JOTTINGS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1217, 28 June 1895, Page 5

JOTTINGS.

Referring to Mr D. J. Na.clian'a meat trust scheme which has 'oeen so well received, except in a few quarters were vested interests are 'joucerned the Palmerston Standard says: He has secured recognition o£ its merits by tho Christchurch people., from whom, in view of the conflict; of interests, strong objection was expected. We donot include among the " Christchurch people" the Canterbury farmers, but refer more particularly to the merchants, who are disposed, and naturally so, to look with aii unkindly eye upon a project which would place them at a disadvantage in connection with the frozen meat trade, as compared with their present commanding position in their business relations with the producer. Those who are behind the scenes know the selfish arguments—admittedly selfish by the men themselves—which are used by the merchants against Mr Nathan's scheme, and seeing that their influence is greater in Christchurch. than in any other part of the colony,. it is a genuine surprise to hear that the. first body in the Cathedral city todevote consideration to the project has: not subjected it to unequivocal condemnation. What the exact attitudeof the Canterbury A. and P. Association will be at the conference of ? delegates which will in all probability, take place it is not yet possible to say. with certainty, but it is encouraging to* supporters of the scheme to learn tha^

that body has virtually admitted the importance of the subject and the practicableness of Mr Nathan's proposals by deciding to be represented at the conference.

There is considerable dissatisfaction up the Coast re the action of the auctioneering firms in raising the rate of commission. According to the Manawatu Times a movement is on foot with the object of forming a farmers' Union on lines similar to those on which the Egmont Farmers' Union has (been worked.

At a sale of store sheep at the Ad•flington market the other day, a line »of 1500 wethers were knocked down at 9s Id. The bid was disputed, with the result that the sheep were eventu ally run up to 9s 7d per head, which meant an unexpected advance to the vendor of L 37 10t* on the line, he having been perfectly satisfied with the price at which the sheep were first iknocked down.

Wheat still rises upwards and oats we following, as a matter of course. Probably will catch the fever presently (says the Oamaru Mail) and register somewhat higher, for they will, in a large measure, be fallen back ■upon as a substitute for grain. So far •the farmers have been singularly unfortunate. All they realise at present iis the privilege of paying about twice 'the price for their seed that they got ifor the wheat they sold, and a mragnificent price for their bread and iflfiwr.

A writer in the/ Hawera Star says : —lt is to be hoped that some step may be taken to pro vide.fresh seed potatoes. -Seeing the amount of disease in the potatoes grown last year —principally rscale—it behoves all growers to exercise caution in determining what sort 'of seed they plant. The idea of pro'curing sound seed is not only of importance to the individual grower, it is ;a matter of colonial importance, and I ifirmly believe that if the Department <of Agriculture took the /natter up, jprocured seed, and sold it to settlers, ithat they would.be doing a good work. 'The Department employs a staff of )highly paid officers to discover remedies ifor various diseases and pests; in the ►case of potatoes the Department would ibe conferring a deal of good were it to unovo in this direction. A disease in 'the potato crop would be a blow of igreat magnitude. To the natives alone rthe loss would be a terrible one, and no altogether serious disease ihas yet arrived, the one with us last rseason was quite bad enough, and will vunless checked grow until what was «one of our greatest crops will be one of tthe smallest.

To show the fall in price for bushfelling in this'district'we are informed that last winter per acre was the prise paid for felling trees up to five feet iti diameter. This season a contract has been accepted as low as 25s for felling everything except dry stumps.— -Manawatu Farmer.

Mr Mayo, the Government pomoiogist, strongly recommends the settlers <to go in for planting walnut trees. He «tates, so we observe by a paragraph (published in the Marton Mercury, that an his opinion if farmers and small «ettlers would plant walnut trees, say SSO or so to the acre, they would have a 'heritage of the greatest imaginable value to leave.. to their children. The walhrat forests of America, whence the

largest amount and most valuable supplies of timber were obtained, are ' nearly exhausted,;' our own hardwood trees are being cleared off rapidly, and

no provision is being made to i*eplace tne timber destroyed. He estimates that 50 walnut trees planted 50 feet apart and protected for a few years until they were hardy, would in 12 years' time give in nuts alone a return of "L 52 per annum, i.e., LI per week, sufficient to., keep a family. This return is based upon a calculation of 2d per lb for the nuts, at which price they -would be largely consumed.

The same gentleman (Mr Mayo) has given a country; paper the following recipe for a winter dressing for all deciduous trees:—Boil 2lb of quicklime, with an equal quantity of sulphur, with sufficient water for an £saour and a half or two hours which ..makes it sulphate of lime. Slake another 21b of lime in a barrel and add |i.lb of salt, a little soot to darken the .mixture, and the sulphate of lime, and s/fchen thin down with water to the consistency of paint, so that it will work ,with a brush. It can be put on hot,

but it is better to complete the pruning of the trees before putting it on. If it is desired to spray the trees the material must be put through a sieve and thinned down, when it may be put through the spray nozzle. Mr Mayo says this is the most effectual exterminator of all kinds of scale that he knows of, and should be applied to all fruit trees once or even twice during every winter. I

" A Lover of Good Cheese" writes as follows in a recent issue of the Dunedin Evening Star :—lt may not be generally known that the celebrated and justly-appreciated Roquefort cheese is produced solely from sheep's milk. It carries the palm from the simple fact of its containing the largest amount of azote and carbon, and it may be considered the most nourishing of all cheeses, including Parmesan, Gruyere, Dutch, Cheshire. M. Le Docteur H. Rey, speaking before the Agricultural Society of Toulon, is the authority for this statement. As to frozen sheep, we cannot get a fair return for our mutton; neither for our wool. Suppose we try to utilise the milk as at Neufchatel. The imitation Stilton made in New Zealand is nothing like its prototype. Let us hope, if Roquefort is manufactured, it will be pure and from sheep's milk. Who will , start the industry, and gives us cheese, { in one word, " the most nourishing," , and establish a name and make a foitune, besides living our ewes a value hitherto undreamt of? i

Mr .S.• M. Robbing, Government dairy expert in charge of the South Island district, has forwarded his resignation to the Agricultural Department. The Mataura Ensign states that Mr Robbins is about to visit the United States.

A grazier gives the following recipe as an efficacious way of getting rid of worms in horses: "Tie the horse up in the stable and starve him for at least twelve hours, and then give him about a quart of new milk quite warm from the cow."

A correspondent of the Hawera Star, referring to the chilled beef question, says:—"ln view* of the hoped-for demand, what abcut the supply? How does our beef market stand to-day 1 Good judges tells us there is a great shortage in the beef market of Taranakij and it is reasonable to suppose that New Zealand as a whole is not so plentifully stocked with marketable beef as it might be. Gradually the small graziers got rid of their fat or store steers and replaced beef by milk. The question is asked, where have the cattlegon3 to? Though there are three times the breeding of cattle now that there used to be, still the number of reared stock is small. It would be interesting to know the number of stock bred and reared to, say, yearUngs. By the time the stock were yearlings their ranks would be considerably thinned. And then as to quality it is urged that the calves reared since the dairy industry has been in full swing are not of the same quality as those bred and reared in the paddocks. The question that will strike home to graziers just now will be—where are the cattle to come from ? At present the fat stock market in Taranaki is particularly bare. A West Coast buyer has been in the district for the past few days, and he finds considerable difficulty in procuring a shipment. Of course the remedy will come in time, for few districts can produce beef more rapidly if the price is right."

Tutu leaves again. A Masterton paper reports the death of four valuable milch cows through eating green tutu leaves.

A correspondent of the Napier Telegraph writes as follows:—At the A. and P. Society's meeting you referred to, I noticed one member argued that the reason South Island sheepfarmers do not take united action with the North is that the diseases are different. Can you tell how long lungworm in sheep has been known in Hawke's Bay ? About thirteen years ago I was station clerk with Mr J. Douglas, Waihao Downs, of Pomahaka notoriety. He lost about 1500 lambs from the disease commonly known as lungworm. Mr Douglas and his head shepherd were both men of great experience with sheep, and laughed at me when I ventured to tell them the cause of the disease, and actually asked if it was '* fluke " I meant, when I was trying to explain the symptoms. I had to cut open the lungs of dead sheep and show them the thread-like

worms before they were convinced. It must have been a new disease in that part or such men would have known more about it.

I A writer in the Dairy says :—Mr I H. H. Dean compares milking two or three times a day, and shows, in an experiment extending over a period of two weeks, the milk was a little richer in fat from milking three times. He believes that for a short time the cows might be kept under a high pressure by milking three times, but states that they seem to regulate themselves to a normal production in a short time. We remember that Mr J. L. Mills compared milking two or three times a day on farrow and fresh cows. Less milk was given when the cows were milked three times a day in three out of four trials, and the quality of the milk of the whole day was always lowered by milking three times a day. Three experiments with two or three cows lasting from twenty-five to thirtyone days were made. Somewhat more milk and butter were obtained in each experiment when the cows were milked three times. We are awaro that three times a day is recommended from a physiological standpoint on account of the benefit from exercising the milk glands. It is maintained that exercising theglands, as in milking, excites them to greater milk production, and that this is of importance in the case ot young, undeveloped animals.

As showing to what extent the price of sheep has risen during the past few weeks, it may be mentioned that a farmer who bought a line of two-tooth half-bred Downs at 5s Id in the store pens at Addington six weeks ago sold the same line in the yards yesterday at 9s 9d each.— Lyttelton Times.

The reason given by a reliable authority why butter made from separator cream is as a rule paler in colour than that made from ordinary skimmed cream is that the air has certain influences on the cream which tends to give the butter a deeper colour. Cream extracted by the ordinary setting systems is for some hours exposed to the air in a thin layer, and no doubt during this time becomes oxidised. It is desirable to keep the cream which has been separated in not too deep a pan, and great care taken to thoroughly aerate it by stirring twice daily. Another point which requires attention is that the cream should not be churned until it has developed a certain amount of acidity, as sweet cream is always found to produce butter paler in colour than that which has been properly ripened. |

The rabbit plague on the other side appears to be as bad as ever. A pastoralisfc in New South Wales, whose property is situated about 70 miles from the Queensland border, writes to an Australian exchange:—"We are haying ah awful time here and losing sheep wholesale, chiefly on account of rabbits. The country is simply black, most of the good scrub destroyed, and the worst is that we have plenty of rabbits to stock up again. I suppose we must have killed millions during the last four months, and in any parts away from water and lignum you see none, but in and about such places they are still too numerous, t have three carts going now with pollard, each one layß from 10 to 12 miles per day, but it is only like a drop in a bucket. I have had to send most of my horses away and have to feed anything we work, so you can imagine what a time we are having.

The Manchester merchants are doing their best to secure a direct trade between Australia and Lancashire's new port. London is regarded as the one and only market for the produce which the Australian colonies can export. This (writes the Melbourne Age) is a very mistaken and detrimental idea. There are other English markets beyond that of London, and at the present moment we have amongst us a gentleman, Mr J. G. Whittles, whose business is to divert a portion of the traffic between the colonies and London to English provincial centres, such as Manchester. He admits, indeed, that he speaks in the first instance for Manchester. That city has now a canal, which has cost LI 6,000,000, leading direct from the Irish Sea to the municipal centre. Here is a fact of Australian importance. It means that Australian produce can be conveyed to the provinces of England without having to incur the intermediary charges entailed at London.. In this way it will be possible to.place colonial pro-

duce directly on the great provincial markets at lower rates than are at

present ruling in London, The expert we have refened to makes the following statement: —" The Manchester canal is of Australian importance, as it opens a provincial market for all kinds of produce. The sending of the whole of your produce to London oniy means I giving London importers the monopoly j of the distribution, and this is no advantage to the produeers. The 1 benefits of centralisation are wholly for the middlemen, who are profiting by thousands of pounds per annum at the expense of the producers and consumers. But to come to the chief point, what Australians really want are cheaper carriage and wider markets, such as the Manchester canal offers. The cost of carrying such commodities as wool, flour, grain, butter, cheese, fruit, eto., from London to provincial centies would be largely saved by direct shipment to Manchester or Liverpool, either of which places could be made the distributing centre for the north of England. [A cablegram published elsewhere announces that a new line of steamers will shortly commence running between Manchester and the principal colonial ports.—Ed. N.Z. Mail.]

The following recipe for the tanning of sheepskins may be of use to some of our readers:—Sheepskins tanned, generally with beech bark in England, are known as basils. You can tan them with wattle bark—which gives them a light brown colour—after removing the wool. To tan with wattle bark, if the skins are dry soak them in water for two days, lifting them out occasionally and working them between the hands while in soak. Afterward put the skin on a conoave bench and remove all fat and flesh with a blunt knife. Pull the skin out as squarely as possible after this operation. Make a decoction of wattle bark about the colour of a weak cup of tea and immerse the skins in it. The first day they are in the liquor lift them in and out several times. Next day you will find that the skins have absorbed all the tannin, and left dirty looking water. Add some stronger, tan liquor, and immerse the skins for two days, observing to lift them in and out occasionally. On the fourth day add some very strong tan liquor, leaving the skins in for about eight days, at the end of which wash them thoroughly and stretch them square again. Then hang them up to dry. Soften the akins by rubbing them well between the hands or with a bit of pumice stone.

The Argentine cattle-breeders are vigorously extending their export trade in live cattle, making efforts to improve the class of animals, and to attract the most suitable steamers for their transport to England. A recent number of the Buenos Ayres Standard contains an, account of a visit to a steamer then loading at the Rio Santiago. This steamer —the Hurona, of the Houlder line—has been previously engaged in the live cattle trade between the United States and England. The cattle which on the occasion of the visit were being shipped were of the polled Angus breed, and instead of as before being conveyed on board in large wooden cages, were found to be ?• walking majestically over a railed gangway " to their quarters. The experts unanimously agreed that they were the best lot of animals ever Bhipped from Argentina.

The special committee as to enlarging the scope of the Lincoln Agricultural College have recommended that careful experiments should be carried on by the director with the view of ascertaining the most approved methods for growing cereals, clover and grass seeds, and root crops, and also that experiments in feeding sheep and pigs should be carried out. The committee were of opinion that the results of these and as many other experiments as possible should be given to the public quarterly through the newspapers—in fact that the result of all work carried out at the Lincoln College, whether satisfactory or the reverse, should be made public with the view of supplying useful information to farmers and thus widening the sphere of usefulness of the College. The report was adopted.

The Sydney steamers took from Auckland large numbers of sheep for the Sydney sales. By the Tasmania, Messrs Storey, Hall, Eutherford and other breeders ship 480, principally purebred Lincolns, and the Mararoa takes 245 head, principally Lincoln.

Professor Limon, of Pottie and Sons, Sydney, has been inspecting several flocks of sheep in Napier to discover the cause of the grave mortality. So far he has found almost the sole cause of the trouble to be pulmonalis, which corresponds to pleuro in cattle. It is generally accompanied by lung worm, but that he main-

tains is the effect; not the eause, of the disease. He addresses a meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society on Thursday.

| Those foolish people who are for ever J haranguing against small settlement are requested to "read, mark,, learn and inwardly digest" the following significant little paragraph from the Wairarapa Star : —"Some of the Pahiatua village settlers who left Masterton six or seven years ago with hardly a coin in their pockets," possess holdings at the present moment worth from ,£3OO to .£600."

At a meeting of the Hawera Co-operative Dairy Factory Company the provisional directors reported that upwards of 600 shares had been applied for, and that this represents 600 cows. It was decided to open the shares to others than milk suppliers as a number of business people had expressed a desire to take up shares. The following- were elected the first directors, viz., Messrs T. Q. Nicholas (chairman)/T. Sowerby, C. Jephson, C. Coodson, H. Spratt, J. White and J. Grant: Mr Caplen was appointed solicitor to the company, and it was resolved that the Bank of Australasia - should be the com-' pany's bankers.

Messrs Nelson Brothers propose to transfer their English business to a Colonial Distribution Company. The first issue of capital will be .£300,000.

We commend the following extract from the Sydney Wool and Produce. Journal to, all shippers of wool and produce-—" The natural and sound policy of an owner is to realise as soon as possible after pr6ductioh. When he adopts any other course he becomes simply a speculator in wool. He goes into a business with which' he is of necessity imperfectly acquainted, and from which the regular speculators have retreated with memorable loss. When they who possess the most accurate knowledge of the trade, the earliest and mostreliabie information regarding coming changes, and the command of money in its cheapest market, have thrown up the game, how can the pastoralists make anything of it ? His business is not, indeed, to show undue haste to snap at the first chance of selling, but certainly to realise to the best advantage in the most convenient market, leaving the proper moment for realisation in the absolute discretion of his sellinff broker." to

Mr Hotson is to address Manchester commercial men next month in the interests of the colonial produce trade.

Mr J. D. .Ritchie, of the Agricultural Department, has received a telegram from Mr McEwan, the Government Dairy Expert, stating that the dairy . school was opened at Eden dale on the 19th. There were 40 managers present, and 700 gallons of milk were supplied. The students were addressed by Mr T. Brydone.

Councillor Fraser has been appointed to represent the City Council on the Dairy Regulations Committee in place of the late Councillor Petherick.

At a large and representative meeting held at Cheviot, a resolution was carried to ask the Government to capitalise the next half-year's rent at 4 per cent, to five years. Messrs Gibson and Forbes were appointed a deputation to interview Ministers.

In the House of Commons, in reply to a question, Mr Shaw-Lefevre, President of the Local Government Board; said the Government was not aware whether Australia, New Zealand or other exporters disinfected dairy produce, and there was no intention at present on the part of the Government to legislate on the subject.

The Wakatipu, which left for Sydney on Friday, took a very large number of sheep, the total number being over 800. Messrs H. Overton, J. Boag, P. C. ThrelJseld and the Lincoln College have shipped consignments from Lyttelton, Messrs J. Sutton and A. E. Wallis from the Bluff and Dunedin, and from "Wellington Mr G. H. Scales has shipped about 330 head, a large number of which are to be exhibited at the New South Wales Sheepbreeders 5 Association's first annual show on 29th June and Ist and 2nd July. Messrs Bid will, Eiddiford, Allen, Cobb, Eglinton, Death and Mungavin, of the Wellington district, and Mr McCrae, of Nelson, will also be exhibitors. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company forwarded by the same steamer 11 Eomney Marsh stud rams and 10 Eomney Marsh stud ewes, on behalf of Mr H. Eglinton, Lower Hutt. The sheep as a whole are perhaps the best that have been forwarded to Sydney. •

The Otago Agricultural -and Pastoral Association, having found that the Garrison Hall is not large enough for the winter show, will ask the Government for a subsidy of pound for pound up to .£ISOO to erect an agricultural hall.

Messrs Eiddock have shipped 10 bullocks and 100 sheep by the steamer Echuca. This is the first shipment of live stock sent from South Australia to London.

Eighty of the sheep by the Hawkes Bay were sold alive at 37s in London.

A meeting of the General Committee of the Masterton Agricultural and Pastoral Association is to be held on Saturday next, to make arrangements for the next show, which will probably be held in February.

There is nothing more annoying, or likely to lead to more confusion, than indistinct addresses. Farmers should note that it is more business-like, and that it saves time to have their names and addresses printed on their memo forms and envelopes. They can get five hundred forms printed with envelopes to match at the Mail office for 12s 6d.