GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1021, 10 January 1911, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

,■ A RISE IN BUTTER. ' Tho New Zealand Farmers' Dairy Union (telegraphs our palmerston' correspondent) has received cable advice from London int'imatui.? that the prico of butter, h-is advanced- -Is.- :per cwt., and at the timo, of cabling the prico for butter was 1055.-.. for salted and 108s. for unsalted, (hp market being practically clear. This rise is reported "to be due to the operations of speculators, who have been buying heavily, mid there is a prospect of a further advance. The Welsh.sheep bitch, which Sir. E. Short, of Parorangi, purchased* at the Newport' Cattle Show, recently h»td at Newport, Mon,,'England,; and which was imported by tho Rotorua, is 31 years old, and' has - a great record of prizes awarded hor.' She has ocinpeted 19 times in England and Wales,.and only lost twice'. Some of the prizes are as follow i—Coi'iiowen, • second - prize; Builth, fust prize;Dorston. first"prize; Eppynt fliJI, first prize; Bcu!ah;." ,, first prize; Al.l?rgwessin; 'first prize; Llandrindorl, second prize; Senrny Bridge;;first prize; | Llandilo,'second prize. I ; -The Delphic 'is' takihs 'to -jlonle Video 142 .'liigh<laS""rqjiisr '.".Tlieso: rams were and,are ! ; Jrom 'llocJi's of-..the.''following}' well-known breeders':—3s CorrifSalhs from Jas. Little, Diiimeny Park; 20 Corrtedalcs from L. White,. Rakaia; 12 Corricdales from J. Stringfellpw, Chertsey; 23 Border Leices-. tors, from "Thos.v Little; • < Ngapara; 13 Romneys froth, William ,Telford, Southland; from, Watson Shenan, ""Southland; '25. Eomneys. from- D. Murray, Southland. Last year 113 were, shipped, and all; arrived at Buenos Ayres in good ordei:|S • $",L% ;£' .-'.5 -i-vi* - At the "Hereford Cattle. Show, recently hold at Newport, Monmouthshire, England, the' yearling bull Goldfiuder, by Hampton (which Mr. E. Short purchased for delivery in February, 1911, to. New Zealand), was awarded second prize in a class of 27 bulls, being beaten by Mr. James. Smith's 1 (Uorikton Court, Hereford, England), yearling bull,. This bull was got,by the bull Eaton Chancellor, recently, imported by Mr. E. Short to Now Zealand, and bred by Mr. Hy. Price, Abercray, Trecastle, Brecon, . S. Wales. Tho first consignment of meat from tho. Wellington Farmers* Heat Company's new works at Waingawa, ilasterton, was dispatched and loaded oil the ; s.s. Rotorua' at Wellington on Sohirday. The consignment,- ; which . amo'uhted"' tp ; 6000- car-, causes,' was landed at Wellington. in ■ excellent condition. .' The spread of rabbits throughout the Wanganui district is'.largely attributed to the hunting of them with-dogs. "Tho tax on every rabbit dog should be-il," commented Councillor Poison a{f tho Wanganui County Council meeting last week. Mr. Poison said he bad had considerable Experience of rabbits 1 both in tho South Island and in tho.North-Island, and lie blamed the dogs to a Considerable ■ extent for the spread of the,rabbits: Unless molested, tho rabbits: lived all together) but when they' were -hunted by dogs- they scattered, and "-.colonies sprang ujp all over the'place: - vThe-council-de-cided to put a tax of 10s. on every "rabbit dog." Some 50,000 fleeces represent Northern Wairoa's contribution to the woollen industry this year.- Flockmasters are some-, what disappointed with the percentage of lambings, which fails short of-previous years; and are inclined to accord results to the facial eczema and other ailments which attacked flocks in the early spring. Outwardly, sheep show -fine form, but hogget fleeces have not averaged expected weights, although those of ewes Have been over 81b.; ' . . Potato' crops, some of which are being dug, were' very prolific at Taihape this season (says an exchange), tho potatoes being of large size and very good yields' are being obtained.A communication received by .the secretary of tho Otago Provincial Executivo of the New Zealand ■ Farmers' Union from the Clinton branch contains a rather novel' suggestion in relation to farm labour. Tho suggestion is that the Railway Department should bo approached with-a view to permitting notice boards to bo placed on tho walls of railway stations, so that members of unions could -place notices on them indicating' what labour they: required at harvesting or other times. Labourers i travelling by train would then bo able to see at a glance where and what work was offering, - and the farmers would be in a. position to obtain tho labour required by them without any expenditure of time or trouble. Tho suggestion will bo considered at tho next meeting of the Provincial. Executive. A great demand for dairy cows has existed in tho Waikato this soason, the abnormal growth of grass, coupled with the good price which is. being paid for butterfat, having been an incentive to farmers to incrcaso their herds, and a much larger number of cows are. being milked than hitherto. A full supply of, springers has been sent from other parts and offered at the regular stock sales, biit farmers are exercising discretion in tho selection of milkers, being keen on good sorts only, and anything possessed of quality has commanded high prices. • Inquiries' made amongst Auckland merchants indicate that the samo unsatisfactory! position exists ill Auckland province as in other parts of the Dominion in respect to tho hemp industry. Several mills have been compelled to closo down and others, will probably not reopen after the holidays. One merchant said there would bo only half the number of mills at work aiter the-holidays in Auckland province that thero Wis last..fear,-and another said the number running would probably bo reduced to five.—"Auckland Weekly News." Milking by machinery is fast becoming general in the Lower Waikato in slieds wbpre tho number of cows to bo milked excreds 40. Several machines have been installed this season, and numbers of'farmers are making inquiries as to the best make of milking-machine, iii preparation for next season. Some dairymen proposo to doublo their, herds next year if inquiries regarding the machines are satisfactory. Quite a number propose to mill; with machinery herds comprising 50 to 80 cows. :

On Thursday the Hon. T. Mackenzie, wlnlo in the Balclutha district, took the opportunity of inspecting an area of land on the ilat country live or six miles south of the town, which is badly infected with Canadian thistle. Upon parts of tho laud there are dense growths, which have come up as thickly as a crop of wheat. Steps were taken recently to clear oil a largo area of the troublesome crop, this being very effectually done by means c.f a back-delivery reaper. It was pointed out to the Minister that a grub had attacked tho flower of tho-thistle, and Mr. Mackenzie visited the spot where this fact had been noted, and himself ' collected specimens of tho grub to forward, to Mr. Cockayne, Government biologist, in Wellington, so that its habits might bo studied, and with a view of seeing whether it cannot be used to assist in exterminating the. obnoxious thistle. Tho. Ohristchurch "Press's" correspondent at Buenos Ayr|s remarks'that while an immense number of immigrants enter the -Argentine every* year they havo not shown a preference for rural life, as at the taking of tho last census in 1895, the capital, Buenos Ayrcs, had only IG.GO per cent, of the whole: population, and to-day it'lias moro than 19 per cent, apart from the other great urban centres which havo been created since that year. ■A prominent sheer) breeder of tho Sel nt £ a , I dlstricfc informs tho Feilding > . , , h° considers tho export of fat lambs from the Feilding district this year will bo greater than last year. In- • dications are that way. Thero is also a very large demand for stud rams just ' breeders are heavily taxed- to till all the orders they arc receiving. . The Egmoiit Bos Company is reported by a contemporary to bo making .good pro- i with the bridge approaches, in connection with the structure to be erected across the Hautapu Paver. A big.sidinr has been made at the railway, and a'lino of rails laid to the site of tho'box fac'hV* tenelit - Durinj the early days of October sli-ep-owiiers generally throughout tk< Argentine commenced shearing their sock. Tho price realist for tho first clip averaged from lGs. to 19s. per 2241b according to class and riuality. From n October 21 there was onlv about half the quantity of wool eiportal nJ"V ( t°. n ? n ' snt of Europo and tho unuc<t btates as compared with tho same period last year. The reason of this was that so many thousands of iheep had died throughout the countrv, owing to tha drought. Cereal crops in tho Lower Waikatd have made a very satisfactory growth, au-cl areas planted in the early spring nave everywhere turned colour, and reaping and binding will • shortly be general. Late-sown crops have- received vf* of the atmospheric concluions which have prevailed during the pa&t few weeks, and in some instances tlio crops have attained- -such growth 1 that a renewal of late weather conditions ■ will probably mean that the grain will lie down. Winter-grown Algerian oats are being cut, and some of the-crops are ready for stacking, while a few areas have been safe under cover for the past fortnight. The winter crops have turned out well this season. Between Terua Point and the southern shores of tho Kawhia Harbour sand } *uirs havo been forming of recent years at an alarming rate. The encroachment of sand in Marokopa is becoming a serious matter. At Taharoa country to tho extent of a conplo of thousand acres, orico carrying sheep and cattle, has been Tendered useless by the sand. The Department of Agriculture is stated to be arranging for tha, planting of a large area hero in marram grass. The new settlers at the Melrose Estate, near Te Aroha, just' purchased by the Government under tho land Settlement Finance Act, liave already operations, and this fine area of land will soon'lie brought into a condition of .high, cultivation. There are five farms, each roughly about 170 acres, and caeh being somewhere about ho.lf improved. Tho. prospects' are very bright. There is an abundance of feed, and Mr. Maos's cattle afford ample evidence of the good quality of the grass. ; , Dairy farmers in the northern Wairoa districts have this year gone,in for maize-, growing extensively, and several hundred' acr'cs of waging corn testify to their wis-dom. Tho variety is that known as Ninety Days', the seed of which has this fs ft n?oii been difficult to procure, other-wise-larger areas would have been laid down." Last year the. average crop was J)0 bushels per acre. , An" alteration in the scale of duty payable on apple wrappers, is said to be a matter of .grievance with th:? Tasmnniau fruiterers. years past, 41 said a sneaker at a recchFconference at'Hobart, ,"it had been the • custom for applewrapping paner, cut to the sizo of lOin. x 10in.. x lOin. or under, to be admitted duty free, suclr paper "bein; then practically useless '-for any other purposes. When altering matters recently, the Federal Parliament had that all applc-wranoing paper of this size should carry a dntv of" 25 ner cent. for. British manufacture", and "30 per -cent, for foreign-mode paper. As sulphide papers which were generally used, were made in . Sweden,. this meant that the applcgroweTs would have to pay an additional 30 per cent, on tho cost-of their applewrapping paper."