THE FARMER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1352, 27 January 1898, Page 4

THE FARMER.

Agriculture.!«th« most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man.'— George VVashihotok

GLEANINGS.

According to the Waipawa Mail tlie damage done by the bush tires to Mr W. Rathbone's Piii Piri and Otanga properties amounts to no less than £SOOO.

Mr McAlpine is canvassing the Hawera settlers for shares in a bacon factory and has met with excellent encouragement.

Nearly„ all soils contain an abundance of the elements necessary for plant growth, but the trouble is that these elements are largely in an unavailable form. They must first be converted into available forms before they can be taken up by plants as food, and to do this thorough cultivation of.the soil is necessary.

The Sydney Mail of January 8 says tLafe this season more butter has been shipped to' London than during the whole of feny previous season. Inclusive of. the Orotava, which sailed on Monday, 54,995 boxes of butter have been forwarded by mail steamers to London. Ptices on the other side lower during the year than in 1896, but locally in the winter months very high prices ruled.

The Mataura Ensign says :—The balance-sheet of the Southland Frozen Meat Company for the past year, when it is issued, will be found to contain information of the greatest possible interest and gratification to shareholders. The profits for the year amount to something over £SOOO, and we believe it is proposed to declare a dividend on the tL B " shares, besides carrying forward a substantial amount for improvements and depreciation.

According to the Wairarapa Lender a small, farmer at Carterton has just received the following reply to a letter sent ten days ago :—"I noted your desire to book space for Cheese by next boat. I have been waiting to learn what will be the fiist boat to carry cheese; but as yet it is not decided." Could anything be more damaging (says the Leader) to the small laud owners than this absence of arrangement for dairy produce f/eights, a condition of things brought about by this reduction of freight committee.

Prom all parts of the district (says the Oamaru Mail) we hear complaints of the ravages of the sparrows amongst the gvain, the little pests being ap parently bent upon completing the work of destruction begun by the drought. Possibly as a consequence of the drought having made other food scarce, the sparrows appear to be more voracious than usual, and have feasted upon the half formed grain in the ears. In some place acres of wheat have been completely stripped of grain by the pest, for whose destruction nothing has been done for some time.

At a meeting of the Otago A. and P. Society, Mr Walter Blackie drew attention to the unsatisfactory manner in which grain was being sold, and suggested that tiie society should support a uniform scale for all classes of grain, an! that the sale of wheat should

be placed on the same terms as oata, and not as at present. It was decided that a sub committee be appointed to confer with the different selling agents on the matter, and that the members of the society be asked to support the proposal of placing all sales of grain on a uniform scale.

" Farmer," writing in the Southern Standard, says :—" I noticed in a recent issue of the Standard that Mr Qilruth, the Government expert, intended to continue his experiments in poisoning rabbits by chicken cholera. His initial operations will be carried on close to this district. This being so, I think that now is the time for farmers about here to say with no uncertain voice if this thing is to be allowed—if the Agricultural department is to be allowed to introduce a virus that will at once stop the rabbit export industry, which has lately become so important to many people in this district. It has not been proved to my satisfaction that this loathsome disease will be restricted to rabbits, and I think the

mere probability that it will not attack cattle and other animals is not worth risking."

It should be remembered that a hole in'the-manure pile is the same as a hole in a grain fctock. There are solid, fluid; and vaporous manures. The va{Jours arise from the mass; the urine, one of the most va!uab'e parts, is lost in the yard, or through holes in the stable floor. Look at that place in tho pasture where the cow leaves urine; surely such a fertiliser is worth saving.

If your horae is taken with colic, give at once one-quarter of a pound of bicarbonate of soda, diluted in water. If he is not relieved speedily, give him one quarter of a pound of Epsom salts. If iu a reasonable time hia condition does not improve give him,one ounce of laudanum, two and one half ounces sweet spirits ai nitre, and one-half pint of whisky in a little hot water. Tf these remedies fail get the best veterinary surgeon as quickly as possible In all such cases it is imperative that that prompt actitn be taken .—Au-st/'a-hsifin

The statement'-whioh ' recently appeared, that a large consignment of butter from Bombuy was on its way to England, is (remarks the Cable) a matter for some concern if thei'Hisany truth in it. The "revelations "about Danish dairies pale into insignificance when compared with the filthy state '6f exists among the petty Indian dairymen, who, we art told, would think nothing of keeping milk in their one room, even if it was oecu pivd by a victim of the plague. We hope the authorities will f>e on the qui vive over this matter, for it is nothing short of a scandal that butter made iu a city in which fever, cholera, and the plague are prevalent, should be allowed to come into the markets of this coun try with impuni'y. j

" The reckless way," writes a correspondent of the Live Stock Journal, lt that a horse, once he comm-mces kicking in harness, will continue to do so rapidly in succession, notwithstanding the pain he inflicts upon himself as a result of each effort, is a peculiar feature in his mental temperament. Not long ago I witnersed a 'bus horse in Parliament street persi&t in violently kicking against the 't>iw to which he was attached, although with every blow he was cutting slices of skin from his hind legs. It was a sickening sight to see flesh and blood scattered about freely, due entirely to a kind of insane brutal obstinacy, only suspended when he got entirely free from the vehicle. The same unreasoning show of ' fight ' is often displayed in other circumstances where difficulties arise—such as when he gets his leg over a halter or is unable to rise up owing to being too close to the wall, when, if he rested quietly, instead of inflicting injuries upon himself from which it may take many months to recover, he would be displaying, not .sagacity, but only plain common Hense. Such con-'net as hn is frequently guilty of would seem to justify Vet. Msij'»r Smith'* remark in this connection—namely, ' We can hardly point to a single act in the horse in which the powers of reasoning are clearly brought into'play, unless it be that he knows punishment follows refusal to obey, and he learns to jib'"

The balance-sheet of the Southland Frozen Meat Company for the past year will, when it is issued, be found (the Mataura Ensign say*) to contain information of thu greatest possible interest and gratification to whareholders. The profits for thj year amount to. something over je.iOOO, and our contemporary believes it is proposed to deolar« a 5 per cent, dividend on tho 4i B " shares, besides carrying forward a sub3tant ; al amount for impco cements and depreciation.

The meeting to consider the question of holding the Wellington Agricultural and Pastoral Association's annual show nearer town than Petone will not be held till next month.

By its incorporation and registration, effected laßt week,' the National Dairy Association, whose headquarters are in Welling, ton, has been put in a position to sue and be sued, and to make and enforce contracts.

Mr Kirk, Government Biologist, visited Waimate on Saturday last, and inspected some wheat crops on farms near Waimate and towards the Hook, on which the Hessian fly was eaid to be at work. He found that Mr Herstlett was correct, and that the fly is established in the district, but noc in very great numbers. It is said' that the liberating of another fly in the Milton district, a natural enemy of the Hessian, has had a beneficial effect. Had the season been a damp one, Mr Kirk says the consequences would have been much more serioua.

At a meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association at Hawera a letter was read from the Department of Agriculture stating that the question of compensation for diseased stock destroyed would have every consideration during the recess, and that in all probability a BUI would be introduced early nest session.

The following cablegram has been received by the Agricultural Department from tbe Agent-General :•—" Butter, 9±a, market falling ; cheese, 43<i."

| The entries so far received for the ram aad owe show to be held at Paldierston North by the Manawatu and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association are exceedingly satisfactory. The closing date for nominations is the 2Jth January. Tbe show will take place on the 2nd February and the. fair on the two days. followin». Implements, machinery and vehicles will be exhibited on the ground during the show, but not for competition.

One hundred trucks of sheep were brought over the Kiumtaka Incline on the 19fch, which constitutes a record, 82 being the maximum on any previous occasion. Next day 87 trucks were brought through. The freezing and boiling-down works are naturally being kept very busy, the Gear Meat Company especially ; in laoV so many settlers from all parts of the island are writine and telegraphing requests that sheep shall be taken off their Uandd—on account of the pastures being destroyed both by drought and fireß—that shifts of men arc kept going at the works day and night. Tho Company is doing its bßst to meet every call upon it, but iu tho fa*e cf recent occurrences it may be imagined that its task is no easy one.

About 500 acres of land on the Tokomaru river will be offered for sale by auction by the Wellington - VI anawatu Hallway Company ! towards the end of February. The land, which will be divided into small seotions of from 40 to 70 acres, is about a mil« from the Shannon railway station, aud close to the •Shannon Creamery. It is heavy alluvial land on the bank of the river, and is further described as particularly suitable for dairying purposes. There have been many enquiri3s for the land since the preliminary notice of the Company's intention to sell it was published.

The wool-clip throughout the Wairarapa district has been a most exceptional and „'ood one ; in fact, it may be considered phenomenal, News ot several extraordinary clips has reached Mastflrton, One of the highest being" that of Mr John Groves, of Mansjapakeba. From 2900 sheep be took 33,4'JSlb of wool, averaging very nearly 121 b of wool per sheep. As the whole of Mr Groves' sheep were only *' ordinary grass fed," it shows that the Wairarapa is not behind in its breed of sheep. At the Kohiwai station the woolclip averaged lllb 7oz,—Daily Times.