GENERAL FARM NEWS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 147, 11 March 1918, Page 8

GENERAL FARM NEWS

At a meeting of the Otago A. and l'. Society the following resolution, moved by Mr. H. C. Campbell and seconded by Mr. Thomas Scott, of. Milton, was adopted:—"That- the Government ha requested to at onco tako into serious consideration the necessity.' for sufficient wheat being grown in the Dominion'each year to feed our own people, for though at tho present time it is possible to get. wheat from Australia; the. position might so change that.it would be impossible to import wheat from anywhere, and under such circumstances the people of this Dominion might not impossibly starve. Therefore it is the duty of the Government to see that the growing of wheat is not allowed to stagnate." It was further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to all kindred associations, ask-: ing them to give it their support.

At a recent committee meeting of tho Ayrshire Breeders' Association (says an exchange), Air. A. Montgomerie referred to the conditions tinder which semi-official tests are being conducted. He was, of opinion, that an Amendment was advisable so that a cow put under the test should calve within 12 months instead of 15 months as now provided. The reason given was that 15 months did not appeal to the ordinary farmer, as it threw' a cow out of her dates, and also if a cow was placed under test for four consecutive years under present conditions one calf would he lost to the owner during that period, resulting in financial loss. Tho matter is to be brought before the next annual meeting of tho association with a view to having a resolution passed asking the Government to amend its conditions in this/respect.- '< The next shipment of Australian wheat to arrive for South Island ports will-consist of 50,000 sacks, or, roughly, 150,000 bushels. Of this quantity 17,000 sacks will be allotted to Duncdin, and the remainder will be distributed ba-t-ween the mills at Oamaru, Timaru, and Christchurch,

The very fine weather is most favourable to all harvest work in Southland, which is nearing completion. The crops aro good, but rust has appeared iiplaces, and, in some instances, is very bad. Wo understand that some crops are suffering from a disease which is quite unknown locally. There is not tho slightest doubt the long spell of fine weather is. not' altogether favourable. Thero is nothing like an occasional sou'-wester, accompanied .by heavy showers, to keep the pests away.

At the beginning of the present harvest men were not noticeably scarce, because little labour was actually required (says tho "Oainaru Mail"). It was when the stacking and thrashing began that the shortness of labour was most acutely felt. Men have been sent out of Oamaru to take up work on patticular farms, and the further those farms are from the town the. less probability is there of the men reaching their appointed destinations. All along the road there arc farmers waiting aniou.sly to pick up men, and as they come along they are enticed to halt and accept other .engagements. Tho conditions are against the back-blocker, who has to wait till others are served, or tackle the work with the few hands that are available. In the case of thrashing, however, there must be a full team, and great delay is consequently experienced. The harvest now cannot be rushed ahrough as it was before the war, for the men are not available, and if the weather i 3 not propitious the farmer is heard to vow that he will grow no more grain, as the risks are too great.

In connection with the great agricultural programme of 1918, it is feared that one of the pretty features of English landscape will undergo drastic changes. In many places, it is said, the hedgerows, will have to go down, and in many more the trees in hedges which have wide-spreading roots interfering with ploughing will have to be removed. A case in Norfolk is given where tho surveyors report on a 1000acre farm that it is ''spoiled for agriculture by hedgerow timber."

Despite the fact that labour is expensive in New Zealand, it has always seemed to mo that we ought to grow, far more of bur seeds here (says the Manawatu correspondent of the "Farmers' Advocate"). Ryegrass,and cocksfoot ivo do grow, and crested dogstail we can manage easily, although in tho case of some of the grasses the'merchants imporf a little to be able to tell farmers how • cheap theirs ought to be when they aro showing the sample. Of oats, 'wheat, barley, we do grow the seed. "We go the length of growing peas at per bushel for English merchants, who' put a few of our peas in packets and sell them to us at about 100 ner cent.