FARM GOSSIP. [WRITTEN FOR THE "WEEKLY NEWS"]

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXXII, Issue 5770, 25 March 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

FARM GOSSIP. [WRITTEN FOR THE "WEEKLY NEWS" ]

I ham recened a sample of eigot m t ockhfoot from Mr T. 15. Hill. Ruapuke, Aotea, and m the note foiwauhug tlie same he hays • "Ergot has been\eiy bail this season. ' 'Pins was only to ho expected after the indication-, of thegeneial spitvd ut the disease last \eai On more than one occasion I intimated m\ belief that we would have a new difficult} to tight in the ergot, and that we nutiht anticipate it would be more tioublcsome tins year than last, should the weather be at all favourable for its growth. This expressed fear has been fully realised, and few p tstui •- have escaped the plague. <!ieat cue will theieforo have to be exercised in selecting grass seed this season. Cue m this ltspoci should be exercised every yew, but mou 1 especially so when it is known that but a very small quantity ot iy< and eoeks foot grabs seed lemains unaffected Had propel caie Ijeen exeuised in loinm years, the pest would not ha\e In en -o widely spiead as it now is. As stated last year, I believe the true cute m oveieoining the owl as much as possible is to eultnate more largely than m the past those glasses which are less afleeted with it than aie i\e and cocksfoot gi asses. Failing tliib, w e must for several seasons cut the giass toi h.iv and not allow it to go to seed 13\ doing this, the food upon which the spoies iiud snstenance, the maturing seed, would lie absent : and, as a consequence, the e\il would thus become gradually diminished. The cine lies wholly in the hands of the settlcis, and the adoption of one ot both ot these planspi onuses more immediate rehet than any othei 1 know The perfect cure would doubtless be moie perfect cultivation, and thorough undci ground diainage. These aie expensive opuations, at least s»o long as the wages ot 1iIm>uimg men remain what thu\ aio. 1 have many times wondeied,as jeai .iftei year I have lieaid complaints-, and soimtimes had occasion to make complaints m\ - self, about the seeds obtained not piovmg true to what they wcie lepiesented to lie 1>\ the seedsman who sold them, whcthei oi not an action tor damages would lie agpinst tliose who thus obtained money upon w hat actuall\ was a false pretence. To engage m a law suit is an expensiv e affair, and the majontj of settlers have borne with the loss the\ sustained through the seeds not pio\ ing to be i what they were represented, although that loss has sometimes been '\eiy heavy, I rather than take their guidance into a law coiut A ca- 3 e, howevei, has just been settled in Amuiiea on the subject, which is well woithj ot notice here. It ha-> been boioie the Couits for some half-a-dozen yeais, and a pnnciple has theie been upheld which should makt. seedsmen more eaieful than the\, ha\ o Iicld in the past, 'ihe case to which J iciei has. just been settled in the Court ot Eiioia m New Jersey. The onginal pi ice of the seed was twenty-Jive cents , equal to Is 15nti,h money. A farmei bought tiom a seedsman 2.") cents, worth of seed of what was lepiesented as a supcuoi eaily tuinip The s^d was sown, but the ciop pioved the seed to be a late, miserable, and worthless \ancty. The farmer was angiy, and on reinonstiatm.,, not linding the concessions he expected fiom the seedsman, sued him for the expected vab^ie or the ciop, thus laismg the <|iiestion of consequential damages, and the liability of seedsmen for what they repiesent their goods to be The liist (Joint in which the case w a-, ti led was the Justices Court. After a careful consideratipn, this Court gave judqinentfoi thephuntiii. Theseedsmanappealed, anel bi ought the c\iou bctoie the Coiut ot Common 1'lejs Seeing the p: maple ni\ol\ed was an niipoitant one, and anticipating that the case would be earned fiom Court to Coiut, and thu& piobabh, nun the farmerwith Court expenses, the Gi angers took the matter up and aided the farmer with tunds. In due tune, the Com fc ot Common Pleas gave decision, and afhrmed the judgment of the Court below. This decision somewhat staggered the seedsman, as it was seen that if such a principle were affirmed, seedsmen would be deprived of a vast souice of profit, and that they could no longer mixold seed with new seed and sell the whole as fresh seed with impunity. It was lesolved to fight the case to the bitter end. The case was therefore cai ried to the Supi erne Com t. but it alao upheld the decision of the two lower com ts As a last resource the seedsman cairied the case to the Coiut of Erroia, and it too has taught the seedsman that honesty is the best policy. The costs amount i to over seven thousand dollaia (between j £1,000 and £2,000), the fainiei lstiiuinpluuit, j *nd the cheating seedsman defeated. The journal from which I take the decision, says, I " The decision is an important one, as it not only applies to the whole seed, flower, ami nursery business, but, admitting the pi meiple of consequential damages, lias a rnueh wider application. " f am not awai c w hethei such a decision would be obtained in any of oui courts in New Zealand, but I think it ought, and if not, it is the duty of i epi esentatives m Paihament fiom coiintiy distncts to obtain the necessary alteration m the 1 iw to make I such decisions not only possible but sure. A I farmer ploughs, cultivates, and inaniues his land for a certain crop ; obtain and sows the seed upon the stiength of the seedsman's recommendation, and should the seed prove bad, or not tiue to name, the fanner not only ' loses all his year's Liboui, cost of manure, rent of land, the expected piotits on the crop, but probably gets his land'pollutedwith weeds in the bargain. The fanner should have an easy way of obtaining ledicss for such a dishonest act, as he is necessanly to a large extent at the mciey of the socd-man it should also be one ot the duties of oui Agncultuial Societies to aid with funds my settler who might take proceedings at'ainst any dishonest ' dealci in -ceds oi munmes. By dointt so they would soon be a power m the place, and would make dishonest acts far less piofifcablo than they aie at present. I would in go, at any rate, upon our country representatives to see, during the next se-ssion ot the ( General Assembly, whcthei the present state of our laws would warrant and uphold such a decision as has jutt been lccoidcd in the Loin t of Ei ioi s m New Jersey, United SUtci of Amenea, and it theie is anj doubt on the point, to secme the pas-sing of a bill during the coming session which would put such doubts at rest. Dm ing the last ten jeais a yearly increasing attention has been given to the reai ing ot the Augoi a goat in those British colonies possessed ot a climate suitable to that animal's constitution The first attempts at acclimatising this useful animal did not promise so well as at one time it was expected they would • but the lesults of later years have gone fai to diow that the Angora goats cm not onl\ be successfully acclimatised in various countues, but tli.it they aic> likely to piove vu \ ust fid and piohtahlo animals. The v aie haidy, can subsist upon hard L>re, and pioduce a very Mipenor hair, which commands a very high pi ice m the European mat kets. Duinig the last two or three) cars much attention lias been given to the sub|ect m California, and at the present tune laige flocks aie being found on ranches whcie sheep were formerly kept. In a late American paper 1 noticed that one of the ownus of a, ilock of Angora goats obtained tiom 7."> tents to 1 dollar % 2."> cents per Hi. in New Voik for the clips ot his goats A pn<_e of from 3s. to .">, per lb for clips of from (ill), to 81b. each goat is a lai"0 vield, and may well tempt otlicis to ptovo the piofitableness ot kc< ping this kind of live stock. In the la,t annual lepoit ot the Zoological and Atchinatisition Society of Victona, the following paiagiapli occurs : "Tin 1 society's 'lock of Angola goats ia now at Mount Bute, the propeity ot Sir Samuel Wilson, and uudci the eaieful supeiviRion of that gentleman is becoming moio valuable evei y year The last clip brought a considerably highei pi ice in the London markets than mohair horn Angola, a most significant fact, which shows wli.it can bo done in thib fine climate by careful selection. There aro now a number ot young malegoatu for sale at 1M r>s. each " A few years ago Mr. E Maclean, it I remember conectly, purchased the few Angoia goats which the old Acclimatisation Society owned. How have they progressed with him » and what does that expenenced stock-breeder think of them? If he would not consider me impeitment, 1 would suggest that he should

piepaie «v paper on t 1 ' -'»' A to lie rend at •in early meeting ni ■ i ., . i.ultji Tanners Cluh, oi which hois thi> ]in">'il' .11 'Die e\ penem c oi se\eial yo.u^ -in '»!>• • ial>le him to form some opinum ab to tin n suitableness or othenvist* to the climate of tin- part of New Zealand. Did L'oiomai .

"BuUle\, SiptiinliLr, IM>1> - Ointloinen,- I teel it .1 (hit\ 1 ouc ti> \'Hi to e\picsb nil ur.itilmlc fui tin ,,'H.it benefit I line duned flow taking 'Xoiton's C'uuoiinlc Tills' I ipphul to \oui .ijjt'nt, Ml Hill lii'ilnIoN, tin the iIhim mined Pills, for wind m ilu >t<miicli, tnmi «1ul1i I siiffcied CM'llltntui^ pain fni i length hi tune, h.iMn^triod uearlx e\ciyieined\ juc suiliod but without iluiniiiyiin licmrit.it .ill Altci t.iKmtf t\vi> bottlis of \oin Nilii'lilc jnlN I w.is i|iutc lostuiud to iu\ usml st ito oi litiltli I'leisijjni tlu^ imlilicity, foi the benefit of tlioii «liiima\ thus be .Ullntcd — I am, mi \«iusttuh, Hi nei\ Ali.i^sis To the iHopnetoia of Xoi ton's i .unoiinle I'lIN '