FARM TOPICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1665, 27 January 1904, Page 64

FARM TOPICS.

The following is the text of the petition proposed to bo presented next session of Parliament, which, the Colonial Executive of the Farmers' Union asked the North Canterbury Executive to forward to the different branches, with the request that the signatures of the Crown tenants in their district should be obtained to it:—“l- Your petitioners being tenants of the Crown under various tenures, respectfully pray that the Land Act bo so amended as to give them the option of purchasing the freehold of their holdings. 2. That your petitioners submit that if they were freeholders they would be in a much better position to make financial arrangements to complete their improvements. 3. That, security of tenure (such as is only given by freehold) is •eeseuffcial to the successful settlement of the land.. That no tenant can feel that security—(a) Whilst those in and out of Parliament are agitating for re-valuation, etc-; (b) he is harrassed by Laud 1 Boards and their officials. 4. Your petitioners would submit that such alteration of the Land Act would not lie the means of further aggregation of present estates, or “dummyism” in any form, but if your honourable House thought fit they would impose such restrictions on the transfer of any freehold land so converted as would successfully resist any such attempt. 5. Your petitioners believe that if their prayer be granted, it would be in the true interests of settlement, and if those who- desired to obtain their freeholds were able to ‘do so, they would be better, happier, raid more successful settlers.” Information from the Wairarapa states that steady rain has been falling in the Basil diet riot. Many farmers had large fields of liay ready for stacking when the rain came, and it has probably caused serious dam ago to that crop. An area, of 63,000 acres of bush .and in the Taranaki district will be opened for selection in March next under the provisions of the Bush and Swamp Crown Lands Settlement Act. The land is in Clifton County, and. extends as far north as the Upper Malian river and south towards Ohurai. Access on the Mokau side is from Tei Kuiti, on. the North Island Main. Trunk Railway.

Two gentlemen, immaculately dressed and bearing Gladstone bags, called on a Canterbury squatter recently and entered into conversation. By the appearance of their horses, their polished dialogue and good address, lie took them to be tourists seeing the beauty of this grea.. country. They dined with him. Aiterwards the elder -of the two said, 'Lets get to business, Mr B. We’re, shearers, and we’re looking for a shed. Can you give us a stand?” You could have knocked that man down with a 141 b "mall ” He didn’t believe they could shear, but mainly out of‘ curiosity, lie let the strangers into the shed. When they got their coats off they made the wool fly, put up tallies of 110 and 120 respectively, and were easily the “ringers.” A.t nights the “ringers” went to the house and talked theology and politics. Two valuable Shropshire sheep came from England! for Mr J. G. Wilson, of Rangitikei, by the Corinthic. and were taken yesterday to tlie quarantine station. The ram is an exceptionally fine one, out of a full sister of the 1 celebrated Record Reign*. Both ram. and ewe were bred by Mr Bubtar, of Corsbon Cow-par. Angus (Scotland), and the ewe is in lamb to one of the best stud rams. The acquisition of these animals should make a valuable addition to Mr Wilson’s flock. The best plain of breaking a horse of the vice of kicking in a stable is to give him a sandbag to exercise upon. Fill a sack half full of sand and swing up to tlie ceiling with a. rope, so that the sack will hang just where the heels of the horse will have good play upon it. lie tlie horse in a stall with a good strong fropov -ain-dl let Jiiin. kick. A.fc the* iirs.fc kick the bag rill swing away and return, giving the horse a.s good as he sent. lor the next minute or so there will be a battle royal, but the sack will hold its own, ‘returning all it receives with interest. Leave the sack behind him for a week or so, and then remove it. If lie tries to get into his old habits, give lum another punch-bag to exercise with. The “Eltham Argus” says Taranaki oat crops will probably he a. failure. Thevars. badly rusted in nearly every paddock. One estimate given is that there are not 50 acres of good oats in the district.

Late Home reports contain very gloomy accounts of the prospects of agriculturists. The season has been the most disastrous which experienced .farmers remember. Apart from the destruction of crops by the prolonged rain, foot rot and liver fluke are prevalent among sheep in many counties, and generally stock are in a very low condition. Here is a report from Wilts, which is an indication, of' the general condition of things: Agricultural prospects: Very bad, prices veiV bad, corn crop very poor. ‘ Wheat spoilt by rain, colour washed out and carried 1 ' badly. Barley, poor crop, very much washed with the rain, colour gone, not cut soon enough owing to tlie'weatker, and clover in it, pulled it down. Oats, fair crop, and harvested rather better. Clover seed all spoilt, will be very dear. Mia in golds, not good, small bad weather for getting them up. Turnips and swedes have grown lately, otherwise they are late. Sheep trade goodl the beginning of the season, very slow. Beef trade bad. Heifers ■ and l calves very dear. Labour very poor and scarce. Rents must be lower. ‘ ' The present (season is proving the most moist the farmers of the Waikato have ever experienced.. Rust lias .been disastrous to oat orops, and has recently attacked the earlier wheat. Generally the bulk of the grain in the crops will hardly pay to harvest. On top of these unfavourable weather conditions the caterpillar, has been ait its destructive work. In several cases oats haye been cut on the early siide to escape the pest. -. * " * # ; “ - . * ■■ * ' Al peculiar. cattle disease came under the. notice of Mr A. M. Paterson, Southland Farmers* • Union veterinary- a few days ago. says the “Wyhdhaiini Faripjeir.” He was summoned to attend a sick dairy cow; the property <& »*.' farmed in Sea-

ward Downs district. The symptoms showed swelling of the face, heady andi jaw, with intense fever, up to lOSldeg., which is almost a fatal temperature. Mr Paterson from the first was satisfied that professional skill would be of no avail, but apart from the fact that it was a form of blood-poisoning, he found certain! conditions manifest that he never noticed before in a long veterinary experience. The cow died and ai post-mortem v,-as held, and a statement of the symptoms, together with necessary blood smears, forwarded to Mr C. J. lteakes* Assistant Chief Veterinarian. MrEeakes has since replied that he had identified the disease as septidaemia. He characterised it as a very rare trouble, and the case was one of extreme interest to the faculty. The necessary precautions, we may add, was stringently observed to prevent a spread of the trouble, and none need be apprehended. The fruitgrowing industry has become firmly established’ in the Hastings -district, and may bo regarded as likely to become its principal source of income. The FrimJey orchard, which, was planted W Mr J. N. Williams a few years ago, is now in full bearing, and the output of fruit is enormous. The orchard waS purchased from Mr Williams recently by a syndicate of six gentlemen who _ fully recognise' the possibilities of the. industry, and have, paid for the property a substantial figure!. The extent of the orchard, which is mostly laid out in peach treesy is between 70 and 80 acres, containing 8000 trees. Estimating the yield per tree at 561 b, this gives a total gross yield of 200 tons of peaches. The fruit is being distributed, at present, at the rate of two tons per day, and the whole of this is sent direct to buyers, and not one pound has bean sent away this season on the sale on commission system. It is estimated that the export of peaches alone from the various orchards throughout the district will reach 500 tons. Should the market become glutted, the F rim ley Canning Factory will take ail surplus fruit a-t a. minimum price of Id per lb. The factory, which is retained b v Mr Williams, is at nresent manufacturing raspberry-pulp. Raspberries are bought; in any quantity, and several casks of the pulp have already been filled. To show the magnitude of operations at the F rim-ley orchard, it may be stated that at the beginning of the season 10,060 fruit cases were ordered. These cases contained 50,000 feet of white, pine, and when delivered at the packing works occupied a space 60ft. long, 40ft. wide, and 16ft high. The largest plough in the world, perhaps, is owned by Richard Gird, of San Bernardino County. California. "This immense agricußuria.l machine stands Bft high, and we gins 36,0091b5\ It runs by steam, is provided with twelve 12in plough-diares, and is capable of ploughing fifty acres of land per day. It consumes from, one to one-and-a-half tons of coal per day, and’ usually travels at the rats cf four miles am hour.

Writing on the subjects of “docking houses’ tails” an American journal says: —The Michigan Legislature of two years* ago, though short in many of the cardinal Virtue®, was long on horse-tails, and for the sake of mercy and decency enacted an anti-docking law. The fame of the Michigan and-bobtail law spread. Preside ot Rossevellt heard, of it, gave his

exi.ires'.ocl; approval, and ordered that no "fifoc-kou." ‘ hor.-i'd should be added to his stab.e. The' Secretary for War, Mr. Root, now supports Michigan and tire President, and goes to the extent of issuing an order that tire p; aotice of “docking” be discontinued in ihe United States army, as not only cruelty to the horae, but a repulsive disfigurement The fact is, if Nature had a bob;ailed horse she would have attended to it lierSCilf.

During last week serious bush fires raged m the Eketahuna district. Settiers) in the Kaipororo, Mount Baker, Rongokokoka and Parkville districts had a tiy.ng time iu endeavouring’ to save their homed Though a number of fences?, out-liouses and sheds were burned nothing of a serious nature has been reported. The Border Leicester flock of Mr. Norman F.tzherbert (“Tau-lvinui”) ia shearing exceptionally well this year. Mr. Gibson, the capable manager of the station, has bred up an exceptionally hue class of croS’S-bred sheep. For many years he ha:s been aiming to produce a model wool and carcase animal, and in tins lie is meeting with unique success. At their present stage it would be very hard to find 1 a more even flock of better quality in both fleece and mutton characteristics, as has been proved on the shearing boards and on the block. The result proves conelurively that it pays to study modern mai'ket requirements, and to conform the system of breeding in accordance therewith. The four-tooth ewes are averaging 14lbs of wool, a very satisfactory average; the lambs^—which recorded 102 per cent, at docking— promise when shorn to turn the scale at an equally satisfactory weight. They are a magnificent lot, several turning the scale at 1091 b live weight. They are not ail up to this standard, but the majority are about tlie same fine size and condition. •Speaking to a Lyttelton reporter,- Mr. G. J. Reakes, aeting-uhief Government Veterinarian, ©aid he would like to see strangles scheduled as a contagious disease among horses, so that the veterinarians could' deal with it effectually, and prevent the spread of infection. Ait present the Department has no power of exercising supervision in the matter. It is feared that the crops this season will prove to be a most serious failure owing to the prevalence of rust r'lnch, has appeared in almost every grain held in the Manawaitu. In previous years the orops affected , ’*Wore few and' far between and ini the Sandon district.the Pgrwas practically unknown. B ith orops there, is some chance of .saving some of the. grain and conceiting the S jW into chaff, but of the lafe props ia allhwst every case wH be Several farmers have already- .turned their stock into the crops. One instance could' ba nieutioned where a field) of. 300 acres has been rendered. iitterlv useless*, . and there was^’ noyhlbematiye but to convert jit * into ~ a run. " Samllar i cpiam pliainibs come from the Wairarapa. Rangi-

tikei,. Wanganui, and! Taranaki districts, and indeed the g I'm ter portion of the North Island under crop. It is predicted) that the scarcity of chaff in consequence of this failuaie will be widely felt in th© near future. No stops have be<era taken by the Government to assist in any d'egTce -to mitigate the evil or to keep th© fanners posvedi up with the latest methods, of dealing! with this scourge. Many of our/farmers' fortunately have other sources . to»' fall back on, such as dairying, etc., but in the Sandora district many'of the settlers rely on the haiv isting, so that the present prevalence of rust among their crops will mean a very serious matter hi them, indeed,, to the wiicleteSominunity. A few formers, chiefly in; the Carter ton district, are taunting their attention to alfalfa, which is well known as the grass upon which the flocks and! herds of the Argentine have made such wonderful: progress. Very small pieces of ground have been put down., but results have been very satisfactory. In spine cases where th© seed! was put down two months ago there is now a growth of ten or twelve inches, bushy and succulent. Where alfalfa is grown, .under favourable circumstances ; it had been known to 1 crop as much as fifteen tons to the acre for the season, four codings' having been made in some eases. • That stage has net been reached in the Vv aifarapai, but a start lias been made, arid the best results are hoped for. If attention is paid to this grass and farmers do their -share of the work, the, Premiers idea of “one cow to the acre” will be realised. To compete with Siberia and the Argentine it is imxiortant that the farmers should increase tee carrying capacity of tlieir land, as well as the quality of their stock. “They must make one acre feed the cow,” said one alfalfa believer, “and they can uo it. A Taranaki farmer, writing to the Veterinary Department in regard to the disease which broke out amongst horses in Canterbury last month, -confirm.’ the diagnosis of the department's officers. The same disease has, he says, been prevalent in Taranaki for years. It is not so bad amongst worses out on til© grass, those confined in stables invariably suffering most. He adds that the disease was not brought by the troops from South Afiica, and that it is only a form of influenza, from which the horses soon recover.