GLEANINGS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 6315, 16 September 1907, Page 3

GLEANINGS.

The dairy department of .the Wisconsin Agricultural College has been investigating the sprend of tuberculosis in dairy herds throughout the country. An interesting feature in th© August returns of the Department of Industries and commerce is the’ item showing thnt only £27 worth of wheat was exported, while fox the corresponding month last year the amount was .£1056. In Western Canada, it* is. stated in official reports the cost of living is from 25 to 40 per cent, higher than in the Bast. A salaried man -in Ontario wi f ’ 1200 dollars a year is as well 'off as one in Winnipeg with ISOO dollars. The Winnipeg "Farmer's Advocate" states that in immigration literature recently issued the cost of outfit, etc,, is given at from 30 to 50 per cent, below actual cost. . Mr J. C. Fowler, th© Farmers' Union organiser in the Wellington district, is doing really good work round about Foxton and Himitangi. His efforts have resulted in increasing the membership of branches in those and surrounding localities to a satisfactory extent. A Westland correspondent of this paper states that twenty eight bullocks fattened in the Inter-Wanganui district. South Westland, sold in the Groymouth saleyarde last Monday at an average of £515 oe, eight of the pick averaging .£l6 7s 6d. The most common mode of transference of tuberculosis is unquestionably contact with slightly diseised stock. A man brings into hi*? herd pure-bred.animals in the laudable attempt to improve the quality of his stock, or ho may buy grades to replenish or increase his-dairy herd. Although such animals may look perfectly well, they may l>o infected in a latent manner with the seeds , of this disease, and in th© course of time, perhaps in a year, or even longer, the germ of the disease may pass from the, fi” SUTTON’S SEEDS.

cnee to others, and so its spread throughout the u.-rd gradually occurs. Siu-h has been the way in which the disease has tnavelled from herd to herd. The I’oxton branch of the Farmers' Union has just decided to amalgamate with the branch at Palmerston, and will increase the latter's membership roll by some twenty-five.

Evidently there is a'great production of clairv n reduce* in Great Britain th?u year. ‘ Messrs Wedded and Co. report under date of London # August 2nd; The temperature remains below the normal, and there is a general absence of the u.-aal sunnhine. The pastures still h .ar tiie vernal nepeet of spring, instead of the bleached and burnt up appearance usual at this time of. the-.y.ear. and hay are undoubtedly the best crops of the year, and the yield of hay will bo the greatest since 3894. The biggest harvester which the world has vet seen is to bo in use this year in the great wheat-growing district of tho San Joaquin Valiev, in California. This machine null cut, thresh, and stack the wheat growing on one hundred acres dailv, arid when all the sickles arc workin" cats tho enormous swath ot htt.y-two feet Emht to ton men ore able to handle this huge harvester easily, and to turn out from it from one thousand four hundred to eighteen hundred sacks of wheat in a ton-hour day.

There has been a marked mortality amongst cattlo during the last fortnight fears the “Qamaru Mail”). More .particularly hn« this been noticeable m the case of old cows, which owing to their extremely lory condition, have in numerous instances been unable to withstand the cold, wot weather which has lately been experienced' throughout tho North Otago district. Lambs so far are doing very well, and there are some good percentages. ’ Lambing, however, will not bo gene: ai till tho end of this month or the beginning of October. Sheep have not suffered by tho col<l to the same extent as cattle, but they will probably suffer considerably when the yonng grass shoots ahead. A Hawke’s Bay stockman tells a remarkable story;—“l used to find two or three lambs nearly every day with skulls smashed in; very often tuey were still alive. At first I thouent it was the hawks killing them; but came to the conclusion afterwards -that a hawk could not do it, as a lamb’s skull is pretty hard. Tho other day I found out what caused the damage, and was simply a,; bounded. It was a horse; I caught > in the act; there he was sucking the little lamb’s brains and blood, and evidently enjoying his unnatural feed. It was a good thing for that horse the' I had no gun, or he would have received a charge of shot. You may gpess 1 lost no time in turning him out.”