ITEMS OF INTEREST

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6632, 11 June 1928, Page 10

ITEMS OF INTEREST

News From Other Parts Mortality Among Lambs. Heavy mortality among lambs in Wanganui district has been causing farmers considerable concern of late. This trouble appears to be general in other parts of the Dominion. A Wanganui farmer of many years standing was quick to diagnose the trouble, haying experienced a similar state of affairs several years ago. The mortality, he states, is due to stomach worms, and an early drench is the remedy. He drenched his lambs as soon as he noticed that something was wrong and the mortality has ceased. Alsatian Dogs.

The Western Australian Canine Association has endorsed the report in reference to Alsatian dogs of a committee, the members of which have 20 to 35 years’ colonial and international experience with dogs. The committee found that the Alsatian wolf dog should bo prohibited from entering Australia, on the ground of its long list of convictions in Great Britain as a ruthless sheep killer; that its intelligence did not exceed the cunningness of the average crossbred dog; and that there was no useful canine function for the Alsatian in Australia. Agricultural Banking.

The Queensland Agricultural Bank is credited with doing good work. Though it. owes the Treasury, and is owed i nturn by “the man on the land,” £2,340,840, the proportion of arrears and of foreclosures is small, (says an Australian exchange). The sum named does not represent the full operations. Since the bank’s inception in 1902 the total loans approved to settlers and co-operative companies to June 9 last was £6,497,695. The total amount of arrears at August 31 last was £45,287. The bank had on its hands 269 properties on which default hdd been made by borrowers, including 178 properties of which possession had been taken in previous years; but only 189 properties had not been disposed of, and these represented an indebtedness of £62,112. Recent seasons have had an adverse effect, but the condition of the bank and its services to the country are considered satisfactory. Tho report says that the number of applications for advances for the conservation of fodder was disappointing. It is very hard to move Queensland farmers to make provision to save their stock from dying of starvation. Export of Veal. The committee of the South Island Dairy Association, which undertook the export of veal from Southland last season should be congratulated on the success of the experiment. As the annual report and balance sheet which were recently published showed, the farmers secured a return of 9s per head, which was an increase of about SO per cent, on the amount previously obtained whep the activities were confined to tho individual sale of skins. Australian Dairy Control. The Australian Dairy Control Board came in for a good deal of criticism at the annual convention of butter and cheese factory managers held in Melbourne recently. One speaker pointed out that the dairymen and not the Government paid for the cost of administration of the Australian Dairy Control Council and State Dairy Advisory Boards. The Butter Export Control Board was brought into existence for the specific purpose of improving the marketing of butter overseas. This body was also paid by those engaged in dairying, and not by the Government and the speaker maintained that they had failed in tho objects for which they were created. It had been announced that they were instrumental in getting a reduction in tho rate of freight. Certainly they were dealing with the subject, but there was no doubt that such reduction would have been granted even though tho Control Board had never seen the light of day. “The Control Board,” declared the speaker, "has had a fair trial, and it has failed, although the field was open to it to do something. It is high time the dairymen and directors of factories considered whether the money expended by them in this direction could not be used with greater advantage otherwise.” Show Meetings. The following societies will be holding meetings during the Winter Show next week: —National Dairy Association; N. Z. Dairy Factory Managers Association; Southdown Sheep Society; N. Z. Hereford Cattle Breeders; N. Z. Red Poll Breeders; N.Z. Ayrshire Catilo Breeders; N. Z. Rennet Company; N. Z. Co-operative Producers’ Marketing Company; Secretaries of North Island A. and P. Associations; N. Z. Leghorn Club; N. I. Poultry, Pigeon and Canary Association; N. Z. Pig Breeders Association; N. Z. Romney Marsh Breeders; N. Z. Wyandotte Club; N. Z. Orpington Club; N. Z. Dairy Breeders Federation; Manawatu Poultry Association; and N. Z. Game and Bantam Club.