To Agriculturists.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 976, 14 November 1890, Page 20

To Agriculturists.

The Editor of the agricultural pages of the . N.Z. Mail will be very pleased to receive from his numerous readers any items of interest on matters pertaining to the farm, da’>y, stockyard, orchard, garden, &c. There are probably many readers of the Mail who have new ideas on some of the above subjects. Such ideas may be of great value and well worth publishing. Intending contributors will kindly remember to write on one side of the paper only, and address all communications to Agricultural Editor, N.Z. Mail. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. T.A. (Morton). —For the bare place m the cow’s back paint it every second day with tincture of iodine. Totara (Stratford). —Write to Mr Day, the secretary of the Agricultural Association, Grey-street, Wellington. Long Tom (Waikato). —Send me down a sample and I will get you the particulars you require. Farmer (Marlborough).—Wherdver the shoes of animals bear upon a part of the bottom of the foot, local inflammation, tenderness, and pain make locomotion constrained and painful. The shoe must be removed, the red part pared and a piece of old felt hat saturated in kerosene placed under the shoe. This can be frequently wetted by pouring kerosene on it even when the shoe is replaced. William Matthews.—Many thanks for your kind wishes Bnu compliments. I will carry out your suggestions, and I must especially thank you for your offer. J.S. (Bawera). —I will give seme particulars of the turnip fly pest, and how to deal with it, as soon as I can find room. EXPORTING PRODUCE. The dairymen in th 6 South Island want a supercargo to be appointed, who shall supervise all exported dairy produce with a view to endeavour to ascertain the cause of the deterioration which frequently takes place between the factory and the Home market. The idea is a good one. There is no doubt that butter and cheese have been shipped from this Colony in excellent condition, and yet when placed before buyers in the English markets its quality has been such that very low and consequently losing prices have been realised. A qualified man travelling to London by one of the Direct steamers could, by carefully examining the cargo in tbs cool chambers twice or thrice a week, note what changes were taking place and the cause thereof. At the same time, however, if the cool chamber was kept at one uniform temperature, say, never to exceed 40 deg Eah.—a duty the refrigerating engineers should attend to, while one of the ship’s officers should daily see th«t thiq duty was efficiently performed—then the presence of a supercargo would hardly be needed. Hepeated experiments have shown that in a temperature of 40 deg, butter and cheese will keep good and sound for a much longer period than is occupied in the voyage from New Zealand to London. If butter and cheese are properly made, properly packed, properly shipped aD<l kept in the 40 deg temperature they will carry to England safely enough without the supervision of a supercargo. At the same time an experimental trip by an expert would remove the doubt which now exists as to whether this temperature is kept daily in the cool chamber during the whole of the voyage. There is no difficulty in maintaining this temperature during the voyage—barring accidents to the refrigerating machinery which happily are very rare. There is probably more harm done to the butter and cheese during their short transit from the factory to the ship than there is during the whole of their long voyage to the Thames. The butter comes, say, from Taranaki, Ran aitikei, or even the Wairarapa, in ordinary railway trucks, in a temperature of from 10 to 15 deg higher than in the faotory where it was made, the kegs and boxes are bundled out of the trucks in a not over careful manner, and frequently some delay takes place before it is placed in the cool chamber on board the steamers. Frequently have butter and cheese been left lying on the Queen’s Wharf, where they were for some hours exposed to the hot rays of the suu without the slightest protection, and then the dairy farmers wondered and used bad words when their produce sold at the lowest possible ratoa in the London market. What is badly needed is Government supervision in the shape of ccol trucks on our railways, after the fashion of those introduced into Australia. Our meat companies are providing special conveyances of their own for the safe carriage of their meat. The dairy associations should do likewise. If the Government have the welfare of the dairy industry at heart, if they recognise that this industry can be made to grow into one of the most important sources of our national wealth, they should devote mere attention to practical results. In the first place specially bnilt cars should be run—after sundown if possible—from the dairy districts to the port, and the butter shipped directly into the big Bteamers, with one of the wharf officials told off specially to watch its careful handling and rapid transit. The question of providing coo! storage in Wellington for dairy produce will have to be solved before long. As the industry grows —as it can be made to grow—either the Government, the municipal authorities, the harbour board, or an association of dairyman or some other public body will find a paying investment in the maintenance of cool chambers in this city ; not only for dairy

produce, but for milk, fish, and other perishable articles of food. The wonder is that such chambers have not been started before this. By all means it is desirable that some definite knowledge should be obtained as to the cause of our dairy produce lauding in London in an unsatisfactory condition. If the presence of a supercargo oan obtain that knowledge, let one be appointed. It should, however, be borne in mind that the supercargo should not only have a knowledge of dairy products, but a knowledge of chemistry, so as to be able to not only note from a scientific point of view the possible changes which may take place in the produce during the voyage, but by experiments made during the trip ascertain for the benefit of dairymen generally the actual changes which take place and the why and wherefore thereof. THE VALUE OF SAINFOIN. For some time past the agriculturists of Victoria have been endeavouring to grow sainfoin as a feed for their stock, bnt so far their efforts in this direction have not been of a very successful nature, probably because its capabilities and uses are not fully recognised np to the present time. Sainfoin has been but little cultivated in this Colony. It is true that every soil will not suit it; but there are plenty of places, especially in the Wellington and Hawkes Bay provinces, where sainfoin would make a valuable addition to the feed for stock. On the chalky and limestone soils of England sainfoin is recognised as valuable for sheep pasture, and for cutting for horses and cattle in the stables and byres. In habit it resembles lucerne, but it possesses great advantage over that plant of not being liable to cause hoove or blowing in cattle. Farmers who occupy laod that suits sainfoin, sny that no stock can ever be lame, sick, or sorry upon it. In England sainfoin does not come into competition with lucerne, because the latter requires a warmer climate. Sainfoin may be reserved for cool and comparatively humid districts, while the warmer parts may be unreservedly gives over to lucerne. Laying down sainfoin is considered equal to giving the land a rest, especially after a course of grain cropping. In many English farm leases a Icondition is inserted requiring a stated proportion of the land to be left at the expiration of the lease in sainfoin of two, three, or more years standing. Sainfoin is a native of the Continent of Europe and of the .South of England, hence it 3 suitability to the North Island. It is much cultivated as a fodder plant in dry and particularly calcareous soils, for which it is admirably a.lapted. Its cultivation was introduced into England in 1651; and before the introduction of turnip.husbandry the sheep.farmers of the chalk districts depended almost entirely upon it. It is, however, a very local crop, being scarcely cultivated in any but the most calcareous (limestone) soils, where nothing has been found to be equal to it, although it has been found to succeed well on any soil sufficiently dry. There is no more nutritious fodder than sainfoin, whether for sheep, cattle, or horses. Even the dry stem 3 of a crop which has produced seed 3 are readily consumed by cattle if cut into small pieces. In the South of France, where it flourishes best, it is considered an indispensable forage plant, improving the quality and increasing the quantity of milk when fed to milch cows, to which it may be given without producing either hoove or hooven, to which they are subjected when allowed to feed freely on green clover and lucerne. Its stalks do not become ligneous if allowed to stand till blossoming, as those of lucerne do. The amount of fodder obtained from it is less than that from lucerne or clover, but its quality, where it can be successfully grown, is better. Its seeds are said to be more than oats. They are eagerly eaten by fowls, and are said to cause them to lay. Sainfoin when green and young will not stand a severe winter, but after the second or third year will endure a considerable degree of cold. It will succeed in very dry soils, sands, and gravels, owing to its long descending tap root which has been found sixteen feet in leugth. Sainfoin will endure in the soil, when once fixed there, for eight or ten years, but it requires from three to four years to attain its perfect growth. In pasture culture the grasses are apt to choke it out by their close and firm turf. Sainfoin is best grown by being sown with barley after the manner of clover, and afterwards lightly rolled. From three to five bushels of seed are generally used, four being the most common quautity, there being an enormous number of seeds in one bushel; but it is very precarious, and it is necessary to sow a sufficient quautity to guard aoaiust contingencies. ° NOTES FROM SANDON. PROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT. We have had a very early spring in this district, and everything looked as well as could bo wished for, both coni and era's crops. But the last three weeks we have beeu troubled with a succession of heavy north- west winds which have been a considerable oheek to the crops, and have greatly hindered shearing operations. The farmers are very busy just now ploughing for turnips. But I am almost afraid that this most beneficial crop is nearing its end, on account of the fly trouble. Some farmers sowed their turnip land on three different occasions last year, and then only had part of a crop through the ravages of this insect, li is a great pity something could not be done to destroy the pest, tor between the fly and the sparrow nuisance the farmer has no assurance that he will get a crop after sowing. As regards the sparrow I think it could be kept down. Some farmers have used poison year after year, but their neighbours would not take the trouble. The only way in which this nuisance could be kept down is by striking a special rate on the farmers. The County Council has power to do this with tbeir consent. The local farmers’ clnb should hold a meeting to discuss the matter thoroughly with

unanimous co-operation the cost-, to individual farmers would not be much—and the result I feel sure would be of benefit to all. The charges ou the Manawatu Railway for produce are very unsatisfactory. Soma farmers say that the rates almost prohibit them from sending anytuiog to Wellington by this line. I will just mention one or two cases out of many that have occurred to me. I sent a 701 h box of apples—the charge was 8s ; two hares made up into a parcel, 3s. I tbink these rates are out of all reason. Farmers about here would very much like to know how it is that buyers of sheep for the various freezing companies in the provinoe of Wellington pay so much less for mutton than buyers in any other provinoe of New Zealand. Last year the buyers here were only offering from 10s to 13s per head, while in Canterbury the same class of sheep were fetching from 20s to 25s per head. It is true they have gone up a little here this year, now being worth from 13s to 15s p6r head. I suppose the starting of the Longburn works is the true cause. But there is a wide difference between the Wellington and Canterbury prices. In the latter province the ruling price for 1 freezers ’ at the present time is 20s to 25s per head. This is a mystery the farmers would like to see solved. They do not wonder at some companies paying large dividends. WAGNER’S LATHYRUS SILVESTEIS. The English journal Agriculture publishes a couple of pages of information about the forage plant, a vetch, known as Lathyrus silveatris. The lathyrus grows from 15 to 18 inches in height or more, but i 3 only in the experimental stage, on account of the dearness and soaroity of the seeds and young plants, which are only to be had in very small quantities or limited numbers. The lathyrus may be raised from seeds or plants. The seed is sold from £2 2s per lb., and 501 b are required for an acre of l»nd—or, in other words,. £lO5 per acre is the cost —a price which is rather prohibitory to most farmers, but an acre of lythyrus yields from 2501 b in the second year to 7001 b per acre of seed subsequently. A farmer would do best to be his own seedsman, and would soon recoup himself his first outlay handsomely and with profit in time, 2501 b of seed representing £525 in money. The salesmen claim for the plant that a farmer can realise by its employment a clear profit of £25 a year per acre. The lathyrus takes, however, some time to reach its full development and yield (about three years), which is a point whicii tells somewhat against it, The official Swedish report states that the seed sown in the spring of ISS7 germinated well, yielding, however, no crop ; further, that the plants yielded in the summer, ISSS, a fair crop of green fodder, but that last summer's crop of fodder, hay, and seeds had far surpassed all expectations, the amount of green fodder cut from one acre having exceeded 18 tons, and that of seed 8001 b per imperial statute acre. This, remember, in a cold northern latitude. According to the statements published the, lathyrus thrives alike in hot and cold countries—in every clime, in fact—and possesses the rare and invaluable properties of being insensiole to frost or drought, and requiring little or no manure. Its roots are powerful and deep, and penetrate to the depth of from 20 to 00 feet to 100 and ISO feet, according to the nature of the soil and subsoil, and the plant is said to last 70 years, so that much of the labour and expense of cultivation and manuring of the soil is avoided—a great consideration and saving of money. Now unlike prickly comfreyand some other strange plants which have lately been brought to public notice, the lathyrus is said to be palatable to farm animals - sheep, cattle, horses, and pigs —and to he easily eradicated from the soil. AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT. Why is the agricultural interest in general so depressed? This question is answered in more ways than almost any other now before the public. One statesman will blame it on the fact of its existing tariff; another will tell you that it is because tariff duties are not high enough, another will account for it by overproduction; and no one seems at a loss to furnish a theory which in his own opinion seems to be sufficient to account for it all. Without discussing the point in particular, or trying to account for existing conditions on any one theory, is evident that many things have conspired to depress the farming interest and to render unprofitable lines of production which were once among our leading sources of natural wealth. One thing, though is true—that while existing abuses may be corrected and needed reforms instituted, farming will never be the uni. formly profitable business with some people that it should be until more thorough business methods are practised by a grelit many of those now engaged in the husine3s The farmer should be as much a business man as the merchant or banker, and should have as complete a system in all his transactions ; and many farmers have just such system. There are many things about farming which cannot be reduced to record m perfect form, but there are certain general principles in management just as applicable to this as to any other kind of business Where farming is as a rule as carefully managed in detail as in the business of manufacturing, for instance, there is less to say about hard times. There is much haphazaid in farming at the very best. One must, take chances of good and bad seasons, of overproduction and underproduction* by judicious management, avoided by many men. There are men, industrious, and in many respects capable, who at no time are able to accumulate in the business of farming We have never seen times so good that these men did not,have something to complain of Of course, the same thing is true of a great many engaged in all pursuits, but farming seems to afford a special opening for men who do not care to introduce close and careful management into tbeir business. If the times through which we are passing should impress a largely increased number with the importance of reform in this particular the people will not have suffered altogether in vam. c

AGRICULTURAL JOTTINGS. In farming aa well as in any other pursuit, it is the thoughtful, wide-awake man who succeeds.

It does not pay to breed to- a stallion because he is cheap.

Frequent change of crops will retard, if it does not prevent, the development of inseot enemies of the crops grown.

The farmer’s bank is his manure heap, and every exertion to increase its ‘stock ’ will g 0 a great way in the scouring of an abundant harvest.

For breaking heifers to be milked patience and gentleness are the only requisites. If the udder 13 handled occasionally from a calf up to cowdom, the heifer is already broken. This course works charmingly.

The English Board of Agriculture has received information regarding the presence of the Hessian fly in the counties of Lincoln, Suffolk, and Herts, slightly, and badly near Errol in Perthshire. No very, disastrous results have yet accrued to the influence of the peat in Great Britain, but on the Continent where its ravages have been most felt, it has well nigh devasted whole tracts of land devoted to grain growing. Th i method of the attack is for the maggot or maggots (for in severe cases there may be S,ve or six present) to lie without stirring bneath the sheathing leaf of the barley,, oat or wheat stalk, j;Ust above a knot, commonly the second knot from the ground. There, when fully fed, the maggots turn to chrysalids, usually known by reason of their colour, shape and size as ‘flax seed.’ The result of the attack is the weakening of the stalk of grain, which on being sucked by the maggots, falls down, the ear-bearing head drooping and becoming useless.

It was shown by Liebig that the butter found to be present in the milk of a cow was far in excess of the small amount of fat in the grass or fodder she consume 1. It was also shown by Lawes and Gilbert that a fattening pig stored up in its body 472 parts of fat for every 100 parts of fat in the food it received ; and the wax produced by bees is out of all proportion to the amount of fat in the food, which is chiefly sugar.

The total annual wool production of the world amounts to 16,000,000 cwt., of au estimated value of £200,000,000. Australia supplies 2.000,000 cwt. of a value of £24,000,000 anb the Gape of Good Hope furnishes 300,C00owt, ofa value of £3,369,000. The United States, with its 50,000,000 aheepj does not grow sufficient wool to meet its requirements, but obtains the difference from La Plata and Australia. The number of sheep in Europe is estimated at 200,000,000, which furnishes 4,000,000 cwt of wool. Morocco, Algiers and Tunis grow a considerable quantity. France produces 37 per cent, less than it did 40 years ago.

The Minister for Mines and Agriculture, N.S.W., has received from M. Loir, the representve of M. Pasteur in the colonies, a communication in regard to inoculation for anthrax. He forwarded a translation of an extract from tha Hungarian Government official journal as follows :— ‘ The laboratory for the manu. facture of vaccine for anthrax and swine fever has been removed from Vienna to Buda Pesth. It is placed under the supervision of the department, and people may obtain vaccine of cattle at 30 kreutzer (6d.) per head, and for sheep aud swine at 10 kreutzer (2d.) per head.’ M. Loir has also forwarded to the Minister a photograph of the operation of vaccination, and he announces that so far rather more than 100.000 sheep have been vaccinated for anthrax, and that the death rate has an average of about oue in 2000. At least 50,000 sheep have still to be treated, and then operations will cease until next session.

The Earl of Tankerville lately wrote a very interesting letter to the Field on the subject of cross-breeding between the wild white cattle of Chillingham-park and highbred shorthorns. The first experiment was with three wild heifers and a bull named Baron Bruce, from the herd of Mg H. Aylmer, in Norfolk. For several years only bull calves were bred, but at last two heifer calves were produced, and with these the experiment is being carried on. Of the male calves resulting from the first cross ‘ Chilhngham ’ was exhibited at the Smithfield fat stock show in 1888, where hs was highly commended and selected as the reserve number, practically third prize, in a good class of ctossbred oxen. At the time he was shown he was a little over 3 years and 10 months old, and his live weight was 16cwt. 2qr 241 b., and his dressed carcass weighed 12231 b. The remarkable feature of the meat produced from this animal was its large proportion of lean beef upon the most valuable part of the loin, ribs, &c., with particularly light bone. Until three or four months before he was shown this steer received no other food than ho p eked up in a grass paddock. In 1889 another half-bred, Chilliogham 2nd, aged 3 years 8 months, was shown at Smithfield, where he was awarded third prize. His live weight was 18cwt. 2qr. 51b., and his dead carcass weighed 13441 b. Ihe butcher who purchased him declared that ‘he never cut up a better-fleshed animal.’ The wild cross appears to give increased vigour and constitution with lightness of bone, together with improved gait. They still retain, however, much of the temperament of their wild ancestors. The cross with the Woodbastwick wild cattle made about 1860 produced large-framed steers, which fattened well, and the cows were up to the average of milkers. These cattle were nearly all polled, and for a time were plentiful about Norwich. The Iterriston herd of white cattle were a cross between the wild white cattle and shorthorns, which was made early in the present century. They were polled, and tha steers grew to a very great size.

A well-known live stock aoent~~!7~ the North British Agricnlturafiat the lowing recipe against milk fever-—‘T • my cows two good handsful of oomnnt fo«r‘ h “ " * 8“" d Pl««eotiv,

It is stated that an inventor named Mili» has sold to the McOurmick Reaper (Vm, 6r W £20,000 the ™ht .3h .'TA‘2 will make out of ‘ordinary slounh „ , over 1000 feet of binder-twine lo ot the cost of the whole, rolled up, a quarter of a cent, a pound—or 41h 8 f<? y halfpenny English money. b f ° r *

Referring to the effect that fiscal ohant-o. ” A , me , noa ma y have on Australian wool th! Leader s correspondent says ‘ EvervtMn tends to confirm me in the opinion that* f 8 a time at least, the effects of the passing of this measure will not be prejudicial tAA interests of the Australian wool groweJ is far sighted enough to prepare® his clip so thwt Americans can compete for it Tv, manufacturers of the States have been appeased to some extent by a greater measure of protection on the production 0 their looms, which, however it may cripn° e them so far as an export trade is concerned oertainly promises them more of their own markets than they have had in the past flw years, and inoreased consumption of fin! wool, procured from abroad, must inevitably follow This period of apparent prosperity may, however he of short duration! and then wi 1 probably come the looked for advent of the Democrats to power once again and a new rgieme of lower duties will tenJ place the United States manufacturing industry on a sounder and firmer basis® coupled with an enormous expansion in thffr demand for Australian wool. This is what I look for sooner or later, and am sanguine enough to expect it before long. Mr Blaine the Secretary, has just sent a letter to Con* gress on the subject of tariffs, in which he boldly suggests that the President of the States, for the time being, shall be given authority to declare, at any time, that the products of any other American nation (upon which no export duty is levied) shall be admitted duty free, provided that such nationality agree to admit the manufactures and products of the United States on the same terms. This shows pretty clearly that he is not quite satisfied with the present Bill of his own party.

There is likely to be a great revolution in the sheep breeding in Argentine. Experts have come to the conclusion that the climate of the province of Buenos Ayres is much too damp for the merinos, and their con. elusions are doubtless well founded, since thousands of the sheep succumbed during the past winter to diseases brought about by the humidity of the atmosphere. Long woolled sheep, especially Lincolns, thrive much better in Buenos Ayres, and the great stretch of thinly-populated territory between the province and the Cordilleras offers magnificent pasture for fine wool breeds.

The Australasian speaking of opoasoms in an answer to a correspondent says: ‘They are great nuisances in gardens, orchards, and vineyards io the neighbourhood of gum trees. It is decidedly not advisable to introduce them into the dense forests of New Zealand As a rule, they do aot frequent dense forests ; they are generally found in thinly timbered country where the trees are of moderate height. It would be entirely impolitic to introdnee them to any part of New Zealand.

It has been a matter of wonderment that the 'Victorian Government should give bonuses for the exportation of butter to London, seeing that if it were kept in Melbourne it would realise a higher price than it is sold for there. Mr C. Young asked the Minister of Agriculture if he would consider the propriety of giving bonuses to encourage the storage of butter in Melbourne for six months Mr Dow’s reply showed that the departmental scheme had been somewhat crude. He admitted that he had not carefully considered Mr Young’s proposal, but would do so.

A commencement has been made with the task of entomological education by the enterprise of Messrs M’Carron, Bird, and Co., who have published an illuminated chart of destructive insects adapted for the use of schools and more especially for state schools. The insects. 12 in number, are represented greatly magnified. Happily, one or two of them, notably the Tipula, or Daddy Longlegs, have not yet been introduced to this country, but locusts, codlin moths, pear slugs, and longicorn, or native boring beetles, arc too familiar objects. At some future time, perhaps the firm may publish a chart of insects useful to man as destroyers of those in the chart now before us.

The United States have now secured the winter wheat crop. The harvest has been marked by intense heat, and there is a hard and parched quality about some of the grain which is’in striking contrast to what bids fair to be the condition of English and French crops. The Pacific seaboard bas done better than anticipated, but, after all is said, will not be able to repeat in the ensuing campaign the exports of the shipping yearl which, with 31st July draws to its olose. The Atlantic seaboard is said to hav6 40,000.000 bushels less winter wheat to ship—lß9o grain—as compared with last season, but the reserves are 20,000,000 bushels larger than a year ago. It is therefore assumed by the Mark Lane Express that the total difference will not be more than 20,000,000 bushels.

The best method of ascertaining the weight of a stack of hay is as follows :—Multiply th® length of the stack by its breath, and multiply the result by the height, all in feet; divide the product by 27, which will give the number of cubic yards ; this multiply by 0, if new hay ; if oldish 8 or 9, and the product will be the weight in stones. In measuring the height deduct two thirds of the distance in feet from the eaves to the top.

the longburn freezing WORKS.

Close to the Longburn Station of the M.nawatu Company these works are situated • close to the railway line they are in the middle of the green plain, looking so h and pleasant at this time of the year. It iathe centre of a great and growing district, Sheep are increasing and cattle are multiply, ing So great is the progress that the self re. liant settlers long ago determined to set np a freezing establishment of their own. . Ac cordingly the Longburn (Slaughtering and Freezing Company was formed. The Com* #D y began by purchasing a commodious site* from Mr Beale, with the cattle slaughter-yards and boiling-down plant thereon. Next they put themselves into the hands of Messrs Coxon and Greenstreet, the well-known engineers of Christohurch, who have designed and erected so much freezing machinery and plant in New Zealand since that first shipment whioh made the begin* D ing of the meat trade, and was the subject 0 f so much astonishment at the other end of the world. The result is the establishment in the pleasant green plain in the midst of which stands the Longbnm railway stationAs you come from the station, with the railway line on your right hand, the works are before you. There is no mistaking that big brick chimney, tall and shapely, that array of roofs, that block of buildings so symmetrical and imposing. They arc the latest addition to the freezing plant of enterprising New Zealand. To gtt to the right side of the works, the side where the operations begin, you have to pass the chimney and the boiler and engine houses, both of brick, to skirt the oomoaot stores of timber, and make your way"round to the sheep and cattle yards. To the left as you enter —you are now facing your point of departure, the Longburn Station —is Mr Beale’s old cattle slaughterhouse and his boiling-down establishment. Y„u enter the new slaughter house, a commodious well-designed building 70ft by 20ft, with accommodation for 14 slaughtermen, whose average of 50 sheep a day is the measure of the capacity of the establishment. Everything, that is to say, is arranged for freezing 700 sheep a day, a rate of output which means something over 200,000 carcases of mutton a year, or their equivalent in beef. The place is fitted with all the modern arrangements. There are drains whioh keep the blood and all the rest of the materials separate for utilisation. At present the destination of these drains is the creek hard by, which comes across the railway. Presently the enterprising Directors will have a complete plant for treating the refuse, and then the value of the arrangements for keeping everything separate will be seen. Id connection with the slaughter rooms, there are rooms for disposing of the fat and offal, fitted with the tables necessaiy for carrying on the various processes required Id the economical treatment of everything pertaining to this department. Very neat and clean they are dow, and very neat and clean they always will be—so mncb, of course, is certain. But to the inexperienced eye they will, from to-day, when work .begins, preeent a spectacle not attractive. But that only means that in utilising the minor products of the slaughterhouse there is nothing that is absolutely aesthetic. The major products, the carcases, are oarried to the cooling room, to stand for 24 hours before they are introduced to the ice and snow, which are destined to embalm them for the British butcher and his customer, who may enjoy them much as best English or Scotch at some not very distant day unless that idea, recently mooted, of branding every carcase, is carried into practice. This oooiing room is a marvel of convenience and adaptability to its purpose. Louvres with screws cunningly adjusted admit the freest currents of air—the place looks in fact as if it were constructed of louvres, and there is a height of some 15 feet overhead. The dimensions are 80 feet by 34. On the other side of the cooling room a very different plan of building begins. From the place of free air currents you pass to the close fitted insulated departments, where no air can enter except the cold dry air supplied by the refrieerator, and whence uo air can get out till the doors are opened. First you find yourself in an insulated passage extending the whole length of the cooling-room. On the other side of the passage are the freeziDg-rooms, into which the sheep are taken after cooling. Four of these there are, each 52ft by 24ft, and 7ft in height, eaoh capable of storing 700 sheep, the daily tally of the butchers. A hove them are the stores, also four in number, each of the same floor dimensions, namely 52ft by 24ft, but rising to a height of 10ft. Their aggregate storage capacity t is 16,500 sheep, or the equivalent in beef. These rooms are built of timber and roofed with the same. The insulation is a specially designed arrangement of charcoal and timber. They are fitted with labour saving appliances, and all necessary hatches for passing up the carcases from the freezing rooms to the stores. At present the carcases have to be moved by hand, but as soon as the Directors see their way to the expense, the usual travelling arrangements by overhead rails will be added. The rooms are fitted with the latest arrangements in air trunking, for the effective and equal distribution of the cold air. The system in use has proved by long experience its claim to be considered absolutely perfect. To the left there is the loading shed, to which the carcases are conveyed by shoots. The Company’s siding goeß through this building. There the insulated trucks of the Longburn Company will receive their froight before starting on their journey to Wellington. . Outside the big timber two-storied build* ,D g in which are the freezing rooms and stores, stands the refrigerator in a brick building 48ft by 22ft 6in. It is one of HasJ?® , 8 Potent compound duplex refrigerators, tted with injecting steam condenser, patent “tying pipes, and all 1 the latest improve. ®ents. The machine is capable of deliver* mg 120,000 cubic feet of dry air per hour, at a tem perature of between 80 and 100 below zero.

For driving this machine there are two boilers of tlie Lancashire pattern, 30 feet by seven, designed by Messrs Coxon and Greenstreet {the designers of the whole of the arrangements), and constructed by Messrs Cable and Co., of Wellington, who have dona their work in a very thorough and workmanlike fashion. These boilers have a working pressure up to 1151 b to the square inch. They are housed in a brick building 66 feet by 22 feet 6 inches, parallel to the engine-house. Of these two buildings all the roof principals and window sashes are made of iron, according to the invariable European custom, adopted to avoid the shrinkage and leakage which with any other kind of roof are sure to be caused by the great heat. The roofs are of iron. The chimney of the boiler house is octagonal, eighty feet In height, with an inside diameter of 4ft. It is very substantial and handsome. Such are the buildings and plant. They were taken over by the Chairman of Directors, Mr Bull, on Saturday, who in doing so expressed great satisfaction at the excellent manner in which the whole of the work had been done, according to the designs of Messrs Coxon and Greenstreet. The Company has now a magnificent plant, and a splendid establishment. With such conveniences they ought to give a good account of themselves to their customers. They have in Mr Stewart a very efficient secretary of great experience in the conduct of business of this kind. Mr Boyd Thomson, who has managed the freezing works at Timarn, supervises the slaughtering and outside department, and Mr Morrison, lately chief engineer of the Coptic, has charge of the freezing and engineering. Mr Morrison has been most ably supported during the erection of the machinery by Mr Davis, who will work with him for the future as his second. Mr Davis, who has had large experience in the erection and working of the Haslam refrigerating machinery, is a great acquisition to the Company’s service. The inspector of works was Mr John Stevenson, and to his ability and success the Chairman paid a flattering tribute in taking the works over on Saturday. The whole establishment and plant reflect the greatest credit on the designers, Meosrs Coxon and Greenstreet, of Christchurch. In conclusion, we congratulate the Longburn Company on the excellent start they have made and the fine staff they have secured for conducting their operations. On Tuesday the works were opened. It was the first day, we feel sure, of a great and growing business—of the greatest benefit to the fine district in whose midst the works are situated. TARANAKI NOTES. (from our own correspondent.) The annual show of the Egmont A. and P. Association, held oil Monday last, was a great success in regard to weather and attendance, but the exhibits on the whole were not up to those of previous years. The most noticeable falling off was in the show of cattle, two of the principal exhibitors of previous years, Messrs Fantkam and Ross, being conspicuous by their absence. A magnificent bullock, exhibited by Mr Lysaght, gained Ist, 2nd, and champion prize for fat cattle. It was estimated to weigh fully 16001bs (dressed weight). Mr Hamilton carried off the Loan and Mercantile Company’s fifteen guinea cup for the pen of five long-woolled ewe hoggets, and although he was the only competitor it was considered that it would have been a hard matter to have wrested the honours from him. Pigs were poorly represented, but some capital Berksiiires were shown by Messrs Adamson and Pease, and Mr Barraelough, who obtained about equal awards. In poultry a novelty was shown by Mr F. Oliver, of New Plymouth, who exhibited a pen of African rumples or tailless fowls. Dairy produce, that should have been one of the strongest classes, was one of the weakest, and the awards of the judges gave anything but satisfaction, excepting, of course, to the winners. This industry appears at present to be in a sort of transition state, settlers having become disheartened with the old system of dairying, and at present have not sufficient facilities offered them for conducting it on the modern principle. Great interest was taken by the farmers in the binding machines, Messrs Massey & Co. taking Ist prize with the Toronto reaper and binder. Horses were a very strong class, and some grand animals were shown. Messrs Nolan, Tonks, & Co., took Ist prize and champion in throughbreds with Cap-a-pie, Tim Whiffler, last year’s winner, being placed third. In draught stock Mr Mitchell took Ist and champion prize with Derecks, who was in grand condition. The ladies’ hacks made a very attractive show, being beautiful animals, and all nicely ridden, but the judges’ decision was generally disapproved of. The jumping, in which the chief interest centres, was not up to the average, and there were several nasty spills, though fortunately unattended with any evil results. The Hawera Brass Band enlivened the proceedings by discoursing some excellent mutic, and an Italian who played on a harp reaped a golden harvest, many lovers of music hanging.around him nearly the whole of the day. Altogether the show may be considered to have been a great success, and it proved a thoroughly enjoyable outing to the settlers, who appreciate any little recreation that tends to vary the rather monotonous routine of farm life. There is one thing that Taranaki swears by, and that is their mountain. In any album you pick up you are sure to see Mount Egmont staring you in the face. In hotel parlours, as well as in private houses, it greets you from every wall, whilst 10 per cent of the Christmas cards are almost bound to contain a view of it. Visitors talk of nothing else, and the old inhabitants seem to never weary of listening to its praise. It is undoubtedly a noble, beautiful, and attractive sight, even when viewed from a distance, but to obtain an adequate idea of its true beauty and grandeur an ascent must be made, when the tourist will find a new world of wonders, beauties, and marvels, whioh otherwise he would have no conception of, as existing in connection with this hoary-lieaded monster of antiquity. As the season for mountaineering is again close

at hand I will in my next give a description of an ascent of the mountain from the lately discovered track on the Stratford side, as it may be the means of inducing some to make the ascent, when I am sure that they will be more than repaid for their toil and trouble by the glorious panorama of nature in her fairest and most rugged aspect, as viewed from different parts of the ascent.

THE DAIRY INDUSTRY. GOVERNMENT REPORT. No. 2. Mr G. H. Seales, a merchant of Wellington said he had bad considerable experience in the purchase and sale of butter. He said : I started this business some three or four years ago. In 1888 I shipped Home a fairly large quantity of butter and a very large quantity of cheese. The butter then did not turn out satisfactorily. I do not think it brought more than £4 10s per hundredweight. This year that price has been considered good, but at that time it was not considered so. In that year the market for cheese was most erratic, prices ranging from £1 4s to £2 16s per hundredweight. All sorts, shapes, sizes, and conditions were sent to London. The prevailing idea was that cheese should not be shipped Home until three or four months old, the result being that when it arrived it was strong and crumbly, and in every way objectionable. The sizes varied from 2olb to 401 b, while in London the sizes wanted were from 501 b to 801 b. At the end of that season I went Home solely to have a look round the dairy districts, and to see why it was that our butter should not turn out as well as butter made in Normandy or Denmark, or even in England. My London agents have been connected with this business for a very large number of years, and before I came out here I was in their office for three or four years. I thought the trip Home might give me some information. I had only a few weeks, and I spent two of that time in Normandy, going through the principal districts there. I saw exactly how the butter trade was manipulated there. I had not time to go to Denmark, and so cannot say anything about the way in which it is done there. Last year the trade took a spurt; it was anticipated that very large shipments would be made to London. The people were, however, keeping it back in order to get large prices here, and were sending a portion of it to Sydney. The large prices were never realised in Sydney, and those who shipped to London did very well indeed. I do not believe my London agents Bold a package under £5 8s per hundredweight. Prices ranged from £5 8s to £6. As regards cheese, I had been shipping the year before for the Greytown Factory in the Wairarapa, the Wanganui Factory, the Mania and Otakeho Factories, and one or two factories in Gisborne. The Greytown Factory results were so bad that they decided not to ship any more, and they sold to a firm of merchants in Wellington. The Wanganui Factory collapsed. The Otakeho and Mania Factory changed hands, and the purchaser then turned the Mania Factory into a butter factory, and has since had great difficulty in obtaining a proper supply of milk, because the people who were formerly supplying the milk had turned their cows out. One of the dairy factories in Gisborne had to be closed; I bought it myself and started it again. The Ormond Factory (the other Gisborne factory) got into a bad way financially, and another man took it and sold his produce locally. Practically, the output of that year was very small indeed from this port. It has not been very large this year. I think only two or three factories have been shipping at all. I think it was the disastrous effects of the previous year’s shipments Home that caused them to refrain from shipping to London again. Referring to this past season’s experiences, there are, to my mind, two or three reasons for the cause of the great fall in butter. One was undoubtedly the drought in Sydney last year. People held their butter back, anticipating very high prices. I know people told me when I offered 9d and lOd to them, ‘ Oh, we won’t sell for that, we will get 2s for it.’ They held on and held on, and what was the result? They could not get more than 5d for it. Wet weather came on the other side, and as soon as rain comes on, as you know, milk is plentiful. I believe one man in Masterton had 800 packages, upon which he had anticipated making an enormous profit. He went to Sydney and tried to sell them, but could not get any offer at all. He sent them Home, I think, in the Coptic; the butter was all old and should never have gone to London at all. I was offered a parcel of 3000 kegs for 3d, and was told I might get it for 2.)d. It was simply grease, but it went Home as butter. I am sure there must have been 3000 or 4000 packages sent Home from here at the same time, all the previous season’s make. A great portion of it was salt butter. We should not send salt butter to London. They can get any quantity from America or anywhere else, but they cannot get fresh butter. There is no use trying to sell salt butter; I have tried over and over again, and have found they will not give payable prices for it. I maintain that was one of the reasons for our prices being so much lower than they were the previous year. It went Home to London in large quantities, larger than before, and it was bad. Well, ‘ give a dog a bad name and you may as well hang it ’ There is another thing that took place in England which militated against good prices—that was, the particularly mild winter there. My agent wrote me saying that had certain classes of butter arrived to a market such as they had the previous year, they would have got from £2O to £24 per ton more for it. I have compared their quotations for Normandy and Denmark butter for the corresponding periods of two years, and I find that what they say is correct. There was at least a difference of from £2O to £3O per ton in the prices of those two years. That is a thing which cannot be avoided, no matter how good we make butter here. If the weather is mild at Home the supply of butter i 3 plentiful, and, of course we cannot expect good prices. Now comeß another point, which, of course, can be remedied by ourselves in New Zealand. Until this year there has been practically no butter storage required here. Though it may come to merchants in large parcels, these are

collected in smaller lots by tho factories and storekeepers, and probably from various farmers and producers. The majority of that butter will not be more than two weeks old. The difficulty we have to contend with is getting it away. The reason is this : that last year, instead of shipping to London, it was thought there would be a good market in Sydney, and the butter was allowed to remain in the private vaults. Vessels came to get dairy produce, and when they came there was no. dairy produce to go. You will understand this: You can put dairy produce into a chamber that has meat in, but you cannot put meat into a chamber prepared for dairy produce, because tlie temperature is so much higher in the latter than the former. Fractically, these ships had to go away , empty. It is an absolute fact that people have come to me— I remember one case in particular ; a good lady came and booked her butter for London, and she came a week or two afterwards and said she was going to send it to Sydney. I went to the shipping company, and they demurred as to cancelling the shipment. I told her, and she went down to see Captain Rose, the agent of the shipping company, and he agreed to let her off. She shipped her butter to Sydney, and did very well out of it. She got Is per pound for it. She came into the office on another occasion crying bitterly. She had again sent bet butter to Sydney, and only got 2sd per lb. She said she was going to ship to London this year. Had the people here shipped the blitter to London there would have been no question about not having space. Last year the ships provided space and they had no butter to take. This season the shipping companies said to dairy produce shippers, 1 We will ship meat, because we have guaranteed freight, and if there is any room we will take butter. If there is na room you will have to go without.’ That is practically what was done this year. The butter came down here in large quantities from Taranaki and the Wairarapa, mostly Taranaki, and there was no space available for it. What could be got away was got away at an increased charge, which was unfair to the producer, from the producer’s point of view. The space' was all in the hands of the meat export companies, and we butter-shippers had to buy space from them. I was told that if I could get a space a man would give me 7s 6d per keg. I paid 2s myself, and in one instance sold it to other merchants for 3s, and then under conditions that were reallv most scandalous. They had to send the butter to Christchurch, pay 3s 8d per ton for freezing, as well as other charges. It came to something over Id per pound, the original freight being Id, and thus it was doubled. I fully believe that butter was lying here for a considerable time waiting for an opportunity to have it shipped. Tne butter had to be frozen. There was such a quantity of butter going last year that ships declined to take it unless frozen. They said ‘ If you put this butter with the meat it will increase the temperature, so it must be frozen.’ Thus the bulk of it had to be frozen. Experience leads me to say that it does not damage butter to freeze it, though a lot of people will tell you that frozen shipments of butter have gone bad. I have never had any expression of opinion either one way or the other as to whether any butter sent by me was damaged owing to its having been frozen; nor have I been able to observe any difference in prices realised on that account. When I was at Home dealers told me freezing did not damage it. It is allowed, I believe, to thaw naturally. I did not while in England see see any butter that had been frozen. One objection to freezing is that the hoops fall off. There is not the slightest doubt that freezing does cause the hoops to fall off. I am a firm believer in boxes as against kegs, but I do not think the butter does get damaged in any way when it gets Home, as it arrives Home in cold weather. If you shipped butter in April or May, getting Home in June or July, of course that would be a different thing. Butter that lands in London after the end of March the question of packing would not affect it. Butter sells at £2O per ton more if put into the market before the cold weather disappears. I have brought up some papers in connection with a particular point. In August, 1889, Normandy butter was quoted at from £4 to £5 12s; Danish, £4 16s to £7 9s; and New Zealand, £3 to £4. You will find only a very small amount of New Zealand butter in the market then. It has been butter shipped away from here in June. The Danish butter reaches London in kegs. I do not anticipate the same difficulty occurring again in getting butter away. I have got papers here to prove to you conclusively that the amount of damage done to the butter was caused by its awaiting shipment in Wellington. I have not a shadow of doubt as to this. I have already alluded to the fact that large shipments of old butter were going Home early in the season, and the particularly mild weather experienced at Home had led to a general fall in the price of all butter, this augmented still further the special fall in anything sold as New Zealand butter. There is no doubt the quality of the butter this year, especially in the latter part of the season, was not as good as it might have been. We had a very dry summer, and in Taranaki particularly so. Only a few weeks ago I was around the butter districts, and, in talking the matter over with the dairyfarmers, I gathered that the cows were particularly short of anything in the way of green grass. I have no doubt at all that was one of the reasons that tended to diminish prices at the latter part of the season. In the early part of the season I got satisfactory prices. I did not get as high in any case as I got last year. I did reach as high as £5 10s for one particular shipment, and a few other parcels were sold at £5 and over. Last year the minimum price I got was £5 Bs, except for some sold in June at £3 10s or £4, and, of course, that was quite out of the season. You will recollect I told you several thousand packages of old butter went Home in the early part of the season. If you were to turn up the papers you would find we had cablegrams out from London stating tliat New Zealand butter was being sold at £1 8s and £2, and Australian at £5. I believe at that time I had some thousand or two packages of butter in the London market, and I do not think I could give you any better information than

the fact as to what they were Bold for. It was about tho end of lqst year, about Christmas time, we saw these cables. I have here in my advices the following prices: 1448 kegs sold at an average of £4 13s 2d per hundredweight. Now that lot, I suppose, represents 1500 or 2000 packages. Out of that lot there were probably not more than fifty packages sold at under £4. I may say that I did not ship any butter in Sbaw-Savill’s boats. All my butter went in themonthly steamers of the New Zealand Shipping Company, so that it was detained here a great deal longer than ifc need otherwise have been, but notwithstanding that, I believe my prices are better than anybody else’s. I will give the reason afterwards. With regard to these two cases, I will tell you about them. The Tongariro was to have left here about Christmas, on the 26th December, and I had some twelve or thirteen hundred packages to go by her. The packages came down, but the vessel could not them. They had to wait for the Aorangi, which went a month later. The Aorangi came in shortly after the Tongariro left, and she took in the butter that had been shut out of the Tongariro. It was taken on board, and put in the cool chamber. The Aorangi went down South to discharge her English cargo, came back, and sailed from here one month after the Tongariro. I had another fifteen or sixteen hundred packages to go in her when she came back. (As soon as I know when the steamer will be ready to take my butter I wire to my people in the country to send their butter dow** —i * u.— , , “ uo "“, warn iu by vessel or tram, as the case may be.) . I obtained for the first lot of butter that went on board a bill of lading marked ‘ A,’ and my people at Home advised me of the following prices : 419 kegs at £2 15s fid ; 350 boxes at £l 17s 9d. Those are some of the prices, the highest prices, advised in the bill of lading 1 A,’ which was the butter that had been left behind and atored. The following are some of the highest prices advised of the second lot of butter, marked bill of lading ‘ B,’ which was sold at the same time, and which was not stored : 391 kegs at £3 17s 4d per hundredweirht; 391 boxes at £4 3s 3d per hundredweight. I may also say that the great bulk of the butter in the two lots came from the same people. I will give you a specific instance. Fifty boxes branded ‘ Star ’ were sold in bill of lading * B ’ at £4 12s ; Bixty boxes ‘ Star ’ brand in bill of lading‘A’ only fetched £3 2s; twenty-two boxes in bill of lading ‘ A,’ branded ‘ P.D.F.’ were sold at £2 16s; twenty-five boxes, same brand, in bill of lading ‘ B ’ fetched £4 12s. And there are a lot of similar instances. I consider separator butter is the best for export, though singularly enough I have got the highest price for non-separator butter, but, still, the average is better for separator butter. It is more uniform. I consider a system of grading would be an advantage before shipping from here, but I do not think it is practicable, because it necessitates the butter being stored here for some considerable time before shipment, and we know it cannot be stored here for that time. We have not the accommodation for storing it of the proper kind. At Cork, where the butter is graded, it is made at regular times, and Danish butter, °f course, is made under Government supervision, and they are in no great hurry. We have not cool chambars to store it in. If we had, and could allow the butter to be stored there for a week, it would be a very good thing. The manufacturer, I believe, grades Cork butter, and the Normandy butter is graded by the manufacturers who are all small farmers, who send their butter to the markets. I think there are four qualities in Normandy butter. I have tinned some butter, and sent it Home last year, and I am going to send some more, and I hope to be able to make a trade of it. Of course, it is in its infancy. It costs so much money to tin it. It is necessary to send ifc Home in certain classes of tins. I could hot get the tins made in the Colony anywhere. My people had to send the tins out, and, of course, I was put to the extra expense of paying the freight on them. My people at Home, who do a good trade in this butter with South America receive their supplies from North America, and they are in hopes of being able to supply South America with New Zealand tinned butter. With regard to cheese-making, the difficulty I have found is this : that the people want such a lot of money for the milk. There are not very many butter factories. There are some private butter factories, but there are not many public factories. As soon as a butter or cheese factory starts the owners of the cows say, ‘ We want 3d or 34d per gallon for our milk ;’ and you cannot pay that price and make cheese-making pay. We can do ifc in the colonial market very well indeed, but we cannot do ifc with large quantities to sell in Sydney and at Home. Some factories, of course, only take a proportion of their milk for their cheese and put the rest of it into butter. My people tell me it is a mistake to send anything but full-cream cheese. When I was at Home I went into this cheese business. I was anxious to go to Canada, and my people were anxious that I should go; but I could not spare the time. I found out, however, and was perfectly satisfied that as regards cheese the people we have to compete with are the Canadians. If we want to get good prices we must make full-cream cheeses the same as they do. When I came back, in conjunction with another man, I took the Cook County Dairy-factory, and I went up there to tell the man exactly what sort of cheese he ought to make. He went on making cheeses till he made one to my satisfaction, and I may say I have not sent any cheese to the London market that has been reported badly on since. Fifty-two shillings is the highest we get in London, and I have never heard of anybody who has got higher or as high this year. We have been getting £2 5s and £2 6s for a good deal of it, but this has gone Home as ordinary cargo, and not shipped in the cool chambers, and this makes a corresponding reduction in the cost to equalise the reduced price got at Home. We were paying 2Jd and 3d for milk. Threepence should pay the farmer well, but that would depend to some extent on where the place is—the value of the land the farmer is, as ifc were, producing his milk from. For instance, at Taranaki the average value of the land would be £9 per acre. Well, 2id would, pay the owners of that land. In Gisborne the

average value of the land is £2O per acre; and the farmers there cannot sell at I may say if it was not for the pigs I do not think the concern would pay at all. lam of opinion that cheese factories, if managed properly and worked on the mutual cooperative system, would pay best. It is purely a matter of opinion, and I must own to have been somewhat vacillating on it. During the last two or three years I have changed my mind on several occasions about it. I should like to consider the matter before I gave an answer. One thing I may mention, and that is in connection with-the shipping here. I had a very long interview with Mr Richardson in connection with this butter business before the House sat —in fact, one or two interviews —and I particularly drew his attention to this fact: that damage was done to the butter coming down in the coastal steamers. Mr Ferguson drew your attention to it. I think it will become necessary that the butter should come down by rail. At present the rate of freight is very high coming from New Plymouth. I have been to see Mr Richardson; he has promised to go with me to see the Railway Commissioners about it, and try to get the rate reduced if possible. Another thing I drew attention to was this: Whether the Commissioners could not arrange to run special trains down to meet the different steamers and collect butter on the way. WHEAT PROSPECTS OF VICTORIA. In the local wheat market business has been fairly active, but there is an indisposition to give the price asked for prime. Millers are not eager buyers, ns the mills are generally running short time owing to the high price of coal, and the outlook at present is thnt there will be a considerable carrying over of stock this year. In the country farmers are showing a greater disposition to sell, as they recognise that if the coming harvest should prove to be fine in quality it Will not be easy to quit mixed samples of old wheat. For ordinary good milling qualities from 3s 9d to 3s 9£d is obtainable, and a fair amount of business has been carried through at this rate. A few hundred bags of very prime have been placed at 3s 10(1. Inferior wheat has brought 3s 2Jd, and off lots from 2a lOd to 3s. At auction medium lots brought up to 3s and feed samples up to3soid. In flour a moderate amount of business has taken place. Prices show no alteration, atone.dresaing being still quoted at from £S up to £8 ss, and patent roller up to £9 53. Receipts of wheat for the week ending 11th inst. were rather larger than those of the previous week, exports being nominal. Of flour both receipts and exports were considerably smaller. Fifty bags of wheat were shipped to Tasmania, and 3,740 bags of flour to New South Wales and Queensland. Stocks and the exportable supply of breadstuffs are shown in the following table :

The general statistical position is now as follows :

The estimated total still available for shipment is thus 54,794 tons. Shipments of breadstuffs on account of the present season show a total of 47,694. —Australasian. j CALF REARING. Calf rearing in England is not altogether an amußeicent only; it means solid hard work, careful attention, and a sufficiency of

common sense. A correspondent of the Agricultural Gazette supplies the following interesting particulars on the subject : The present high price of young cattle, concurrent with their scarcity, has turned the attention of all owners of cows .to the advisability of rearing young animals more than they have been in tbe habit of doing, and at the present moment newly dropped calves are at a premium in some parts of tbe country. Calf-rearing went considerably out of fashion in tbe good times, because it involved such an immense amount of personal attention, and some of the big swell farmers were too high and mighty to be troubled with that sort of thing, but preferred to buy the cattle they required ready made. Tbe increasing difficulty of getting these at a moderate price, however, has changed the attitude of many. Buying stores at £l6 per head and selling at £lB to £2O, after caking for the greatei part of a year, is enough to make any man sweat more than if he were pitching hay in a blazing sun on a calm day, and it is an experience that has been so common of late that there is no wonder the depressed agriculturist is looking out for some means of rectifying matters. Some are looking to Canada and the breeding grounds of the For Wes; for cheap stores, but, much as we wish well to our fellow subjects across the water, for more reasons than oue ws do not believe that an extension of the foreign live cattle ttade is desirable. We have within ourselves room to breed and rear an endless supply of cattle if we can only take tbe trouble to do it, while there was never a greater pecuniary inducement to do so than at the present moment. It may of course be taken for granted that there are many individual farmers who could not rear at a profit. The dairyman who can realise from Sd to Is per gallon for his milk would, of course, be wrong to apply it to feeding calves, as it would not realise more than half that money’in this line; but where milk is cheap, or the by-products can be easily had, there should always be a lot of youngsters coming up. The Rev. John Gillespie, a wellknown Scottish authority on live stock, has fooussed the experience and opinions of some of the leading calf-rearers of the United Kingdom in au article in the Highland Society’s Transactions, and as his correspondents include such well-known names as John Trean well, Gilbert Murray, and Garrett Taylor, it is worth the trouble of collating their evideuce and taking notice of what they have to teach us. All of them, of course, use various mixtures of meals after the first day or two, but it is noteworthy that twelve out of thirteen feeders use linseed-cake meal or linseed-meal as one of the ingredients in various proportions. Among the other in-, gredients of the concentrated food we find peas, oats, wheat, and barley predominating. Some allow their oalves to suck the cows for the first few days, but there is a notable difference between the amoant3 of new milk allowed in baud feeding. Thiß varies from 3ffi per head daily to 151 b. The Messrs Wright, of Ballantrae, N. 8., allow only 31b for the first few days, gradually increasing to 81b—the maximum-in three weeks, when some concentrated food is added. This small quantity is very Dearly approached by successful feeders in Forfarshire, who begin with sJlb of milk only, Mr Treadwell allows 12ilb of skimmed milk daily, and Mr Everabed mentions 151 b of new milk for the first six weeks as being common in Surrey and Sussex. Even after making allowances for tbe differences of breeds, there is a wide difference between the quantities of liquid nourishment thought necessary by different authorities. One gentleman—Mr Henry Ruck, of Eisey, Wilts —dispenses almost altogether with milk. He makes up a mixture of 71b of linseed cake ground fine, 2 gallons of hay tea, 71b of mixed meal, consisting of equal parts of wheat, barley, oat, and bone meal, and 4 gallons of hot water. One gallon of this mixture is given daily at twelve, mixed with its own bulk of water, and on this gruel, and this alone, the calves thrive well, and aro weaned at three months old. During the first fortnight of course they get milk, but are gradually put on to the mixture, whioli costs from Is 3d to Is fid per head per week. It strikes us that this system is worthy of very much wider application, more especially when milk is scarce or dear. The only thing is that the master must do the feeding himself, because few hired servants could be trusted to feed carefully enough, or make up the mixture properly, except under close supervision ; but if the system is as successful as reported there appears to be no limit to the number of calves which might be reared on a limited number of cows. Indeed, Mr Powell, Middle Branton, Newcastle, rears thirty calves on the milk of four cows only, with the help of solid food. Eighty degrees Fahrenheit is recommended as the proper temperature for the foods by Mr G. Murray, and the value of separated milk is shown in the reports of several

farmers. The importance of a suitable calf, house is not lost sight of, it being impossible to rear strong healthy animals in dark, ill. drained, ill-ventilated structures, the mere surroundings of the young animal being often sufficient to cause injury apart from the feeding.

— Bags. Bushels of Wheat. Total Bushels. Flour and wheat received at Spenctr-street. Port Melbourne, Williamstown, Moreland, Newmarket, Kensington, and Geelong to Oct. 4 4,308,S71 Wheat received during the week ending Oct. 11 Flour do 5 407 3,211 37,750 Consumption, 41 weeks, at 52,000 bushels per week .. 2,132,000 4,846,621 Shipments of wheat and flour to Oct. 4 1,763,170 Wheat exported during week ending Oct. 11 Flour do 50 3,740 17,416 Exports from Melbourne by rail, say 75 tons flour per week for 41 weeks.. 141.450 Leaving balance in stock.. 4,054,036 792,5S5

— Bushels. Bushels. Yield of wheat harvest as per ‘ The Austra asian ' estimate Year’s consumption in Victoria, 1,135,000 persons, at 5J bushels Seed for 1,248,0(0 acres, at 1J bushels Exports of wheat and flour to Oct. 11, as above 6,520,250 1.560,000 1,780 586 11,912,500 Leaving an exportable surplus of, say 2,045,664