ON THE LAND

Feilding Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 4590, 16 May 1922, Page 4

ON THE LAND

NEWS, VIEWS, COMMENTS. Two pears, one 2Jlb in weight and the other 2ilb., made an interesting exhibit at the Woolston {Christchurch) Horticultural Society's Show la«t week. A meeting of West Coast dairy factory representatives at Grey mouth, alter listening to an address on the proposed dairy pool, by Mr T. U. Brash, unanimously resolved to apjprove of the scheme. Says the Stratford correspondent of tho Tarauaki Herald: The season continues to bo a wonderful one for tho How of milk to the factories, man- of which are receiving 25 to 30 per cent, more than they received last year. It does not make lOd per lb., for butterl'at as satisfying as Is 9d, but it helps financially and also psychologically. Mr It. H. Meade, MJt.C.V.S., says that the belief is commonly _ held among herdsmen that abortion is } transmitted by bulls, but from experiments made that is not proved. Mr George Wright is retiring from the Hawke's Bay Land Board, after a continuous service of 15 years as a member.

Evidently the poisoning operations conducted against rabbits by the newly formed Wangaehu Rabbit Board are having the desired effect. Sportsmen who have been hunting bunny on the sandhills between I'utiki and Wangaehu have met with very poor results, whereas in previous years rabbits were plentiful.

Mr A. T. P. Hubbard, of the Agricultural Department, reports that rabbits were on tho decrease in the Wairarnpa, though the broken weather of tho past season had not been favourable to poisoning operations.

"We have in tho Wairarnpa," said Mi- J. C. Cooper to the Hon. J. G. Coates, "a district which I think is capable of carrying a population almost equal to that of New Zealand at the present time."

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Carterton branch of the Farmers' Union on Friday, Mr T. Anderson said he considered the woolbrokers' charges could bo cut down by a quarter if buyers desisted from hacking about bales of wool. "One would think," said Mr Anderson, "that the farmer had his war certificate planted in tho centre of the bale, the way soma buyers hack them about."

Some 250,000 pigs were used m a year in the Dominion in the form of bacon and pork.

A dahlia plant, of the height of about Oft. grown at Richmond, was taken to tho Nelson Mail Office. This is extraordinary growth for a dahlia.

Some strange freaks are occasionally produced in the garden. One was exhibited this week by Mr G. A. Dodds, of Tweed street, Invercargill, in the shape of a vegetable, which bore the fiolage of a carrot and the root of a parsnip.

The horse is a useful and necessary animal on a farm; but when one or more horses are kept than there is rise for, a debit account is eoon run up, which i s never paid. A good dairy cow or two or a few sheep will eat the feed just as well and pay a better return. Canterbury butter-makers are bidding against each other for milk sunplies, and the producer, apparently is quite satisfied to let the game go on. One firm in calling for cream has resorted to scriptural quotations. Its announcement reads: "We obey the Ninth Commandment." This Commandment is: "Thou shalt no bear false witness against thy neighbour. It will nearly always be noticed that cows with small udders, even in the best dairy herds, usually carry too much flesh and lack that double wedge shape which is so desirable in the eyes of the modern dairy farmer. The Winton Record says owing to the failure, or disease, in crops the price of potatoes is expected to bump up. One mercantile man in Otago mentioned that he would not bo surprised if the price went up to £2O per ton.

The second shipment of apples from Otago within tho past two weeks was made last week, when five hundred cases were loaded on the Union Co's. steamer Wingatui at Dunedin. The apples came from Mr F. G. Duncan's orchards at Ettrick (Central Otago). The consignment is for the Honolulu market.

It will bo of special interest to farmers to know that the rabbit rate will bo levied upon acreage, and not upon land values. This is equitable, for the poorest land is often the best breeding place. Forest or sandhill will pay per acre the same as the best land in the country.

When pigs arc constipated solid food should be withdrawn for 2-1 hours, and only simple wash given, with a small allowance of succulent food, such as root growths. This will lighten the burden of the howls and assist in restoring their normal activity. A good dose of sulphur and sulphate of magnesia, may then be administered with a little tempting food, or'castor oil may he given. It the pigs refuse the closed food, the medicine should he forcibly administered.

In view of the merino's success on the other side, the following item by an expert is of interest: Since the first merino sheep came out to Australia the race has prospered in a remarkable way. The wool is thicker, it contains more serrations and more wave, and it is, if anything, more simple than the original Spanish wool. The art of breeding has been carried to such perfection that fleeces from the best sheep are now nearly twice as heavy as they used to be, neither have they suffered any diminution in their quality. Care in breeding has also eliminated any sheep in a flock which may have produced rather stronger will than thenfellows

A point that is often overlooked in a sire is the latent female characteristics present in all males. It has been noticed that the male off spring from a good milking and prolific dam has these characters well developed. A hoar having a good number ol teats which are prominent and well distributed is likely to beget sons with good breeding qualifications.

Figures collected from various cowtesting associations throughout the country and compiled by the United States' Department of Agriculture tend to confirm conclusions of the department that within the breeds, so far as they were represented by these animals, which . were mostly grades, the largo cows are the biggest producers of dairy products and are also the most profitable. The evidence seems to show that m the individual farmer's herd it will be found that on an average the larger cows are more profitable than the, smaller ones, although there are indications that this may not hold true in the case of herds of native cattle containing much beef blood.