AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10599, 7 March 1895, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS.

(Canterbury Times.) The wool in Canterbury practically closed with the sales at Timaru aad Christchurch last week. It ia to be hoped that this seasou'a record of low prices will for over stand unapproached. To many growers tho receipts from the wool clip, iaetond of being tho mainstay of the year’s income, have been a mere incidental, Tho fall in vsluo has been the more serious that the number of producers affected has never been larger. Tho stiitietica of the trade show that though the colonial production was last year 450,000 bales greater than ia 1889, tho amount realised for the wool was • .-51,600,000 less. The production has, in, fact, more than overtaken tho consumption, and'the worst feature of fcha position is that there ia at tho present timo no prospect of such an increase of tho consumption as will keep pace with the annual increase of production, far leas absorb the heavy old (stocks which are held in Europe and the United States. Indeed, Schwartze’s circular believes that tho fall of tha last fiva years coincides with a period of arrested, if nob positively retrograde, consumption, and that though other causes have, doubtless, had a bad effect, tho chief factor in the great fail iu value ia that ia tho actual condition of trade, and owing mainly to the large decreaao in tha American consumption, the industry baa in tha past two years had at its disposal more wool than it could profitably deal with. Tho chief hope £cr improvement must ba looked for in tho United States, where tho restricted coa- ■ sumption must have reduced shocks of manufactured woollen goods a small compass, and if increased orders for goods should come, they might bring the consumption to the level of the supply. Attention is directed by the Australasian to' the special demand for well-sorted, clean-scoured woolo which has followed the removal of tho United States’ wool duties. In America much of the wool has to be carried long distances by rail, from the place of its growth to tho place of ita manufacture, and in order to economist) freight it ia tha practice for this wool to bo sorted aad ecoucad ia tha neighbourhood of its origin. Certain particular qualities of wool are in regular demand by manufacturers, and the scourers eort the raw material accordingly and scour it absolutely clean. In the Australasian colonies the wool ia not, as a rule, sorted so particularly, and in scouring it ia generally an object to leave as much of the yolk aa possible in the wool, so that it is uscsssary to scour it again before manufacture. (One Christchurch scourer, we believe, sorts the wool to particular qualities. and scours it ready for the manufacturer.) It is suggested that woolgrowera who scour & considerable portion of their clip should consider this new demand, and bring their wool within its scope by preparing it with greater care. The coat would, of course, be greater, es skilled labour would have to he employed; bub the wool would fetch ita intrinsic value, and an amount would be distributed locally for wages and materials which would add to the prosperity of the country —a matter in which the largest squatter m well as the humblest woolwashar has an interest.

The Canterbury Agricultural aad Pastoral Association, and sheepbreeders generally, are to be congratulated upon tho stand made by ita committee on the fiock-book question. If there is to bo a flock-book it must bo one which will bo a guarantee of the purity of breeding of every flock entered therein, aad this can only be assured by a thorough inspection of the flocks and investigation of thsir history prior to admitting them to registration. The cost of inspection is a bugbear to soma of the Council of the Sheopbreodera’ Association-—who have the matter ia band—-but it is absurd to say that it would be prohibitive; one shilling a head oa each sheep entered would more than cover tho whole cost, and low aa the price of rams is there can surely be no breeder who ’would object to pe-y alioh a fee. It must be remembered this expense would be incurred only at the initial registration of a flock; in subsequent years the flock-masters’ returns, according to the Flock Book regulations, would, as a rule, be sufficient. It is to be hoped that the Council will recognise the importance of thoroughness in the undertaking; without it its work will bo valueless. Not for several years past, our Ashburton correspondent writes, haa there been such a general feeling of depression amongst farmers in that district. Every adverse circumstance seems to have combined against them. The prices of grain leave no profit; indeed, they frequently do not cover the cost of production. Soma of the farmers who wore in a position to do so have held tha last two seasons’ wheat, and aro now worse off than if they had sold when they threshed. A feeling still prevails that tha price will improve, it being anticipated that insufficient wheat for our own consumption and seed haa been produced this season. Only those who were bo fortunate as to sell their lambs early in tho season have done .well out of sheep; as the wool, the increase, and tho present valuo of the stock, in cases where the farmer has been uuabla to soil, only amount to the original cost of the ebook last autumn, leaving nothing for rent, interest and other charges, while want of feed now compels him to cell at whatever price he con get, and not only does ho suffer, but the market ia demoralised. Farmers in dry districts do not know what to turn to with any prospect of a profit. A peculiarity of tho present. season which has been much more marked than in any previous season of which distinct .recollections aro preserved, is the unequal distribution of the rainfall, oven in comparatively small districts. On the Peninsula one valley haa been dry, while the next has been soaked with rain ; in North Canterbury rain has visited certain localities many times, while the adjacent districts have not had a drop fox weeks; along tha sea coast from tho Rakaia to the Eangitata no measurable rain fell from November until last week, aad at Longbeach and Coldstream the grass was completely dried up, aud rape wao the only green fodder to ba had, while towards the hills and along their base from Mount Peel to Mount Eutb there was not a week without rain, aud grass and roots made abundant growth. The western parts of the province have, in short, bad a good season, while the coastward, south of Banks Peninsula, have suffered severely from drought. Similar conditions, though less accentuated, have prevailed in previous years, and will certainly occur again; and tbe obvious moral is that landholders must themselves equalise the distribution of by carrying out a thorough cyateui of irrigation in the districts where tho natural supply is insufficient. The difference between the position of the farmer who is compelled by want of feed to sell Mg sheep at a sacrifice and he who is able to hold them, and even buy more, aad keep them well, is sufficient proof of the profitableness of a good irrigation system. There ia a somewhat general belief that scad taken from the centra of cobs or ears of corn give better reunite than from the ends. In order to teat this Mr J. L. Thompson, principal of tha Hawkeabury Agricultural College, instituted a series of experiments, and gives his results in the New South Wales Agricultural Gazette Seed taken from the centre of a cob yielded 45 bushels 18!b, while that taken from tho end of the cob yielded 49 buahelo 491 b. Experiments conducted in America have given similar result?, aud at Ohio station the average yield per aero for fourteen years was, butt G6’9, middle 62‘S, tip 64’8. Mr Thompson is of opinion that so long as the seed is well grown and fertilised it makes no difference whether it ia taken from the butt, centra or s tip.