GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 995, 9 December 1910, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

,:-:..\j6oSi.reliable.draught.horses fon teams ;/are'.apparently, very scarce ,inthe Pahia-■-t tua-. district just,now, says the "Herald." /.Three or; four are by ,the Pahia'".tua: County Council, but although meni- ' bers:liava'been, making- inquiries,in. -this 'and • the. surrounding districts for suit':;''able. draughts, ,:it: looks as if they will ;■ hare, to. go'further. afield''to obtain the .horses./-, ;' -".'. ', '■','■'■'. : '.'. ■■'■'. •'■' :''?/ '.'■"■'-' "of 'those taking part -n" ■' tlir,c'owTteStirig competitions ..in -connec- .. tion',with ■ the Busll -.District A. and P'. . Assoeia'tion were made known on Saturday. :■■ The contest was for cows'of any age, and the'prizeswere.-awar.ded.'for the quantity - arid': quality, of-milk.over-the two railk--irigs. ";.->Twenty'-tWo''cows : .competed in /the ; competition, i. Following...are. the placed competitors: Hiss Clesrhdrn's . "Bonny," 461b.-" milKs.4'test,-2:48i1b. butter-fat, 1;. ; 51'Gbvem\Bros.-' "Pearl," o2Ub. milk. 4.7. /. test,-' ! 2,4681b.- butter-fat,.-,2; Mrs. Mat; - thews',."Topsy,"" 521b.' milk, 4.2 test, , 2:iß4lb:' butter 7 fat, 3. ; T>e first two. cows :'. on, the - list : were . Jerseys'.—"Wairarapa / Daily-Times." .'':.-'■', . JThe .advent of. .the; shearing season --.' owing .to"; the: constant driving-to and fro . of/gheep to , the,sheds; .has had a,bad ".'effect.on/the,roads,(says the. Kaiparofo :, correspondent of the "Wairarapa Age"), .- and:they, are now uninviting to.cyclists or ■ .-motorists...- Ai. good-'shower, (he adds) will, V.however,'.soon,restore them to tlftii- pre■■vious good condition: ' ..

. The ..Otaraia Dairy Company paid out to suppliers'for the month of October a «uni of -£450. ';,.'-. ■ Shearing operations, were concluded at Wjiorpnggmai. Station last'week, says a "Wairarapa exchange.■■• .■The Tawalia has received ad:vice .from;their .London agents that the: first, of.this.season's, shipments of cheera' bold; in London at 555.'.9 d. per cwt. This :pric'e,..is:ls. ; M;.peVcivt. higher than that' realised ..for .-.thel;fir6t- fhipment ~ last season; and promises.well for the present : season's. prices.—"Wairarapa Standard." , . 'iSeVeralciops of hay are, already in thu : stopK.-.in tho, Jf orison, Bush; district (Wairarapa), • which is imuch earlier than '..Bsual.- j;: '. _ ' '•'A".-noticable.;feature of: this . season's "operations, in the-.Okato district, on. the West..Coast.of Taranaki;-is.the quantity of 'maize sown for green- feed . and for 6iisilage. '■'■'■,-. 'Farthers' in certain parts of Western 'Taranaki-iare busy- putting in their Winter crops.;, The. Oknto correspondent of the "-Tarahaki' Herald" says that on ..nearly.'every.-farm one can see land being ■ploughed and cultivated, as farmers find : if; pays' .'them. to have swedes or mangolds, .when'grass, is short.

'■• At Beaconsfield the weather has been .very.favourable for shearing lately, and a good many .of \ the. settlers have now '.finished.. The majority (says a corres.pondent of .tlie'"Fcildirig Star") are well satisfied with. their clips, which compare well' with of previous years. Every day-sees large loads of wool on the roads. '■'■'. A irian ; ,was; sent. from, a qerfain Taranaki farm' to* look f6r : a- cow. ; The cow. returned, but the man was away several days'. When he was found;hc:w;as in a condition surmised'to have followed on sunstroke. • ,• ',V " ,: ,':■ v. : ", '■'.' '.-' 'i A writer in a-Wairarapa paper says . that Eketahuna farmers.state, that/' "the . wool, this year is inclined, to be matted, and'.iirconsequence is of hot quite as good quality as usual."-• : .•: .'"Splendid progress.with shearing,work is 1 reported froni Kaiparoro (Wairarapa).' -' '.A:horse working in a.coalmine at Mail- ' land,.New-South Wales,- ran.against the, i edge of a, skip,-' and, 'fracturing the -bone tf ..the forehead, left a gaping hole between the' eyes through to the nasal cavJty.' It .the.' nostrils !were covered- the animal could freely .respire through the 'cavity. A veterinary surgeon covered the 'opening with a silver plate, and drew the ■ sk'ih across so well that the-defect is.not iipw ; noticeable,' and the animal looks .quite well..'. ~' . . '.'■■" A corapany dias been formed in'Enzland. '.to ..raise .buffalo on' Jfelville Island, off. the'i'-Northern- .Territory;- Australia. There write now between IS.flOO.aud ti'J.OOU of these ■ ■ There,are about 20,(K)U hides-exported from ■ there annually. All Aloiitr'the-North of.. Australia there are liic-bs of buffalo'to be found in tho swamps wliich fringe the-coastline. They were introduced there fully KiO.years-ago by a t-oloiii-ing- : 'expedition . which failed. ' Si riiiigi'.-lo say,, tho animals.have not deteriorated through in-breeding. The 'barley t'fe in England has rc--overed. At one time, not so many months ■ .ns»l; people were inquiring wlmt;hiid cmiie over, the barley business, us the price had . fallen away so 'niiielv. ft is realising "a .•ssobil; paying figure now, however.

The report of proceedings under tho Diseases of Animals Acts in 1909 in Ireland shows that there were only nine cases' of anthrax in tho year, that tho. country has a clean bill as far as glanders or farcy is concerned, but that parasitic mange . iii horses claimed 77 .victims, as compared with 42 in the preceding year. Of sheep scab, there were 445- outbreaks, compared witli 381 in 1008, and swine fever appeared in U out of the 39 administrative areas m Ireland. The total of tho outbreaks, however, was only 87, compared with 158 in 1908. Should food bo cooked for pigs? This (says, the "Farmer and ~ Stockbreeder," London) is an old question, and the opinion amongst pig breeders is that cooking is.not profitable as a rule, but in cold; frosty weather it is a good means of utilising slightly tiinted potatoes. The experiments conducted in Wales by tho University College imply that cooking does pay, but tho margin in. its favour is not very wide. One'of .the results of a feeding test with soya beans, conducted by the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture, indicates that the poorer the soya bean cake in oil the better are the results obtained. Thus a 6 per cent sample gives more profit than an' 8 per cent/ and still more than an 11 per cent cake. ; . , , It is surprising how small is the number of farmers who realise the advantages to. be gained by growing peas (says a contributor of Nireaha notes to the "Wairarapa Daily. Times").. Not only, ho adds,' do they make good pig food, but they enrich the ground with nitrogen, tho cattle will eat the straw in winter. if food is scarce, and the peas• make good food for hens during the same season. One settler in the district usually grows some peas for his fowls, and it is very rarely that his hens cease laying during the cold winter months. Hares' are said to be plentiful in.some localities about the fielding district. -They are making themselves nuisances to the farmers. An English agricultural'paper has the following note on Corriedale sheep;— "We are not acquainted in this country with the Corriedale sheep. It is a product of New Zealand pastoral farms, arid was obtained by crossing the Lincoln ram with the merino owe. The produce were selected, and the type' fixed. They are stated to be. sheep of. very good constitution, and produce tho finest comb-, ing wool." ' The "Farmer and Stockbreeder" (London)'savs:—"There wore fewer horse imports, than usual during September, and taking the- first nine months of the year there is a difference on last year, and a very large shrinkage in.the numbers since 1900. Indeed, the trade is not much more than a quarter of what it was ten years ago. , A different story is told, however, in tho case of beef and mutton imports. On. the, hoof, :r .stock;.have.v.gradually de-creased/.-but dead meat has shown a very largo increase. The time will doubtless conio when we shall have nothing but a dead nient.trade from abroad." In Cheshire, sugar-beet growing experimentally has.,,been.found..to, bring forth half- the wciJrhtidf th'a, crop;grown on'the marigold. field.-.-Thc -roots;.',wore -found, rather iinore'-'-'difficult. to raise' when pull-! ing,',and tluj-'latfonr'Wis'about' 60 to 70' per ceiit. more-c6sfly*thaniJin the case of tho heavier root crop. According to a correspondent, of tho. "Yorkshire Post" tho German potato crop has suffered from the wet season. Itot has doho considerable.damage',';and in certain "provinces yields are. from 30 to, 40 per cent, below the average.. This should help the English potato trade.