GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1177, 12 July 1911, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Tho. jubilee of the. Canterbury A... and P. Association occurs next year, and to mark the occasion .an effort is being made 'to' lirjuidato a 'dCSOOO mortgage on the association's grounds. ... "The cold snap' and tho keen .frosts, combined with the easterly: 'winds/-have bton very severe'"on grass,'"a'tid stock liot otherwise fed are pinched in consequence. I hear on good authority that in a certain district,. where sheep h'hvo been in rather low condition and sonifir what short of fcntl, numerous' deaths have resulted within the past v.eek or I wo," stiites a contributor of country notes to a Wanganui paper. .

Farmers who dug and-are-storing their potatoes are finding out • their..mistake. ' owiiisj lo their being perishable goods and requiring so much, handling, >says the 'Fairfax correspondent of a Southland pa]>ar.' Four pounds per ton off the fork was a fair aiid payable price, and the farmers who have stored their potatoes will eventually benefit by their experience. The Hawera Winter Show Committee provided a. competition for ensilage at its recent show, and larse entries were received. It has .since been suggested that a class for lucerne should be put on tho schedule. It is suggested in an exchange that hoggels from this onwards will meet a rising; market.. The reason given is, that the now grass areas in the backblocks require stocking up. A meeting of the'committee of the Bush Districts A. and P. Association was held at Woodvillo. The Woodvillo Bacon Company wrote stating that they would donate a prize of thr-ec guineas for tho best pen, of two bacon pigs at the next show, the weights to bo from 1201b. to 1501b. Mr. Bolton wrote expressing his intention of donating =610 in prize money, —three guineas for pigs (the same as last year), and a similar amount for a dressed porker, not to exceed 801b., tho balance of the money to be allotted as tho committee thought fit. It was resolved that entries in the milking 'competition should closeon September 20, and tests can bo taken up to November 20. A proposal by Mr. Litchfteld, that a dairy farm competition bo included, was held over, but. a subcommittee was appointed to consider the matter, put it on a workable basis,' and report to next meeting. Ilcforrins to the heavy rains throii"hout the district, the Jfastcrtou "Times" says: —"Fanners generally-in the district iW looking upon the rain with unfavourable eyes. Already this winter a large number of weak .young sheep have Mircumbod to the rigorous meteorological conditions, and it is feared that this additional rough weather will result in a further mortality." . Mr. J. O'Dea, dairy instructor, said of tho butter shown at the Hawera wjnter show that while most of the exhibits were very good, some were lacking. Some were of weak body and were of a greasy nature. If tho makers worked about 11 per cent, of moisture into their butter they would get a better article than by trying to work too close to the 1G per cent." There had been complaints about fishy butter on the London market, and he was afraid that some of the managers wero going to get them into'trouble. He was of' the opinion that there was too much guessin? going on in factories. ' The jump up in the price of butter and the apparent shortage of winter production of that indispensable article of food will very likely lead to dairymen bestirring themselves to provide a greater supply of roots and green fodder and thereby prolong the milkin? season, says a writer in tho Wauganui "Chronicle."

An examination in Victoria recently revealed the presence of tubercular bacteria, in the. sliities'of cream separators. The discovci-v is considered to be serious enough io wnrrant the snjißcsMnri thattlie Ilepartinniit di-.iiild take stops to safeguard consumers, and prevent the spread of the disease nniong.it pigs and calves. ~l[r. Richard Gibson, of Delaware, Ontario, is dead. Sir. Gibson ivns widelyknown as a Shorthorn breeder. "His life linked the sensational events in Shorthorn breeding with the c-mimercial side of today," says an agricultural paper, "and no man ever did more to uplift and dignify the breeders' calling." His Xew York Mills sale is recekoned to-have boon the greatest Shorthorn. sale ever held in America. There were 10!). animals sold for ;550,890 dollars, an average of 3181 dollars (about .£700). " , There has been kren competition among foreign buyers at Hie great annual horse, fair in Elisabetgrad, says Renter's St. Petersburg correspondent. Several thousand of the best horses were sold at hmh prices before the official opening of the fair. It is understood the majority are destined for the armies of Germany. A us-' tria-Hungary, Turkey, [iulgfil'ia,' and Rumania. ■ The month of May in Tlngland was dry and sunny, and good crop results are expected, unless bad weather comes later in the season. Argentine papers contain reports of disastrous inundations which occurred recently throughout a large portion of the province of Buonos Ayres, causing Ihe loss of thousands of live stock. The rain which produced the Hoods was phenomenal in places, from two to ten inches having fallen in twenty-four hours. Much, property was destroyed, nnd some human lives were lost. A great number, of families were rendered homeless, and a relief fund had Io he provided to help them. The catastrophe is the. wor.-t of its kind that has occurred ill Argentina since IS3B.