THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22328, 31 July 1934, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

By Rustictjs.

WOOL SALES, 1934-35

Wool «&lc» for the 1934-35 neason have been arranged as follows: • Not. 27—Auckland. Feb. 18—Napier. Dec. a—Napier. Feb. 22—Wanganul. Dae. B—Wellington. Mar. I—Chrlstchurch. Dec 13—Chrlstchurch. Mar. 4—lnvercargllL Dec. 17—Tlraaru. Mar. B—Dunedin. Dec. 21—Dunedin, Mar. 13—Tlmaru Jan. 7—Wellington. Mar. 20—Wellington. Jan. 12—Napier. Mar. 25—Naplor. J»n. 37—Wanganul. Mar. 29 —Auckland. Jan. 22—Auckland. Apr. I—Wanranul. Jan. Apr. 6—Chrlstchurch. Feb. I—lnTercarKill. Apr. B—Dunedin. JTeb. ft—Dunedin. Apr. 13— Wellington. Jeb, 13—Wellington. 4934-35 SHOW SEASON >: ; ROSTER OF DATES . \ Agricultural and pastoral abows have been arranged as follows for the 1934 : 35 seasonOctober 24, 25,—Timaru. November L—Aahburton. * November 7, B.—Canterbury Metropolitan, at Christchurch. November 13. —Waimate. November 15, 16,—North Otago, at Oamam. - .■> .- November 17.~Faieri, at Outram. November 20, 21.—Otago, at Tabuna Park. November 22, 23.—Clutha and Matau, at Balclutha. «v :-, December I.—Tokomairiro Farmers' .Club, at Milton, December 4,. s.—Gore. December 7. —Wyndham. ' December 7,—Maniototo, at Ranfurly. December 11, 12, 13.—Royal Agricultural Society's Show at Invercargill. N ' ."-';'-.',' ' , 1935. ' January 12.—Blueskin, at Waitati. January January 25.—Palmerston and Waihemo County, at Palmerston. April 22,—Strath'Taieri, at Middlemarch. April' 22.—Mackenzie' County, at Fairlie. New Dairy Regulation* The Dairy Board's new marketing regulations come into operation this week, by which it will be necessary for dairy companies to advise the board particulars of tleir f.o.b..and c.i.f. sales as made. At present companies require to advise when their produce is sold f.0.b., giving the period of shipment along with the name of the buyer. The following are the particulars required in the cases of sales made f.o.b. or c.i.f;— (1) Date of sale. (2) Name of steamer (if stipulated), period of shipment, or make. (3) Quantity. (4) Price sold at. (5) Name of buyer. This inforrootion is required to be advised to the board within seven days of the sale being made. The board proposes to issue minimum prices below which sales of butter and cheese may not be made, either f.o.b. 1 or c.uf. These prices will be decided on each Saturday morning aiid will be immediately notified by telegram to all members of the board, and the. board's offices and agents. The minimum prices fixed each week will not represent the board's ideas as toi the best prices obtainable at that tithe. The board notifies that it is not endeavourinjr to stop f.o.b. business, and mUst therefore allow some margin. The prices fixed will represent'the prices below which produce must not be sold f.o.b. during the particular period. The first advice giving minimum prices will be sent out to-morrow, and thereafter OU" each Saturday morning. Prices fixed wjM hold good until the succeeding Friday night, but the board reserves the right to alter prices during the periods . Dairy Produce Market The low'prices On.the London market during the first half of 1934 can be more easily understood when it is realised that butter has been flowing into Britain at the rate of 1400 tons a week more than last year and 2300. tons more, than in 1932. No source of supply has shown a greater percentage increase during 1934 than the Baltic countries, including Russia. Baltic shipments compare as follows for the past three years:— 1932. 1933. 1934. Butter (tons).. 16,374 18,146 30,208 For the six months' period, the Baltic supply was almost half that of Denmark or-Australia and equalled three-eighths of this New Zealand supply. Such heavy shipments were occasioned principally by reptriction of German imports and this influence is not likely to be a permanent one. Britain has recently concluded trade agreements with Baltic States, but details of butter agreements are not known. Lower Dominion Stocks iln spite of the. increased output of butter in the Dominion, stocks held in New Zealand on July 1 were lower than , at' the same date in the previous two years. This is due probably to lower gradings in June as the result of less favourable weather conditions. Stocks in New Zealand and afloat compare as follows for the past three years:— ; . 1932. 1933. 1934. Tons. Tone. Tons. Stocks in, N.Z. 12,500 15,000 9,200 Stocks afloat 6.981 9.807 13,289 ■However, New Zealand is still carrying heavy stocks in London, the amount at the end of last week being 12,858 tons, compared with 9700 tons at the same time last year. I The summer in the northern hemisphere has been generally, dry, so that it M! unlikely the producing season will be an extensive one.- Australia experienced a shortage of rain'during the autumn months, but the position was relieved ■omewhat by useful rains in the first week of July, Butter at Home Writing of his observations in Tooley •treet, Mr R. J. Terry, says:—"At first the large distributors were inclined to be ultra-cautious in expressing an opinion, but after I had gone back to the days when the butter-milk would still run out of Irish butter when it was cut, when the Dutch butter would often have a fishy flavour, and it was a common occurrence during the winter months to find three or four distinct qualities in a single cask, we were talking as honestly as we would have done in those days. I pointed out that the average New Zealand dairv farriier would not understand' why English' butter realised a higher price than New Zealand. They were somewhat surfrised. and 6aid ' that you. must know.' said, 'Oh, yes, but I want you to tell me.' One remarked that to-day (June 12) New Zealand had very little cause for grumbling. The finest New Zealand butter was worth 80s, and Danish 85s. The Danish was subject to a 15 per cent, dutv and New Zealand came in free. It wan admitted that not all the New Zealand butter was realising 80s per

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

Items of toterert to tboie engaged In agricultural and pastoral pnnraltf, with a view to their publication in these columns, will be welcomed. liey should be addressed to "Rusticus," Otago Daily Timea. Dunedin.

cwt on that day, but that was not the fault of Smithfield, but of New Zealand. They pointed out that there was never a real glut of very high quality products, and that the great secret ot the Danish butter was its even grade. Practically every cask of Danish butter was similar. They also stated that it Danish butter were shipped 14,000 miles it would not realise as nigh a price as would New Zealand, because Danish butter did not hold in the cold store as well as New Zealand. That was probably one of the reasons why Denmark endeavoured to clear her market each week." Early Spring Lamb Sold

One of the. first lambs to be born m the neighbourhood of Auckland was offered for sale nt the Westfield yards (Auckland) last week. It was born on the farm of Mr G. Bickerton Fisher, of Mangere, on April 12; and had grown particularly well. Buyers were active, and the lamb sold for 275.

Southland Clydesdale* At the present time there appears to be a keen demand from Australia tor Southland stud stock, particularly pedigree Clydesdale horses and mares. Mr R. Kennedy, of Drummond, has recently sold to an Australian buyer his Clydesdale mare Cloverdale Flower, and to a Whakatane buyer a rising two-year-old colt, Cloverdale Superb, both at very satisfactory to the vendor. Mr Peter Fisken, of Edendale, has sold his mare Silver Creek Lady to a Melbourne buyc<, also 'at a very good figure. These sales were made through the local branch of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, Ltd. Farm Drainage In general, winter proves the most suitable season in which to attend to farm drainage. One of the most matters to be kept in mmd is that money may easily be spent unwisely on dramage —oven on land requiring the work is planned and carried' out properly (states the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture). The .drainage of wet spots in a field is often the most profitable type of drainage a farmer can undertake. In the drainage of isolated wet spots an endeavour should be made—Particularly if tile drains are being employed —to locate the drain lines so that the drains may serve as part of more thorough and comprehensive future work and probably be the basis of it. As a rule, the first few pounds spent on drainage return the greatest profit relatively, ihe •firsf-thing that should be studied in planning a drainage system is the source or the excessive amount of water—the possi* bility of cheap drainage of an area by preventing the water reaching it instead of costly, drainage by removal of water may be'revealed. This is especially applicable to wet areas along hillsides or on foothills. Mole drainage, under suitable conditions for it, is likely to be especially attractive when the benefct U confers is considered in relation to the annual charge involved. Apart from new drainage work, there is often need in July to do maintenance work in respect to existing, drains which at least should be inspected periodically to ensure that they are functioning continuously, 100 often the outlets are allowed to remanf chocked. All indications of failure o.f drains or of want of drainage should, be noted, the former with the object of bringing about free flow and the latter with the object of knowing how to carry out most efficiently any future drainage work. The U*e of Silage The value of silage as a winter feed for cattle and sheep has been fully established by the results obtained by individual farmers throughout the Dominion, but occasionally mistakes in the feeding of silage arise from attributing to a given quality of it a greater feeding value, relative to a similar quantity of hay or roots, than it really possesses (states the New Zealand Journal of Agriculture). The general position may be deduced from the following facts:—(l) lib of grass silage equals in feedme-value approximately 2lb of roots- (2) 2Jlb of grass silage equals in feeding-value lib of average good hay; (3) a typical satisfactory full-maintenance, daily ration tor a dry in-calf dairy cow. is approximately 401 b mangels, together with 12lb of averICG hflV. Simple calculations disclose that 50lb of grass silage is the nutritive equivalent of this ration. Without any evidence of harm, quantities considerably in excess of this amount have been fed; but in practice it is seldom necessary for stock to subsist on silage alone, and so the question whether it is desirable for them to do so is not of much moment in practice. On many farms eilage has served with success as the sole supplement to pastures during the winter and early-spring period of scant grassgrowth. Whether greater success would have resulted from the use of other supplements such as hay in conjunction with the silage is a moot, point. The feeding-out of diseased swedes on land which will be sown in turnips, swedes, or rape after a season or so should be avoided,, as it may v readily lead to the land being contaminated with club-root.

New Zealand Pork and Bacon The concensus of opinion was that the Eigs sent from New Zealand to London ad shown considerable improvement during the last three years, and the impiovement was fairly steady, the pigs showing .a much longer loin and finer shoulder than formerly. I had asked the salesmen to be quite candid with me. They said the butchering was well done; in fact, it was now the best frozen pork received from any part of the world except for one fault, namely, there was a want of finish, which could be brought about by the pigs receiving extra food during the three weeks prior to killing, writes Mr R. J. Terry, the well-known dietitian, after a visit to Smithfield market. I was shown a 701 b carcass, which, if it had weighed 751 b or 761 b at the same stage of growth, it would have been greatly improved, from the quality point of view. The joints would have kept firmer and retained their shape. A pig, unless it has a fair amount of fat, is apt to have a flabby appearance after thawing out. As regards the pigs which are made into bacon, they have shown a decided improvement, but there is room for further improvement in increasing the length of the loin. It has to be remembered that the loin brings the highest price; therefore, the retailer wants as much loin in the side of bacon as possible. The highclass side of bacon has always been described by the London trade as long, lean, sizable. Long naturally ensures a length on loin; sizable means that there are even lines throughout, not an unduly large shoulder with short body or pinched-in hams; lean means fleshy, with a fair proportion of fat, not an undue fat side. If we wish to build up the bacon and pork trade, especially the bacon, we must choose for breeding purposes pigs which are not only long in the loin, but also well muscled in the loin. When you view a prime side of bacon here the lean meat of the loin is so prominent that it has a rounded appearance. New Zealand Lamb Referrirng to New Zealand lamb, Mr Terry writes:—-"It was generally admitted that New Zealand lamb was the best frozen lamb received from any part of the world. The butchering was better than Australian or Argentine, with the exception of the strike period, when faults of the amateurs were quickly noticed on Smithfield Market. Believe me, Snathfield knows its work from A to Z. It was pointed out that there is a tendency to the purchase of smaller carcasses, but here again, as in the case of pork, the carcass must be well finished. One or two were inclined to grumble as to our grading, but I pointed out that in this direction we simply followed their advice as to weight, and, no doubt, if it were the general opinion that the grades might be added to or slightly altered. New Zealand would meet them if the change were gradual."