COUNTRY NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15055, 26 July 1912, Page 10

COUNTRY NEWS.

[FROM OtTB OWN COnBESPONBISTS.J

ASIA DAIRY FACTORY. PfiEPABA-noss for an early start of the dairying industry in the district are- now tinder way, and annual meetings of the various companies are being held. > me Aria factory, which has the distinction of being the furthest back factory in the district is now in a fair way to prosperity. Started as a proprietary business, it was taken over by the settlers last season, and ia now running as a co-operative factory. The district is admirably adapted tor dairying, and most of the settlers are well equipped for milking on a fairly large scale.* The chief bar to progress is the bad state of the roads, but the settlers are moving in the direction of obtaining loans for metalling them, and when the work is carried out they will reap material advantages. It is also intended to establish stock salevards at Aria, and the Commissioner of Crown Lands has been requested to grant an area for this purpose in a suitable position.

SEW DAIRY PLANT. The Northern Wairoa Dairy Company « completing preparations for the coming season, and the plant, which has been thoroughly overhauled, now contains tv,o Simple! churns, each oi a hal -ton capacity? and a Tophss churn, which treats with three-quarters of a ton. With the addition of a new 400-gaUon vat, the cream vat capacity now stands at *OUU gallons. A new pasteuriser has been tdded to cope with Rasing supples, and all cream is treated doubly, being heated to ISO and cooled instantly, to 54 degrees. It is notable that at this fa* torv there are no milk supplies, the whole material being the result of. home separation. The present, plant is capable ol manufacturing 600 tons of butter -per yea , and the estimated output for 1912-1,5 is , 500 tons. The past season a output was 100 per cent, in excess of that of the previonS period. The annual meeting of suppliers will be held nest month, and several shareholders are arranging a scheme whereby the .proceedings wdl be noted with an annual banquet, at which the directors will be guests. Nine years ago the prosperity of this district was governed solely by timber and gun" and the"factory output of butter was nil. Farmers' butter was disposed of at 4d nor lb, and lacked buyers, whilst the raising of beef for market was a hazardous task. The gum trade ».»»* *** ■ vanishing quantity, and outs!de the Kaiha Valley is barely recognised. The timber industry is still dominant, and annually Sere are exported shipments aggregating £150,000. But the butter industry is fast proclaiming its importance. Every aero of felled forest land is keenly competed for, erstwhile kauri and white pine territory te speedily grassed, and the value of last year's output of the Northern Wairoa Dairy Company was £45,000. to act' dition, a large output of cream was dady forwarded from Ranpo and R«awai to HelensviUe, the value of which is not readily obtainable.

WAIBOA ROAD BOARD.

The Wairoa Road Board is busily pre-! paring for improvements . all round. - On , Monday the main roads right on to Papa- . kura Flat were inspected, borne of these were surveyed in the early days 01 the district, and'simply left, but are now to be taken even- advantage of. On Tuesday the Settlement Road and gravel pits were visited. Some of the roads were found to be in a deplorable condition, largely owing to the bullock-waggon traffic The scarcity of labour locally considerably delays matThe Clevedon Agricultural and Pastoral Association are preparing for their annual show in November. The ground is ih preparation how, and when completed the necessary buildings, yards, etc., will be erected. Debentures have been issued by the committee, and most readily taken up < "by those interested.

WAIUKU RAILWAY LEAGUEThe annual meeting of the Waiuku Railway League was held at Patumahoe on Wednesday, July 24. Tho prevailing feel* ine among the residents 13, that owing to a change in the Administration the construction of this proposed, and muchDeeded, line of railway will be put m hand at an early date, and a well-attended and enthusiastic meeting was the result. . The election of officers resulted as follows: — President, Mr. J. Henry; vice-presidents, Messrs. Goldsworthy and Kemp; secretary and treasurer, Mr. W. Finlay; committee, Messrs. F. W. Kavanagh, W, G. Pleydell, E. C. Cuff, N. Lichfield, J. Schlaepfer, C. Oispe, W. Howard, W. H. Warin, and TV. Howe. A resolution was passed conSatulating the member for the district, r. W. F. Massey, on his attainment to the highest position in the Dominion, and thanking him for his consistent advocacy of this line. ,

A. AND P. ASSOCIATION.

'& meeting of the executive of the Hamilton A. and P. Association was held on Thursday. A donation of £6 5s for prizes for dairy cattle was received from Mr. A, N. Waring, of Tawhiri, and another of £10 for a consolation class in hunters from Mr. R. Muir, of Morrinsville. A prize for the best lady rider was.received from tho Morrinsville branch of the Hunt Club. > The following officers were installed last night in the Pride of Hamilton Druids' Lodge:--J.P.A., Bro. Forbes; A., Bro. Cann; V.A., Bro. McCann; secretary, Bro. K. Vail; treasurer, Bro. Empsom; 1.G., Bro. Bright; A.D.B's., Bros. Mackenzie and 11. R. Vail; V.A.D.B'a., Bros. .Smith and Evans.

ADMISSION SERVICE. An admission service in connection with the branch of the Church of England Men's Society, recently formed in Te Arolia, was held in St. Mark's Church on Wednesday evening. A largo number of men attended, and wmo 21 members and associates were admitted- The vicar, Rev. G. Wells Srnales, conducted the service, and the Rev. John Cowib, vicar of Paeroa, delivered an impressive address. Mr. G. F. McGjrr, officer in charge of the Tourist Department, has received instructions to have the face of the Bald Spur planted with trees. It is intended to plant trees of the eucalyptus va,riety, and also golden and silver wattieu and other deep-rooting trees. . A pretty wedding was celebrated in the ftlanawaru church yesterday, the contracting parties being Miss Mabel Lockyer, third daughter of Mr. Vv T . Lockyer, of the Jliinga, and Mr. Condor, of Matamata.

mmm . ,ON THE LAND.

• TE KUITI.

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION.

NORTHER WAIROA.

LAND IN THE TRANSVAAL.

CITRUS CULTURE.

CLEVEDON.

THE WOOL INDUSTRY.

MAUKU.

BBEVITIES.

HAMILTON.

SHEEP AND WOOL VALUES.

TE AROHA.

SHARE-MILKING.

—__—.«« —-— ARGENTINA AND FRUIT. New Zealakd orchardists have already established a trade in fruit, so the following will interest them: -Argentina is practically a country without fruit Locusts prevent any tree development in Santa F© ana U>rdoba, while south of their dangerous range in western Buenos Aires the heat and summer drought prevent the establishment of orchards. In eastern and northeastern Buenos Aires almost all tree fruits, other than the citrus, way bo successfully grown, but comparatively little is grown, and the great city of Buenos Aires, with a population of 500,000, and with a climate stimulating the uso of fruit as a part of fcfie daily dietary, must depend upon Uruguay, Brawl, and even the orchards of Spain and Italy. In the northern provinces, little known and too far away to bo available under present conditions of transportation, there are largo areas of semi-tropical lands where, under irrigation certainly, and largely under natural conditions probably, a tremendous development of fruit production is possible. Thcso provinces, however, are practically undeveloped and are too distant to rely upon railroad transportation.

The Bureau of Statistics &i Washington, in a recent report, states that in the ten years next preceding the date of the report all commodities, including agricultural products have increased 23 per cent.; but, separating the- products of the farm from all other commodities, the increase in prico of these product*, on an average, amounts to 87 per cent. Another set of figures throws a powerful sidelight on this question of the high cost of living. During the last ten years the acreage devoted to agriculture has increased 23 per con*, and agricultural products havo increased 36 per cent., but consumption during the same period has increased 60 per cent., showing an increase almost three times as great as the.increased acreage and almost twice as great as increased production. In addition Ho this great increase in the farm prico of agricultural products the wasteful uneconomic system of distribution from the producer to tho consumer has added a- very large arbitrary charge in addition to the increase received by the producer.

The Transvaal Landowners' Association's annual report States that not much progross has "been rondo in extending white occupation on members' farms. The native population is rapidly increasing, and since there is so little white occupation the natives have ©vtry opportunity to further increase the large numbers of stock they already hold, and to sccuro the necessary grazing areas on very easy terms. And since they obtain as much advantage from Government research and stringent stock regulations as the white man, they are becoming a serious economic competitor. The committee of the association recommend that the Government should, by offering every inducement .to men with capital,carry out an energetic immigration policy. That the laws should be-so amended as to reduce all unreproductive charges to a minimum, that is on items such as fees for the transfer of land, for survey, railway, and steamship transport. They consider that while the Government has done a great deal to encourage the agricultural ' development of the country, the measures taken are insufficient to attract the very much larger white population necessary if the land is to be occupied by whites. When the report was made 1269 members' farms were uninhabited, notwithstanding the fact that members were only too glad to lease them; the same conditions obtain on the immense areas owned by Government and other private owners. The white ponulation of the Union seem to prefer taking up holdings on the high .veldt to tho bush Veldt, in spite of the much higher price of land on the former, and if such •a the case it is assumed that they will only be driven to the bush veldt by necessity when the density of the copulation becomes !be driven to tho bush veldt preclude the when the density of the population becomes such on the high veldt as to preclude the possibility of obtaining any more land there.

The Australasian production last year was 820,000,0001b, the value of which was about £30,000,000. It is estimated that the number of persona constantly employed in sheep-working is over 300,000, and casual assistants increase the number employed by about 10 per cent. Thus an estimate of half a million workers would not be exaggerated. Butchers, labourers, storemen, etc are not included; but the sheep is a considerable provider of employment even in death. The principal employment is, however, in wool. Some. 270,000 persons are employed in England, 250,000 in Germany, 200,000 in France, 163,000 in the United States, and so on, making a total number of wool-workers of about a million and ahalf. England's woollen and worsted industries are valued, at about £70,000,000 per* annum, or about £272 per capita of those employed. Owing to variations of efficiency, material, and machinery in different countries, it is hard to make a world's estimate. It may be that the general average of production per worker is Jess than in England; and putting it at £200 per head, the calculation trives an output of £300,000,000 as the possible value at the mill of articles manufactured from

It is at all times a very difficult matter (says the Sydney Mail) to gauge sheep and wool on a world-wide basis. Considerable diversity exists between the various estimates made from time to time as to tho number of sheep in the world, and the latest estimates range from 500 ,to 700 millions. No doubt some, estimates are more complete than others, and also include sheep which produce only a low-grade, coarse covering, only fitted for carpet or blanket-making. A rough calculation of the population of tho world is 1623 millions, and it may be said that there is approximately one sheep 'to throe persons. Quito as difficult is the task of arriving at the estimated value of the world's sheep, because tho range of values is from, pence per head to hundreds of guineas for stud sheep. If we take an allround average of, say, 10a a head as tho value of the bulk of the sheep of the world, the capital value of sheep on the lowest total would bo £250,000,000, while if wo put it down to_ss per head, which is absurdly low, thf> item is still tho substantial < one of £125,000,000. . Tho capital value of sheep is rather surprising when totalled up. Take the value of the world's wool production. An authority gives this roughly at 3,000,000,0001b, or about 41b per hen'!. If we givo it an all-round value of 6d per lb, which is admittedly on tlio low side, the value of the world's clip is £75,000,000. Probably if we could get down to bedrock we should find the value of wool wa3 worth almost double that sum.

Share-milking by hand has proved very (successful in Taranaki to the farmer, and many share-milking families are- this 'day their own mastere and in comfortable positions on their own freehold farms owing to their having sot asido the savings from the labours of their families, whereas formerly it was a struggle to maintain their family previously to the advent of sharemilking. Share-milking is preferred by tho fanner, as it rest 3 with tho head of the milking family to adjust his labour troubles instead of tho farmer, and as it is his own family this is generally an easy matter, particularly if the owner has chosen a strong family to milk his herd, with ono or two milkers to spare in case- of illness. The amount offered to share-milkers in Taranaki varied somewhat according to tho quality of the land, cows, and the factory supplied. On tho best land two-fifths of tho milk is allowed to the share-milker, twofifths of the calves and half of $ho pigs, while on tho inferior laud a half is sometimes allowed on milk, calves, and pigs. Share-milkers have in most cases to find their own horses, waggons, cans, etc., and they have also to pay their proportion of the cost of hay or crops • required for tho winter. The earnings of share-milkers vary from £246 to £425 per year, with house rent, milk, and a piece of land for a garden free, as, well as free grazing for several horses* <

MANURES AND WEEDS. The value of a meadow is sometimes seriously prejudiced by the presence in it of a large number of weeds. Not only is the thick growth of the nourishing grass hindered, but also noxious weeds spoil the quality, so that it is an essential part of good cultivation to keep the meadow free from such unsatisfactory constituents. In the cultivation of arable land it is not a difficult matter to do so, as the operations necessary for the preparation of the soil to receive the seed help to clean the land; besides, more attention is usually given to arable land than to meadow land. The question is often asked: How can I keep my meadows free of weeds? It is not easy to give a general reply, because the life' conditions of weeds is so different. Up to the present time this, matter has not been sufficiently investigated, or, at any rate, there is little information available about it. There is, however, no doubt that by a judicious use of chemical fertilisers muoh can be done. Of course, chemical fertilisers alone will not do everything. Their use must often be assisted by other means. To eradicate moss, for instance, the most important measure is drainage, and this must be supplemented by a liberal dressing of phosphate of lime and potash. Experiments have shown that with arable land drainage alone will often suffice, but that in the treatment of mossy meadows it is essential also to apply the chemicals first mentioned.

Equally with rushy .meadows, drainage is necessary. Then the clumps of rushes should be hacked out, put in a heap, and composted with lime and potash salts. The cleaned meadow should be well dressed with quicklime, basic slag, and kainit, and, later on, the compost spread over it to supply humus to the soil. Sorrel is caused by sourness of the soil through want of ventilation and deficiency of plant food, especially lime. A dressing of potash and phosphate of lime with an additional application of lime has a very good effect. Buttercups flourish on damp land poor in lime. They can bo got rid of by harrowing, with a liberal dressing of phosphate of lime and potash. Similarly with other common meadow weeds, much can bo done with chemical manures. Why should fertilisers work in this beneficial way? The reason is that most weeds flourish in soils poor in the mineral constituents, lime, phosphate, and potash. These good plant foods do not agree with weeds, while, on the other hand, the nourishing grasses love them. By their application the best herbage is thickly developed, while the undesirable coarse growths dwindle away.

An interesting review has been compiled

by tho secretary of the Citrus Protective League of California. It concerns the cost of producing oranges, and includes figures from 271 orange plantations in California, comprising 8095 acres. The National Irrigation Journal states:-— There are two tables, the first of which shows the cultural coat of labour required in producing oranges, including cultivating, pruning, irrigating, fumigating labour, spraying, spreadiug fertilisers, other tree care, superintendence, administration. The ; second table is a compilation of tho cul- ! tural cost of materials required in producing the oranges on the 271 ranches upon which figures are given. Tho items in this tabulation include chemical fertiliser, barnyard manure, water, fumigation, forage and grain, taxes, maintenance and repairs, insurance premium, frost protection, materials, labour. The cost in the first table for the largest ranch given, 765 acres, is £8824 for the whole, or £11 10s 9d an acre; the smallest, 3.75 acres, shows a total cost of £60 6s Bd, or £16 Is 9d an acre. The second shows an expenditure for cultural materials of £27,556 5s for the 765-acre ranch, or £36 0s 5d an acre; for 1 the 3.75-acre ranch the total expenditure j was £166 0s lOd, or £44 9s an acre. The total amount expended for the items in the ! first table for the 271 ranches is £89,066 13s sd, or an average cost for labour of j £11 an acre. The cost of materials as • shown in the second table is £140,403 3s lOd, making the total for labour and materials for the 8095.9 acres in the 271 ranches £229,489 16a lOd, or a total average cost an acre for labour and materials ot £28 3s lid. Another compilation shows the yield of oranges per acre for live years, showing an average number of "boxes per acre for the five-year period to be 157.6. Figures are also given showing the cost of handling 4,186,983 boxes of oranges from the tree to the car in 191Q-11, including the cost of picking, hauling from the grove to the warehouse, including labour and materials, and of loading on tho car. These costs average Is 9£d per packed box. The cultural cost 13 3a 7d, making the average f.o.b. cost of a box of Californian oranges approximately 5s sd. The report concludes with a summary of the cost of producing oranges in California, including transportation and marketing charges, as follows per box:— «. d. , Cultural cost 3 7 Cost of picking, hauling and packing- ... 1 94 . Cost of freight 3 6 > Average cost of refrigeration, 1910-11 ... 0 34 ' Average cost of selling 0 3$ Total cost per box laid down in the I market 9 54 : The average number of oranges of all > varieties per box is approximately 124 dozen. The average wholesale cost 01 ' Californian oranges laid down in the mar- | kets of the United States, based on the . cost of production, cost of transportation, ! and co3t of selling, is 9d per dozen.

Young animals reared as much as possible in the open, which is the most natural way, are always the healthiest and hardiest. It is, therefore, unwise to house or pamper growing stock any more than is absolutely necessary. Building vermin-proof fences in South Africa is no light or cheap undertaking. The jackal is a notorious prowler, and a great hand at getting through a fence, but 13 barbed wire makes a pretty tough proposition for even the slimmest jackal to negotiate. In fact, if the fence is properly constructed, it should be cat-proof.

It is reported by cable that the German Emperor has purchased several large sheep farms in the Windhoek district of German South-West Africa. His idea is to encourage Germans to settle there, instead of in the United States, and to grow wool, so as to make Germany less dependent on outside countries for her wool supplies.

Maize, which has attracted a considerable amount of attention, and always does at the close of a droughty season, .'s one of the beat of fodder crops, giving a superabundant yield. Tho seed may be dibbled in Bin apart, or it may be ploughed in, the seed being dropped from a drill carried on the beam, as is sometimes practised for bean drilling. Birds, of course, must bo kept from the crop.

The last official report on the Indian wheat crop, as compared with 29,671,500 acres in 1911, shows a decrease of 134,500 acres. Present indications point to a total out-turn of 45,500,000 quarters. After malting a liberal allowance for increased local consumption in the coming year, there is every prospect of India having a surplus for the present crop, over and above home requirements, or about 9,000,000 quartets.

The following is a good remedy for pickling seed maize as a preventive for smut: Dissolve lib of Milestone in 5 gallons of water, and leave the seed in the solution long enough to allow every grain being wetted. The seed can be dried in a few minutes by spreading it on the floor or on a cloth, and it will run through a dropper as well as if it had never been treated, and the vitality and germination are not in any way affected.

An American journal states that the enormous wheat fields of the Punjab, India, afford wide scope for agricultural machinery. The fields are, in a great measure, In the hands of small proprietors, who could not afford to buy any machine outright, but if they could hire them at a reasonable rental they would jump at the opportunity. It is reported that one hum of agricultural machine makers has already got ah' agent on the spot with that end in view. There i* room for any number fif agent* -,