JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1204, 29 March 1895, Page 6

JOTTINGS.

Some months ago (writes the London correspondent of the Australasian), when Mr J. H. Geddes was in England, a good deal of attention was directed to a scheme originated by some capitalists in the North to bring Manchester and the North of England into direct communication, with the Antipodes and South Africa by means of a new steamship company. Now that it is imperative to develop trade in the interests of the Manchester Ship Canal, the subject of this new service has been revived by the issue of a pamphlet strongly advocating the establishmant of a Manchester Colonial Steamship Company, with a capital of L 300,000, in 30,000 shares of LlO each. The authors of this brochure — Mr A. J. Pease, of Darlington, and Mr W. J. McKerrow, of Manchester—estimate that this capital will provide five steamers of 5000 tons, fitted with refrigerating holds of the most ap-, proved description, and possessing a speed of 11 or 1 knots, capable of making tha voyage to Melbourne in 44 or 46 days. Each vessel could carry 53,000 carcases. The estimated earnings on a round voyage are placed at L 14,730, made up of L 7730 on frozen mutton, L4OOO on wool, dairy produce, fruit and wheat, and L3OOO representing the outward freight to the Cape and Australasia. The estimated charges are placed at L 9075, being a profit on the voyage of L 5655, which on twelve voyages would represent L 67,860, and after deducting 5 percent, for depreciation would leave a net profit of L 52,860 per annum.

With reference to potato blight, a correspondent of the Belfast Weekly News says ;—>" Spraying with the solution recommended by the Board of Agriculture was tried last year, and was found to be of infinite value to the protection of the potato crop from the blight} the crop in every field sprayed grew at least a month longer than that left to grow in the ordinary way. This so much struck the people of the district that almost all the farmers have their potatoes thoroughly sprayed this year. The appearance at the present time is really splendid; the crop is just turning yellow with age. An old resident said it reminded him of the years before the blight came. One farmer gave me as his opinion that the crop when sprayed is worth at least L 5 per acre more than if left unsprayed. He says the tubers are of better quality, free from disease and of larger siae. This certainly is worthy of consideration. The ingredients are so that the remedy is within the reach of all."

"When in the Port IBViry district a few months ago (writes the reporter of the Melbourne I Visited the

estate of Messrs Ritchie Bros., who have gone in for dairying on a large scale, and rear a large number of calves every year. The food given is separated milk and pollard, and not only do the calves grow satisfactorily on this ration, but they fatten on it. On coming from the separator the milk is placed in a large iron trough, where ifc is heated by a jet of steam, and the pollard mixed with it at the rate of a bucketful to 100 gallons of milk. Care is taken to thoroughly incorporate the pollard with the milk, and the ration is given to the calves at about blood heat. The system which Mr Fry, manager for Messrs Bitchie Bros., follows is to give the calves new milk only for the first three or four days of their lives; for the next two or three days half new milk and hall separated milk is given, but after that they are taken to the calf paddocks, graded according to age and size, and fed solely on separated milk and pollard. Several paddocks have been provided so that the large and small calves can be kept apart, as if they were allowed to run together the former would be likely .to obtain more than their share of the food. The calves are fed until thev are five or six months old, when they are turned out to grass and allowed to find their own living. About once a' fortnight a quantity of castor oil is mixed with the feed, Mr Fry being a great believer in the virtues of this medicine. If a calf shows signs of illness, it is dosed with castor oil, and perhaps new milk is substituted for pollard in the ration. The result of this treatment is that very few deaths occur amongst the large number of calves reared, and the animals not only grow well, but maintain excellent condition. It is apparent from theforegoing that separated milk, with the addition of pollard, is a good ration for calves, while, if linseed gruel be used, the milk to all intents and purposes is as good as if freshly drawn from the cow. In his book, " The Feeding of Animals," dealing with the laws of animal growth, Mr E. W. Stewart states that the calves should be fed as follows :■;—For the first week give them whole milk; , for tke second week half whole milk « and half skim milk; for the third to: the fifth week skim milk, together with 4oz of boiled linseed a day, increasing the ration gradually until at the beginning of the sixth week they are getting Boz of the boiled linseed, to which may: then be added Boz of oatmeal, the latter in a few weeks being increased to lib, and afterwards to At the end of three months the calves should with this treatment, Mr Stewart asserts, weigh 3001 b. The above dietary scale involves the use of more whole milk than the average farmer who is supplying a factory or creamery would be willing to give. The use of linseed gruel obviates the necessity for using so much whole milk, and every dairy farmer should grow a crop of linseed for this purpose. It would pay hand* somely to do so, and if the export trade in frozen veal is developed, as there is reason to hope it will be, linseed will play a prominent part in the process of fattening calves for the English market.

The seeds of a plant named Lathyrus sativus, a plant of Eastern origin, have bsen proved in England to be exceedingly injurious to stock. The seeds have been used as a food for horses and cattle either alone or as an adulterant of pea meal, but recent observation has shown that they possess poisonous attributes which render them very dangerous unless cooked. The poison is cumulative in its effect, and the seeds must be eaten for some time before any sign of injury becomes apparent. What is most remarkable about this fodder is that analysis discloses no deleterious constituents, so that the stockowner makes use of it without knowledge of its ill effects. A paper on the poisonous properties of Lathyrus sativus waa lately read by Professor McDougall before the Scottish Metropolitan Veterinary Medical Society, in which the facts given above were disclosed. The immediate result will be that the U3e of the seeds will be abandoned by stockmen who do not cook their fodder. Lathyrus silvestris, or the flat pea, haa been highly recommended as a commercial crop for Australia ; but in the light of this discovery it would be well if searching enquiry were made with a view to detecting the presence of any hurtful constituent.

The assertion lately cabled from, America that pleuro-pneumonia doea not exist there, and that therefore]! there is no reason why American cattlej should not be admitted to England, xq

father discounted by a paragraph in the %ive Stock Journal of 18th January, which reads :—" There has been another clearly defined case of pleuropneumonia detected amongst a cargo of United States cattle landed at Glasgow ex the steamer Prussian from Boston. The lungs were received at the laboratory of the Veterinary Department of the Board of Agriculture on "Wednesday, and were at once declared to be affected with pleuro by the professional officers there." Considering that the disease breaks out spontaneously from time to time in Great Britain the anxiety of the authorities to keep out stock from other infected countries does not appear to be quite justified. Messrs Hallorn and Bluok, of Waitara, have come to "Wellington on business in connection with the proposed resuscitation of meat -freezing and cool storage at the < Waitara works. The Lending Board under the Advances to Settlers Act has been sitting this week, "and has authorised further advances to the extent of about .£74,000, making nearly 4120,000 authorised to be lent so far. ; : None of this money has yet passed out of ''the office for the simple reason that the require to investigate the titles ■'iio thei securities and to prepare the deeds before the transactions can be completed by the execution of the deeds and the transfer of the money. The investigation of the. titles necessarily takes some little time, and the Lending Office is now await•ang thei "reports of the solicitors. Applicaia6hs;for loans still continue to pour in. • No less than six trucks of dairy produce were sent from Eltham by Friday's •peek's train. ; /: We hear that Mr W. H. Beetham has been asked to accept the position of president of 'jihe Masterton Agricultural and Pastoral Association, but it is improbable that he -will do so, seeing that he is president of the .'Wellington Society. ''According to the agricultural statistics just collected, there are 75 more holdings in the Pahiatua county this year than there were last; Signor Bragato intends reporting upon the vineyards he has visited in New Zea- - laud> a ..TJie report will include a description of "Mr WI"H. Beetham's vinery at Masterton. - ■

The Talune, which sailed for Sydney ion Friday afternoon, took 50 Romney Marsh lamb rams and 10 Komney Marsh ewes from the flock of Mr J. F. Herbert, Dunedin, and 40 Border-Leicester rams from a Christchurch breeder.

.The Age, referring to the advance in the prices for wool, wheat and silver, says there,is strong reason for believing that the depression -will soon have an end, and that the tide has turned. It would be idle, it states, to, expect a return of the prices which ruled 20 years ago, but it may reasonably be anticipated that the moderate rate of a few years ago will be re-estab-lished. With the rise in prices will come confidence, the renewal of enterprise and prosperous times. No doubt when the depression does lift matters will rapidly im- - prove; ■ One-thing to be strongly deprecated is the pessimistic spirit, which will only aggravate the disorder and prevent recovery. The Age also says: For "ihe' . first time in the history of ; our frozen meat trade, orders for purchase on London account have been received in the Melbourne market this season.- In New Zealand this is a matter of regular occurrencej and when the business is placed on a solid footing in Victoria, similar openings for sales may be expected. Judging by New Zealand's experience, the 1 trade promises to be a profitable one, and a great boon to the small farmers.

: Mr T. W. Kirk, Government Biologist, has returned from his visit to the Woodville district, which was undertaken for the purpose of investigating the potato bright there. He found that the blight has done considerable injury in Woodville and in. many other localities along the coast. It is a species of Macrosporium, and xnustjnot be confounded with the English potato rot. It is very easily combated if only the proper measures are taken. In order that this may be done Mr Kirk is writing a paper on the subject of the blight, and it "rill be issued shortly as one of the series of "Leaflets for Farmers." It will contain several illustrations.

The stock of Mr A. A. Elkins was sold by auction at his farm at Makora on Thursday, and realised satisfactory prices.

A settler of Masterton district recently brought' a small flOck of sheep about 50 miles to dispose of them by auction. The sum he netted was 8d per head. He returned, disgusted to his farm, killed and skinned the sheep which he did not require, buried the carcases, and sold the skins for Is 3d each.

■'',' The annual report ofijhe T/maru Milling Company (Boyal Mill) states that, owing to the keen competition, among millers, the net profit of the year is very small, being only .£257. This reduces the debit balance to .£SOB. The Company have ,£IO,OOO worth of last year's wheat on hand.

The total number of cattle in the Wairarapa South County this year is 40,476, out of which there aro 12,765 breeding cows and 7130 dairy cows. In the Pahiatua County there are 10,771 cattle, of which 3396 are breeding cows and. 3013 dairy cows.

The Timaru Agricultural and Pastoral Association report a satisfactory year financially, the accounts showing a profit of £143 4s sd. They have nearly £3OO in cash to their credit.

The total produce of wheat in the Wairarapa South County last year was 5387 bushels. Of oats for grain the total produce was 91,200 bushels; of barley, 1184 bushels ; of peas, 2291 bushels; of cocksfoot grass, 2360 bushels ; and of rye-grass, 2278 bushels. In Pahiatua for the same period the products were :—Wheat, nil; oats, 6490 bushels; peas, 110 bushels; cocksfoot grass, 2570 bushels; rye-grass, 191 bushels. There is only one stack of ensilage in the South Wairarapa at the present time, and none in the Pahiatua county. The area of cultivated land in the Wairarapa South County at the present time is 348,049 acres. An effort is being made by several settlers of the Wairarapa to form a company to establish boiling-down, fellmongering and manure-maniifacturing works. It is proposed that the company shall issue 2000 shares at £2 each, about one-half of which would be called up. Messrs Williams and Beetham have offered to lease their boilingdown works at the Waingaroa at a nominal price, whilst Mr J. Hadley, of Carterton, has offered his bone-eiushing plant at alow figure. With the present rates ruling for sheep it is thought that the company will make big profits. A meeting of settlers will probably be held in the course of a day or two to consider the question.