GLEANINGS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6749, 22 February 1909, Page 3

GLEANINGS

At the Masterton Ram Fair no to 180 gs was offered" for a four-tooth Romney ram of Mr E. Short. It was passed in, tho reserve being 200 gs. , -i- farmer in tho Southbridge (Canterbury) district had a twenty-acre paddock of Algerian oats threshed last week, which averaged 85 bushels per acre. The lino was disposed of at Is 3d per bushel. Most of the farmers in the Ashburton county have such an abundant supply of feed that they are just now much understocked. Store sheep are difficult to procure at a value leaving a margin for profit. An immense apple exhibition—perhaps the largest ever eeen—was opened on December 7th of last year at Spokane, Washington State. Thousands of exhibits were (lathered together from various parts ol tho United States and its dependencies, England and her oloniea, Germany, France, Denmark, and Japan. The foremost experts of the country acted as judges, and awarded premiums

amounting to 35,000 dollars to the grow era of the best commercial apples enter ed in the numerous sections.

A cereal rapidly coining to the fore ns an Argentine product is barley. From a modest total of 16,674 hectares sown for 1906-7, it has reached something over 150,000 hectares for 1908-9, rather more than double the quantity last year. Crop reports are good, and should ail continue to yo well, it is expected that at least 50,00(1 tons will be available for export in the year 1909. Sheep are being brought to Lyttelton in large numbers from the northern sounds ami Napier (says the “Lyttelton Times”;, and about 10,000 will probably be landed within the fortnight. The animals aro stores and breeding ewes, bred and shorn in tho north. They come to Canterbury annually, the stores to be fattened up for the killing market, and the ewes to supply the losses due to tho exportation of frozen mutton throughout the season.