AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 62, 10 September 1904, Page 12

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

A Timaru auctioneer titoles that of late tlio stock market prices »vow tin upward tendency. In cattle tlie tone is much improved, while tho sheep market is Bomtew'hat excited. Tlie demand for stock generally is considerably greater than tho sui>ply, especially in sheep. Sheep uro still selling at high prices in the North Island. At the Ekciabuna stock Halo a few days ago wetheia leulisod as much as 20s each. Ragwort is likely to causo as much trouble to Eketuhuna settlers this yea* as ever. It is sprouting up in aH directions. Tbo Bay of Plenty Times notifies tho approach of spring and guntly reproaches its borough otfioiats at tho same time by reminding them that the cows have taken to grazing on tho wharf ami tho tro-in lii\ea, so luxuriant is the crop of grass! Accouding to tho Mataaira Ensign, it is expected that tho demand fof employment in the country districts will probably exceed requirements until shearing begins. Tho trapping season, it is assertod, hae not' yielded uuch good results as hi former ueors, and has now closed some two months earlier than usual. Lambing on portions of the Canterbury plains is now becoming pretty general, and formers are anxiously hoping for warmer weather to bring on tho iced. August has beon by far tho coldest month of fche winter, and since the snow, bitterly keen winds have prevailed. Feed is scarco, and a number of cases are reported of ewes dying. Apricot and peach trees in sheltered situations are in bloom, but tho bud« of fruit trees generally aro not nearly so far forward to tho bursting point as they were at tho end of August last year. Signs of an early spring wore evinced at tho Taralahi sale yards last week when a line of 60 shorn crossbred wethers were penned. They were in splendid condition. Tho Poverty Bay Herald thinks that with wooi and meat at satisfactory prices a check will probably bo given to aomo extent to tho development of dairying. A pound of crosisbred wool is at the present moment of greater intrinsic value tnan a pound of butter fat, and mat boing so, it is not surprising if pastoralists who had been thinking of turning their sheep runs into dairy farms decided for tue present to continue tho growth of wool and mutton. There is room, however, in tho country for tho two great industries. At the annual meeting of the Ballanco Co-operativo Dairy Company on Tuesday, the Chairman stated that tho suppliers had received an average of 8d per lb for butler fat for tlie season. After paying tho above price the company had a surplus of £853 12s 6d, with which it was proposed to pay a further halfpenny per pound on butter fat supplied in tEe month of April, also a dividend at the rat© of 5 per cent, per annum on all paid-up capital, and write the balance off for depreciation. The supply of milk received during tho season had been 2U, 636, 6211b, considerably exceeding that of last year, and tho butter made was 388 tons, being 25 tons moro than the previous year. Another record for Woodvttle. A ewe on Mr. \\\ H. Nelsons property has given birth to a quartette of lambs. The family is doing well. Thoro is a large percentage of lambs this year in the distriot, particularly on Messrs. Nelson Bros.' and tho Hon. J. D. Ormond's properties. Tho uiuiual meeting of shareholders, held at Hokitika, of tho Kokatahi Dairy Factory adopted tke payment of a dividend of sixpence per share and a bonus of three farthings per pound of butter fat supplied. This will amount to about £5300. Tho surplus on tho year's transactions is £394, and there is ever}' indication of tho milk supply for the coming season being increased 33 per cent. Mr. A. W. Rutherford has received advice of tho sale in London, at tho July sales, of the Mcndip Hills clip. Tlie fleece portion averaged 12gd per pound, the highest price being 13d, while pieces brought as high as Is per pound, 'lhe M'holo clip wn* «oH in tho greaso, nnd ttio prices am not- thoso for a few picked bales. The result shows what a, thoroughly sound flock of strong-combing memo sheep thnt of Mendip Hills is. Mr. Rutherford took both championships in strongwoolled section at tho Christchurch show lost November, »nd was second in the Merino Cup competition the same year. At a recent meeting of the Waikato Farmers' Club, Mr. Gano (Cambridge) deplored die fact that the rules of tho club eschewed politics. This was outrageous. Farmers should havo a distinct aim and end in polities. Tho trades unions and other bodies took an important part in politics, and unbH the farmers took up the same position ojkl maintained a political status they would have no power whatever. They ought to pay every heed to votes, and, w>hon it was possible to sway nn election, they should nut in the man who was wiTHng to subscribe to thoir platform. Ho called attention to tho Pahiatua election. Tho organiser of tho union was billed to address a meeting a couple of days prior to the election, but tho meeting was postponed for fear thnt it should be said that tho union had taken part in the elections. It was rediculous. A loss of breeding sheep is reported by farmers in th© Carleton nnd Horrelvuio districts, North Canterbury. The mortality is attributed to a foyer or inflammation caused by tho recent snowfall. A writer in tho Stratford Post says : — Taranaki suffers intensely from a drawback, which, in its direct bearings, tends to stunt if not impoverish any concern in its full and free development, financially and otherwise. We refer to the constant changing of fanners that is going on, year in, year out. Its direct tendency is to destroy any permanent interest — any prospective interwrtr-j-in the welfare of a company. Seeing they are suppliers to-day, and possibly, nay, probably, not to-morrow, their policy is to get all thoy can out of tho funds as 1 the}' go along, caring little to see the company established year by year more firmly, 'financially, than it was the previous ono. In other inspects this tendency forms roving, rootless habits, prevents the building up of cheerful homesteads, destroys patriotism, and is nn evil whose tentacles spread far and wide into the lives of our settlers. i The Taranaki Agricultural and Pastoral Society intends to make a new departure this year in connection with. Hie judging of dairy cows. Formerly the practice hns been to milk on the show grounds, but it hns long been recognised that this cannot form a truo criterion of tho anim<ir& quality. It is now proposed to detail n steward at the farms from which the ontries come. Ho will tnke the samples, seal them, and send them (numbered) tn an official teeter. One point is allowed for each pound of milk, ten poinls for percentage of butter fat, one point for every ten days over the first 28 and up to 120 days after calving. The testing of the milk is carried out m a public hall, tho computations aro made up, and tho results are sent in sealed envelopes to the President. On tho day of the show he opens and reads them on tho ground, after which the cows are classified and decorated, mid thoir positions in tho test stated.