THE RURAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22628, 20 July 1935, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD.

FARM AND STATION NEWS.

By Rttstictts.

■Dairy Produce Exports , A decrease of 10,683 tons of butter and 9546 tons of cheese is shown in the Dairy Board’s return of dairy produce shipments for the 11 months of the 1934-35 season ended June 30, compared with those for the corresponding period of last season. Last month? shipments of butter totalled 7158 tons, compared with 7270 tom for June, 1954, a decrease of 112 tons. Shipments of cheese last month totalled 4958 tons, compared with 6542 ,tons for June, 1934, a decrease of 1384 tons. Butter Shipments Details of the 11 months’ shipments of butter compare as follows:

Australian Exports Australian exports of butter and cheese to the United Kingdom for the 11 months ended June 30 show a substantial increase when compared with those for the 1033-34 period and are as follows: 1955. 1934. / Tons. Tons. Butter .. .. .. 108,295 100,144 Cheese .. .. .. 7,061 3,911 Australian shipments of butter during June; however, were only 2432 tons, against ’5079‘ tons for June, 1934. Argentine shipments of butter to the United Kingdom for the period were 4315 tons this year, against 4829 tons tor 1933-34, June shipments being nil i%.each year. English Cheese Prices

The low price of English cheese is commented on by, the agricultural correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph. He states that cheese is being sold as low as 3d per lb retail, and wholesale prices are below the cheapest imported cheese from Empire sources. This is believed to be the first time that English Cheese has lost its price margin over imported. / “ The import of cheese into Britain has been slightly declining since .1933 owing to increased production 'at home, but the main cause of the price weakness is the increase in home production of milk," he writes. “ This has caused some cheese factories to make cheese at a faster rate than it can be sold, and to sell badly made cheese. There has never been so much badly made English cheese on the market. One large retail concern in the North has been compelled to sell English cheese by the scoopful because it will not hold together in the mould. • Tf The effect of this is to pull down the price of all English cheese, the good cheese included. The situation is a serious one for all milk producers, because the factories cannot continue for ever to turn out cheese at present prices, and if they close it will not be so easy to find other outlets for surplus milk.”

Clydesdale Demand • Though the importations of Clydesdale stallions to New Zealand are comparatively few, those that do come good breeding and quality, and stock from them in recent years have made their mark in Australian as well as local show rings. The continued high prices of working draughts in the agricultural districts of the South Island are likely to stimulate the importation movement. Good sound mares are making in the Otago markets up to £6O, and young geldings to £45. More mares are being mated than for •ome years, as with the cheap cost of upbringing a fair margin of profit looks assured for some time. This would naturally be reflected in a demand for good sorts of stallions. Australian Clydesdales

The development of horse-breeding _in Australia is causing a steady importation of stallions from Scotland. Mr Hugh Macgregor, a prominent Victorian breeder, who has keen in Scotland, sent out last month six young colts and two yearling fillies to bis state, and when he leaves later in the year will take a further consignment- The youngsters are particularly well bred. There has been a heavy export of high-auality mares in recent years from New Zealand to Australia. and with the liberal importations of stallions it would appear that breeders across the Tasman arc making increased provision for horse power in the future.

Item of interart to those engaged in agricultural and pastoral pnrtoSH With a view to their publication In these columns, will be welcomed, They should be addressed to “Eusticus,” Otago Daily Times, Dunedia,

. CORRIEDALE SHEEP THE CANTERBURY CONTROVERSY REPLY TO MR A. W. ADAMS In a letter to the Christchurch Press the president of the Corriedale Sheep Society (Mr 0. T. Evans) replies to Mr A. W. Adams, as follows: Mr A. W. Adame, in his letter which appeared in your issue of July 13, tries to excuse his sweeping statement that “ The Corriedale is the curse of Canterbury,” by now saying that “nothing was further from my thoughts ” than to condemn the Corriedale “ lock, stock and barrel.” If his original statement did not 'imply this, then it would be interesting to know what words he would employ if it had been his intention to condemn the brped wholly. Mr Adams says that he hates “shuffling,” but it seems he is making a good attempt at it when he introduces the argument that “ no one Has yet suggested that the or Downs are to blame for the deterioration," instead of keeping to the point of my challenge. I do not admit that Canterbury lamb has deteriorated, but rather that outside selected lamb has improved. I have not had my head “buried in wool,” as suggested by Mr Adams, but am very much awake to faults thaj: a certain percentage of Corriedales possess, but I have not descended to the level of -condemning another breed, because that breed contains a certain number of poor quality sheep. I have also seen unfavourable reports on "Corriedale” lamb in the papers, but will ask Mr Adams what I have asked other critics before, “how do the authorities in London know a Corriedale carcass from any other when they are all shipped under one brand according to quality, i.e., firsts and seconds?" Mr Adams says that he has a great respect and admiration for some of fhe Corriedale breeders, considering the proposition they are up against, but , it seems to me a strange way of showing respect by joining, the ranks of the critics and condemning the Corriedale on sheep that are sold in the markets as Corriedalea, which have no connection with the breed; Mr Adams in his letter admits that this is the case. Mr Adams now endeavours to draw Dr Heber in to support his case, but whereas his remarks were a general condemnation, Dr Heber’s were uttered as constructive criticism to warn our breeders to watch the carcass, and Dr Heber paid a bigger compliment to the Corriedale breed than to any other breed in New Zealand, by purchasing.a number of ewes at prices from 10 guineas upwards, in addition to which transport will cost another £l2 to' £ls a head to land them in Uruguay. It will therefore be plain to the dullest mind that Dr Heber does not consider the Corriedale " the curse of Canterbury.'^ AUSTRALIAN EXPORTER’S OPINION. Mr R. J. Hopkins, an Australian exporter, writes from Hamper, Springs to the Press as follows: —Visiting your ,city again after eight years’ absence, I was very much interested in the subject of the deterioration of Canterbury lamb. After 20 years in the butchering trade in this city and eight years in the export meat trade in Australia, I feel I am competent to pass an opinion. I say positively that there has been no deterioration in Canterbury lamb. Other parts of New Zealand have improved their quality, until now it is equal to Canterbury. Then why, you will say, is Canterbury lamb sometimes quoted at less than North Island, for instance? Well, the trouble is to be found at the other end. I visited London about seven years ago, and while there inspected some of the retail meat shops. In one I noticed New Zealand lamb sold here.’ I went in and asked one of the assistants if he had any Canterbury lamb. “Oh, yes/ he said, “we have Canterbury lamb here, and brought me a leg with a well-known Pbverty Bay works' stamp on it. Now this was not only North Island lamb, but second quality at that. I asked the assistant if I could see the manager. Yes, the manager was brought along. I said: “I asked your man for Canterbury lamb, and he brought me along this meat.” “ Oh,” he said, that is Canterbury lamb." But, ’ I said, “ that is a Poverty Bay works brand, a North Island works." "Oh, he said, “ are you from New Zealand? Yes, I said, “ I am in the trade and am on a tour of inspection.” “Well,” he said, “I have bought this as Canterbury for years .and upon inquiry I found this to be correct. I found also that eight other shops under his control were being supplied in a like manner, and this has evidently been done ail over London, for a friend of mine, the late Robert Parsons, a wellknown stock agent for Pyne, Gould, Guinness, had the same experience when he went Home. I found that this secondquality lamb selling as Canterbury was retailed at a, profit of 2d a pound. I notice that the Corriedale is blamed for a lot by some of your breeders here, but in this they are quite wrong; some of the best lambs I .have handled are Corriedale cross, and I predict that in a few years they will put Australia in the meat trade where the merino has it in wool. It is all a matter of feeding. They may take a little longer to mature, but when they are fat they are a more valuable lamb, owing to the big rake-off in the skin. Also, your breeders seem to forget that'no other breed can stand the hardship that the Corriedale and halfbred are subjected to; this applies especially to Australia, where the big dust storms spoil the skins of the English sheep, and in New Zealand you have some pretty hungry hill country, with sand and shingle faces where nothing but a hardy sheep would live. 1 say again the Corriedale is the best dual-purpose eheep we have in the world to-day. CONFERENCE ON WOOL' ABSORBING THE CARRY-OVER MR FORBES AT BRADFORD (Fbom Ocb Own Correspondent.) (By Aib Mail.) LONDON, JW 29. On his visit to Bradford, Mr Forbes conferred with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and of the British Wool Federation. Mr W. Hunter spoke of the importance of absorbing the carry-over 150,000 bales of New Zealand wool. Some important making-up firms, he eaid, were using large quantities of artificial silk linings intend of worsted linings at present, but he believed that if improvements in certain directions were carried out by the wool textile industry—particularly m the direction of securing a better wool pack— many of the drawbacks of worsted linings would disappear and the trade might once again secure the linings market. Many defects in wool textile materials could be traced to unsatisfactory woo! packs. It was, thereI fore, in the interests of New Zealand, Australia, and .other dominions—besides Great Britain h#rself—that a more perfect parck should be evolved. Mr Forbes said that New Zealand wool growers fully recognised that it was no,, use producing wool which was not of the very best quality, but the farmers had their difficulties —particularly in the North Island —and had to have regard to the problem of raising the best fat lambs. They wished to be able to produce wool which would command better prices, and in the North Island crossing experiments were being tried with a view to obtaining an improved quality of wool. This I would never take the place of the Romney sheep in the districts where there was

a heavy rainfall, however, but there would be a larger quantity of finer quality wool available in the future than in the past.

A NEW PACK. New Zealand had her own flax, and experiments had been made to see whether it could be used to provide a more satisfactory wool pack and, incidentally, fur-

nish more employment. A pack had been evolved, but the company responsible for its production wished for Bradford’s assistance in order to eliminate any faults which might still exist. He urged the desirableness of introducing some form of propaganda for keeping constantly before the public the attributes of wool as compared with other textiles.

FLAX WOOL PACK A TROUBLESOME PROBLEM EXAMINATION IN BRADFORD INDEPENDENT OPINION. (From Odr Own Correspondent.) (By Air Mail.) LONDON, June 29.

When Mr Forbes was in Bradford last week-end a good deal was said about wool packs and the loss through vegetable fibres getting into the wool. A few of the packs made of New Zealand flax by a Dominion firm were also under examination. A special correspondent, writing to the Yorkshire Post, now gives an independent opinion of the new packs. “As yet (he writes), only a few bales have been received, and on this account it may be considered premature to pass any opinion as to the merits of the new material. From a cursory inspection of the packs after their journey from New Zealand, however, they appear to be somewhat less hairy or to have less ‘ beard ’ than the ordinary pack, while they are very strong, are woven rather more closely so as to.be firmer, and, what is important, they cost about the same as an ordinary jute pack. But it must be admitted that little or none of the-old trouble of the material unravelling after it has been cut has been obviated. “But this trouble has been minimised by the use of a rather novel idea to save cutting the bale. This side of the bale is so bound with twine that when the top of this twine is pulled the stitching readily comes away from the pack and the wool is left exposed. This baa the abvious merit that it does away with the need for the sorter to cut down the side of the bale when sorting. It is true that the use of a knife opens up the bale more quickly than by pulling down the patent binding, and there may be a temptation for the sorter —who works on piece rates—to resort to the knife in order to save time. But there is no reason why, in a properly ordered sorting room, full use should not be made of the new binding. It certainly reduces the risk of frayed and cut fibres finding their way into the wool, for the edge of the pack is left perfectly clean, and there is also little or no opportunity for the twine which has been used for sewing to become mixed with the wool. Unfortunately, the device,does not overcome the possibility of foreign fibres creeping into the woo! when buyers take samples at sales. On these occasions, of course, the buyer simply takes a knife and opens up a portion of the bale for inspection purposes, anS the frayed ends of New Zealand flax, jute, or any other material from which the pack is made, are liable to find their way into the wool. “While, therefore, the new pack may be considered an improvement on the old one, its tendency to fray when cut for inspection purposes leaves a good deal to be desired. Mr Forbes remarked that * the company responsible for the production of this pack wished for Bradfords assistance to eliminate any faults which might exist,’ and it may, therefore, be of use to make a few observations with a view to assisting manufacturers.” SOME SUGGESTIONS.

The fundamenal objection to this and other packs is that the surface fibres tend to become detached from the bulk of the material and the# work their way into the wool, and tha't, further, strands of yarn from, the pack also find their way into the wool 1 after the bale< has been cut. This has led to a suggestion from one member of the trade that the New Zealand .flax should be treated with a size, suitably disinfected, to. guard against mildew, such as is applied to the string used for tying tops, This, size should lay the inside “ beard ” of the flax, and would go a long way towards preventing the fraying of the yarn when the material was cut. Furthermore, it would give additional strength, which must be considered an advantage when it is remembered to what strain the pack is subjected when handled with crane hooks or hand hooks. Extra expense would presumably be involved, but it is possible that this would be compensated for by the greater freedom from foreign fibres in the wool. Meanwhile, the trade will examine with more than usual interest the behaviouf of the new packs during use. Whether or not the new pack fulfils first expectations, it is gratifying to find that New Zealand is cooperating in the solution of one of the trade’s most troublesome problems.

BETTER POTATO CROPS CERTIFICATION SCHEME MISREPRESENTATION OF SELLERS The success of the potato certification scheme has been one of the, features of the work of the fields division of the Department of Agriculture of recent years. The scheme has now been in operation for eight seasons, and as a result there has been a wonderful improvement in the crops in that time. Many growers in the North Island who have purchased seed from certified crops have spoken very appreciatively of the results from certified seed. One grower in the Wanganui district had an Increase of seven tons an acre, when he comprtred the yield of his certified and uncertified Sutton’s Supreme variety. Both lots of seed were purchased in Christchurch, and both received identically the same treatment.

Another farmer near Palmerston North gave it as his opinion that it was useless to plant anything but certified seed in his district, and that his certified seed gave him six and a-half tons of marketable potatoes an acre, while the part planted with uncertified seed was so poor that only part of the paddock was dug. In this case the uncertified seed was on the better part of the farm. In both cases the crops received four cwt an acre of a special potato fertiliser. He mentioned that his certified crop was even in growth, but the uncertified was very uneven, and some of the tops died off quite early in the season.” SEED WRONGLY DESCRIBED.

This particular grower states that In some cases growers had purchased seed that was said to be Government certified seed, but it was quite evident that this was not the case, as there was no certification tags attached to the sacks, and he was informed by the Department of Agriculture that no seed was certified seed unless the certification label was sown on to the top of the sack. When this matter was referred to Mr R. M'Gillivray, fields superintendent at Christchurch, he stated that there was no doubt at all about the success of the potato certification scheme. Each season had seen an increase in entries in certification. and many growers had called at the Christchurch office from other provinces to express their appreciation of the work that was being done. "Mr M'Gillivray said that some growers (perhaps a large number) had purchased seed as certified seed when the seed had no claim at all to be sold as such. He stated that he had inspected seven crops last season, about which complaints had been received. In all cases the seed planted proved on investigation to be from uncertified crops, and none of it was ever seen by a departmental officer. Mr M'Gillivray said he wished to point out that certified seed carried a departmental tag on each bag. The department did not recognise any seed as certified unless the tag was present. Any farmer or even a small "rower in his back garden patch was very foolish to plant any seed without examining the bag to see that the certification tag was present. The only safeguard was the departmental tag, and all untagged bags could looked upon as containing ordinary uncertified seed.

1935. Tons. 1934. Tons. London 89,433 97,780 Avomnouth* 7,449 8,303 Liverpool Manchester .. 6,414 6.422 7,971 9,944 Glasgow .. . 6,455 8.165 Hull .. .. 1’46 116 New York .. 2,016 — Honolulu 319 112 Panama Zone 784 658 Jamaica 364 398 Other countries 624 760 Total tons .. 121,975 , v /. * Includes Cardiff. 132,658 Cheese Figures Cheese figures for the 11 months under review are as follows:— 1935. 1934. Tons. Tons. London 67,027 73.636 Avonmouth* 6,229 6,373 4,911 Liverpool 4,051 Manchester' 4,148 5,059 Glasgow 3,937 5,061. Hull .. 88 39 pther countries 138 83 Total tons .. 85,618 •Includes Cardiff. 95,162