ON THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13781, 20 June 1908, Page 8

ON THE LAND.

THE AMERICAN BEEF TRUST. Ix the course of a letter to 'the Standard, Mr. «L W. Hope, director of Messrs. Knight, Ltd., -'write*: For was weeks » number at:.articles have appeared in the daily arid other press on the subject of the American Beef Trust, and it is particularly interesting to riot** that two of the leading I<oneloii free trade dailies have gtveh'Mp.cohstdtfrabV! space in their columns to exposing wii*t M Sow appears to be. « carefully-planned plot oh the part of the American Beef Tragi to monopolize not only the import and distribution of live and 'slaughtered.' bullock* imported from America, the Argentine, and even Australasia-, hut to render it impossible for the British farmer and feeder to grow beef and mutton at a, profit iii this country. The carefully-thought-out scheme of thi* alb;n trust comprises a monopoly of th*» moans of transport from the different conntries mentioned for rattle, thereby '• rendering coin petition" from outride shippers in the** countries abortive; and by securing extraordinary privileges from such corporation* a.* London, Liverpool, and Manchester, they have- practically closed these market* to all but themselves. Not content with this, they have by &c»ato moan* secured the co-operation of our British railttays—railway*, bo it remembered, that have been built aw! are maintained by the capital of English people. By this co-operation tin have succeeded already in securing preferential rates for t!m transit of their beef to all parte of the United Kingdom. One instance will be sufficient to demonstrate the foregoing. At Glasgow, the centre of the American cattle trade in the North, the carcases are despatched mostly to London, it distance of 444 miles, the freight upon which is 4S« per ton, whereas Scotch ' feeders and killer*,' shipping from Aberdeen, the great market. for .Scotch beef, have to pay 72* per ton in freight to-London, the latter being only 79 miles further from Aberdeen than is GlasSow. The railway companies have not only given this enormous preference to the Americans, but they allow them to use their sidings all over the country, where the Beef Trust may, and does, send refrigerator cars containing American beef for distribution <<» the retailers in small (owns, and these cars 1 are allowed to remain in the sidings, free of rent, rates, and taxes, until their Lira! agent ha* disposed of the beef, even should it tako him a week or a fortnight to do so. Tito great hardship entailed upon local killers must be evident to all. The greater hardship being endured by our feeders and agriculturists is one that demands immediate remedy. It must be evident to all thinking men that the American Beef Trust are striking at the very roots of (ho prosperity of agriculture in this country, for I think it is admitted by those best able to judge that the climate of the United Kingdom is much more suitablo to the growing of beef and mutton than to the growing of wheat and other cereals. The great hardship produced by the. • restrictive laws passed some years ago, whereby Canadian and other cat;tlo are slaughtered immediately on arrival, has had a very detrimental effect upon the beefgrowing industry in this country, for larg-5 numbers of the cattle, coming from Canada in poor condition, were formerly bought by feeders and taken home, to their farm*, where they enjoyed for three or four months the advantages of: the superior class of English feeding, and thereby grew into bullocks of heavy weight and good quality, yielding to the farmer a generous return for hies outlay. The. same restrictions have mado it impossible for the feeder to get hi* usual supply of store cattle outside of Ireland, with the result that the price of these has risen to such an extent that feeding has gradually become an unprofitable business; honco rito very greatly reduced figures shown in the returns of the Boatd.of Agoculture since the year 1902.

Surely the time has coma when more altention should be paid by the Government, not only to the prosperity of the Britt.ali feeder, but to the protection of those killcre, manufacturers, mid distributors who arc dependent; on this trade for their daily' bread and the few extra thousands a year which might be necessary in order to secure a safe and sufficient examination of all animals shipped to this country at port of loading would bo nothing as compared with tho enormous lons which is at present .going on owing to the want of proper and efficient arrangement, whereby the immunity of dinease from our own herds can be readily secured. That the old game of freezing out all competition is the object of the American Beef Trust must be evident to all, and, having once secured tho remaining large distributing shops throughout the kingdom, a largo number of which are already in their hands, tho public will be required to - pay the heavy premiums already given for tbovo shops in .tho shape of a largely increased price for their meat. DAIRYING BREVITIES. If tho owner feels that lie can afford it, a cupful of molasses to" each feed will help to keep tho digestive organs in good working order. Cans should not. remain in the milki&gshed while being filled. Remove the milk of each cow at once from the shed to a clean room. With no demonstrator at hand experience will prove a very good teacher, and by the third churning the butter-maker will find the confidence and assurance essential to the enjoyment of any work.

If those who cannot drink milk or use it in any form at night, because it leaves a bud taste in the mouth, will drink one or two swallows of cold tea after eating they will find the trouble has disappeared. Cream should not be more than four days old when churned, and it is essential that it bo stirred thoroughly twice a day in the meantime. A good system provides for stirring the cream at, straining time. Among dairy cattle there is no characteristic so strongly hereditary as. that of the ability to produce milk. Some families have it developed in an extraordinary degree, while in others the tendency is very feeble indeed. In the summer the. cream will sour itself. bur. in the winter it must be soured, and this is done by moans of what is called a "starter," which is simply a little freshlysoured milk added to the cream 12 hours before churning. As soon as the churning is over and the churn is emptied a tea-kettle full of boiling water should be ready and waiting, and the churn, dasher, and cover should be scalded immediately. Then they are ready to w*t away for use the next time. The temperature of the cream should be taken by thrusting the thermometer into it before pouring into the churn, as *ho churn may then be cooled or heated with water to help gain the desired degree, which is 60; then the butter ought to come in 10 minute*. WITCH'S HERBAL OINTMENT. (Registered.) Every family requires some kind of ointment to bo kept in the house to be used in the treatment of burns, scalds, chilblains, bruises, ulcers, scalp sores,, inflammatory skin diseases (particularly of parasitic origin) —in fact, in any case in which an emollient antiseptic dressing is required. WITCH'S OINTMENT act-, soothingly and curat in all cases of haemorrhoids or piles. Price Is od and Ss 6d; all chemists and stores. Tussicura Manufacturing Company, proprietors. _ Make it a rule- of your home to keep Chamberlain's Colic, Cholera, and Diarrhea Remedy as a safeguard against bowel com.- ,