FARMING IN THE SOUTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19455, 11 October 1926, Page 9

FARMING IN THE SOUTH.

OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND, '" i — EFFECT OF LOW RATES FOR OATS 3 i « MORE INTENSIVE CULTIVATION. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN _ DUNEDIN. Saturday. Following upon excellent winter weather conditions and a rainfall to date of about. the average, ; our. hopes of an early spring, . in Otagft and Southland have been rudely • shattered Both August' and Septembej proved comparatively datbp, with snow falling'during the lattdir_inon{h; and there has, not been the universal suiishino de- ~ sired. Nevertheless, and <ia spite of the cold at times, there is-fair feed showing in placed and good growth. In Central Otago, for instance, jthero is a satisfactory showing of lucerne", which is now. . about 4in. high in favoured places. ,On . tho lower levels and along the coastal < lands there.'is not'yet" much stock feed to spare, owing to the cold winds check--ing fre : e growth of vegetation.' Yet thero ' is no feed shprtage, the ample "carry-.." over" from the winter period coming in handily enough and all stock are doing well, while tillage operations are well forward. . , ...... Tho area in wheat, ifcas anticipated, will." show an increase of 'about 10 -per cent. Most of the wheat in this'part'of'the Dominion comprises spring sowings, less than 10 per ccpt. being .sown in, the and is practically _ qonfined to north of Seacliff and in Central Otago. Some remarkable yields have this ye.ir'been harvested on the most fertile lands' of the Taiori Plains as a result of spring sowing, 100 bushels an acre of wheat being bagged. /, In respect to oat sowihgs, farmers in v these parts have' been somewhat incensed in regard to the _• prices rnling generally for this cereal; They are standing off this crop in spite of yields of up to 115 bushels an .acre.last 1 harvest. The area sown, in oats will therefore probably be less ■> than-rusual. Tho, root crop last season twas - too good, and as many acres of tuMps will be ploughed down it 'safe to. predict a small, area during, the comjng-, season, with possibly a not. dissimilar area in rapo and other forage crops for .fattening purposes. 1 . * . ' '* ' .The acreage in potatoes will - probably be fairly large and it'appears will be greater than last season. Prices toward the close of tho season—at. digging timo —were not enticing, but farmers in many instances*, are sowing 4 fairly large area and live in hopes for better times. Following upon a .big acreage being sown last year in grass, it is natural to find that this year there will not be the same amount of grass seed sowing. Indeed the area will be considerably less. ; On the'other hand,, if meagre sowings of ! clovers and grasses happen, it is comforting to learn that top-dressing with one or other of the many.! fertilisers .is gathering in popularity.Reviewing the whole position of agriculture in the pro'vinco we find a somewhat smaller acreage devoted to arable farming, but more concentrated work on those cultivated lands, ..together with ih- > creased attention being, ; givers;-to,„• liming ' and 'fertilising of tho-'grass' lanfrs. This ' polity, one. may Venture ,to say/indicates " the economic tendency to-day and some appreciation of the necessity for comJ bining science with ordinary farm pracJ tice.

r IMPORTS OF MERCHANDISE. FIGURES FOR EIGHT MONTHS. The' actual imports'; 7.0f merchandise into the Dominion for the eight months to thfl end "of August last were valued at £52,267,549, as ' compared with £34,016.926 during the same tej-m last year, £31,454.944 in 1924,,and,£28,207,725 in 1923. There was a decrease of £1,749,377 compared with last year. Taking the several groups the aggregates compare as under:— 1926. 1925. Soft Roods .. v. 6,245.709- 7.105.685 Hardware .. 4,547,926 5,039.311 Foodstuffs ... ~ 2,0G7,955 2,376,381 Beverages . . ► 1,312,396 • . 1.433,603 Miscellaneous . * 11:842,197 12.040,212 Otbor goods > • • • '£82.567,549 £54,010,926 The decrease is contributed ■to by all the groups" except " other goods'.^' WAIRARAPA FROZEN MEAT- CO* THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. The third annual repqrt of the directors of the Wairarapa Frozen-Meat Company, Ltd., states that- after making allowances for depreciation and income tax, the net profit for the year is £2399, \vhich, added to the amount of £4732 parried forward from last year, makes a total credit of £6931, which the directors propose to carry forward., ' ' The total'lambs killed shews an increase over tho two previous years, and is higher than any season «<since' 1916, which was the ' record,' year for Waingawa. The total gheop killed shows a considerable decrease, due. primarily to the dry season. In common;.with other 1 districts, less cattle were killpd, but the killing of calves showed a considerable increase. ' ARSENIC AND'"APPLES. NO CAUSE FOR ALARM. [FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] LONDON, Aug. 2S. The medical officer of the Adelaide (South Australia} Corporation is reported to have said recently that arsenic in small quantities "is one of our most valuable medicines and even if there were'"a little on'aa apple it would not hurt the person who consumed it." The New Health Society,. when its attention was drawn to the matter,- said: ! u he- society, after having had analyses made of apples which had been -washed with arsenic, found that' the'rubbing or washing of such apples afterwards makes them absolutely innocuous."