THE FARM AND STATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1514, 7 March 1901, Page 54

THE FARM AND STATION.

Tfclis ' ratke'r prices which farrgj"' produce Eia.cio 1 M . years ago with. those 6'f to-day. ./An. old •document says that in the yeai - 18 jO .wheat was sold '■at >, £44 per load, .a-- ~ Sices ter, Oxonj bread! was 2s TOct pei lialf-peck loaf; -beef 9d, Bd/ and bicon, is* "id p P o-una. Bat’ie.v made 68s per quarter. / Ijabcurers. v/eie paid at the irate of 6s ween, the year 1801 • came ini with, things- as^ dear - as 'ever. Bread at 3s' 3d per loa*, jpias 14s per score, . muttonl 2d _ per : :i'b'T : (in February). In October wheat • tiadi dropped to ' ,£2O per ioa-d c. «> e ; , quarters, and breads 'to Is per unu. . Farmers to-day would bo wok sa&isuea t if"-they could' get £lO per load for uunr •w3£eat, but no labourer wom-d- be sa-us-tied with twice 6s a week, he can purchase ius necessaries ®-t_ ridiculously low prices ocmqvs.re-d w;tn trios e ;■ of ISOI. ’ . . < ; > ’■ .. r. •• • The. last Manitoba. Government crop • bulletin for the year shows! that .the ' total yield vof cereals .in toe province during .that time amounted to 25,000,000- bushels. The d/ought and i curable weather at one time, threatened to-, .ruin the, grain, ' yield is estimated ~ab .Liy-ObO,ooo- busnefe, an average or-8,9 bu.sl]. ; eis..,pev aicre. ■ The quality or, ; all bulletin also- •- shows. that 1b.500 c-astie ■ have been exported,-.and. that, great _prohas been rnade .with dairy.pvoauce. ■■• • v ; .i : T ir v7'-.v; ; ■\. „ The ' grand; roi'd- B'Q Uwbo-cyrn -oree-ai or sheep has - been brought, to- great per-fecfcio-n, beautiful irr its type, and with alt the, best- -points .well filled. The great 'value of this breed for crossing, •and its impressive- power in, creating new breeds, reader it most valuable, while the exquisite quality of_ its mut- ■ ton • always challenges admiration.- The •Sonthfiov/ii has largely helped' to form the Shropshire, the• Hampshire, ana the Oxford. Down, a-nd) ■ these new breeds are ail of great'mer.it>. The Snrops-hire ia not. only a'; go-qd: feueep in - itself, but •'ia' a oa-pital sheep be...use for'-crossLiig. The Hampshire -'sheep is quite remark- - able for' the.' early -msutuirity of iss lannis. , '.iwhich reach" great weights- at- aa early ; ; -hge.- The Oxford,- too, is a large_ sheep,. "wM’eh always attain heavy-, weights, and vard 1 particularly ' valuable for certain ...-•districts. ThA Hidcoln sheep have undergone- great xmprhvement in the hands o-f clever breeders. _ Some- ot tike docks have been bred in certain .•Lincolnshire fam-di.esj fro.-mr father to e-on-, for cciislde-rfl'biy' oyer 1 a century. Tiio-ugjhi of great sice, they are compact, and on short legs, very heavy flesh. The best flocks, are c-f first ' rate type; and bear heavy fleeces of •fine, fastro us -wool. They have beenexported in great numbers from Great ■ GB-ritaiii to.. Argentina, and very large .p-riceg have- been paid for rams; . two Ifihearlings, winners-at the Royal' Snows .id. -Eugjan'd, have fetched the extra-orcli-ihhry; figure o£-.-10Q9-. riubmae-each. -.-The ; old Leicester" sheep , known ai the blue dieadeuikbo'S.; beet me'.too ■ 4 small,, rbur : tre - . :siew. Daioeeter,.;,■&?>. it..-.-may be- da-ilea,. js large hndi good - hiwa-a- ---• -frame) -i and- weighty -fleece; _ khe Border Leicester has- • t&is&n• a 'prominent. -place, -Wndyisv very- • uop-talar, now.’ noz o oly in r; abd’ r cv/-n.-specie.:, fiistrictsl oia m Ircl'andh^-The- : Rosoo-m*vo-iV, ; the only n&- ■ tiv© breed of A'leht AQ hah undergone the ■ tYmcst' S^lrikflUg.'‘improvement 'during, the pisb twdnty'h/esite, ‘n.nd has established ii s fioc3hdk>oks "‘littofasr days this very Idrge sheepldiig 'ih; its: icy. .and ■ too- loosclV- hdl'tr 1 . bkhifid 'dy-nefs 'haye. •" btough€ i ;grquti-d.- a.ud; •have ly 'uhkntfivhj H •;;' "'Tlf''

Ao. P' y wqb . tried -£ecy©nby j;-a,k :^,tt^tiord.rp-,iv-A von. EagUanOfe T.shtf® the':' “Faraser .-.'.an-d Btock- :■ Mr,/!®*. ..TParkej sued a ho-fse.: dealer,, too: I th^e. .'•price.', $f > » Kcrse . sold to • ; they datfery i .' the • horse Itakd. beeni- aold'yhy,; r'tks npia-Lutift: s . 'stsw.. - he.' •agreed -to. keen- the---; is-d-re tor a ..'ici t- , ' .nightr. ' D.uringTthe tiKie ; feh«;.-ma.r& died, and' the -purchaser • refused to- pay icr be?. .-•'•-Ira a- -letter the-defendant practicaJiy admitted, the purchase: . thought there waa evidence -.of -a ! - sale, _>;* 'but held there was Uo contract, aswy c -the -letter dad' not' giro, particulars' oi t. price, etc..-His Honour said that the-.'-Taw was very ; clear ; oo ; the; paint,< and; save judgment for - tue • c.erepda-nr. It A" Las been shad,' not- without reasoiiy ma*. u fh‘e law-'is ; a. aei-d was hard -that 1-tiio; should , y nave ' to tfeah. the ,».■ ' ThsreytroS not. evi- ; . 'aence that the • Make* was; so,ld oo oe tie- .; in -a' fortnight, • but everything; ••. went : to show 1 :the;t 'tlie:. mare as soui. bmd’dhly kept;-by.the-.sfelle-r: to oblige, =■ 'buver. 'lf is''a pity 'that suen cases sh'duid -ariseA. Xuvpgripul.turah.busmens,-..-. unlike all others,’''-biisitiess is- generally 'done verbally,', and';' fortunately, ni - the-.,: ’• majority of oases, the verbal'agreement is a bond to: the • contracting pai tie** the only way to obviate such cases as that referred • to- is to- • have a. , written contract. • From a business point of view t-his -would, b.e / desirable, bat still there are old-standing customs one would tac t like to fo-.©-’ ;; die-' v; LuobU ty; bow© -worked am.ios.bly in past years.

Decisions like the above, how even, would force farmers in self-defence to adept more hard and fast Business, rules, as at present when matters do yeaoa the court of law they generally go against the farmer. - , Another problem affecting the world’s food supplies comes in the fact- that Quebec has lately Become what is pi ac-t-ioaliy a new grain port. A new elevator has been erected alongside the FiiUcess Louise Dock at Quebec b;> the Great Northern Railway Companyant* will be capable of storing 1,000,000 bushels of wheat. Xb will be able to- handis at a. minim-Uiim -of cost- the very fine Manitoba wheat that arrives via the ■La-kfes ;,-at the Great Northern. Railway terminus, and by this route transmitted to Quebec, .for shipment. Already N ew Y-ork, on account or the cost of handling the'grain, has lost-87 per-cent, of hue grain, business' witlun the last rew vears, which'has gone to other ports/ but Quebec, with* her new facilities, hopes to quickly take a.: very; rm-port-anc position as regards the grain trace on the American Continent. In py the wheat imported into Great- Britain 86 per cent came from. Russia, 80. per cent, from- - the United States, lo P Ci cent, came from* India, and 3 ana a pei cent from Australia and Canada, dj-v this year we find Russia only sent- _ to England -34 per cent., t-lie- Argentine Republics the extraordinary quantity qr 824.. per cent., ' Germany 14 per cent., Aiistralia 6 per cent., Canada 81 per. cent., and the United Bx-atek i )ci cent. . With such changes in the wheat trade it is gratifying to find that a pin-; tibu of the British Umpire is developing to such an extent in the grain trade, which will be . considerably increased by the opening up of Quebec grain .port to the advantage of Canadian far-' mers and! British • millers, who. have found it. difficult to obtain the fine; Manitoba- Wq.er.t. The TLancet* of December says: —- ‘'During the past wc-ek cur laboratory ODnimissioners 3is»v© ■un-d.6rta.k6ii. tuic €*xaminatioil of a number of substances, including certain foods and ebugw in common daily use, in the .prepiira-tiqn of which suphiiric acid is Used; It will b-C.-fcund, after -a few moments consideration, that -a-, fairly lengthy list cf articles of every-day use- ma-j tiim> be. arawn up. The results ■- are not . yet ripe for publication, ' but we feel bound’ to"- divulge one .important result, since the - .disturbing anncuneenient has this week been made- by the analyst c-f ManChester thtit arsenic lias been loxjixu. in. malt in a quantity equal to .that found in glucose or malt- substitutes. M-oi.e-

over, arsenic was found in beers which were known to be brewed from malt and hops only. . Now that this remarkable statement has been made, we may say that we have found, in the course of the inquiry alluded to, artificial manures to be rich in arsenic easily soluble in water. This h hardly surprising, since the basis of artificial manure- — namely, superphosphate of lime—is made by acting on ordinary bene _ ash with common oil of vitriol. The important point to which arsenical manure is applied take up arsenic in their tissues. Cabbages and turnips gather from fields maiiured with superphosphate- nave ,given -unmistakeable evidence of the presence of arsenic. Xt- is probable t-iiat arsenic accumulates in the soil which is const anti y being dressed with superphosphates, so that plants raised on .suoli soil would absorb arsenic and exerciser an injurious effect oil the health of man -and animals. The question arises, therefore, may not the arsenic in iria.it be traceable to the somewhat large amount cf arsenic inevitably present in artificial manures ? Tins aspect ,of the siibjsct is very serious, needs uitlier inquiry. We shall return to- it in a future' issue, when we hope also to be able to record the results obtained in an examination cf other more or less familiar articles in whioli arsenic maj be possibly introduced through the employment of impure sulphuric acid in the course of. manufacture. The Agricultural Department has received advice from Mr J. A. Gilrutii, Chief Government: Veterinarian, who' is at present- in England; that he has secm.i'cd tlie s6i*vicos gx t6ii T6t-8i lii&ij surgeons for the public service of New Zealand. Seven of the surgeons have left- London by the ’W'ak-anui, and the others,will sail by the Raparoa.ui a rew days.