THE RURAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23442, 5 March 1938, Page 3

THE RURAL WORLD

FARM AND STATION NEWS

By RUSTICUS.

Items of interest to these engaged in agricultural and pastoral pursuits, with a view to their publication in these columns, will be welcomed. They should be addressed to Rusticua, Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.

nearly every passed-in line was disposed of, so that practically 'a total clearance was made. That was a satisfactory feature. At the time of writing this report the aggregate proceeds iind averages are not made out, but most likely it will be found that the total returns from the Hobart sales this season, because of the greater weight of wool sold, will not be 20 per cent. less than the returns of last season, although the average price per lb. may foe more than 25 per cent, down compared with last year's Hobart average.

Bacon for Britain A marked decrease in British bacon production is recorded in the British Bacon Marketing Board's report for 1937. That this decrease has not resulted :ln a shortage to the consumer is due to the action of the Board of Trade, foreseeing the decline, arranged l£ov greater quantities of bacon to be imported. Imports totalled 6,925.385 cwt, against 6,569,708 cwt in 1936. Although this figure has been partly built up by grealer quantities being received from European countries, it Is mainly from Empire sources that the extra bacon supplies have been received. Supplies were drawn from Denmark. Poland, Holland, and Canada. ... „ _ The greater extent to which the Empire supplied British needs is even more marked in the case of hams. Total imports in 1937 were 675,002 cwt, compared with 671,666 cwt in the previous year. Of this Canada in 1937 provided 314,606 cwt (as against 277,678 cwt in 1936 and 190,695 cwt in 1935), while imports from the United States were only 311,748 cwt (compared with 332,848 cwt in 1936 and 419,231 cwt in It is generally agreed that the main cause of the smaller British production has been the rise in the cost of feeding stuffs, which, according to an official of the Bacon Development

SUMMER SHOW SEASON

DATES FOR 1937-38 Agricultural and pastoral shows foi tli> 1937-38 season still to be held are aa, follows: \ March 12.—Mount Benger at Miller's Flat. . , ' March 16.—Lake County at Lake March 19.—Upper Clutha at Pembroke. April 9.—Temiika and Geraldme at Winchester. ■.•■„ ■' ~,..., April 18.—Strath-Taieri. at Mfddlemarch. April 18.—Mackenzie Highland Show at Fairlie.

NEW ZEALAND WOOL SALES*

ROSTER FOR 1937-38 SEASON The following roster of New Zealand wool sales for the 1937-38 season is announced. It has been arranged by the New Zealand Wool Brokers' Association and the New Zealand Wool Buyers Association:

The April dates are tentative only, and are subject to alteration and/or cancellation, according to the Quantity of wool offering.

Board, has. been about 25 per cent. This rise was one of the main causes of the collapse of the pig marketing scheme.

A large area is sown in turnips in North- Otago this season. Many farmers were afraid, after the drought, that they would be short of winter feed, and so they put in more turnips than usual. Although the turnip crops are late they look very healthy, but already the diamond back moth is showing up, and it may be expected to increase in numbers until the frosts set in. This moth causes an enormous amount of harm, and if the department can get us a parasite to counteract it we will be for ever grateful. The white butterfly is literally present in the district in millions now. There war a time a year or two ago when it looked as though the pest was being got under control, but such hopes have this year been dashed to the ground. One farmer was heard jocularly to remark that the parasite which had been liberated to control the white butterfly could riot do its work properly because it worked under Government regulations and observed a 40-hour week, while the white butterfly worked seven days a week and did not stop for a drop of rain. Putting all joking aside, there can be no doubt but that these three pests—the white butterfly, the diamond back moth, and aphisare making the growing of turnips and swedes a very precarious undertaking. But I expect we will survive; we have got over all our other troubles, and I expect we will continue to get three meals a day. MAKING HAY The value of hay is becoming more appreciated every year, and now more farmers are getting up-to-date machinery for handling it. With hay sweeps and stacker a paddock can be quickly, expeditiously, and cheaply done. If a farmer is too busy with other harvesting work, there are contractors who will cut the hay, press it, and cart to wherever it may be wanted. Some good crops of lucerne have been saved this season, and the indications are that a whole lot more of this very valuable fodder crop will be grown in North Otago before very long. Not until we have more lucerne on our heavier lands and more subterranean clover on our lighter lands will we be in a comparatively safe position so far as autumn and winter feed are concerned. Lucerne made a wonderful growth after the December rains this season, and another good soaking rain now would do the crops a lot of good for the second cut. There is nothing better than lucerne with which to make hay, and we all know how it stands to us in times of drought. With an abundance of good lucerne hay in the winter and plenty of roots we are in pretty good case. It is more important to grow more mangels than more turnips, however. THE LAMBS

Lambs are doing m ch better now than they were, and those on feed seem to be coming on well. For a time they did not seem to be doing *oo well. Scour and worms and rusty grass kept them back, and quite a lot died. But since they have been weaned and dipped and dosed, and with drier weather conditions, they are doing much better. We should get away some fairly large drafts soon. THE EWE FLOCK The ewes in in good condition, indicating that many of them had weaned their lambs earlier. As soon ag the lambs are weaned it is a good plan to mouth the flock and divide it into three mobs. li. No. 1 flock there should be put all the ewes up to and including sound mouths. These should be put on the barest pasture. In No. 2 flock should be put the failing mouth sheep. They should be put on to rather better pasture, and three weeks before

the rams are turned out, these ewes should be flushed on good top-dressed pasture. It is from these ewes that we get most of our early lambs. No. 3 flock should comprise the culls—that is, any ewe with her teeth too far gone, any ewe which has had bearing or udder trouble, or any ewe which has been unfortunate enough to have had her teats clipped off with the shearing machines. Again, there should be put into the cull mob any ewe of poor constitution. Some farmers make the teeth the sole guide of what constitutes a cull. This is a mistake. A bright, healthy, active ewe with good wool and a poor mouth is infinitely better than a broken-down ewe of boor constitution, even if it is only a four-tooth. There should be no trouble in fattening all our culls this season. Too many farmers neglect to send their culls to the market till late in the season, when all the grass is finished. By this time only low money is offering. The aim should be to market cull ewes early. HOW PRICES ARE GOING

We had a very pleasant surprise when prime lambs rose id to 8d per lb, and seconds id to 73d per lb. We are praying that these prices will hold. But the way that prices are slipping in England, and the downward trend of the wool market, makes us feel that anything may happen, and engenders in us a feeling that we should be very careful before givim? extreme prices for store stock.

Store lambs have been selling remarkably well. The abundance of feed is talking. Stores have been making 15s 6d to 17s 6d for average sorts (mostly weathers) and up to 19s 6d for good mixed sex lots. At the latter price the margin of profit is cut very fine. A few deaths will take the gilt off the ginger bread. The ewe market has just opened. Most of these sales are made in March and April. Only a few sales have been made so far. Most farmers are wondering what they will have to pay for sound-mouth ewes. The dry weather in Central Otago and Southland will soon make its effect felt here if rain does not come early where it is so badly needed. If they do not soon get a good soaking rain in the south and central, a lot of sheep will have to come to this district before the winter, and that is sure to affect our market here.

Canterbury is experiencing a season similar to ours except that it is wetter there and the deaths of lambs are heavier. It is reported that up to 20 per cent, of lambs are dying when they are put on rape this season in Canterbury. When this trouble starts, it takes a lot of checking. A few deaths make most farmers very cautious, and prices generally decline. WORK AHEAD Top-dressing should be pushed on as expeditiously as possible if it is desired that growth should continue well into the winter and make an early start in the spring. No time should be lost in sowing green feed. The earlier these two jobs are completed the better. A week of such work in March is worth a month in May. Since writing the above we have had a very heavy rain of well over one inch, and drizzly conditions have again set in. The rainfall for the month was 2.38 in, and for the past two months, 5.80 in. Compare this with the 4.95 in we had in the seven months between May and November last.

OTAGO SHEEP DOG ASSOCIATION

TRIAL DATES FOR 1938 ' Sheep dog trials under the auspices of the Otago Provincial Sheep Dog Association, together with Otago, Canterbury, and South Island championships fixtures, have been arranged as follows: . Heriot.—March 4, 5. , , ' Clutha.—March 15. 18/ ~:>■ Warepa.—March 17, 18, 19. Waitahuna.—March 22, 23. St. Bathans.—March 24. 25 26, Patearoa.—March 28, 29, 30. r: . Kyeburn.-rMarch 31. April 1. 2. / t Omarama.—April 11, 12, 13. , Waitaki.—April 18, 19, 20, 21. -, ; . '• Strath-Taieri.—May 12, 13, 14.. : . Waihemo.—May 16,. 17, 18. Tarras—May 19, 20, 21. Wanaka.—May 23, 24, 25, Lowburn.—May 26. 27. 28. Tokarahi.—May 30, 31, June 1. Palmerston.—June 2, 3. 4. Ngapara.—June 6,7, 8. Waimate (Canterbury championships). . —June 13, 14. 15. Kuriwao (Otago championships).— June 16, 17 18. Warepa (South Island championships). —June 20, 21. 22, 23. 24, 25. Tuapeka—June 27. 28. 29. A Good Day's Selling Apfopros of the discussion recently between local wool broking firms'with respect to the largest catalogues disposed of in a day by a single selling firm, the following paragraph from the Australasian shows how easily the New Zealand maximum of about 9000 or 10,000 bales is , exceeded in. |he Commonwealth. "The catalogue submitted at Hobart by A. G. Webster and Sons, Ltd., comprised 14,458 bales, and Roberts and Co.'s offering was 9240. Both were record catalogues. There were sacks and gadges in addition, and the total quantity of wool put up for sale was equivalent to about 24,000 bales. The lot was put through in. one day. Selling commenced in the city hall at 6.30 a.m., and was continued till late in the afternoon. More than 96 per cent, was •old at auction, and alter the sales

FARMING IN NORTH OTAGO

MIXED WEATHER IN FEBRUARY "THE TIME IS OUT OF JOINT" - (Contributed.) We are' truly having a strange season. The ides of March are approaching, and the .fields present the appearance of early summer. The dominant colours are green and yellow. If we :ould only forget the practical side for a iort space and enjoy the bet.uties of Nature, we would find much to admire. But we must attend to the pounds, shillings, and pence side and take the beautiful in our stride, so to speak. It is a mistake, however, to take matters too seriously. Everyone can find time to admire the beautiful in Nature, as wall as earn a livelihood, and it is advisable to mix the two. Here we see a whole hillside made golden by millions of Cape weed plants; another field is purple with ripening clover. The dark green of rape and the brighter green of turnips are seen in other paddocks, while others a.o studded with stooks of golden corn, between which, are to be seen dandelion and Cape weed in full profusion, while other fields are dotted with bales of hay on a background of dark green lucerne, to say nothing of the good old grajs. with which we are all familiar—this in various stages of £?i*6Griricss February was a month of a mixed nature. We had showers, fogs, drizzles, and heat. There was not a great quantity of rain, but humid conditions prevailed for the most part. It was not what could be called good harvest weather; neither could it be said to be very had quite a lot of rain, but as soon as harvest is over we could do with k good fall, especially for the turnips.

• THE WHEAT CROPS Wheat has turned out very disappointingly. Certainly there are a few good crops, but the majority are from mediocre + j poor. At one time, when the drought was at itt, worst and we had to turn our ewes and lambs into the grain crops in order to keep them alive, we thought, and openly said, that there would be no grain harvest in North Otago this year; so we must be thankful for what little we are getting. The copious rain which we had came much too late to save the fed-off wheat crops, and while it did a lot of good to oats, the latter are nothing like what they would have been had the season been a normal one. The rain encouraged the growth of weeds, which grew at a great rate. In many crops they furnished more bulk than the wheat, and necessitated consequent heavy charges ior handling. In cases of this nature the headerharvester proved a boon, for most of the extraneous growth was not touched by it, the machine contenting itself with cutting only a short stem of straw and the ears of the grain. Some crops were so poor that if the old style of harvesting had been followed it would not have paid to cut them. Although the return was small in these cases, it was not all eaten up in working expenses. The small all-crop harvester is becoming increasingly popular and seems to provide the logical way of handling crops that are not affected by sea breezes. THE OATS Oats developed rust early in the month, and aided by foggy, humid conditions this spread very rapidly. In a few short days nearly every crop was affected. Just how much harm has been done remains to be seen. The early crops were not affected; only the late ones suffered. RAPE RIPENING The hot weather has caused the rape to ripen earlier than it would have done under colder conditions.' Most farmers h?ve now weaned their lambs and put them on to rape. There seems to be a pretty general idea this year that the rape crops are not going to give us the; amount of feed that we usually get from them; nevertheless, there are some very good crops about, and it will be surprising if they do not give a good account of themselves. That is, if the aphis and the diamond back moth give them a chance. TURNIPS Turnips have been a touchy crop this year. Some pest has devoured patches of the crops in most paddocks, and in others it has taken the lot. This usually occurs when the turnips are in the rough-leaf stage; it is not the fly which eats them in the seedling stage. On cesowing these bare patches further depredations occur, but on a smaller scale. It appears as though it is a grub or caterpillar which attacks them.

Centre. Opening time. 1938 Timaru 9 a.m March 7 Invercargill 2 p.m March il Dunedin 9 a.m. March 16 Wellington “ 9 a.m. March 22 Auckland 9 a.m. Marcn zo Wanganui 9 a.m. March 30 Napier 9 a.m. Aprn Christchurch 9 a.m April 3 Dunedin 2 p.m. April and/or 9 a.m April 13 Wellington 9 a.m. April 22