupaki. In one district, recently, a number of cattle which were feeding in a paddock whero v spraying was in progress were taken sick in this manner, and several of their number succumbed, and in the same district previously other losses are reported to have taken place .from the same cause. :

Why was mutton so cheap in England last year? Prices towards tho end of the year touched a point lower than ever recorded in tho history of the trade. Scotch sheep oould then bo purchased in Smithfield market at 3d. to per lb., 'wliereas last week 7d. to Bd. per lb. was freely made. Frozen sheep, which have recently been selling at 3d. to sd. per lb., oould be had in December at 2d. to 2|d. per lb. Many theories have been advanced for theso fluctuations in prices, but noiio of them appeal .to. the "Meat Trade Journal" as quite convincing. That paper therefore invites its readers' views on the .question, "Why was mutton so cheap last year?" and prizes are being offered for She best letter on the subject. The Ashburton Central Dairy Factory Company continues to receive en-

couraging support from tlioso in favour of the establishment of the indus-

try in the county. Judging by tho support already given and promised, there is every reason to expect that the dairying industry will bo carried out on a very extensive scale in MidCanterbury during tho next milking season.

Tho Cambridge 00-operative Dairy Co., Ltd., paid out tho sum of £2965 4s. Bd. for buttcr-fat during the month of April, as against £2224 15s. 7d. for a similar period last year. Butterfat was paid for at the Tate of 10$ d. per lb. ■ The Stratford Dairy Company this month pays out £6403 for April but-tcr-fat at lOd. per lb., and a further payment., of Jd. per lb. on butter-fat i supplied from October 1 to March 31.

The milk supply at the Nireaha Factory, Eketahuna, although twenty-five per cent, more than at this time last y(?ar is falling very fast how, and it is considered probable that the factory will close up for the season about tho first week in June.

Experiments made last year in the growth of solid straw Tuscan wheat were so successful (writes our Mastorton correspondent) that a large area is likely to bo put down in this cercali this season. The advantages of solid straw Tuscan are that it'is prolific on good soil, has short straw, and does not sustain as much damage by winds as other wheats.

Those interested in horses will bo surprised to learn of a pull done by MrJ J. Jl'Ehvee's Forest King, in the presence of a.number of witnesses. Foresh Kin" took on liis own* Messrs. Colligau aiuTparty's portable engine, weighing over 45 tons dead weight, from Riloy's> Foundry to the lower end of tho merchandise wharf,- the road, from Wakefield Street crossing to tho goods shed being very heavy and rough.—'Westporto "Star and Thnos."'

A butter factory is to bo erected at Marakopa on the West Coast near Ka-

Tlio presitlent of the British Board of Agriculture and Fisheries lias appointed a departmental committeo to inquire and report as to the character and extent of the British export trade in live stock (including horses and poultry) with the colonics and other countries, and to consider whether any steps can with advantage ho taken by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, or otherwise, with a view to its development. The committeo will be con-

stituted as follows: —Sir Edward Strachoy, Bart-, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture

and Fisheries (chairman); Sir llichard P. Cooper, Bart., Mr. Charles Adeano, Mr. Richardson Carr, Mr. Vauglian Davies, M.P., Mr. John M. Fraser, Mr. Alex. T. Gordon, jun., Colonel H. Lo Hoy Lewis, D.5.0., Mr. T. H. Middleton, M.A., M.Se., ono of the assistant secretaries of the Board of. Agriculture and Fisheries; Mr. Sanders Spencer and Mr. F. H. Stericker.

Up to -May 19 the 54 pens entered for the New Zealand Utility Poultry Club's egg-laying competition at Papanui had laid a total of 2155 eggs in the nineteen days since the commencement. The total for the week was 901. Tho aggregates for the leading pens were:—Mr. C. H. Robinson's black orpingtons, 84; Mr. T. Kennedy's silver wyandottos, 83; Mr. C. H. llobinson'si white leghorns, 82; Mr. W. Balcli's white leghorns, 77; Sirs. R. W. Hawke's white leghorns, 77; Messrs. Verrall Bros.'s white leghorns, 70. In the duck section 116 eggs have been laid by; twelve pens in tho same period. Eight of theso pens have produced no eggs so far. The eggs are divided among the other four pens thus: —Mr. TV. Knight's Indian runners, 50; Mr. TV. A. Nixon's Indian runners, 25; Mrs. Fi 31. Ritchie's Indian runners, 24; Mr. T. -Dowthwaite's Indian runners, 17.