AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 17, 23 August 1913, Page 12

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

A PROSPEROUS DAIRY COMPANY. "The people of this district," says the Pahiatua Herald, "have good reason to be proud of the Ballance Dairy Company. From small the company, which is wholly a co-operative concern, has made steady progress, until now it occupies the premier position among dairying 1 institutions in the Dominion. Seeing that the Ballance Company's supplies are drawn solely from the Pahiatua district, and that there aro other butter and cheese com panics competing with it, this ppeakn volumes for the richness of the Pahiatua soil and the excellence of the climate, while it also Bays much for the industry of our dairy farmers." The remarks of tho Herald are quite justified when & glanco is given to tlin figures in the annual report, which 6how that the value of the past season's output was £60,*80 2s 7d, as against £59,259 4s 3d for the previous Reason, an increase of £1220 18e 4d. The advances to suppliers totalled £50,750 3s 9d, as compared with £50,198 7s 9d during the 1911-12 period, an increase of £551 16s. Although the actual milk supply showed a slight decrease tho great increase of 107,1721b in the quantity of homo separated cream delivered accQunted for over five tons more, butter being manufactured by the company, the total being 527 tons The price realised per lb for the year's output was 12.29 d, compared with 12.16 d the previous season. The receipts from all sources for tho past season totalled £60,585 0s 2d, M against £59,372 15a lid last year, an inorease of £1212 4s 3d. The expenditure was a little heavier than last year, the figures being £57,282 15s lOd for the p*st season, and £56,629 17b 9d for the preceding one. Mr. J. C. N. Grigrg, of Longbeaoh, recommends the following method of poisoning small birds:— Ten pounds of good sound wheat is thoroughly damped with fresh milk so that the whole grain is wet, but not dripping with moisture. Five-sixthe of an_ ounce (avoirdupois) of powdered 6tryohnine, not too fine, is then gradually shaken on to the grain, the whole being kept constantly stirred. When all the strychnine is mixed in, the grain may be immediately laid. This is beet done by laying a good train of chaff, without any oats, to attract attention. The poisoned grain is then very lightly sprinkled on the chaff. The best results were obtained by laying the poisoned grain on roadways near trees. Two precautions are . neceasary_ in using the dry method : -»(1) The grain must be spread as soon after mixing as possible. (2) It must not be spread too thickly. It is claimed that one grain of wheat, treated by the dry method, is sufficient to kill three birds. This is not an unreasonable statement, though difficulty to verify. The strychnine is coated over the grain in fairly large particles, and the 6ame grain may be picked up and dropped by two or three sparrows in succession j each time it is taken into the mouth it may leave a small portion of pure strychnine sufficient to kill adhering to the tongue of the birds, and, even though the »parrow_ may be suspicious, seeing so many of its dead kin around, it will always readily pick up the grain and taste it. It is very necessary to cautidn users of this remedy against the deadly poisonous nature of strychnine. The manage* of the Moumahaki State Farm, Mr. Lonsdale, has a method of feeding'young calves which dairy farmers might note with advantage. He recommends that for six weeks they be given half a gallon of new milk twioe a day. After that period of time has elapsed he gives the young animal chaffed meadow hay, next peas mixed with chaffbut no crushed corn, as come dairy farmers do. A great deal too much (saya an English writer) is made in text-books of the present day in describing the points of an ideal dairy oow. The result is that when students go to market they can never succeed m finding the ideal type of animal. If, by some chance, the amateur buyer comes across an animal of this class, he will m all probability be led into bidding a much higher price for it than the cow is really worth. Again, in the majority of markets I have visisted the marketing of dairy stock seems to be carried out in a very haphazard fashion. Cows of all descriptions are hustled quiokly through the ring, and the good ones have to take their chance with tho very bad. Of Course, it means simply that one buyer must stake hw own judgment against that of a rival buyer, which, on the face of it, is only right and proper. When purchasing newly-oalved heifers one con generally rely on their general health being satisfactory; but it is a faot that th© very shrewdest of purchasers may be deceived m cows that have had their second or third oalf. Dairy farmers are not generally willing to rid their herd of young cows unless for some fault, and it would certetnly safeguard all concerned in the deal if 6ome form of guarantee were insisted upon where prices ranging from £20 to £26 are paid for newly-calved animals, Owing to the lambing season being at hand, good prices are beihg obtaihed for breeding ewes. A flock of 160 full-mouth-ed ewes, for which 16s 6d a head was paid a short time ago, changed hands in Balclutha at the satisfactory price of 22a 6d. Tightness of money evidently cannot be experienced in the Tikorangi district, as at a recent meeting the secretary of the Dairy Company almost pathetically appealed to householders to come and get their milk cheques, many of which he had had in hand for the past two months. An Auckland merchant states that £20,000 worth of grass seed wa« sent from Auckland to the King Country last Beason. The disadvantages of living in the backblocks were demonstrated to a creamery manager in tho Kihg Country reoently (states the Napier Daily Telegraph). On account of a road not permitting vehicular traffic, he wa« compelled to knock his furniture to pieces, pack it in boxes, and send it to To Kuiti via. Kawhia. and Onehunga; in all 300 miles necessitated for this want of fifteen miles of roadway. A New Zealand farmer who visited ft stock sale in the Old Country ( recently gives some interesting information relative to th© price* of stock at Home, aa compared with those ruling in New Zealand. The fat sheep were mostly Shropshires, and cold at 45s to 55s each; fat lambs, 38s to 46s each; fat pigs, similar weights to ours, Yorkshires, 84s to 93s each ; chopper*, 4001b to 6001b, at £6 13* to £10 : fat bullocks and- heifers, similar cattle to those usually offered in New Zealand, £19 to £23 15s. He considered the prices just'about double those ruling in this country. Dairy farmer* in Whixall, England, have a system of oow lnsura-noe that has been in existence for over seventy years, and is now the largest registered oow insurance society in England and Wales. At the end of last year there were 298 members, all being small holders. The scale of charges is ac follows:— A member pays la per cow a» ontrahce fee, and Is per quarter, that is at the rate of 4« per year as premium for each cow. For a calf the owner pays 6d entrance and 9d per quarter as premium. The society pays the value of each animal which dies from disease or accident while under insurance, subject to a maximum of £10 for a cow and £5 for a calf. No member is allowed to insure more than ten cows and six calves.