ON THE LAND.

Feilding Star, Volume 3, Issue 552, 29 December 1925, Page 7

ON THE LAND.

NEWS, VIEWS AND COMMENTS

Eruucu has been a large buyer, afc the .'Australian. ttooI" auetiosn lately.

Vacuum cleaners are now being used to groom horses in tbo. United States Army;- .

The farmer must start with a good pig, so bred as to he capable of rapid growth and of the right type require!!' uy the bacon eurer. Alanugcinent conics next in order ot importance.

Ground that has been run over by pigs can bo worked hard in the way of cropping, and will go on yielding well with nothing more than an occasional dressing oi lime to .sweeten it

A ve-fy heavttf crop, of oats grown by Mr J. E. liaison in a 9-acr© paddock is_to be seen at Papuaai. -Ibis is the seventh oat crop in succession off this land, and an excellent yield has been obtained each year.

Dairy farmers throughout the Poverty Bay district are facing a serious shortage of feed at present, and unless rain is experienced in the near future the position on the flats will he acute. Already many farmers have had to encroach upon their liay paddocks for feed.

A giant mushroom was brought to the MaLaura Ensign Office the other morning . It weighed 2-J.lb and measured 12} inches across.

Wild horses, which the ranches of Western America in such numbers that they arc nuisances ifr 0 now. being bunted down and used for fattening hogs i

The wheat crops in North Otago are looking remarkably well and there should be a very heavy yield.

If the sheep farmers were attacked? with the idea of creating-a new Denmark, it would moan that . the sheep industry would be sacrificed lor an extension of dairying (sayis the Southland News). The Dominion could not stand up to the process. The close settlement of sheep eoutry must -be carefully' - restricted, so; that the industry's power is not impaired and its ability to stand n temporary reverse is kept up.

Reports from Southland on the dairy industry have an optimistic tone, which has been absent for some time Farmers have an abundance of feed, and factory intakes are at a minimum. Cheese seems to he the more popular commodity. The quantity of cheese handled at the Bluff cool stores is well up to last year’s figures, hut- the amount of butter at the same port shows a decrease- of almost 20 per font, on the figures lor the same time of the yoar 1924.

Many good authorities agree that with animals normally; developed it is good practice to breed Jerseys and Guernseys to calve when from 20 to 28 months of age, and Ay.rsliires and Friesians from 30 to 32 months of age Especially well developed animals can safely bo bred from a somewhat younger age.

Statistics show that out of 1257 herds tested in* the Waikato, 112herds, or 9 per cent, averaged over 300ib per eow. If similar progress had been made in other districts, we would today have 5000 herds in. the Dominion up to 3001 b standard, and an additional revenue of more than £1,000,000 per annum.

Prices for wool in New Zealand are anything but encouraging to the grower, who. have become accustomed to high rates, hub it may be someconsolation to sellers at New Zealand’s wool sales to know that those who have been shipping wool for sale at Home have even less cause for congratulation’.' In most eases prices at the last London series were- either lower TTialr-nfew Zealand parity or identical. Thus, these vendors have received no better prices, but have the additional costs of transit and selling to shoulder.

It is said that ICO square miles of excellent corn-growing land in Yorkshire have been washed into the sea since tlie writing of tlie Domesday Book.

the Northampton Farmers’ Union, England, is protesting against toy fire balloons being sent tip at fetes, owing to the danger to th e ha drinks.

A. Tiinani labour agent a few days ago* said that on account of the holiday; season, the labour market was practically at a. standstill. This does not include shearing, which is at present in full swing, with most of tli® blade and machine sheds well filled, There* have been inquiries already from Southland labourers for harvest lug work, which is expected to be

available towards the end of next month. One of tlie chief enemies of '• the cocoa-nut plantation -owner in tlie islands of Fiji is the cocoanut robber crab, which devours the young and tenuer'nuts in large quantities. The following summary of the irrigable areas of Central Otago makes interesting reading: Areas actually? Linder “irrigation on January - 30, 1924, totalled 25,750 acres, of which 21.400 acres were the result of Government work and 10.000 private enterprise. Loca. bodies wer© responsible* for 4350 acres. On the same date, works under construction with a prospect of being completed in 1924 would cover 50,750 acres. Another 280,750 acres could be irrigated by the gravitational water supply method and 42,350 acres ware considered worth while when power became cheap enbught to allow of pumping. The grand total is JOS.OOO acres, for 380,900 acres of which, the Government is responsible.