FARM TOPICS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4467, 21 September 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

FARM TOPICS

The wool market, statistically, is strong enough, an Australian writer ■ays. The enormous loss of stock through, out almost all the pastoral areas of the, Continent can' have _ no other ecect, j Years of good seasons, in fact, must succeed before we get back to the ftiglwater mark of production, while in tne meantime the population of the world j is expanding. These facts are helping' forward recovery, but in the matter of; the coarse wools it is largely a question j of fashion whether they materially improve. In any case, however, the lino wools can' hardly sensibly advance without beneficially affecting crossbreds: through sympathy. The fortunes or the) one are largely bound up in those of the other, for, as a writer :n the “Bradford Observer” remarks:—“Manna, would indeed be scarce and much clearer i. if its position rested .only on th© great! falling off in the Australian growth. But | prices ■ are restrained effectually by the knowledge which was stamped on most! minds by the boom and the reaction, the knowledge, namely, that how- ] ever scarce it may be, there is a figure : at which people will refuse to buy it, | and will do the best they can with l the plentiful supplies of other classes of > material/’ . In connection with the frozen rabbit j trade, the following extracts from a let-1 •ter lately received from home will be of, interest:—lT am sorry to have to report i •a very disappointing season this year, ( the result of which was almost ruination to some firms. Iff this trade rs ever to be established upon a sound basis there . will have to be a' great reformation somewhere: One important point, 1 Leliete, is the rabbits will have to be fro-' sen. in the country near to where they are caught. Grading also requires muon better’attention.” The method of dealing with frozen cargo when touching at. South African ports also ’ requires refer.) matio'n by keeping chambers with London cargo continuously closed. A return has been. ’ prepared by tho Commonwealth Customs ; Department showing the import! of ' hay,' straw, chaff , potatoes, and sugar into the several States of the Commonwealth Tor the years 1898 and 1900. ' The. 1 quantity of , maize imported by the Conunonwealtn in! 1898 was 218,716 bughels, of which Aew South’ Wales imported 19/,345 bugnels. In’‘l9oo' the figures were : a0V.358 and 417,258 bushels; respectively. The qu»n titles of hay, straw, and.chaff imported into the' : Commonwealth T n ' 1898 were | 5209 cwt., and in 1900 5603 cwt., the, respective’ totals of New : South Wales j imports! being 1773 cwt. and 2296: owt. { The Commonwealth imports' of potatoes were: 1898, 384,921 cwt.; 1900, 246,259, cwt. Of sugar: : 1898, ’ 548,904 cwt.; | 1900 j 1,016,674' cwt/ Out. of these:, aniounts imports’ to New South' Wales were:—Potatoes, 1808; 321,116. cwt.; 1900, 230,571 cwt. • Sugar, 1898, 1/7,661 cwt.; 1900, 283,292 cwt. ’ 'The' corn crop of the United’Btates of' America is by many millions sterling the 'most important'' crop' raised' in the country. The significance of the ’ < hot dry, weather of July, in its 1 influence on the' drop of this year,' is being made apparent.’ The annual value of the crop during the last decade has ranged from £100,000,000 to ■ jEIuo.UOO.OOO, that of 1900 being ,tfae largest gathered from an area of 83,320,872 acres. The chief cornproducing area includes' the lower Mis. souri; ‘ the middle Mississippi,’ and the northern.,half of the Ohio Valley. -While corn, says “Bradgtreet’s/’ because -of" its varied uses, is entitled to the title of the distinctive American cereal, yet, leaving out of the question the new forms it assumes after being fed to cattle and hogs, it cuts a t small figure m the: export trade of the country, and has compartively little international commercial importance. Recent cable advices helve, shown that the. American spring -wheat crops are not 1 turning : out so well agwas expected two or three months ago.!, Late’ in .July it I was estimated that;, the winter wheat would probably amount ‘to’, 425,000,000 to' 450,000,000 bushels.: Even after aL lowing for a reduction in. the estimates of, spring: wheat,' the. fact remains .that the i American crop as a whole, is a largo one. ' It will meet With a good demand from Europe, where’the quantity to bo imported during the next eleven or twelve months is larger than usual, The course of prices, however, must depend considerably upon one or two factors that cannot yet De gauged, such' as the outturn' of the Argentine crops next January, and the reports on growing crops in Europe and America during the first sin m-nthg of next year. One of the most important crops in the United States is maise, and the serious injury to the crop this year, has cansed j great excitement and violent fluctuations on the markets of Neiw - York and Chicago. 1 The-, average ■'crop is,' little: over 2,ooo,ooo,ooo;bushels,and the yields for the' past seven years have oean a s follows;—1894, 1,212,770,062 bushels; .1895, - 2,151,138,580 bushels; 1896,, 2,283.875,165 bushels; iß9f, 1.902,967,933 bushels; 1898, T,924,184,660 bughels; 1899. 2,078.143,900 bushels’; 1900,' 2,105,102,516.bu5he15/ ..This year, however, the drought of July has been highly injurious, and, even after allowing for whatever benefit was received ' from the break 1 in the wqather on July 26, it is still expected that the new crop will be smaller.' than that of 1900 by 300.000,000 to, 400,000,000 bushelsAt Chicago on July. 23 the.range of prices for maize, September -delivery, was from 59c. to' 54c. (2g s£d to 3s 3d)- per bushel, and the closing price was 55Jc (2s 3id) f against. 381 c (Is 7jd) at the same' date last year. On July 26, after the break in the weather, which did not cover the whole. of the maize-producing districts, | the price for. September maise. was 56a. (2s 4d). ..The deficiency in the maize crop has a bearing on the wheat i situation, as it will probably lead to the use of- a-oertain -amount of--wheat Tor. stockaeeding in substitutioa for maise. I . The -Russian harvests, according to cable .news this week, are not so good as was expected some time ; ago, ana the beat hoped for now is that- average crops will be realised in the southern and ' south-western provinces. Borne parts of Russia, as well.as America, suL! fered considerably from the dry and- hot weather in July, and the' estimates of - the quantity exportable- -toWester®, Europe have had to be. reduced. - fore- ■ caste of Russian export*, "however, are always.difficult to make with any degree of'accuracy, and the only test is that afforded by the aptual shipments. ■Writing of bulk shipments ofwfieat, Mr R. J. Fairbairn, of the Uouopsratfro Supply 'Company,’ Manchester, says ‘T- submit the following extract from onr people’s letter, dated April 1. The extract is a reply to my query a# to what the difference,in value would be between bulk and bag wheat in Great Britain:—Tn purchasing Australian wheats as at present shipped buyers, of bourse, always make a profit in selling tbs empty Dags.' Further, the charge for’" working wheat in bags in London is less by Is per ton’ than the rate of bulk-shipment. These two facts would have to be taken into consideration by

buyers when bulk shipments had to be dealt with, and a lower price would be realised accordingly. You will, therefore, see that unless the cost on bulk shipments is considerably smaller than on the shipment of bagged wheat, there j would be no net gain to the shipper in the end. There is every facility for { dealing with shipments of wheat in bulk in London, Hull, and Liverpool, and . practically all the American and itussian j grain imported by steamers is brought \in in bulk. The extra cost of dealing I with bulk cargoes here would, of course, | act on the price buyers would give, and , the loss of profit on the bags worn*. also Ibe taken into account. . . The buyer I would have also to provide his own bags , and fill them. The gain on any alteraI tion in this business from bags to bulk I would have to be at the Australian | end/■ |- The Salvation Army is about to em. j bark in a great commercial" enterprise, I which involves the colonisation of a tract of land in Colorado, United States. I Here will be started a practically new industry in that section—the raising- of | sugar-beets. While in a sense the scheme lis commercial rather than, religious, { officers of the Army think they can do much good through the enterprise, A I large corporation has bought -up and procured options on over 1,000,000 acres. f The Salvation Army will act as agents for this corporation in procuring add guaranteeing the integrity of colonists. I Colonel Josiah Harris writes to the I London papers in favour of the disuse i of blinkers for - horses. He says;—As proof ;of my opinion, not one of the thousands of army horses have blinkers, and without giving you actual figures .of each company, I have reports from \ the following railway companies, the j Great Northern, London and North-west- , i ern, Great Central. Great Westeni, London, - Brighton and South Coast, Great - Eastern and Midland, who have now -upwards of 13,000 ’horses working .without blinkers, the North London Tramways 7000, and carriers and others 10,- ' 000, upwards of 30,000.” \ The most frequent cause of failure of , pigs to breed is over-fatness. Breeders recognise this Tact, and - avoid tho condition as far »a possible, and where neoesi sary they, reduce the /‘condition of the sow rather than run The.risk of a failure. Tlie sow, more than any other farm animal , demands a normal existence,. and the successful breeder is he who sees that she gets - proper food, proper exercise. and proper shelter—-the three essentials to profitable pig-keeping. I . Formaldehyde is - a colourless, pungent : - gas,-obtainable from wood alcohol, and readily soluble in water* It may be . purchased at drug stores in liquid form, I that is, dissolved in water* ' Its property of destroying thespores of fungi was dis- ■ covered by a German scientist, Loew, in 1888. It is not ooisonous in moderate amounts* . even when taken, internally. In 1895 Professor H. L/Bolley, then of Indiana; biit nbw ’of. the North Dakota, Experiment began-making.,ex-periments with'a solution of'formaldehyde (or the prevention of grain smuts and potato scab. Hi* results were -so ■ satisfactory that the formaldehyde treat- ■ merit has oome' to-be; regarded as the standard’preventive’for these diseases. • The exports of butter from Denmark during 1900, according to the British Consular report,' amounted to ,1,531.000 i cwt, against 1,436,000 cwt during 1899, or'an increase of 94,600 cwt. Of,the** - quantities, however, only a portion i* . produced, in Denmark, the, export*, of Danishproduce being stated at 1,189,300 cwt for 1900,' against 1,188,200 cwt for 1899/ The balanoe consists of reexports of butter imported from other countries. , For instance, the trade in Russian and Siberian butter finds its centre in Copenhagen,’ from -which-town Russian butter - \ is distributed to England, Germany, and ‘ for l home, consumption in Denmark. In 1900 the importations of Russian and Siberian butter into Denmark amounted ! t to 275.000 cwt. or an increase of about ’ 100,OOOcwt over 1899. It is stated that rmany Danish dairymen have gone ,to ! Siberia..-. 1 ~ „ 1 Captain Deaay, whose account of, ad- | venturous journeys of exploration , in ! Thibet and Chinese Turkestan has- re. I'cently appeared, has a good word to ■/say for the sheep ae a beast of burden. .{“The best beasts of burden for Thibet . I are undoubtedly the sheep of the counj try or of Ladak. If in good condition I at starting, and in charge of a man ■ I who, knows his' busings*, they will car- ) ry loads of about 221 b. for a long time, ; | but. they should not bo hustled, nor /driven more then twelve or fourteen i miles daily, and thsy should have at least one day’s rest every week. Sheep do not require either corn or shoes. I which ■ must be carried- for all other , animals, of which the small sturdy mule i from Chang. Tang is the best, - donkeys s ranking next, and the hardy, null, t thickset pony of Thibet/ Ladak, Kashmir, or Turkestan a good .third., 1| .Referring to ponies and mules, Can* S tain Doasy says that they suffered cruelly from cold and want at high altitudes. )When 17,500 feet above the sea “the • animals, owing to daily march**, aoar- . city of food and water, and the severe ■ cold, wore .reduced to a. pitiable eon- ■ dition. Several of them were frozen *© .{death,' and many of them had to be - shot. In the morning* my first qnesI I tion was ‘How many deeths danng th# r night?’ When I think of this portion ) of our journey it seems wonderful tnst, • I anv of our mules or ponies survived to • I reach Lf<*«lt- Tho few Thibetan ponies i we had fared better than the other am- , I male, for they had the habit ofjpawJin* tbs snow till the grass beneath was > laid bare, and hammered with theur c hoofs on.tho ice in search of water now > and then with success.” > ( j ( -. ■ - ; >; Breeding from aniiawla atanoatly HP • will unquestionably hasten maturity, ; | and because of this it had been • mended as a means to this sod. But rf used at all for such au.end it sboidd bo .{used with groat caution. H animals are mated while far short of maturity, the • tendency of such mating is ,to reduce size i to weaken stamina, hence any gain. • to maturity accruing from this source i is. of questionable ultimate advantage, i But when breeding' dairy heifers it may i be-proper to do so while they are yet /immature, that in them'the tendency i to millbgiving may bo early developed. 1 And when growing animals for meat, asi pecially those that are being freely fed. .! if’breeding,were delayed .until the. ani- . ,'mala were first matured they wouldproh. i ably breed less freely. When females i produce young while quite; immature, 1 -tin harden is put upon then of 'ooinpletine their own ptjwthi ind'of 'suin'their voang. and this tends, to ' lessen size. The better plan.-therefore, • is to avoid extremes when determining ' the age at which animals shaU be bred. ' The French Sugar Bounties snow a deficit of £660,000. 1C: Oaillaux, the Minister for Finenoe. will, reduce toe ' bounties by 55 per cent., and hopes that : next season’s receipts will recoup' the