GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1072, 10 March 1911, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Some parts of northern Wairarapa are in want of another downpour. It is reported that the amount which is being paid but to suppliers -by the Mangaramarama Co-operative Cheese Company, Limited, for milk supplied during tho mouth of February is .£3BO, as against i'sls for tho corresponding period of last year. Good yields of English ryegrass have been obtained by Kangitikci farmers this season. One man's' crop realised at the rate of .£2O an acre. Manairatu turnip crops are suffering through tho fly pest. The pest is severo in places, and absolute destruction, of a large quantity is reported. „ ' Honey is being sent away from Featherston in largo quantities, and no less than live tons were, dispatched to Konini last week, states an exchange. Grass is said to be abundant in Taranaki. - ■ ' Mushrooms aro plentiful in the Wairarapa. In some localities the paddocks are white with them. • It is probable that at. the-meeting of the General Committee of the Mastertou A. and P. Association to-morrow, a bal-ance-sheet of the recent show will be presented.

It was reported a while ago that spinal meningitis had broken out in Australia. A correspondent of the Sydney "Herald" writes as follows on the subject:—"As the symptoms 'accompanying'-the disease appear so similar to those'indicating the malady.known as the 'Birdsville disease,' they may, perchance, be one and -the same. Horses that have been grazing on sand ridges during or after a wet season .appear to be tho >only ones, affected,'.as file Weed supposed- to be' tho of the ailment only, grows on the places mentioned after a heavy fall of rain. The disease is not always fatal. , On. the Queensland side of the Smith 'Australian border the writer has seen horses recover to ■ a certain_extan.t.. ..But...the.v..wci'o user less for work afterwards. Although r to all ontwrtrd'hp'p'earariceS''Sl'o'iiha,' aiid 'in good condition, they-lpse -their wind, and the hindquarters' are affected'.' Any horse that has had 'Birdsville disease' and' recovered, • invariably has the points of his hind hoofs worn down . and bare, caused by the dragging of the hindquarters. Should tho animal ho.ridden or. driven- fast,. and . get .warnied up through . exertion, the, .hindnnartcrs ap-pear-to'get partly paralysed."'.

Pigs .in considerable, jnumbers are at piesent being consigned from the. FortyMils Bush to various: McijHa lactones, reports an exchange. ' ~< . '! !."}. *■

A Masterton settler, upon wjiose property ragwort is somewhat plentiful has adopted an unique method of destroying the weed (says the "Age"), fie-has had a sharp -piece of steel attached to the tos of eacli of his boots,, and whenever ho walks he is doing execution.'"

The Waitara Dairy Company pay .to suppliers for February milk ,£1162, an increase of • £li\ as against February of last year. Milk increased by 62,6931b., whilst butter increased from 25,0811b,' to :.Sl■,S.alK^rfflm^ipail^ ,^Ea^2incrcase., The average test rose from 4.3 to 4.8.— "Daily News."

The fruit fly has again made its appearance in Riverina (says the "Sydney Morning-Herald"). ">No sign of-the pest was seen until 1 recently, \vken';it, was found that late crops .of- peachef,' pears, etc., wore badly affected. The;.- early fruit crop .was .quo.-of';the finest ,on record, and-was entirely-free of <hc pest'. During the past two. years .thero has not been a sign of the fly -in- Riveriria, though crops were seriously affected for two seasons in succession before that.

It is. stated (says the "Wairarapa "Times") that a resident of the district intends to trap rabbits -for, export this year," and'that he will confine his operations chiefly to the Miki-Miki district. Questioned as to his opinioii (proceeds the paper) ia regard to the proposal,. a local resident, who is interested, staled that he sincerely hoped nothing of tho kind would be done. Trappiug rabbits for export,' ho contended, had much to condemn it, if only for the reason;that trappers did not kill all the rabbits' that were caught in their traps.

Good yields both of potatoes and onions are likely to be general in the principal forming districts of Victoria; according to the latest mail;.;. :' ••'■!

.The drought was severely .felt, by. some of the grain-growers near Timaru. The "Herald" says that, ono farmer whoso usual order for sacks was three thousand had this year reduced it- to three hundred.

\ Jlasterton settler stated that a.shepherd on his property has shot no fewer than four hundred hawks during the last couple of months.-

■Vn- expert from India-, draws attention to the practice of docking horses in Australia. Some of these animals are shipped to India, and as a result the new owners have to cover. them with.nets, for the docket! tails are useless to fight the flies. It is suggested that the Federal Government should legislate against the prac-

One of the members of the Scotch Agricultural Commission which toured Australia recently is reported to have written >as follows ■in the course ot a communication to someone at Home — "One of the best farms we have ever seen is a wheat and.sheap farm near Wagga Wa""a famous for the Tichborne claimant Here, on a farm of-about 5000 acres, are IGOO acres "of wheat and oats, nearly all cut for hay, and 2000 head of pedigres Lincoln ewes. The owner last year sold 900 shearling rams for £i 4s. per head, and several thousand tons-of wheaten chaff at from £3 to M per ton. His profits run to raauy thousands. He is cutting his wheat in the milky stage this week with six or eight binders. Most of it is sft. high, and some higher, and it will vield at least two tons per acre. At present prices' it is much more profitable than grain growing." '

Mr. It. G. Keys, a notable Victorian breeder of cattle, after an eight months' tour in Great Britain, makes what the "Livo Stock Journal" terms "an alarming statement"—that he 'saw nothing iu the Scottish show rings iu the Ayrshire classes to compete with the Ayrshires of Australia for utility purposes. He points out that the breeders in Scotland have been breeding big bulls, mostly of a staggy type, long on the leg, and without the tnio dairy points seen in the Commonwealth. Ho found that many of the Scotch Ayrshires are pure white in colour, and do not carry the vessels seen, in colonial products. x IIe said he would not buy a prize-winner to bring to Australia, as they ,were opposite to the Australian type. The best of the breed aro to be found on the Scottish dairy farms, he says.

There is one point to rcmeiiiber when "getting horses up" for show, or, indeed, feeding them at any time, which is that they thrive best on small feeds .(says the "Live Stock Journal"). "Fill a' manger full, and they will throw much of the feed out and waste it, whereas if they have tho same, bulk in small quantities it will be eaten with relish. This is the old idea of "baiting" horses, which oldfashioned carters invariably,did. with a small sieve, taking care to sitf the dust out of the chaff each time and to add a handful of corn. The younger groom is apt to consider this a painstaking method of feeding' and to put in '.laj'ger quantities, but unquestionably the Old way is the best.

A Nelson exchange, writing of this year's fruit crop, says:—The crop has been good on the average—a little on the light side, but tho better prices that have been realised have 'Jiade all the difference, and substantial cheques have been com-

ing from Wellington for the fruit sent over. Tho state of the Wellington market lias.', niacin 1 if all'.tho more" difficult to arrange-'for-the ■shipment toj.Ehgland, but it is" satisfactory tti know "fhat this has all been provided for. It is thought that if conditions locally were as unsatisfactory as they were last year, there would have been at least 20,000 cases of fruit' shipped Home this year. I,'ogr.jt has been expressed by many growers that it was found impossible to arrange for two shipments this year, for the present time is a little on tho late side for tho earlier apples, and on the early side for the later varieties. But still a steamer could not bo obtained, and growers had to make-the'best of the- nutter.. And this they have done in good spirit.