THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22352, 28 August 1934, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

By Rusticus.

WOOL SALES, 1934-35 Wool sales for the 1934-35 season ,have been arranged as follows: Nov, 27—Auckland. Feb. 18—Napier. Dee. 3 —Napier. Feb. 22 —Wanganui. Dec. B—'Wellington. Mar. I—Christchurch. Dec. 13—Christchurch Mar. 4—lnvercargill Dec. 17—Tlmaru. Mar. 9—Dunedin. Dec. 21—Dunedin. Mar. 13—Tlmaru Jan. T—Wellington. Mar. 20—Wellington. Jan. 12—Napier. Mar. 25—Napier. Jan. 17—Wanganui. Mar. 29 —Auckland. Jan. 22—Auckland. Apr. I—Wanganui. Jan. 28--Christchurch. Apr. s—Christchurch. Feb. I—lnvercargill. .Apr. B—Dunedin. Feb. b—Dunedin. Apr. 13—Wellington. Feb. 13 —Wellington. <c f 1934-35 SHOW SEASON ROSTER OF DATES Agricultural and pastoral shows have been arranged as follows for the 1934-35 season:— October 24, 25.—Timaru. November I.—Ashburton. November 7.—rKolso. November 7, B.—Canterbury Metropolitan, at Christchurch. . ...... • November 13.—-Waimate. November 15, 16.—North Otago, at Oamaru. November 17.—Taieri, at Outram. November 20, 21.—Otago, at Tahuna Park. November 22; 23.—Clutha and Matau, at Balclutha. • 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. 1935. January 12.—Blueskin, at Waitati. January 19.—Waikouaiti. January 25.—Palmerston and Waihemo County, at Palmerston. April 22.—Strath-Taieri, at Middlemarch. April 22.—Mackenzie County, at Fairlie., Herd-testing The annual report of the Southland and Otago Herd Testing Association shows that,, excepting three very small herds,- the highest production returns were shown by Mr R. H. Dickie’s Friesian herd at Tuturau. His 46 cows had the splendid average ' yield, of 10,3001 b milk, 410.161 b; butter-fat,; in, 266 .days. Mr Dickie’s monthly returns show : that in October 31 cows averaged' 60.481 b fat; Novembg;, 41 cows, 61.341 b; and December 43 cows, 55.541 b fat. The highest Producer tested for -the season by the outhland and Otago. Herd Testing Association was "Mr R. H; Dickie’s pedigree Friesian, Lauderdale Burkeyjc Posch, }8,6221b milk, 6871 b fat in 321 days. Some of Mr Dickie’s grade Friesians did parti-cula'rly-well—Bessie gave 5571 b fat, Gwen 5481 b (previous seasons, 5901 b, 6361 b, 6171 b), Bell 5461 b; (last season 5081 b), Pet 5311 b fat, this being her sixth consecutive season over 5001 b fat. Ivy 5301 b (last season 5031 b). Mr W. Young’s Friesian herd, at Otahuti, came next to Mr Dickie’s. Mr Young’s record for the season was: 54 cows; 98941 b milk, 401.461 b fat .in 246 days., ' The Wool Market

Wincbeombe, '-Carson, Ltd;, Sydney, point out that the almost total absence of auctions since May Has left the trade without any -basis of 'raw material cosjs, and the more quickly, a level bfvalueais established' the better for all concerned. Buyers of tbps; yarns, and fabrics will get a guide. to the ■ trend of prices wi tn probable good effects ,on their • confidence in placing orders.. ‘ ■ . ‘ • News from Japan leads to the; belief' that competition from that quarter will again play an important part at Australian sales. Visitors who have returned from that country report that further extension in mill equipment is proceeding. Japan has continued to use wool in larger weights for internal trade, and her. export - business in woollen fabrics in 1933 totalled 10,214,000 square yards, being 133 per cent, greater than in 1932. from that country report that further exported more than twice the 1933 total for the similar period. ' Wool values certainly have not hcen sustained during the first six months of the year, but that- trade having; been effected has resulted in _ the statistical position of the raw material keeping reasonably sound. The imports of wool into all the important consuming- countries except Germany have been' less this year than last year. France’s total was 33 per cent. lower, and England showed a decline of 11 per cent. Conditions Improving

A London . economic review of last month states that the generally adverse ■weather conditions for crops in' the northern hemisphere had already Had ‘its effect on cereal prices, and might materially improve the prospects of agricultural producers in southern countries. Conditions ip Argentina had shown signs of improvement owing to this factor and ,by reason of conversion operations and the fixing of a lower interest rate. Elsewhere in South America, the. trade position was better j a revival of coffee prices and consumption had already taken effect in Brazil, and increased shipments of nitrate had improved the Chilean export trade by 7$ per cent. It might well be that m- : creased purchasing power in the raw material producing countries, as in former depressions, would lead the way towards increasing the volume of international trade and the liquidation of trade restrictions.

Baltic Butter A well-known London provision firm, writing to representatives in New Zealand, July 19, refers to the “overshadowing feature of our butter market” by the very large and cheap quantities of Baltic, etc., available. “ On Monday these ranged from 56s to 60s. . The. lowest, price is for Polish, but that is quite a good butter. At this stage New Zealand had fallen to 725, and the market was depressed too by the heavy stored stocks. No freezer accommodation is' available, as we have reported, anywhere in London itself. Such accommodation has had to be sought as far field as Watford in the early part of, the week. This is miles put of London. In addition to this, one of the Blue Star liners is being temporarily used as a refrigerating store in the river. . “ Then .the quantity of Australian butter afloat at'the present. period is 316,000 boxes, as compared with 71,000 only at the same time last year. ; That is why ‘Kangaroos' are at such 'a discount. They were selling down to 64_s for firsts and 66a for finest when the'New Zealand finest was at 72a. New Zealand afloat are a little less than last year, being 393,000 boxes, as against 440,000.

Items of interest to those engaged In agricultural and pastoral punruftn, with a, view to their publication in these columns, will be welcomed. They should be addressed to “Rusticus,” Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.

Consumption Keeps Up

“It is calculated that the weekly consumption of butter is now over 9000 tons, and will probably reach 10,000 tons. This is needed- to keep any slight buoyancy on values and, in all the circumstances, it is wonderful that New Zealand prices have held, and, in fact, coming down towards the end of the week, we regained Is to 73s and even hope for 74s to 755. Australian at the same time recovered to 65s to 60s for first and 67a to GSs for finest.”

Samuel Page and Son, writing on the iSame subject, London, July 17, inform Dalgety and Co. that “ with the closing of the German market to' Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Holland, owing to quotas and financial stringency, very much larger quantities have been sent here, despite the tax of ISs’ per Cwt. The bulk of the butter from these countries is of the very highest quality (although'the texture is very delicate and makes a , quick sale desirable). “The quality and low prices that have had to be taken have intensified the difficulties of sellers of New Zealand and Australian, and values are about,6s down on (]ie month. Bought Forward "A number-of shopkeepers are buying such butter and selling it over the counter in the same week, but the bulk of the heavy arrivals of this class of butter has been bought either forward or on the spot, by speculative importers or the larger distributive traders. Despite these sales Values have dropped about IQs per cwt.' As these , are for future use, and the -weather for'weeks has been very hot, it can be imagined what a strain on the cold stores (already uncomfortably filled) the June arrivals have been. Frbtunately, the storing, of Australian and New Zealand is a matter of contract between the dairy boards and Hay’s wharf, "but even so, some New Zealand has had to go to the Royal Albert Docks, while other kinds, where there is no such obligations, have been sent all over the country.” The Wheat Market - . It is interesting to note, states Mr W. W. Mulholland in hie “ Chairman’s Remarks ” in the current issue of the Wheatgrower, that fluctuations of the wheat market have brought the cost of landing wheat in New Zealand, duty paid, ynder the sliding scale of duties, to very nearly the. same as under the fixed duty as recommended by the tariff commission, while a continuance of the upward; trend of prices would soon take it considerably higher than allowed by the sliding scale. It is also interesting to note that this has happened at a time of the year when normally most farmers have sold their wheat, and the, inevitable ■increase in. price under a fixed duty would penalise the , consumer for .no benefit to the farmer. This is the usual result on a fluctuating market—the grower is paid on the b'asis-of-the lowest price and the consumer buys on the basis 1 of the highest price—antj if we had had no duties operating - this season and no marketing organisation, and supposing that, there had been no surplus tq bother about, so that the market could have been l on an import free basis, then on the prices that have actually ruled the Canterbury farmers would have been paid for their wheat on' the basis of about; 3s 6d a bpshe! delivered at Auckland, or 2s 3d om trucks. That would have been the price to compete with wheat from Australia in .March and April, when most of our wheat is sold. The consumer, though, -wouldhave to buy his flour arid bread for the greater part of theyear on the basis of aborit 5s a bushel delivered at Auckland,, or qriaybe higher, for .wheat, for ’that 4s the value to which it has now risen.. Someone in between would get the Other Is 6d. . That this is no fanciful picture, but what in fact does happen under a, .fluctuating market, la amply demonstrated' by a comparison of the price of . bread in any New Zealand town and 1 in'Sydney from time to time.

CAWTHRON INSTITUTE BULLETINS ON FARMERS’ PROBLEMS VIII. BROWN ROT IN STONE FRUIT With.a.view to making known the results of its numerous trials and experiments in economic botany and insect and -pest control, the Cawthorn Institute is issuing periodical bulletins, The eighth to be published in these columns continues the subject of brown rot in stone fruit. It has been compiled by Dr K. M. Curtis '(chief Of- the Mycology Department). : ; V . SPRAYS Of the ; fungicidal sprays applied during the season for brown rot control on the average stone fruit two are essential, at least one, early pre-blossom spray (usually Bordeaux Mixture), and some type of sulphur spray at pre-maturity of the fruit. The Bordeaux is. usually applied at old movement, and is followed bv a lime sulphur at early pink. * Sulphur sprays after the blossom.ag period are required at petal-fall and thereafter at intervals of three weeks to a month, the final, important, prematurity spray being applied 10 to 14 days before, the fruit ripens. Recommendations ag to type of sulphur spray have undergone frequent change in late years. Ordinary lime sulphur was in general use at one'time, and is still advocated for the early pink. Then dry-mix lime sulphur was considered the be*'*, and now colloidal * sulphur has come to th * fore. Colloidal sulphur has a better spreading power and less caustic action on the foliage than lime sulphur, and present recommendations advocate a combination of the two for all sptays. after petal-fall. ; HARVESTING OF THE CROP

Strict cleanliness should be observed in methods of handling, in the utensils for holding the fruit, and in the packing shed itself. No worker should pick both infected and healthy fruit. If infected fruit happens to be on the tree at picking time it should be left, untouched until the close of,that day’s picking, as its removal wffl release a shower of conidia into the air, on to clean fruit, and on to the picker’s hands. Re-used containers should have been previously dipped in a sterilising liquid such as formalin solution (3 per cent.) or bluestone (lib in 50 gallons). The packing shed should be Kept scrupulously free from, brownrotted fruit. Ordinary air currents set up by draughts are sufficient to bear the conidia from one end of the shed to the other, and a case of brown-rot rejects in one part of the shed can easily prove a source of infection to fruit exposed elsewhere in the shed for packing, j The necessity for avoiding bruising of the fruit is too Avell known to need emphasis. What perhaps is not so generally known is that grades of bruising exist sufficient to break down the protective, action of the skin and yet not be '.readily visible. A little excess pressure during picking or handling, the ■slight; biynp of fruit against fruit when a picking bag is used instead of a rigid container, the slow cumulative effect of the weight of fruit on fruit in a deep case, are all sufficient to cause the collapse of;,the thin-walled cells lying close beneath the fruit skin. As a cell burets its . sap is released and seeps out on to the skin, and even a fine film or droplet of’juice is. sufficient for the germination of any conidium on the moistened area. For it is safe to assume that if there is much brown rot in the orchard practically every seemingly healthy fruit bears conidia on its sur£afe when picked. The picking receptacle should he relatively shallow and rigid-sided. Some advocate the use of a pad on the bottom. Ideally the layers of fruit even during the picking process be single. .In many orchards the exigencies of the pick-inc-packing-despatching system give little choice in the time of picking. Neverthe-

less, picking when fruit is warm during the heat of the day should be avoided if at all possible. This applies particularly to peaches and nectarines. The packing shed should be cool and wcUventilatcd to allow the temperature of fruit warmer than is desirable to fall before being packed. fruit ifl packed warm there is danger' of sweating and sweating moisture in winch the eouidia on the surface will germinate. The best pack in commercial use at the present, time is probably that of the Continental special-quality fruit supplied to Covent Garden Market, London. The case is a single-layered tray, has a pad of cotton wool and the fruit (peaches arid nectarines chiefly) are spaced so that none touches either another fruit or the tray’s side. Local prices in New Zealand do not warrant these details, but each feature is right 1 in principle and can he copied with modification—i.e., shallow packing and avoidance of vasal and lateral contacts. Lateral separation can be achieved without waste of space by wrapping the fruit. Moreover, wrapping is of marked assistance in preventing the spread of brown rot through the case. But the wrapping of fruit when’warm is to be avoided, as the confined air-space between fruit arid paper may become charged with moisture through the high rate of transpiration of such fruit. ’ :

- The possibility of protecting stone fruit, after it. is picked, by exposure to the vapour of various chemicals has been recently tested in America. Certain vapours were found to have an inhibiting or retarding effect on the germination _of conidia lying on the fruit’s surface, but in every instance the flavour., of the fruit was, impaired by the process. Nevertheless it is possible that sopie.chemical may yet be found that will protect the fruit without reducing its marketable value. The freezing of: fruit at a very low temperature is giving promise of success in America, where distributors and consumers have private-cool store facilitiesBut in New Zealand the time is probably remote when adequate , refrigerators will be in general use. , ' ; ■ POST-HARVEST ATTENTION TO THE TREE: .

At the close ,of the picking season attention should be directed once more to the three. Infected fruit on tree and ground and the shoots that bear them, ,as well as any other weakly shoots, should be removed and; burnt. .Failing burning, the debris should be deeply buried.. This inspection should be carried. out while the leaves are still on the tree, as the leaflessness of infected shoots ensures their easy defection."• Infected fruit and shoots on the tree produce conidia slowly through the winter and more strongly at the next blossoming time. At one time it was believed that fruit mummies on the ground had to be more than one season old before they could produce ascospores, but provided the mummy has suitable conditions of moisture and air, such as are provided- when it lies partly embedded in firm ground; it produces ascospores in the season following infection. The ascospores are ejected in clouds of thousands from the upper surface of the small, flower-like, stalked cups that are formed on. the mummy in numbers ranging from one to about 20. It is unfortunate that the time of ascospore ejection from, the mummy coincides .with the blossoming period-of the tree. As even a small portion of a mummy can produce a larger crop of ‘ ascospores the removal and destruction of infected fruit at the close of the picking season is imperative. CONTROL MEASURES Autumn Precautions.—Remove diseased fruit from, tree and ground. Cut out cankered shoots and any that appear unhealthy; burn or bury deeply. Apply an autumn spray of Bordeaux 5-4-50 when the leaves have fallen. Spring and Summer Spray Schedules.— The following sprays are recommended by the New Zealand Department of Agriculture for the control of brown rot in stone fruits:—“(I) Bud-movement of blossom, buds: Bordeaux spray 5-4-50. “ (2) Early , pink; Bordeaux spray 3-4-50, or lime sulphur 0.2 per cent. “Note: If season is favourable to brown rot apply-an additional spray of 0.1 per cent, lime sulphur when majority of buds are at the pink-stage. “(3) Petal-fall: Lime sulphur 0.083 per cent, plus .colloidal sulphur (21b per 100 .gallons spray).,' r “(4) Developing fruit: Repeat lime sulphur 0.083 per cent, and colloidal sulphur (21b per 100 "gallons spray) one month aftei; petal-fall, three weeks later, five weeks prior to first picking, and lastly 14-days before harvesting.’’ •Other precautions: It T is essential that all infected blossoms and their shoots should be removed by -petal-fall or ns soon thereafter as .possible. Avoid picking during, or shortly after the heat of the day, handle healthy fruit only, and avoid bruising the fruit either in picking or transportation to the packing shed. Disinfect picking baskets and boxes with formalin or bluestone solution. Exercise the greatest care in packing the fruit. Shallow boxes‘with pads are recommended. The fruit should be handled only when cool and each fruit should be carefully wrapped. Allow no brown-rotted fruit in or near the shed. A cloth dampened with formalin solution for the occasional wiping of the packer’s hands is'a safeguard in the prevention of unnecessary infection.