THE BRITISH FARMER.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 827, 27 May 1910, Page 10

THE BRITISH FARMER.

NEW ZBALANDER'S IMPRESSIONS. After thirty-four years-of farming in , New Zealand, Mr. J. T. Blakemore, of l } Canterbury, recently paid a visit to England. Interviewed in Christchurck on his b return, Mr. Blakemore said that, speakv ing generally, farm stock in England has i-' evidently depreciated. "As far as store L stock are concerned/' he says, "sheep aro j. usually of a nondescript type and of an ! inferior class. Those mostly in favour '* are Hampshire Down cross and chiefly ' fat sheep. But I regard these as fin* be--6 low tho first cross mutton of New Zeas land. 1 saw very few sheep in Aberdeen, c and they wore of inferior type, with long d shaggy hair, which is doubtless due to a the climate. The sheep there resemble . somewhat a cross between a goat and-a ' sheep. "English butchers advertise New Zea- = laud frozen mutton in their shops, but a there is really much difficulty in obtaine ing real prime Canterbury, the suspicion - being that both local and Argentine meat y aro sold under that name. The local 0 products can, however,', be easily disr tinguished, being long fibred and solid to c eat." 'in his journeys through the country, Mr. Blakemore did not meet 1 with prejudice against. New Zealand i mutton; and, as far as he could learn, h the thawing did not depreciate it. lie - was, however, annoyed to find that the J ex-ship price, was very different from the a retail price. While New Zealand lamb q wps selling ex-ship 3d. to 3J'd., it was . being retailed at 7d. to 9d. He himself 'I mauaged to procure half a side of prime Canterbury lamb at 7£d., but onlv be--0 cause his mother dealt" regularly with tho 'J butcher concerned. . ,•/ < f Store cattle that would fetch 30s. to £2 s in New Zealand, Mr. Blakemore stated, [) .would . bring to <£10 in England. „ Calves there were sold at' i£2 to ,£3 each, s fat heifers or steers .£2O to £26, fat cows .£l7 to <£25. Good store lambs that in c New Zealand would yield lls ; to 12s. this ; autumn, would fetch *-13$. in England, whilst decent fat ones',' vrould bring 18s. 0 to 355. Pigs, both fat'and store, were as v near as possible to' New/Zealand prices; a butin.lhis connection it must be _res membered-that pigs were now in New f, Zealandonly about two-thirds of the price J- .that tbey- brought ' last' year.' Horses, 'speaking generally,' were- about*.tho 'same* ® class and price as in New;Z,eat|nid. The ;pure'-breds' were' very" On r -Lord' Aberdeen's estate hV'saw-the finest' '• 'Clydesdale horses he ■ y' With regarded 'agricultural i farming,' t. said Mr. 'Blakemore/not of the' value .is being taken out of the soil that. 1 .might be taken with benefit'to T the farmer' as .well as' tork'is land. ' • In'-;many parts 7- of tlie ■*country, very -little- cultivation is' * done.' This is probably'due to tho labour T 'troubles of;some years ago.* -As a retaliai. tion, landbwners"an'd ; occupfers'do as littlfc - cultivation as .possible'. '".In many places f th'erfe art*, still Uie'.old-.crude; methods of farming.', in*'vogue. One!,,sees four horses B in a string and two •men l : driving a partly wooden plough. In'; many'cases wheat is . cut with hook and'crook, or which 18s. i. to 255. per acre is paid. In New Zealand 0 the same crop, would be cut and put in 1 stack for about Bs. to 10s. per acre. 4 3 GENERAL FARMING NEWS. i t ... Farmers in' tho'Asliburt-on are 5 very, much exerciseil over the destruc- ' tiom done by grubs. A farmer, speak-' - ing to a representative of the "Lyttel--3 ton Times, 1 ' stated that he did not k know what to ;do, ;as a; neighbour had " already sown a crop twice/ and • was s very much afraid it would'have to be 3 sown again. "What wo want," said ■ tho farmer, "is a rough winter to deJ. .stro j the pest,.-, which, , owiiig . to the ' '"mild : weather'during the past few wiii--5 tors, ha-s entirely taken possession." !- The "dairy farmers- at -Pigeon Bay,: r Canterbury, have decided to establish--3 a .00-operativG butter factory. This isthe latest addition to a considerable list' of new dairying projects -in. Canterbury. ' In connection with the results of tho - Nelson apple shipment to Loudon, it_ is L stated that a return of about Bs. /d. - per bushel case is necessary to pay ex- ; penses. The transport chajges, includ- - .ing brokerage, amount to ss. or ss. 3d. . per case, and the Government guaran- • tee of one penny per lb. net to tho , grower is equivalent to 3s. 4d. per caso. ■ Monday's cable'message stated that tho i bulk of the fruit was sold at from 6s. 3 to Bs. 9d., so presumably the'Govern--3 ment be called on' to make up de--7 ficieneies on a fair proportion of tho ) shipments. It docs not appear how tho . penny per pound mil Be calculated, , whether over the whole shipment or 7 'over each individual consignment. It s is stated that the fruit of each grower l .was kept separate when shipping, tlje l whole being forwarded through Messrs. ■ Buxton and Co., Ltd., on growers' account. Says, the. Hamilton "Argus" A well-known raiser of fat stock in the Waikato has serious complaints to 1 make in regard to the methods adopted by the Railway Department in carrying fat' stock to Auckland. He estimates the fchargo for freight per head,, on this particular class of stock to be ' about ss. Id., and ho considers 1 each . beast deteriorates another ss. in con- ■ sequence of long delays and buffeting ; about they get, during transit. The i result is that a scheme is now on foot j. to drive fat stock by road to both the - markets and the .freezing works next ! season. ■It ;is;;ronfcnded\t : hat' fat stock f can be delivered'in Auckland in better - average condition than ,by rail under t existing conditions, - and at no greater t cost., ■ . . i Many of the farmers in the Mast-er- * ton district are soiling their crutohings . locally this year to a speculator who is *■ purchasing them for the Home market. s Dairy produce is still flowing into ? tho West Coast Befrigcrating Com- , pany's stores (says the "Press"), although there is, of course, a great fall-ing-off in volume of supplies as com- ~ pared' with the height -ot the season. Since Juno 30 there have been exported l for Homo shipment 54,480 boxes of buty. tor (1600 tons) and 105,072 cases 'of = 'cheese (8440 tons), a total of 10,000 e tons. The total for tho whole of last season was 8811 tons.- , In addition, \ there are. at present somo: 2500 cases of 'i cheese in store and on" shipboard not included in the above total. 0 The Canadian -Minister for.Agriculture, •- speaking' at Ottawa recently, gave tho following figures regarding the relative production of wheat in Canada with that ii of other countries. He showed; that Ca'n- . ' Ada produced 24 bushels to the acre for winter wheat and 21 bushels,, for spring wheat, while the average of the United States was 1G bushels for winter and s spring wheat;• Russia,l4 for a winter and. 11 j bushels for spring wheat; y Australia, 1U bushels; and, tho Argens tine, 11 bushels. He, however, pointed 0 out that Germany produced 30 bushels G to the acre, while "bnglaml, which some of our people, in the prido of colonial possession, th(nk of as old, effete, and worn out, produced 41 bushels to tho acre.": , i V' TA Buckland farmer suggests in tho Aucklaiul "Herald" that in order to check the growth of blackberry aud other noxious weeds the Railway Department •, nhould allow settlers to. make use of the o land along the line by' sowing it with grasses, such as lucerne, the larmers to n be allowed to cut the grass for the us« nf their stock. If a "libenil "amount ot' ] seed were to lie planted, the grass would assist very materially in keeping the s blackberries down, and as' lucerne pro. ' duces four crops of hay per year, miy • noxious weeds would be kept in check liy - the continual cutting of the grass. Mowi- ing machines could bo utilised for tho i- work without inconvcnicnco to anyone. K At many sale centres in,. Southland d great improvements,; it .is.-said,"'can be g seen in the 'breeding' of tho young stock brought forward. . 'i'hero is an absenco

of scraggy, half-starved Ayrshiros, tho Shorthorns being raoro in evidonce, as tlie result of quicker sales and much better prices. lino deference wiis paid to old ago at tho recent breakfast meeting of the ltoyal Zoological Society of Ireland, when a rare delicacy formed part of the menu, in the siiape of s'omo eggs brought home from China by Sir Charles ldall. Sir Charles gave his guarantee that these eggs wero at least forty years old,, and though this announcement was not encouraging to the hungry scientists, wo are informed that the. indomitable scientific spirit prevailed, arid tho eggs were, eaten. They are described as quite agreeable, a i sort of jelly, of tho delicate egg-like : flavour. The episode is, perhaps, worthy • of some attention, not only on the prin- '' ciple of giving honour • where honour is " overdue, but also in the hope of cutting ' the ground from under the feet of those ' who so persistently find matter for tcdi--1 ous humour in tlie equivocal egg. i Proposals for the erection of new , dairy factorios aro beinc discussed at . Balfour and Lochiol, Southland. Tho Lochiel proposal was brought forward , last year, but was allowed to lapse. At ; a meeting this week, provisional direci tors were appointed, and as a fair ! amount of support was forthcoming it 1 was decided to registor tho company : forthwith. ; Last season the orchardists at Stoke, Nelson, had an unusually heavy crop l of stone : friiit, with a consequent clut ; in the market and fall in prices. It I was proposed to establish a co-operativo • canning works, and' tho nucleus of a 1 company was got together. This sea- ! son tho crop of stone-fruit was light, [ and interest in tho canning works lan- { guished. A correspondent informs us . that a meeting was to be held [it Stoke i last, night to wind up the company and i bury the scheme: It is possible, hriw--1 over, that some of the larger growers ; may combine and establish a proprie- ■ ta'ry works.