GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 837, 8 June 1910, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Speaking of the results of theTaranaki Provincial Conference of the Farmers' Union, Mr. H. G. Sergei, /of Eltharn, said that so far as noxious weeds wero concerned he leit'the contercuce with -i filing that Taranaki farmers were taking it "lying down"—-tlu-y- seemed to be afraid that there was no. solution to the difficulty and did ndt how to face it. He thought that so-far as this country wjis concorned noxious weeks had not got beyond' control and could be handled.

The chairman of the Eltham Butter Box Company (Mi'. Jacob Marx) states that -.the manufacture of cheese crates will probably' be carried on at the new mill at Utiku, en the Main Trunk line, operations at Eltham being ccnfined to the making of butter boxes.

The extreme mildness of the winter has been taken full ' advantage of by those on t'ne land and everywhere farming opentions are. well forward. , Tho oldest : residents of the Waimea Plains cannot remember a corresponding pe■flpA of the year snow was noticeable,-ionjthei ranges., : v<,

The settlers at Grove and Mahakipawa have.decided to start a co-operative dairy factory in that locality;- .•••••■•'

The "North Otogo Times" says that the dry weather is giving some concern to farmers. The wheat that was put in early is coming away so irregularly that it has been found advisable in some instances''to plough it up and re-sow. The . extra ploughing, however, . may lead to a better ultimate yield, so that all the farmers' labour may not be lost.

The Eltham branch of the Farmers' Union has passed a resolution urging a more, rigid enforcement of the Noxious Weeds .'let. Members agreed' that the remedy for the present position was tho imposition of heavier fines. ••

Farmers, along the railway line between Ashburt' n and Christchuich are evidently holding. .their oats in stack) for chaffing. In many paddocks numbers of. stacks are to be seen dotted about, and 'in one paddock near the railway line there are a dozen fairly large stacks of grain.

The clover erops throughout the Temuka and Winchester districts are yielding well, and, owing •to the. very lino weather' lately experienced, much more clover shelling has been done than in previous years at this time. "Work is well advanced, and farmers could not have had more favourable weather for general cultivation and the sowing of wheat crops. ■

It has been decided to change the name of the agricultural and ■ pastoral society recently formed at Waipukurau to "The Central Agricultural and Pastoral Society, Waipukurau."

■ The Hastings "Standard" says that the survey has-just been completed of a block of land of (1000 acres, at the foot of the ranges running from Makaretu to Norsewood. There will be about, ten soctions, ranging from 1000 to 500 acres. They, will be offered shortly.

For the last two months the Bunnytliorpe Co-operative Dairy Company has paid out lljd. per lb. for biitterrfat. Tho company is about to spend -£SOO in tho erection of a brick factory. The Manawatu A. and P. Association has received from Mr. E. Short a lifesizo photograph of the now-famous' rain Record Breaker, which is to be placed in the gallery of photographs of stock which the society possesses. . In view of Mr. Short's- success in. the Argentine, which was hailed with delight here, the photograph will have much interest for Romney breeders. At the New Jersey experiment station is a dairy cow, Manda King 2nd, a purebred Jersey. During ten months in 1908 she yielded 10,30811). of milk, containing 5731b. of butter. During six months and twenty-four days in 1909 she yielded 82491b. milk, containing 45811). of butter. There are to-day in the United States about 700,000 bee-keepers, or 1 in every 120 of the population, and the annual yield is of the value of ,£4,000,000 in honey and of ;E400,000 in beeswax. ■ But beyond this tho United States imports every year about 2,500,000 pounds of honey and 750,000 pounds of beeswax, nnil all but 5 per cent, of this comes from Cuba, Mexico, Haiti, Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. An interesting apparatus for improving the method of branding frozen sheep has been invented and patented by Mr. A. V. Graham, of Linwood. Under the present system the brands are made on metal tags, which are tied to the sheep, and these fags may ,lw removed by simply cutting tho string. Mr. . Graham's invention will enable, tho brand to bo burnt into the carcass in such a , wny that it cannot be obliterated' without removing a large piece of the flesh. The invention is a handy apparatus, about eighteen inches long,, and weighs only two pounds and a half. The wrought iron die-plate, containing tho brand, is heated to any degree by means of a flame, the fuel being stored in the apparatus. The worker has absolute control over file heat. Ho can make the plate just sufficiently hot to impress tho brand on a sheet of paper; he can iu- ! crease the heat for branding carcasses, butter-boxes, or sacking, or he can, if he wishes, make it so intense that it will melt the die-plate. The fuel costs about !=. fid. a week, for hours every day. Live stock inav also be branded with the apparatus, which has been brought under the notico of the AgriculI tural Department,