FARM AND STATION NEWS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20704, 30 April 1929, Page 4

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

ANSWERS -vTO CORRESPONDENTS. 1 “ Simmental ” (Dunedin).—Simmental ' cattle derive their name from the ! Simmen Valley in the Bernese Alps, , their original -home, from where they have spread over the greater pai't of Switzerland. They are the heaviest 1 known mountain breed. They are I white with red or yellow spots,, those two colours frequently blending into straw-colour or golden yellow. They are dual-purpose animals, producing 1 both milk and beef profitably, and j they arc widely used as beasts of burden. They thrive best on rich mountain pastures, but can easily bo adapted to the plains or even permanent stabling. ‘ '•'lnquirer” (Waikouaiti). —The South- I land A. and P. Association’s winter : show will be opened on May 11, and j will close on May 18, The Otago A. and P. Society’s Show will not be , held until a fortnight later. The , dates of these two shows never clash. ■ “Ignorant” (Mosgiel).—-Apply some zinc i ointment to the sore, and tie some ■ sheepskin round that part of the girth 1 , that would rub on the sore. Have the j : woolly side next to the akin. Some of j the ointment could also be smeared on |, the wool. |; i “ The Call.” The general prospectus and schedule of the Waikato Winter Show Association is • embodied iii a 50-page publication en- , sstitled The Call, a copy of which has been received at this office. The booklet is more impressive this year than ever, and indicates tremendous enterprise and ambition on the part of the association. No information in regard to the show, however trifling, has been omitted from the pamphlet, and the order of ceremony receives particular attention. A huge plan of the grounds and buildings used for the show covers two pages, aud interesting articles on the birth and development of the show are also included The show continues for.a week, during which time the people of Hamilton are treated to a carnival of gigantic proportions as well ns the purely educational-exhibition of the resources and products of the province. ■ , Testing of Purebred .Cattle. The .closing certificate of record list for the season 1028-29 in connection with the official testing of purebred cattle by the dairy division of the Department o! Agriculture includes the names of no fewer than eight of the Rosevale Friesians from the stud of Messrs North and Sons, at Omimi. In the junior two-year-old class Rosevale Bnrkeyje Sylvia Bosch heads the list with 56,071 b oi fat for the year, and two others fill third and fourth places respectively with totals of 5691 b and 5431 b. ; Rosevale Echo Sylvia Colantha also holds pride of place in the senior three-year old class, having-666.381b of fat to lier credit. Messrs M'Donald and Co. (Waitati) secured second place with Merrylca Inka Keyes, her production being 417.661 b of fat. In the senior four-year-old class the Omimi herd-again took first place. Rosevale Helena Waldorf Posch returning 606.131 bof fat for the year. The same breeders’ Regina Posch of the South headed the mature cow class with a fat production of S23;C6lb for 365 days. Rosevale Isobel filled second place with ■7'3 ; 311b of fat, and Rosevale Sylvia Beets de Kol was third with 610.541 b of fat. • Wheat and Oat Threshings. The threshings of-wheat in Otago for the 1929 season totalled 229,616 bushels of which quantity 17,251 bushels were Hunter’s varieties threshed out at /4.163 bushels, Tuscan or Longberry at 102,477 bushels,' and Pearl oi- Velvet at 35,<25 bushels. The average yield per acre, according to the Government Statistician, was 31.94 bushels, against a Dominion average of 36.14 bushels. The threshings of oais in the Otago district totalled 80,406 bushels, there being 57,859 bushels of white oats, .6738 bushels of Duns, 2090 bushels of Black, and 13,719 bushels' of Algerians. The average yield per acre was 38.99 bushels, compared with the New Zealand average of 40.38 bushels. These figures cover the season to March 19. Otago Winter Show. The Space Committee appointed by the Otago A, and P. Society is finding great difficulty in providing the necessary space to meet the demands that have been made Over 80 applications have already been received, and only those pertaining to our agricultural and trade displays have been allocated.’ All applications for purely selling stalls and side shows have been held over. The committee are endeavouring to meet the requirements of exhibitors, and have secured from Messrs Fuller and Sons, Fuller and Victoria Halls and the theatre, annexe,. and are negotiating for an additional building which has a floor space of 9000 square feet. If this space can be utilised it would assist ■ the committee in ; their efforts to meet the demands that are now being made. There is naturally a difference, of opinion as to the advisability of utilising a building outside their own premises, and the question will be fully considered at the first meeting of the General Committee, when a final decision will be made. In addition to the usual trade display, the Department of Agriculture has also considered making a display, providing arrangements can be made for suitable space. The committee is anxious to provide the necessary accommodation for the department, and hopes that it will- agree to the proposal.that have been submitted to it.. New Zealand Clydesdales in Australia. The prize list .of the New South Wales Royal Agricultural Society’s show gives a good deal of prominence to New Zealandbred Clydesdales. In the'class for two-year-old and under threc-year-old colts the first and second awards were won by Otago-bred animals, and a local filly won the first prize in the same class for females. All three animals were exported to Australia in January of this year by Mr Andrew ’ Carruthers,- the’ Ngapunji breeder. The two-colts were bred at his stud at. Middlemarch, and the filly was bred by Messrs Thomsons at their Wairongoa stud, having been purchased by Mr Carruthers last spring. A New Zealand entire, by Myroe Footprint, was third in the aged stallion class, and an eight-year-old black, Windermere. Sensation, from the stables, of Mr D. G. Wright, took the fourth .prize. . Both the winning colts were by Medrox Print, and the filly, Wairongoa Brilliant, was by Brilliantshire,.out of Lady MoirCen. In the three-year-old mare class two New Zealand-bred animals secured a place, and two others secured first and second prize in the class for junior two-year-olds. Southland’s Royal Show. The following reference to holding the next Royal Show at Invercargill was made by Mr J. M. Johnston, treasurer of the Manawatu' A. and P. Association, at the annual meeting:— “I desire to say that Invercargill deserves to be congratulated on taking a firm stand in getting the Royal Show this year. I am not, and never have been, iu favour of centralising the Royal Show in two centres in the Dominion year about. It is admitted that New Zealand is not : well-shaped country, owing to the distance from the far north to the far’ south to itinerate the Royal Show, but a district like Southland and the very fine grounds of the A. and P. Association warrant the holding of the show there. “They are quite capable of having a first-class Royal Show and all the South, Island can exhibit /with little trouble at' Invercargill, even if the north does not compete. “ Some of the land in the western district of Southland is quite as good in quality as any land in this district, and the only difference is the climate. “They have-the men to run it, all right, and they will produce the funds when wanted.” Southland Bobby Veal. I In connection with the export of '“bobby” veal' from Southland, the re-

By Rtjsticus. Items of interest to those engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, with a view to their publication in these columns, will bo welcomed. They should be addressed to “Rusti cus,” Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.

turns for all shipments have now been received by the committee controlling the industry on behalf of the South Island Dairy Association, and a meeting will be held to-day when the matter of surpluses that will be made available to the farmers will be gone into. The present indications are that quite a good bonus will be forthcoming, and that the returns will be in excess of those of last year. There can be no doubt concerning the success of cooperative marketing of veal, and the export has proved of material value to those farmers sending forward calves. World Wool. Production. Wool_ production in 10 countries, which ordinarily produce a little over two-thirds of the world output, is estimated at 2,530,000,0001 b in the grease for 1928 (says Foreign Crops and Markets), That estimate is an increase of 6 per cent, over 1927 apd 5 per cent, over 1920, the previous high year. All of the important wool-producing countries of the southern hemisphere, and also the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, show increases over 1927, Estimates based on sheep numbers showed slight decreases for France and Germany. Wool production in Russia for 1928 shows an increase of 6 per cent, over 1927. In that year Russian production about equalled that ■ of 1916. SmithQeld Figures. A London paper tells us that London’s meat consumption, so far as Smithfield is concerned, fell in 1928 by 3.9 per cent. — the result of short supplies of chilled beef from Argentina, and frozen mutton and lamb from Australia. The total supplies of meat, poultry, etc., aggregated 470,161 tons, compared with 489,290 tons. Of the total, British and Irish produce formed 27.7 per cent;; dominions, 18.8 per cent.; Argentina, 43.7 per cent.; and other foreign countries, 9.8 per cent. The details are as under:— Beef and Veal.—Argentina supplied 72.2 per cent.; Great Britain and Ireland, 17.5 per ■cent,; Dominions, 3.5 per' cent.; other countries, C.B per cent. Mutton and Lamb.—Kew Zealand supplied 47.7 per cent.; Great Britain and Ireland, 25.6 per cent.;. Argentina, 18.9 per cent..; Australia, 5 per cent.; other countries,'2.B per cent. Pork and Bacon.—Great Britain and Ireland supplied 75.8 per cent.: Dominions, 3.6 per cent.; other countries, 20.6 per cent; ’ Poultry, etc,—Groat Britain and Ireland supplied 42 per cent.;'dominions, 12.4 per cent.; foreign countries, 45.6 per cent. Of the total supplies, beef formed 52.3 per cent.; mutton and lamb, 29.6 per cent.; pork, 10.3 per cent.; and poultry, game, etc., 7.8 per cent.

Shortage in Beef Production. The Minister of Agriculture . (Mr G. W. Forbes) a few days, ago received a cablegram from the High Commissioner ot New Zealand intimating that during the second week of the current month The Times published a series of remarkable articles by Sir William Haldane regarding the serious shortage in beef production. In a leading article!The Times strongly supported'Sir William Haldane's views and suggested that the opportunity for Dominion exports, would be greatly increased. The High Commissioner further stated that the article in question points out first, that the shrinkage of exports from Argentina is continuous, the figures for 1928 showing a reduction of 24 per cent, over those for 1927; secondly, that owing to the shortage in the numbci of cattle and the growth of population of the United States of America, a consideraable amount of beef is being imported into that country from Canada, and even from New Zealand, despite the tariff barrier, and the opinion is expiessed that the United- States will be compelled to widen the field from.which imports.are taken. This being so it is considered. that there shoiildhe a big opportunity to other beefproducing countries to increase their production for export to Great Britain, which imports 58 per cent, of its supplies. Woollen Industry. One of the principal factors which made it difficult for British industry uto compete ,successfully ,in foreign markets was that "in' Europe wages were considerably below thc-o of Great Britain, and longer hours were worked; hence the British woollen manufacturers are seeking assistance from the Ministry in the form oi Protection. Dealing with this phase as applied to the woollen industry of Great Britain, the chairman of J. T, and J. Taylor, Ltd., which conducts a profit-sharing woollen company at Batley, stated at the annual, meeting held in February that British people bought articles produced abroad because they were better at the price or cheaper for the quality-than corresponding articles produced in Great Britain. That was, he said, the very argument that safeguarders used in' asking for Protection, “If we could not compete with foreign goods in our own market,” he added, “how could we compete with them when we tried to -sell our. goods abroad? The only way to regain foreign customers was to give better value foi money, and by so doing the Home consumer would benefit, and exporttrade would be recovered., In that part of British trade which was for export safe guarding would not bring in a penny more for British cloth, but would raise the cost to the consumer. Turning to trade prospects for the current year, the chairman said they did not apnear to be bright, but there were re'.her better signs. Crops of the world were unusually ’ undant last year, and when food was cheap people had more money to spend on other things. Unfortunately for woollen mauv' - Ters. people were spending money on uotor ears, kinemas, and gramophones, which they formerly spent on clothes, while the wearing of knitted garments of artificial silk, and, above all, the ■ less amount of clothing worn by women, continued’ to restrict the demand for woven ■ wollen goods.