GLEANINGS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7046, 7 February 1910, Page 12

GLEANINGS

Still they come! Eaetihi will hold aa agricultural this month. The Opunnko Co-operative Dairy Company has decided not to instal a cheese t jiaut but to continue making butter. Complaint is being made by some London merchants of New Zealand butter being in so many hands. It will evidently require something approaching ail earthquake to awake dairy- , men to the value of concentration in, marketing their produce. Messrs Keiller Bros, are cutting up 7000 acres of their property at Bulls for closer settlement purposes. The New South. Wales butter produc- ; tion is said to bo very heavy, and (Since (ho rains it is daily increasing all over, the country. There was an unusually large production of maize in South Africa this season. Up' to December 240,000 tons of Natal maize were shipped to Europe, and the Transvaal has over a million bags available."^ The Wellington Farmers' 'lnsurance Mutual is making much better progress - since the decision to accept larger risks was decided on and the reduced rates have been in force. Under the influence of bright sunshine and a. stiff easterly breeze the crops in North Canterbury have dried raipidly. Three or four days of similar weather s are required to bring the grain to a condition for stacking. Potato crops throughout the district (says the "Horowhemia Chronicle"") ar« reported to be seriously affected with blight, as a result of the recent wet weather. Otio farmer us that his eutiro crop, consisting of soul© fifteen acres, was practically ruined. As instancing the value of the hill country of- Poverty Bay, it may. be mentioned that a. .pastoral run of 1600 acres, about twenty-three miles from Gisborne, is just about to change hands at ,£16,000, which works out at .£lO per acre. The pro- !. prietor wejit on to the station- twelve years ago, when it was covered with ( heavy timber, and all tbo,capital ho had, it is' stated, was .£SOO. Mr. Hockley, who was defeated in the second ballot for the Rangitikei-by-elec-tion, recently saent a few hours on tho Government "farm at Buakura,. with which he was. deeply impressed, especially tho provision being made for students. He expressed the hops that this would form the nucleus for an agricultural college for the North Island. He spoke in high terms of the general manage, nient, which struck him as being most practical and enthusiastically carried oui by Mr Dibble, the manager. Dairying iseemis to be coing ahead in Southland. The "Winton Record" hlas been informed that two well-known firms largely interested in the industry are making inauiries regarding suitable districts ill which to erect proprietary fac toiiies for next season. The Wreys Bush and Bockv Burn districts are at present under observation, and if the settlers cannot agree regarding sites, etc, cither of these firms are prepared to build fac- ■ tories- u-pon a sufficient guarantee of milk from suppliers. The Awarua Dairy , Factory Company has just about completed the erection of an up-to-date plant for the sterilising of whey. A 2000-gallon kauri tank for sterilising it has been put in the ground, and an 800-gall-on. kauri tank erected on a stand into which the whey is ejected after sterilising. From this latter tank suppliers can draw off whey into their cans without any trouble, and the sterilisingprocessmake* the whey in no way objectionable to th« milk cans. t - '