FARM and DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 September 1924, Page 9

FARM and DAIRY

NOTES BY THE WAY

In a short letter to Mr. Hooker, Mr. J>. J. Goodwin says of his run through Italy: “It is a fine country. - roin Naples to Venice is . under intensified cultivation, mostly grapes • You do not see any grazing land—that is to say we saw no' cattle' grazes in the fields; in fact the fields are a.l grape vines, with cropping in between.” ■

Butter-makers in Victoria may receive a- lower price for their produce in London than is paid for New Zealand butter, but according to Mr. W. H. Osborne, a recognised authority, tfie farmer receives a greater return For the 1922-23 season the average once paid for butter-fat in New Zea- 1 land was Is 6.20 d per lb, while for the same period the average price paid by Victorian factores was Is 10.19 d per i . lhe /lifrerence in favour of the Victorian factories wa.s Is 10.19 d per marked, but- every year the Victorian farmers received at least as high and often a higher price than the New Zeal rotWrs - Although the fact that there was a bigger local demand in Australia would to a certain extent account for the better price, there was no doubt that the costs' of manufacture, handling and marketiiur i n Vic lower, and Victoria could put butter on the London market at a loner cost than New Zealand. . Mastei-ton correspondent of the Wellington Post states that the directors of the Kaituna Dairy Company have to close the company's factoiy for the ensuing. season. 1 The suppliers have installed separators' and will supply cream to the Master! ton dairy factory. , The latter portion of this winter has been remarkable for the number of heavy frosts in the Waikato When travelling through the country a vis" the - 6t S eS + th i at 0116 ca,l,lofc help iseeinothe haystacks getting smaller—the while" n f ?° d Squally being used upn htle at the same time the heavv ffosts are not letting the new o- ra ss come away. Some milder weather is bad y needed now to make the farmers not 6 stoonlar Ap P aren % Taranaki is frosts 6 ln reSpeCt of heay y

fact tJ iat a number of e.ulj iambs succumbed to the rmrrs 'ccntotrrf 61 ' montbs ’ the lambing percentages have worked out very satl* cent? y ‘- - A J ocal gentleman who re. cently visited a number of farms in tbe . surrounding district of Wane anui Joperts that tfie percentages are ex ceectagly good, and better than muas 208 ne, c'ent” a " y "* as “<* An Order-in-Couneil was signed m o the State Execute C.w cu on 18, closing an.area reserved as a forest in the parish of Vai roweyi to grazing for three years. Rn C nfc? !lies at the Leicester (Eng.) Rojal Show were of great quality Jccording to reports to hand. championship was awarded to Mr A Montgomery s Weathervane, by Dun! me hoocpnnt. Resent honours fell A ' Ma Esball’s Bridgebank Tvl St V 5nC i Ce ’ Hunure Footprint, lhe tern ale championship was won by Mi- w. Brown’s Farleton Lady Alice b,ack mare by Dunure to 192i nt ' She W ° n the oawdol ' Cup

Stratford Pledge De Kol has ioined -i.mei .ca s list of Friesi'ans that have produced 30,0001 b of milk and 10001 b of Mr w i y6 w V In the ii<;rd or Mi i<. M. Helm, Fresno (Cal.l, she recently completed a test m uhich W ?n°± Ced , 3 ?’ 4591 b of “ilk ccrtta.niing KM 6 lb of butter-fat. ■ She is the b -^°! v ? n *be Advanced lieoisiry of the Friesian Association ■of ' America to enter the. 10001b' butter-fat pioducer class, and the' 55th cow to produce more .than 30,0001 b of milk -n a year.

t> ei ’/ sey ! niU Masterpiece, 5829 .F.h.H.C (imp), now in Mr G. T. Chirnsides Weiniibee stud, 'Lilydale fcoria), is grandson of Combination’s Premier 4669 P.S.H.C., recently sold ni America for £3OOO when 14 years itMastermau of Oaklands's46o i.b.il.Li., the sire of Masterpiece, was b -l, an American breeder for .-5000. these two bulls were first prize winners on Jersey Island from 1911 to 1916, and from 1919 to 1920 respectively. The dam of Masterpiece tested 5.57 per cent, of <butte.v-fo.t, ar.d Jus sire’s dam 5.62 per cent The latter yielded 82731 b milk, 5421 b fat. in 322 days. , The grandsire of: Ctonboiotion s Premier was grandson of Golden tern s Lad, the famous foundation sire, through his maternal grandsire, Golden Fern’s Noble, son of Noble of Oaklands. Masterpiece brings in another strain of the same blood thi ough Oxford Toil’ll Do, the grandsire t! his dam. He is being mated with, females

carrying similar blood linos and ol ; equally high quality. Cheese-grading was freely discussed at the Menzies Ferry Factory annual meeting of shaiehoiuers (remarks cue U } ndtiam Hera id), 'live prerequisite !i as f , t ;°, inmonl f agreed 10 clean milk. Mr bibb wanted to know if compulsion could be applied to secure sound milk Mr He tide i son (managei; said that the bulk oi tlie lactory milk was quite satisfactory. He had occasionally sene milk back, and that produced a good effect. Xek' chairman showed liqw second grade cheese affected the nuance of the whole suppliers—in the back-end. causing a difference of id per lb butter-rat. Ho defective milk injures others beside the actual offenders.

TWO CLASSES OF -FARMERS

Successful farmers are governed by the general policy that there is no economy m leaving work undone or having it poorly done, says. an exchange. Two sets of theories seem to govern farmers and divide them into tuo classes. First, the skilful, wellposted. farmer. This man looks upon is farm as a factory where things are manufactured for sale, where the making of saleable things cannot be done without the investment of plenty of labour, and where the utmost thoroughness and good finish in labour must be bad With lam it is not so much the number of acres tilled or the number of cows milked as it is the return in prooi w eacll aere and each cow. This sort of farmer looks at his business of tanning rightly and from the only safe and truly economical standpoint' As he becomes accustomed to this olan of doing things, he broadens and enlar<rens his capacity and finds himself able to handle more acres and more cows with the desired ratio of profit. The second class is made up of men who are trying to cultivate more land than they can cultivate thoroughly and well, and to keep more cows than they can make efficient and profitable, under tlie mistaken notion that good profits lie at the end of that nath. They never have time to do a~ thing in a thorough manner as they really feel themselves it should be. done. Under the control of their theorv of farmin'l- - must of necessity keep two acres to produce what one acre ought to produce; they keen two cows to yield the and fat that one cow ought to yield. They have a very expensive looseness of judgment, a helter-skelter way of calculation like a cut and cover wav of ploughing. Always in a hurry, they really never get there. They have no time to stop and read or think well Consequently they do not have the judgment to do things well. Such men abound everywhere, but they can rarely be convinced that their lack of success is due to their undeveloped and untrained methods of observation and thinking. Their judgment is warped with this loose, superficial haste and most of them die before thev learn that great lesson of life, that onlv skill and labour bring a good paying profit in the end.

FARMERS’ CLASSES IN \ 7 ICTORIA

Demonstrations on August 11 in blacksiinthing, saddlery, milk-testing, and rope-making occupied all the after. noon and evoked the keenest attention from the farmer students now at the Agricultural College, Dookie. Rain commenced in the night and continued ail clay, making it necessary to amend the programme by substituting lectures tor the outdoor demonstrations arranged. Mr. J. A. Aird, of the Water Commission, gave two very informative lectin es, tracing the history, of irrigation. and showing how the individual farmer can make the best use of the irrigated water supplied to him. Mr. Alex. Stewart, president of the Berkshire and Yorkshire Association of Victoria, lectured on pig raising; and Mr. Blake the college expert," spoke ori sheep-breeding for farmers. Mr. Rudd described a new device, which, if attached to a combine or drill, would result in the sowing of cereal seed iu drills 3iin. instead of 7in. apart. The makers claim that the same amount of seed so sown will result in a bigger yield and a cleaner crop. && A subject that has been emphasised greatly in the lectures given to the fanners’ classes is the importance of making use of stud animals to imnrove farm stock The remarks of Mr. Clapp. Chief Commissioner of Railways, on this subieet have been amply reinforced bv the lecture,s of Mr. Archer, of the Department of Agriculture, on “Dairy Cattle.’’ and of Mr. Reottie. the «•„]]_ knova Hereford breeder, on “Reef Cattle.”

Mr. Archer made reference to the importance of each individual farmer making butter-fat tests of every cojv. At the present time the great majority of farmers had no whether any particular cow was producing butterfat in payable quantities. "The Department of Agriculture was at present conducting 160 herd - tests for the purpose of breeding bulls from cows wliick showed a satisfactory butter-fat production.

The class proceeded to the woolshed, where Mr. Bia-ke, the stock expert, gave a demonstration in the handling and classing of wool. On August 14 Mr. Robertson, chief of the stock branch of the Department of Agriculture, spoke to the farmers’ class on draught horses. His lecture ivas illustrated by many interesting slides showing tlie evolution of the The common assertion that the draughts of years ago were superior to the present-day animals was shown to be incorrect.

In the morning the stock judging competition among the students moved exceedingly popular. A Hereford bull, Clydesdale mare, Middle Yorkshire and Berkshire boars. ■as well as Border Leicester and Southdown rams, were set apart for the students’ attention. In the afternoon Mr. Kendall, veterinary surgeon, lectured to the class.

COUNTRY NOTES

Says ‘ Beudleby” iu the Austral*, asian; ‘Oodnadatta has once again been tlie scene of much rejoicing— at least that sort of rejoicing which is associated with a visit from another Lover nor. In the past three Governors and one Governor-General have visited this terminus of the northern railway system of South Australia. But this last visit must ever rank as a red-letter pertormance among the towhsliio memones, seeing that quite an unpfece.dented number of ladies was included iu entourage. Doubtless some historical record has been fittingly filed away among the archives of this little town. The stranger naturally surmises that the terminus of a 600 nules railway system—which can only be reached by means of a bridge, which cost something less than £SO,CdO, across a creek which runs about once in seven .years—has an institute, or a school of aits, or a museum; or a mayor’s parlour cupboard, where local happenings are properly scheduled, along with mudi else that is; valuable. If such is not the case matters should be remedied in a township which has for over 30 vears * ™! ed r° ne of the farthest outposts of fitHna +h 11 !- 0^I ] lß^10 , 11 -- is certainly Hon townshl P of this description should have a mayor of its own and a row of councillors, just as was the fc i he ear,y townships on tlie .West Australian goldfields, if onlv in J? 6 tO , ieceive eaeh Governor in turn as he has come along with a stance d T’ ee °t P°m p and circumSince Lord Kmtoro visited Oodnadatta. arriving somewhat suddenly without outriders, or anv other formality the north, every Govercamnel°fi! aS Sl - nc A made the has ho?T n°S a i m J?t - or two in the local hotel. Oodnadatta is a dreary spo t in a dry. season, hut, like mam- another township in the far north 'of- South ■ Australia, attractive enough, from a P ? Ult i ° f vie , w > in th ® winter, when the landscape has been freshened nfarf/ f.T' ii -W that motor-cars have made travelling comparatively easy to what it was in the days of liorses and camels, doubtless many more visitors A L Ve w re UP ° n tri P tO- -ahd from Alice bpi mgs, more especially if thev can condense then-visit into'"a matter whefw V One wonders nUnl ’ tlie . ,r ,,Yarious.. stoppingplaces, any special form of musical entertainment was provided for the Vice-Regal party. Much good mxisic is now obtainable even in" the heart nf * h ® coati nent, since the invention of giamophones and pianolas. Before this era one had to depend on nmuthoigans concertinas, and the Jew’s harp >»ow solos hv Jean de Reszke or Melba sermons by Spurgeon or F a t?--r ' a ysb ai b lectures bv IV. M. Huo-hes or F. T.-Bullen, and'speeches bv Llovd George or Winston Churchill,.‘can be tinned on as easily in the bush as thev can in any of the suburbs of the great c'ties- It seems incongruous to hear the deep sonorous note of the political speaker with one ear,. whilst tlie other is taking m from away over the sandhills the nasal monotone, but perfect

timing, of some blackfellows’ corroboree. If some of these aboriginal refrains could have been recorded, for reproduction at the Empire Exhibition they -would, at any rate, have attracted much notice from one class of audience in London —the resident tomcat. To a. vandal like myself there is little to choose between the worst aboriginal melody and the best Chinese music. If any preference is to be shown, it should be for the former, if only because the time is wellnigh perfect. Judging by the account of the recent celebrations supplied by an old-time resident, Oodnadatta did not let itself go on this occasion with its customary abandon. If it did not, it certainly missed a royal, or the nearest approach to a Royal, opportunity.

HERD-TESTING OPERATIONS

PROGRESS AT OPOTIKI

The herd-testing movement is now making rapid progress under the auspices of the Bay of Plenty Herd Testing Association, states the Opotiki Guardian. Last year there was only one group operating, but for the coming year" four other groups have been formed in various parts of the district. making live groups in all, with a possibility of groups from White Pine Bush and Opotiki also being formed. The figures quoted at the annual meeting make interesting reading, and give some idea of the usefulness of the Association.

There were 1891 cows being tested. The average quantity of butter-fat cow was 2081 b., which at Is 6d a pound, meant a. return of £ls 12s per cow. The highest herd gave an average of 3241 b butter-fat, netting a return of £24 6s 9d per cow. The second highest herd gave an. average of 2871 b, returning £2l 11s lOd per cow. The lowest herd ’returned an average of 931 b of butter-fat, giving a return of £6 ]9s 8d per cow. The best return from an individual cow was 1 481 lb of butter-fat for 300 days’ milking, and the net return was £36 Is 6d. The contrast between the highest and lowest is almost beyond belief, for the lowest cow was milked for* only 120 days, and gave only 421 b of butter-fat. The return to one owner was £3.4s 6d! The ten cows with the best test all netted their owners over £3O a. head.

It would be thought that the publication of such convincing figures would be sufficient to impress on all dairymen the necessity for herd-testing, but there are still many who are content to follow the old methods and trust to. luck.

Testing is canried out in connection with the operations of the Kia Ora Dairy Co., and although the local results may not he of quite so outstanding a nature, they are sufficient to demonstrate the necessity for testing.

A NEW INDUSTRY

PIG RAISING IN THE DOMINION

MR, J. S JESSEP’S INVESTIGATIONS.

(Otago Daily Times.) Although Mr. J. S. Jessep is in England for personal reasons, he is taking a very Jive interest in the question of developing the pork and bacon industry in New Zealand, and is studying the matter from this end. He has been visiting many of the important pig breeders in the country, he has conferred with bacon curers and provision dealers, he has visited Holland, and he is going over to Denmark. So far, he says, he is convinced that New Zealand cannot do better than follow the Danes and import “large white’’ pigs to cross-breed with the New Zealand stock, which is largely Berkshire The cross with the “large white” gives a long side with plenty of lean and not too much fat, and such is what the English market demands. - .

“New Zealand has about reached the limit of her production as far as frozen meat and wool are concerned,” said Mr. Jessep. “We may increase by half a million carcases per annum, but that is about the full possible extent. Our exports of butter and cheese may increase as our farmers pay more attention to herd-culling, and as land is more closely farmed But when. Siberia comes into the market again and other countries develop their dairy industry, the average price of butter and cheese will most assuredly gradually decrease. Hitherto the price of butter and cheese has been high, and such high prices have made our dairy farmers neglect the side lines of the dairy farm. Of all such side lines the raising of pigs is the easiest and most profitable.

“The Danes side by side with their d&iry business bave developed pigraising on scientific lines, and have succeeded so well that the export of hams and bacon alone from Denmark now exceeds the value of butter and cheese. To England alone Denmark sends £16,000,000 worth of hams and bacon per annum. Now the Danes have to import a great deal of pig feed; New Zealand can grow it all. Also the Danish farmers have a severe winter to contend with. In New Zealand, and especially in the North Island, we have none. The old idea of rearing pigs in styes and carrying all their lood to them is going, and in all pigl aising countries pigs are now being glazed like sheep until they have readied the stage when it is necessary to fatten them

“England annually imports over £50,000,000 .worth of hams, bacon, frozen pork, and pork products like lard, etc. Of this amount New - Zealand sends practically none. Now it is absolutely necessary for New Zealand to increase her exports if we are to carry the load of war taxation and continue to develop our country. I know of no way in which w T e can so easily and profitably increase our exports by several millions as by developing pigraising side by side with our great dairy industry. It is because I believe it can be done that I accepted a seat on the hoard of the New Zealand Bacon and Meat Company. We killed some .60,000 this year, but they were all for local and Australian trade. “The Danes have -developed their English trade by breeding pigs that will produce the type of bacon and barn that the English trade demands. We must do the same. We have tremendous natural and climatic advantages over any other part of the world, and if in a few years’ time New Zealand is not exporting several million pounds worth of frozen pork, hams, and bacon to England I will be disappointed. In any case I am going to do wliat I can to develop the trade. There is an immense field here. I wonder how much Denmark buys from England in return for the 30 or 40 million pounds worth of butter, chee<*, ham and bacon that England buys from her ”

WORK OF STATE FOREST

SERVICE

The planting: of an additional 2000 acres of trees in the Canterbury-Otago district is the obiective of the State Forest Service this season. , The total area planted is 14,667 acres.

The new areas this season include 750 acres at Hanmer Springs, about

600 acres at Balmoral Plantation, near Hainner Springs, about 550 acres at Tapanui (Otago), and 100 acres at Naseby (Otago). The season started about a month ago and already approximately 400 acres have been planted at Balmoral and 100 acres at Tapanui. The Forest Service has a full - staff of workmen engaged. In addition to its own planting operations. the State Forest Service has supplied three-quarters of a million trees to farmers and public bodies. The stock of available trees is now sold out, those on hand being required for State plantations. A large number of trees are being supplied for the experimental planting of 200 acres on the West Coast. TEMPE DOWNS.

Mention of a visit recently paid by the Vice-Regal 'party to the Glen of Palms, which is situated to the west of the Hermannsburg Mission Station, on the Finke, in Central Australia, says a. correspondent in the Australasian, evokes memories of a time when the adjoining station of Tempe Downs was first being exploited by a small Adelaide pastoral company. It inspires other reflections also, all more or less connected with the time when cattle breeding in the Macdonnell ranges was a liability, and the process of looking after them was a dangerous risk. In the past Tempe Downs has been the scene of many tragedies. Mostly, the victims were cattle, the aggressors being a formidable tribe of wild natives, Jed and organised by a semi-civilised ruffian, who had bestowed upon himself the name of Racehorse. He and other notorious scoundrels, two of them respectively known as Rodger and Donkey, were everlastingly having misunderstandings with the mounted police.

STATE FARMS

COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Reporting to Parliament on the State harms, the Director-General of Agriculture mentions that the financial re>turns show a marked improvement, ilie expenditure at, Ruakura was £lO,282, and the receipts £B7IB. At Weraroa the expenditure was £5754, and the receipts £4225. So far as the Ruakura figures are concerned, it .must be borne in mind that a considerable, volume of educational work is carried on there, and in addition the permanent farm school was in operation for some,seven months of the financial vear Apart from the fees paid by the students at this school, which do.- not cover more than about half the cost of their maintenance, this educational work naturally does not give a. direct- monetary return.

In addition to the above-mentioned establishments, Te Kouwhata Farm, devoted chiefly to vine culture and wine making, showed an expenditure, from the vote of £3973, with receipts amounting .to £5729. Apart from the educational work at Ruakura and some instructional work carried out at Weraroa, these places, together with Mqumahaki, have continued to be operated on more or less commercial lines, and the Question of settling upon a definite policy for Weraroa and Te Kauwhata” needs to be considered. So far as Moumahaki is concerned, arrangements are in hand for subdividing it and placing settlers upon the subdivided areas, the intention, being that the revenue derived from it shall be expended upon educational and instructional work in the area extending from Wanganui to New Plymouth. The herds of stud cattle at Ruakura and Weraroa have been maintained at a high standard of quality, and the farms generally kept in . good order throughoiut.

In connection with the figures given above, it should be mentioned that the expenditure shown in the expenditure from the farm voted, on the salaries of the permanent officers on tlie farms.

DAIRY INDUSTRY PIONEER

MR. WILLIAM GOODFELLOW RETIRES. Probably no more dramatic rise in business circles has ever occurred in New Zealand than that of Mr Goodfellow, who has just retired from the position of manager c-f the New' Zealand Co-op. Dairy Co., Ltd. Fifteen years ago he trudged the countryside in an effort to secure supplies for his first factory. To-day he is the head of a co-operative organisation comprising 8000 active suppliers, owning 62 factories and creameries, which produce approximately 30,000 tons of dairy produce, worth £4,500,000 a year. In 1909 fate threw Mr Goodfellow into the -dairying business in a strange manner. While operating a hardware store at Hamilton he sold a butterniaking plant to a customer. Through a land deal failing this customer was unable to complete payment, and Mr Goodfellow had to retake possession. Becoming interested in the possibilities of the dairying industry, he decided, in conjunction with a practical partner, to' erect and operate "the plant himself. Mr Goodfellow entered the business at the right time. The development on creamery lines was limited by the distance which it was practicable and profitable to- haul whole milk; the home separator, destined to revolutionise the industry, just being introduced, and it was then that Mr Goodfellow took the deciding step of his career. Forseeing the effect of the adaptation of machinery to farm work, he visualised what it would do for dairying, and he was right. Improvements on the farm were followed by improvements in the factory, and the coming of the age c.f machinery in the industry enabled successive record? of attainment to be rapidly reached. The amalgamation effected in 1919 saw Mr Goodfellow placed at the head of the. combined • company as managing director, and since then he has guided it through its steady expansion. Hei will retain the position of managing director, and will act in an advisory eapa•v, but he will reside at Auckland. He will also supervise the dried milk, coal, and marketing branches of the company’s business.

A VISITOR FROM CANADA

FARMING CONDITIONS IN THE DOMINION.

Dr. Alexander McTaggart, who will be remembered -as a one-time officer of the Department of Agriculture, and who is now Assistant Professor of Agronomy at Macdonald College, McGill University, Quebec, Canada, talked to a ‘representative of the Christchurch Press on the work at Macdonald College and of agricultural matters generally in Canada. ■

MacDonald College owes its existence, Dr. McTaggart said, to the munificence of the late Sir William C. Macdonald. Prior to its establishment, Canadians had to go to the United States for advanced degrees in agriculture, which they can now obtain at Macdonald College. Dr. McTaggart’s special department—agronomy—has to do Avith the culture and breeding of field crops, and their improvement., and also with soil science and soil management. Plant pathology, entomo-

mology, and insect control, and chemistry are othoir branches. There is a large experimental farm of several hundred acres attached to the College, on which stock breeding experiments are conducted in respect of dairy cattle, sheep, swine, and beef cattle. There is a good herd of Avrshires —the predominating breed of dairy stock in Quebec; the notable Quebec breeders of Ayrshires—Nees, McMillan, and Bridge—have an. international reputation.

The experimental farm piroper comes under the Department of Agronomy, and consists of 75 to 100 ocres. Many experiments with forage and other crops are conducted; not only are tests conducted, but improvements m breeding are mador-the object in view being to> produce strains suitable for the rigorous climate of Eastern Canada. In alfafas (lucerne), for instance, the ordinary Grimm variety, though it dees well elsewhere dn Canada, is . not too hardy in Quebec; but at Macdonald College they are breeding frost-resist-ing strains, but the best results have been obtained in respect of a strain, the foundation material for which came from Minnecota, TJ.S.A. The North Sweden variety was, Dr. McTaggart believed, slightly superior to Grimm strain in hardness. ~ The Cossack and Chernow varieties had also given good results as regards quality, hardness, and produetivness. Experiments had been also conducted with Timothy, the grass mainly used in eastern Canada, and they had strains almost ready for distribution that are hardy, healthy, rust-resisting, and highly productive Respecting ceireals, Macdonald College had done something in the matter of spring wheats, and had produced a strain suitable for Quebec, which is not, however, so much a wheat-growing as an oat-growing country. In oats the best results had been obtained from an improved strain of the Alaska oat—which matures early—and from an improved strain of the American Banner oat. These two oats had been improved in yield and and suitability for Quebec conditions. In maize, Quebec Yellow, and Quebec 28 had been improved. Dr. McTaggart mentioned, in respect of maize, that the system of summer fallowing, to conserve the moisture for the benefit of the next season’s crop, had been found not to be absolutely necessary. The growing Dent maize was just _as effective for the purposes of the succeeding crop ef wheat. By adopting this procedure a season, was not lost, and the crop of maize could be made into silo for winter feed for stock.

As to agricultural conditions generally in Canada, Dr. McTaggart said that, like New Zealand, Canada had been hard hit by the war. To-day the great need was cheap production. While the farmer obtained 70 cents (say 3s) per bushel for his wheat, he had to pay increased prices for the things necessary to grmv it; in addition there was the long haul of the wheat to the seaboard. Overhead charges Avere very great, and had been increased during the war. The price of wheat had not been increased in the same ratio as the overhead charges, and therein lay the Canadian farmer’s trouble to-day. The great necessity for cheaper production was engaging the best brains of the country in devising ways and means by Avhich the cost of production can he cut down. .Although Canada exported live cattle to a considerable extent, she relied chiefly on the export of wheat. She would "be in a betTter position if her export of dairy produce were greater, and if she did not have “all her eggs in one basket.” An endeavour was being made to improve the export bacon trade by improving the. quality of bacon for export. An effective system of hog-grading, in which a definite type, known as the haco'n type of hog, was aimed at. Experts had been sent to England’ to study the requirements of the British consumer, so that producers could better adapt their methods to the British taste in bacon.

ANCIENT HORSES. It is stated that a thoroughbred horse named Clover holds the record at the present time for being the oldest horse in the world. Like many another record it belongs to the United States of America. This animal is said to be 53 years old, and is still living on the farm of a clergyman, near Catawissa, Po., United States. Clover was foaled in 1871, and for some years past has been in receipt of a pension from a NeAV York Jockey Club. Ancient historians named Pliny (Avhom some of us may remember at school, along with Caesar, Livy, Inomer, and the like) and Athenaeus (Avhom some of us have never heard of before) quote instances of horses attaining the age of 65 or even 70 years. • Another ancient, Augustus Nipheus, ’speaks of a horse belonging to Ferdinand I Avhich Avas over 70 years. Aristotle and others made observation that mares generally live longer than horses, a remark which has its corollary in the human race. The aboA'e age records are interesting, as they sliqav that years and years ago horses possessed as much longevity as the donkey, which the process of improvement has more or less eradicated. After this evidence one would naturally feel jmore respect for stupidity in

a horse, and a disposition to cultivate it even in the human race Some of us are familiar with these records but as for mules and donkeys, well it seems to require a generation or’two of humanity to bear testimony as to the career of some from birth to death. Bare by misadventure, for which kindly l’ead starvation, thirst, and cruelty,, the donkey never and the mule seldom dies. In any case, whatever else the cause of death claiming the mule, overwork cannot be claimed as a responsible ' agent. The reason of this is that one cannot overwork, a mule. It systematically declines to respond to all inducements, and the more violent the inducements, the more stubborn the* obstinacy. THE FARMER’S BOY. .Now Hodge he was a farmers hand, My word! he used to catch it. He used to swot an awful lot And sleep when he could snatch it. And then he joined the union, And Farmer John was bested, For should he talk, Hodge- downs his fork And “turmots” get congested. —Dudley Tennant.