AGRICULTURAL

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1914, Page 14

AGRICULTURAL

MISLEADING GOVERNMENT PAMPHLETS. The experiences of Mr. W. H. Dunlop, a farmer who arrived from tho Duly River settlement, new Darwin, last month, read like a page of "Martin Ohuzalewit Pioneering in America" (says the Pastoral Roviow) . Mr. Dunlop b section was 549 acres, which, with tho exception of 35 acres, he gayß, waa for most of the yoar a swamp. It was at a peppercorn rental that I took up a Daly Boction," said Mr. Dun;u p /°. a preSß representative, "but 1 found that the rate was really a peppercorn too much. Iho trouble- was tho wet eeaßon. Ino pamphlet I got from the Lands Depayment referred to tho land as suitable for . ™'* e « farming and for cattle, and stated, that the water supply camo from tho mer." With a smile, Mr. Dunlop continued, "I can heartily endorse tho latter statement. The water supply did cowie from the river, and in the wot season there was no mistaking the fact. I lived in a shed on rory high laud, and in flood tune it was necessary to call on one's neighbour ;n a boat, and row three miles mer the inundation for afternoon tea. Deep I Well, fairly bo. I inspected also, m a boat a spot which had been pointed with a 20ft bamboo, I was uhable to find bottom. I was there from August of last then l leffc for good. "Why don't tho others loaro?" familioT 11 ° an ' fc ° n aoeoimfc of tl »eir •Mr. Dunlop concluded-"Why, even on mtor t',^ ?nt^ «P«»*n.mt farm tho 7hl?« tl 8 m^ M dee P< and I left there three weeks ago the place was coy m r/ $ &pt^ oi 3 inches." Mr. Dunlop mtenda to look for land in another portion of the Commonwealth Argentina covers 776 million acres. 27 mjUion acres arc suitable for wheat, but only o&e-fourlh of this area Ml ? i. d> - The P o P u la«on is grow ng fmmWw about a qllartep oi a """Won immigrants over* year over and above departures. Within the last ton yoars the export value of live stock producta has in! to £53,000,000. Since 1896 the area under cultivation has grown from IS million acres to nearly 15 million acres. ncialß in tho Northern Tnrritory. and they are trying to develop it on wrong lines * mdent of the Vwtoria River district, to a «nfeV n u* mewer ; " Th ,° Territory is a splendid horee and cattle country, and t,& v -\ *!'' u Sev efal graziers have tried sheep, but the experiment has not been satisfactory. It is no use trying to put farmers and settlors on tho land. Iho climatic conditions are against them, every time. The Government established forty farms on paly Rivor, and I don't think thero are half a dozen of tho original jrranteos o R t h Gln at tho preSent time. I hero is a fino belt of mineral country running right across Arnhoim's n. i'- 1 tllD uncertainty of tenure, and the high I'atß of wages prevent it being 1 developed. I would welcome the Amencan Trust that som& peoplo are so muoh afraid of, or any trust that would come along and buy our stock. I hare, for want of export facilities, been soiling bullocks for £4 por head that would be worth £14 per head down here." The Pastoral Rcvi&w reports that "Mi. James E. Buckley, a New Zealand live stock raiser, has purchased 10,000 acres near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for a sheep ranch. Other Now Zealand capitalists aro interested in the venture, winch includes carding, dyeing, and weaving. Tho new industry has the support of the Provincial Government." Attempts are being made in Kansas, U.S.A., to establish an industry in tho broedmff of lambs for "fur." At present the lambs aro obtained by crossing Lincoln ewes Nvith fur-bearing Karakul rams from Asiatic Russia, but it is bolioved that quite satisfactory results, could bo obtained with Cotswold, Leicester, or Wonsleydalo ewos. According 1 to a roporfc issued by tho United States Department of Agriculture, three, kinds of "fur" aro obtained from thd Lincoln-Karakul cross. There are the first grade, or "Persian lamb," if the curls are small and very tight; tho second grade, or "Astrakhan, if the curl& are looser; and tho third grade, or "Krimmcr," whoh. fchp "fur" is Streaked with grey. The hybrids resulting from tho cross aro said to bo oxccllenfc ritbtlcss, very hardy, and well ablo to stand extremes of both drought and cold. There are sixty bacon factories in Donmark, th 6 activities of which arc based on the export of pork to England, and theee factories slaughtered about 2,300,000 pigs last year. The export of cured pork to England has attained such proportions that one-half of the total imports of bacon into England in 1912 were Danish. The Danish breeder endeavours to feed his ewin© so that they will have precisely the quality that the Ehglish prefer. Mr. E. G. Austin, of Skipton, Victoria, writes to an Australian paper: — ''I^ would strongly recommend anyone wishing to keep haystacks free from mice to use about three-quarters of a pound of sulphur to the ton of hay while stack is being built. Sprinkle rather more than this round the first few tiers, and again the same round tho eaves and roof of stack, but "use about three-quarters of a. pound to ton all through the &lack. . . . It won't hurt horses. A friend of mine hear heie during this dry autumn noticed mice in hundreds coming to the roof ot haystack, and drinking the dew from the thatch. It has struok me that areemo water carefully used i» shallow troughs in dry weather on the ropf should have a good effect." Tho position of the pastoral industry, distinot from that of fanning, m Australia and New Zealand was never moro promising than it is to-day (writes the Pastoral Review). The wholo world is wanting our meat and our wool. Some countries more, some lose; but, all the same, fcho demand is far ahead of the supply. So promisingin tho position of theso industries, where littlo labour comparatively is required, that many man who wont in for gram are limiting their crops to a more manageable area, and aro going in for a proportion of slock. At tho best, grain farming is a pre« carious industry, and with tho threatening labour troubles, tho high freights, and bad railway facilities, itas not to be won; dered at, that people aro fighting shy of it. Other countries, with cheaper land and labour, will look afler the gram. The stock owner who has his place stocked up is the fortunate man. Those who aro tak. ing up unstockod laud aro finding the price of stores much against them; they will have to be patient, and gradually work up. However, they needn't fear; the future for etockbreeding i? just as bright as the present, and thiß industry will over be the backbono of Australasia. One im> portant matter must not bo overlooked by our itock owners. Refrigeration is responsiblo for tho new markets for meat) that are being oponed up, and a te\eio strain will be placod upon our resources. It is therofoie essential that th« best, iemalo stock Bhould bo carefully conserved, so that by numbers and quality wo shall be able to fulfil our destiny as meat purveyors to the Northern Hcatisphere. An illustration of the manner in which the Argentine Government agsißt« the meal trade is to be found in tho following clipping from a Uuenos Aires pupci : — "Armour's haYO obtained ttovo the Argentime Government for their Frigorifico Armour do la Plata a redaling of the twoyear period, during which import duties on machinery and materials required for the erection of tho freezing establishment are exempted, from 20th August, 1911, to 30th December, 1913." The Chicago correspondent tof an Australian paper writes:— "What is said to be tho most valuable cargo ex or brought to Hootan recently arrived on the German bteamer lessen. It consisted of Australian wool, pelts, skjns, and chrome, valued at over £400,000, »nd was tho first dhocfc shipment since- tho tariff has been reduced."