NOTES BY THE WAY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 16 June 1928, Page 16

NOTES BY THE WAY

The freezing companies which are taking up flic “hobby” calf business anticipate to get rennet supplies sufficient to supply the whole of New Zealand and possibly to export to Australia. To be independent of foreign rennet would, it is estimated, mean a tranferenee of £IO,OOO to local industry which now goes abroad. Much is also expected from by-products. Mr. Dickie said the other day that, besides being independent of foreign supplies, New Zealand would get better rennet.

Practically 90 per cent of the l farmers round Auroa, said the: president of the branch on Saturday, are members of the Farmers’ Union. Mr: Dickie added that it was hardly realised what power the farmers would wield if they were all combined in their own union.

The essence of the meat export business, said Mr. Dickie at Auroa, is to know the right time to send so as to reach the Old Country when the people were in the habit of getting supplies—pork in winter, Jamb about Mav, and so on.

To have not more than a. quarter of ail acre waste land on a 100-acre farm is the position on Mr. W. A. Guv’s place' on the Sheet Road, Matapu. He says lie has practically no places which he would set apart for tree' planting.

ilr. C. "Willis, of Matapu, sent some of his root crop samples to New Plymouth and Hamilton, and scored at both shows. He had. a. very decisive series of wins at the former show, and at Hamilton came first in carrots and parsnips, and he reports that those sent were not actually his best. Some of the best were actually 24 inches long and large in proportion.

The remarkably fine plot- of mangolds grown by Harold Willis, of Matapu, which, averaged out at per acre, was equal to 188 tons 7ewt, will probably not be beaten for a long time. It is no less than 36 tons more than _ the orevious' Tccord plot grown, at Oka-iawa by Dorothy Ward some l years ago and over 50 tons more than the next best this season. The ground was very thoroughly worked and prepared, and lies in a nicely sheltered spot, and in addition cowyard manure was liberally used. The crop is so exceptional that arrangements have been made to secure photographs of the plot for use in the Agricultural Journal.

Farmers are now getting ready for top-dressing (says a. country writer in the south), and' it appears that- this will be carried out on a. more extensive scale this season than in the past. The greatest inquiry has been for basic slag, and one small shipment has already arrived, but the main shipments are still to come, the Taranaki being due to arrive at Bluff with a heavy cargo of manures on June 30. This will probably lie the principal shipment. Sales of basic slag have increased very considerably this season, and this fertiliser predominates in the farmers’ bookings to the present. This is no doubt due in some measure to the good results obtained from slag in the past and partly to the fact that farmers as a rule sow it earlier than they do superphpo'sphate and other manures.

During the past week the ploughing of lea land lias ]>een pushed ahead in most districts in Southland' (says: the “Times”), conditions being mostly favourable for this work. As harvesting and threshing have been completed in all but a few cases and: as the dallying season is practically at. an end, ploughing remains as the principal operation. With the approach of the frosty season farmers are pushing on this work as rapidly as possible.

The value of condition in stock has been stressed time and again. It is emphasised in a recent Addington market report, which states that “decently finished fat cattle were better by at least 10s to 25s per head.”

A strong protest is being made by members of the Farmers’ Union in Canterbury against the removal of fields division instructors to Palmerston North. The Director-General of Agriculture has stated that it was intended that these officers should continue to initiate and supervise research work in Canterbury, but even so it iseemed that Canterbury farmers were losing the intimate and. frequent service of men who had gained information, experience and friends that could not be gained’ by occasional visits from Massey College.

At the washing-up wool sale nnd last week in Christchurch, says a wellinformed critic, there was a very sound demand, suggesting 'hat in the opinion of those engaged in the fellmongerv trade in the Dominion that there is nothing wrong with wool trade prospects. They certainly hid up well for any fleece- wool which was offering, and any reasonably good, halfbred was worth 2s a lb. The stronger lines were proportionately good.

‘•lt .is a matter for congratulation that the Friesian Association has been the first breed society in New Zealand to grapple' seriously with the judging problem,” said the president of the New Zealand Friesian Association (Mr. PI. J. March ant) at the annual meeting in Hamilton. “Nothing could be more confusing and. discouraging for inexperienced exhibitors and vexations than the reversals of decisions one sees in attending a number of consecutive shows. More serious even than this is the giving of awards to inferior stock. It was with a view to securing more uniformity and a better standard of judging generally that the association’s council called the official judges together in conference. Several of such conferences have now been held, and have succeeded in clarifying ideas and eliminating fads.”

With the exception of some low-lying areas on the far north coast (says the “Sydney Herald”) dairying districts arc facing the winter with every prospect of satisfactory returns. The usual season decline is becoming more apparent, hut reports from several of the departmental dairy instructors indicate that supplies are still above the average for this time of the year. The conditions generally appear to follow those in New Zealand, and a country correspondent reports that the district where he lives in covered with the best coat- of grass it has borne for many years. Another states that pastures in the central west are still providing abundant fodder, .and farmers have been able to reserve large stacks of lucerne. Dairy cattle are in good condition. though advancing winter has caused production to slacken. Quality, however, has been well maintained. Dairymen are generally satisfied with their prospects for the winter.

An indication is given in a report by »i central marketing agency oi an improving market next season for pigs. The writer says that “an allround improvement in the price of fat pigs was recorded, and store pigs, if anything, improved a little in price.” This improvement was forecasted as likely by a man who is in close touch with the Home markets as likely to occur within a few months. Ten million trees —mostly pine seedlings—will be given free to residents of Ontario this year by the Governmetn of that province. At least threefourths of the number, it is expected, will be used for private planting; the remainder supplying the needs of county and townships’ forests. Any resident may have up to 3500 forest trees and 500 for wind-breaks. Gifts of trees from Ontario Government nurseries started 21 years ago, and some 30,000,000 seedlings have been distributed. The demand grows rapidly. In 1891 there were 225 applicants; last year there were over 4000. Recently over 100 boys and girls left England for Pinjarra, near. Perth. Western Australia, to start training at the Kingsley Fairbridge Farm School. At present there are 100 boys and 100 girls at the farm, which was founded by the late Mr. Kingsley Fairbridge. He started his first farm school in Western Australia in 1912 with 13 small boys. On the farm are cottages where poor law and other children taken to Australia under this successful scheme are housed' during their period of training. The high values that have been paid for land have rendered rural securities unpopular (says a South Island critic), although this avenue of investment is showing signs of becoming a little more active. The opinion is held that there will be more money available for this class of security when the investing public recovers from the “shock induced by the Government’s quite unsound policy of the moratorium,” which, it -was stated, had the- effect of diverting a lot of money from the market. On his return from a visit to the Victorian dairying districts, the general secretary of the Primary Producers’ Union m New South Wales declared that ail outstanding feature was the attention paid to the top-dressing of pastures. Everywhere he went he found that the carrying capacity had been substantially increased owing to the use of superphosphate, and dairy stock were manifestly thriving on the improved pastures.