AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 471, 16 August 1898, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

[By, a Pbactical Fabmeb.]

the first week of August was lost to the ploughman; so we need say no more about it, or cry over spilt milk. Long «£ thi 8 time of day have we all seen hashes oisewat' the 7™? B they not thVVery bad habit, -like mspeotors, tax; collectors, rent days, book fiends, etc., of coming in upon us precisely" when least wanted? But the whirligig of Atogust soon brings its revenges We have had well on to a fortnight of cold steady east wind, abominated by influenza patients, admired by horses, ploughs, and farmers, relished by carters and contractors and loved even by young ladies because they say, it brings the chaps to their lips Consequently the land is as dry as one could wish, and full speed ahead has been the word, arid that virtually from daylight to dark. Corn box«s must be well filled now, but whether or not, for a variety of reasons, there is bound to be a big regiment of thin horses this spring. A marvellous extra number of acres are to plough and sow, work is a montn or so in arrear, and the quality of feed is_second class. These being mattei-B of everv-day experience, each man is in the same hole as his neighbor, so we are to be boxed in a numerous company. '

Wheat does not hold its own in the market, nor do oats hurry up with the long-expected bang. Good chaff is scarce and dear, with the chance of being both scarcer and dearer; bad chaff is by no means in short supply, and plenty' of it is dear at a gift. Turnips are getting well cleaned up, and as usual wUl' be non-existent when most wanted. To all v intents and purposes the unwritten law of southern agriculture requires that the interests of sheep at this most important season , must be sacrificed for that of ploughs and harrows. The same game goes on year by year, enlightened management being the ex-., ception,' and it is surprising" that' so little attention continues to be. given to the condition and feed of the mothers of the profit- , earning freezers?

Even now in some parts the, early lamb has begun to bleat on the braes— a sudden change . of climate for the small par^y, — but with plenty of feed and shelter he will make a wonderful effort to get along in the world. The worst of the matter is that he is in all cases an undesirable immigrant, and in most an unexpected one, no preparation having been made for his arrival. ' Accidents of the sort will occur in the best regulated flocks ; but when a man buys a lot of two-toothers to supplement his' flock, times them, for, September, and finds lambing begin in July, accident is not the name for it. He is nearly in as bad a way as the buyer who purchases a lot of young ewes said to be in lamb, andgets only . 7 per cent. The annoyance of having lambs out of the intended season is - bad enough, but the nondescript pedigree is worse ; here the buyer has his own Specially picked rams prepared, and gets a lot of mongrels who know their own mothers, but have no more wisdom on the subject of their other parentage .than a lot of industrial school kids. ' But he is saddled with them, and, like the S.M., the benevolent trustees,' and the ratepayer', he puts the best face on a bad job, and stands in loco parcnth. Cowper once said —

The tale that I relate, This moral seems to carry ; Choose not alone a proper mate. But, a proper time to marry. *

No less an authority than the Chairman of • the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce last week pronounced a strong opinion on the prosperity of the country as the result of the high prices . of oats,' wheat, and potatoes, increase of -»■ exports, imports, etc It is a pity that those ' .« who had- their crops burnt or hailed or-.' drowned out should, have been shut out of the happy prosperous circle, for it is unfortunately far too true that in entire districts we know of agricultural mattery that are the reverse . of prosperous at the present time, and this is e ' ' by no means confined to late- or poor soils. .- In localities of that class it ' is quite the common thing for people to be badly off for roads in winter, water in summer, and Wse cash all the year through, but in view of the wretched returns of last harvest from eventhe best land the frequent talk of prosperity is, as Mr Sam Weller would say,' " a trifle too mountainyousi" There is not much use 'of the : word'depressiori, certainly, but the feeling is there all the. same, and people say little about it, ds few care to ■ parade their poverty. It is only the rich men of my acquaintance ... -. I ever hear complaining .of want of money. Those, who require to borrow, like the .- Colonial Treasurer or myself, have always a g grand surplus on hand, or if we haven't we , pretend to have, you understand. . .'.

A i,ai>t correspondent of the Ensign who " jigns herself " : A Woman, 1 ' is sorely exercised m mind about," woman the slave " and I' the ill-used, down-trodden wives of this district."" Dear me, I never knew of all this before; neither in, my. ignorance was I aware that "the customs of foreign countries introduced into New Zealand with- its enervating climate "■•'. do not answer." I sometimes pitch into thS-.": ■ peculiarities of our climate myself, but after-.;'.---a good many yeais experience of it I haW ' never had to use the word "enervating" ' • about it. It is to my mind quite the other thing, but we won't quarrel on the point. The fair, correspondent referred to seems to ' . have farmers wives particularly in view as a much -abused body, but from what I know of them I don't see much "down-trodden" evidence. • Certainly they are not ' mere mantelpiece ornaments',' and, unlike the dinky-dink (anylicc la-de-da) " lady of. the " period, they can lay their hands, about them, and are not afraid ' to do it .either. Their time is not monopolised with tennis-balls and fiddle-bows, nor are they 1 of the itamp of the damsel famous in song who was*able Tp bike the whole day long But couldn't help her mother, As she wasn't very strong. ' • Cruel loafing husbands and abused downtrodden wives may exist for anything I know, but I can't see that farmers and their spouses fill the' bill any more than other people ; indeed, farmers are a manly, marry- - r * ing class, of men, who fully act up to the Divine command.— : - -' All people that on earth do' dwell, ' Stick to your wives and love them well ; so charming correspondents may extendtheir - philanthropy to other quarters. Farmers are $ not taking any.