THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22366, 13 September 1934, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

By Rcsticcs

Items of interest to those engaged I with a view to tbeir publication in They should be addressed to "Rusti

WOOL SALES, 1934-35 Wool sales for the 1934-35 season have been arranged as follows: Not. 27—Auckland. Feb. 18—Napier. Deo. 3—Napier. Feb. 22—Wanganui. Due. B—Wellington. Mar, I—Christchurch. Dec. 13—Christchurch. Star. 4—lnvercargill. Dec. 17—Tlmaru. Alar. 9—Dunedin, Dec. 21—Dunedin. Alar 13—Tlmaru Jan. 7 —Wellington. Mar. 20—Wellington. Jan. 12—Napier. Alar. 25—Napier. Jan. 37 —Wanganui. Alar. 29—Auckland. Jan. 22—Auckland. Apr. I—Wanganui. Jan. 28—Christchurch. Apr. s—Christchurch. Feb. I—lnvercargill. Apr. B—Dunedin. Feb. 6—Dunedin. Apr. 13 —Wellington. Feb, 13—Wellington.

1934-35 SHOW SEASON ROSTER OF DATES Agricultural and pastoral shows have been arranged as follows for the 1034-35 season:— October 24, 25. —Tiraaru. November I.—Ashburton. November 7. —Kelso. November 7, B.—Canterbury Metropolitan, at Christchurch. November 13.—W aimate. November 15, 16.—-North Otago, at Oamam. November 17.—Taieri, at Outram. November .20, 21.—Otago, at Tahuna Park. November 22, 23.—Clutba and Matau, at

Balclutha. November 24.—Winton. 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.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

OFFICIAL MOTES.

From the lowest depths there ia a path to the loftiest heights. The tendency to persevere, to persist despite hindrances, discouragements, and impossibilities, distinguishes the strong from the weak. The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder. —Thomas Carlyle.

Wise cracks for the week: —

“You can generally tell a married man by the marriage lines on his forehead.’' ,

“ Forethought often prevents afterthought.”

During the past fortnight Mr S. D. Blomfield hasTieen addressing a series of meetings in Canterbury during the course of which he has formed several additional young farmers’ clubs. The movement has been taken up very enthusiastically in Canterbury.

Mr J. E. Davies, of the Department of Agriculture, was the , lecturer at the South Taieri Young Farmers’, Club’s meeting last .Friday. His address was entitled “ The-. Classification of Grasses/’ and was illustrated by lantern slides. The next meeting of the club is to take the form of a debate on the motion “That horse-power is superior to tractorpower.”

At a recent meeting of the South Canterbury Executive, New Zealand Farmers' Union, the following resolution was carried unanimously:—“That this executive .expresses its appreciation of the action of the Otago Farmers’ Union Mutual Fire Insurance Association, the Farm Accounting Association, and the Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, in providing an educational week for young farmers in Canterbury. The advantages of such a course will be of. undoubted value to the young farmers who were present, and the executive congratulates the above association upon the excellence of the syllabus, and offers thanks for the efforts made to provide for the personal comfort and happiness of the lads.”

The provincial secretary has recently received applications from several likelylooking lads who wish to learn sheep farming) and would be pleased to hear from anyone willing to help ease the unemployment problem by placing one of them. The wage indicated for a strong, intelligent lad of 18, without previous experience, is 10s per week.

During the past week the Farm Accounting Association has received from two branches of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union in the Nelson province requests for the extension of the farm accounting work to Nelson. Both branches assure the association of warm support should it see its way to accede to the requests.

The provincial secretary (Mr A. C. Cameron) has been requested ot forward to Wellington by the 22nd inst. any ob-jections-which the Otago branches of the Farmers’ Union have to make in connection with existing legislation concerning motor transport and motor taxation. The Minister of Transport proposes to conduct an investigation, and the views of the various provinces are being sought in this' connection. Branch secretaries have all been notified.

The following has been received from the secretary of the Waitahuna branch, New Zealand Farmers’ Union: —“ My branch wishes to draw the attention of the council to the expense incurred by the Education Department in transferring a teacher from Waitahuna to Scddon in Marlborough. In transit the teacher’s furniture required 10 handlings, twice at Waitahuna, twice at Dunedin, twice at Wellington, twice at Picton, and twice at Seddon, and this expense is borne by the department. Our contention is that the department is not justified in making a transfer which entails such an expensive shift.”

Many of.the most fertile areas in Central Otago are situatfed in mining districts. In many of such areas it is not necessary for the holder of a miner’s right to apply to the warden for a license to mine an acre. The miner can merrily sluice or mine away an acre here and an acre there trying out his luck and leaving a yawning gap of»tailings regardless ot the damage done. One farmer Svrites: “At the present time I have' two miners sluicing away a grass paddock next to my wool shed, and undermining my fences, and I find I cannot do anything to stop it.” Cheerful position, isn’t it?

It is interesting to find upon investigation of the position that the land laws of Otago have so been framed as to give mining priority of claim to agriculture. “Mining first,” would appear to be the motto. As the laws stand, any . attempt to argue that it is foolish to despoil good arable land for all time for the sake of a problematical gain is a waste of time. Neither the Crown Lands Department or any other department has jurisdiction over the Mines Department, which is in the happy position of sitting on the box seat.

A few years ago Government officers were loud in their praises of what irrigation had done for Ida Valley. Figures were quoted showing the enormous productivity of an area which, prior to irrigation, had been virtually barren.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

n agricultural and pastoral pursuits, these columns, will be welcomed, cus," Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.

To-day thousands of acres of the most productive parts of Ida Valley are pegged out by gold miners, and under existing legislation there is nothing to prevent the warden granting licenses and of practically the whole area being sluiced into the nearest sludge channel. Should the present mining amendment go through the House, the warden will have the power to grant licenses without reference to the Minister. Surely it is high time that farmers’ organisations woke up to the actual position.

- The Green Island-Taicri Beach branch held their monthly meeting last Thursday evening at the residence of Mr D. L. M'Coll, “ Oceanview,” Brighton. A good attendance of members was presided over by the president, Mr M’K. Marshall. Mr A. 11. Thompson, M.R.C.V.S., veterinary officer, live stock division, Department of Agriculture, was present and gave an address upon “Problems of the Dairy Farmer.” In this Mr Thompson dealt with the more common maladies which affect the dairy herd; he also explained how some of these diseases might be avoided or at the least considerably lessened. Questions were invited, and this was fully availed of. Mr Thompson was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for bis instructive address, on the motion of Mr Marshall.

-The ordinary business of the meeting was then dealt with.

It was decided that the branch investigate the possibility of having the railway overbridge on the Brighton road raised. This bridge has for some years caused great inconvenience, particularly to the owners of the threshing plants visiting this area, and a special committee was set up consisting of Messrs Marshall, _ Henry, Adams, and Crawford, to deal with this.

It was decided that the next meeting be held on the first Thursday of November. at Brighton. Supper supplied by Mrs M'Coll \vas then partaken of, and for their hospitality Mr and Mrs M'Coll was most heartily thanked by the secretary on behalf of those present.

On Monday evening. 17th inst., Mr S. D. Blomfield will address a meeting of young men from the Greenfield and Clydevale districts for the purpose of forming a Young Farmers’ Club. The meeting will be held in the Clydevale Hall: On Tuesday evening, 18th inst., Mr Blomfield will give an illustrated address to the Clinton Young Farmers' Club.

* % * The quarterly meeting of the Maniototo branch of the New Zealand Farmers' Union was held at Ranfurly on Saturday, September 1. In the absence of the president, Mr B, A. Todd, occupied the chair, and there was a fait* attendance of members. Before proceeding with the business, resolutions of condolence were passed on the deaths of Mr J. G. Pearce and Mrs P. Aitken.

A good deal of correspondence was dealt with and received, and a discussion took place over the question of the cost of the Farmers’ Union paper. It was decided to leave this matter, also of support, to Central Otago railway, to next meeting. It was decided to run a social in conjunction with the Women’s Division birthday party in October. A resolution was carried thanking the secretary for his good work in helping to obtain an open season for pukaki. It was moved and carried that this branch strongly support the Maniototo Council in getting a clearance from the Otago Power Board. A resolution was carried backing up and congratulating the Otago Provincial Council on its stand against the levy On wool. The branch felt sure that a levy was not the best way tq improve wool;

At a recent meeting of the Otago Provincial Council attention was drawn to the provisions of the proposed Mining Amendment Bill, and very strong comments were made by members present regarding the way in which agriculture was being called upon to take a back seat to mining. When the original mining regulations were drawn up, arable land in Central Otago was of little value, and it was never anticipated that the time would arrive when it would, be .necessary to cultivate the same in order to maintain the carrying capacity of the surrounding run country. Apparently, the powers that be have never realised this yet, as the proposed amendments, if made law, would put the clock back further than ever as far as agriculture is concerned.

The Farmers’ Union, Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, Dunedin Returned Soldiers’ Association, and other bodies feel so strongly about it that a strong deputation is waiting upon the Mines Committee of the House to-day. During the past week Messrs C. B. Barrowclough and A. C. Cameron have spent several evenings preparing evidence, and a very strong case for agriculture has been made out. Numerous examples are cited of where practically the only flat arable land on the run is being-sluiced away. In one instance the grass paddock next to the woolshed is being sluiced away, and the runholder concerned has no redress. In other cases land to which the Government has brought irrigation at great expense is in danger of being sluiced away.

FARMING IN NORTH OTAGO THE TURN OF THE SEASON NEW GROWTH STARTS (Contributed.) Strange though it may seem, after all the rain we have had, more moisture is now required in most parts of North Otago to give a fillip to grass and cereal crops. The fact is tiiat we have had some drying winds which absorbed the abundant moisture which was in the soil prior to their advent. There is nothing like a good wind for sucking moisture from the lands. It is not suggested that anything like drought conditions prevail, but 24 hours’ warm rain just now would be quite welcome in most parts of North Otago. The same tale is told in South Canterbury, where a nice warm rain would be very welcome. The rainfall during August in Oamaru amounted to l.filiu, bringing the total this year so far to 16.41 in, compared with 13.02 in for the corresponding period last year. Further inland the fall was much lighter, and in several localities pastures on sunny slopes are too dry to make an early spring growth. With these exceptions the spring is an average one, and on most farms there is now an attractive touch of green to be seen. The effect of top-dressing is once more clearly to be seen. It is those pastures that were top-dressed in the autumn and not too heavily grazed since that are now coming away in most businesslike style, and will provide most feed for ewes and lambs just at the time when good feed is most needed. The experts tell us that the leaves of plants act as lungs, and it follows that if these leaves are too closely cropped the plants cannot make the headway they otherwise would make. It is not suggested that grass should be allowed to become rank; if it does it loses a lot of its feeding value; the best length is two to three inches for sheep, and three to five inches for cattle. Perhaps we will have had the desired rain before these notes appear. Let us hope so. THE WHEAT CROPS. Winter-sown wheat ‘is now making good growth, under the influence of the warm, sunny days that we are experiencing; but it is apparent that the area in wheat this year is not going to equal in area that of last year. It would be a very bad thing for the country if New Zealand ceased to grow sufficient wheat for its requirements, but I sometimes think it would have a salutary influence on those politicians who oppose the sliding scale of duties if New Zealand experienced a wheat shortage; the price that would then have to be paid for imported wheat would far exceed the protection that is at pres-

ent given to the wheatgrower, and in addition there would be an acute shortage of pig and poultry feed. Though the autumn seeding of wheat was on the lowside, there are indications that a good deal of spring wheat will be sown. But spring wheat is always a gamble; if we have a wet season it does all right, but if there is a dry summer spring wheat is scarcely worth bothering about.

So far very little wheat has been fed off, but owes arc now to be seen in some of the wheat fields. Generally a lot of stock is fed on green feed from the middle of August, but this year most farmers have an abundance of turnips and mangels, so the comparatively slow growth of green feed has not been felt very much. There are still plenty of turnips about, but the season for turnips is now nearly past, and sheep are very keen after the fresh young grass. A lot of turnips will have to be ploughed in. THE CLOVER CROPS.

Not for many years have we had such a large area in clover, and with at least four shellers at work there are still clover stacks that have not been threshed. Up to 1 Old per lb lias been paid for choice lines, but these are few and far between. The average price is round about Od. Up to 2J bags per acre is reported, and half this is considered a good crop. EWES AND LAMBS. The ewes wintered well, and arc now looking first rate on most farms. On quite a lot of farms lambs are putting in an appearance. The very early ones are generally mothered by failing-mouthed ewes, which get special treatment, so that it is possible to draft the lambs from them aa fats in December, after which the ewes are fattened and disposed of in January, when there is generally a good price for them. The main lambing commences about the middle of September in North Otago. Evidently there are those who have plenty of confidence in the sheep market I wa s one of those who were present at Bushey Park recently when his Excellency the Governor-General of New Zealand said, in the course of a most interesting talk to a gathering of farmers, that we in New Zealand could always rely upon a profitable market in Britain for whatever farm produce we might send there, provided it was of the very best quality. And he added that we could make it uniformly good ns we had the climate and the soil, and the fanners who knew how to use both to the best advantage. It is good to hear from so high an authority in these days when there is so much talk of quotas, that we can go ahead with our farming operations confident that we can sell all that we can produce, provided the quality is right. It seems that the fright we had when we thought that there might not bo a market for onr goods may be a good thing after all; it certainly will bo if it keeps us from sloppy ways, and causes us to produce only the best. There has been a distinct firming in the sheep market lately, Canterbury buyers have invaded North Otago and good ewe hoggets have been sold at as high as 275. At the present time there are more buyers than sellers, and this can mean only one thing—better prices. There is also an inquiry for lambs for (Jeliverv in January and February next, and sales are reported at 14s to 19s, the latter price having been paid for an extra good line. These are good prices considering the length of time before delivery, and the risk of weather, etc. Such deals are causing farmers to wonder whether the speculators have some inside infomation. Usually speculators are pretty sure of their ground before they go far in the way of forward buying. Whatever the position, it is good for farmers to know that such prices are going. With ample supplies of, feed still available, surely a good ewe hogget’ in the wool is good buying at present prices. SHEEP AND DISEASE.

North Otago farmers may consider themselves fortunate that their sheep flocks are. generally speaking, healthy. In some parts of Canterbury there has been a serious mortality among hoggets, this being due to internal parasites. As many as 30 per cent, have been lost during the past three months. Sheep that recover are generally left in a very weak state and take a- very long time to get back to normal and a great many remain invalids for the rest of their days, TENDING THE LAMBING EWES, A few years ago a shepherd was supposed to attend to 1500 to 2000 ewes at lambing time. He used to ride round the flock with a quiet dog and any ewe in trouble, or east on her back,, lie attended to, but as for “ mothering.”-.lost lambs, or taking a lamb from a ewe with twins and giving it to a ewe whose lamb had died, ho had ho time for this. Nowadays the shepherd is a specialist; he is among the flock at daylight, All twins are saddled so that if one Joses its mother it is an easy matter to find it and restore it to her, while any ewes with dead lambs get another one mothered on to them. A sharp look out, is kept for mammitis and the lambs from ewes with this complaint are taken away before they starve to death. In wet weather every lamb, as soon as it is born, is taken to shelter. The ewes are shifted every day. all that have lambed being left behind; this is of great advantage when wet weather intervenes. ■ If a shepherd does his work thoroughly 500 to 600 ewes are enough for ope man to look after, and if there is a flock of 900 it pays to have two men. Lambs are too valuable these days to lose even one if it can be avoided. Last year every lamb saved was worth 20s Or more; and there are plenty of men available, Some farmers always buy after lambing time, as they know exactly what they are getting and do not have the risk and trouble of lambing, besides which their grass gets such a spell that they are able to carry a lot more stock in the summer months. COWS AND PIGS.

Dairy cows are still very low in price, due to the depressed state of the dairv produce markets. Lord Bledisloa told us in his address at Bushey that he had very little sympathy with the dairy farmer who would not take the bother to keep pigs at the same time ns he milked cows, as feeding the pigs on skim milk added the equivalent of 2d per lb to his butter-fat cheque. This is worth thinking about even in North Otago. SHEARING. Sheep having wintered well promise to shear well, and what we want to be assured of now is a payable price for wool. Once a hogget is shorn it is surprising how little food it eats, and a mob of hoggets is excellent for keeping the paddocks in control when the grass begins to run to seed. Moat farmers who kept their hoggets throughout the winter months prefer to hold them a little longer now and to shear them. FAT STOCK.

Fat ewes arc very scarce, but there sdcms to be a lot of fat wethers about. The latter are finding a readier sale now that there are fewer fat ewes about. Fat cattle are improving in price and are now nearly £2 per head better than they were a month ago. North Otago is fortunate in having two such markets as it has in Burnside and Addington.