LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1460, 8 November 1879, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Entries for the November Grand Exhibition in connection with the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Society number upwards of 6000.

We learn from Christchurch that shearers are at a discount, in the Canterbury district. The price has been dropped 5s a hundred, and applicants for work are much more numerous than the billets to be obtained.

The Riyerton correspondent of the Southland Times writes :— " The rabbit pest will soon be a thing of the past, and the rabbiters will have to make for fresh fields and pastures new. On some of the surrounding stations the rabbiters have already been discharged, and their dogs bought .by the squatters and destroyed. Mr My era, our chemist here, is preparing the phosphorisedj wheat, which has been successfully tried by some of the surrounding farmers, and it has proved its efficiency to those who thought that the spring grass and young crops would be temptation far stronger than poisoned wheat ; trials of it now being over, and the most sceptical are satisfied."

In our last issue mention was made of the arrival of some agricultural machinery at Port Chalmers. The Bruce Herald contains the following further particulars :— " A great novelty will shortly be introduced into Tokomairiro in the shape of a traction engine, which has been ordered from England conjointly by Messrs David Tweedie and Henry Hamilton. It has lately arrived afc Port Chalmers by the Lizzie Bell, and will be forwarded to its final destination as soon as practicable. This engine, we are given to understand, will work a threshing, machine as well as a plough, and will also be able to pull waggons along the road. Ifc wijl be exhibited afc the annual show of the Tokomairiro Farmers' Club, to be held in December, when it will no doubt attract a good deal of attention. The spirited owners of this new importation are sanguine of its success, not only as a commercial speculation, but also as regards its adaptability to the work for which ifc is intended, and they deserve great credit for their enterprise.

According to the Clutha Leader there ia a probability of flour- mills being Bhortly erected on a site near to the railway station at Balclutha. The projector regards the site as the best he has discovered in Otago, and should the negotiations now in progress be brought to a satisfactory termination, the new mills will be upon an extensive scale, and supplied with all the latest improvements and best machinery procurable in England.

The present foaling season seems to have proved an unfortunate one amongst the brood mares in the Tokomairiro district (says Saturday's Bruce Herald). Following closely upon the loss of Mr Coombe's mare Swindle, we hear of the death of a valuable mare recently bought by Mr Lauchlon M'Donald. Another mare belonging to Mr Bryson foaled last week, declined food ever since, and died on Friday.

The following appears in the Wakatip Mail : — "We hear that a case of great hardship has occurred lately, whereby ewe sheep during lambing have been impounded, both from the Commonage and the Shearing and Lambing Reserves, by the County Ranger. By whose authority he meddled with special reserves of the latter nature does not yet appear clear, but it is reported that the aggrieved settlers are determined to Biffc the matter. How far the County Council are responsible for this hinges very much on the power of the Ranger appointed by them. To drive weak ewe sheep to the public pound, allow the weakest to die, and cause loss of lambs, is a blot indeed upon the value of local self-government.

At the lasfc meeting of the Tokomairiro Farmer's Club, the Secretary read a circular, received from the Rangitikei Farmer's Club, re Land Tax, inviting the co operation of the Club in getting the Land Tax not only repealed, but also in resisting the paying of the objectionable tax. On the motion of Mr Lindsay, seconded by Mr J. Duthie, the circular was received, and the consideration of it left for a future meeting.

We learn from Friday's Dunstan Times that Messrs M'Laren and. Turnbull have fixed the price of shearing this yoar on their Moutere station afc 15s per hundred, and that it will commence on the 17th November. The managers of the Teviot and Galloway stations give similar notices.

The prize list of the Clutha Annual Show is nearly ready, and will shortly be published. The local paper states that the Show has been fixed for the 2nd of December, this date being found most suitable to avoid clashing with other shows within the provincial district.

At the Cambridge (Auckland) Agricultural Society's Show, on the 23rd ult. , there were some fine shorthorn and Hereford cattle, and a herd of Devon heifers and cows, but the latter were not for competition, as they were the only animals of the kind in the district. This is the hord (says the Weekly News) recently brought from Australia for Messrs Maclean and Co. , by Mr G. M. Payne. There were nineteen of these animals, the bull beiug absent. Taking the show all iv all, the people of Waikato have reason to be satisfied that the exhibition of 1579 was a fairly represented one of the agricultural resources and energy of the district. Mr Langbridge was improving the occasion by canvassing for his " Waikato Hand .book," and was meeting with very general success. He intends to give adesoription of the principal estates in the district, with the stock they carry, and the general features and characteristics of the Waikato and Lake districts. The idea is very favourably entertained, especially by the large farmers, and the book will afterwards be distributed gratis, and will attract attention to the resources of one of the districts in the despised North. In replying to a toast, Mr A. A. Fautham said he had no fear that in time they would breed as valuable stock as any ever raised iv England. The couutry had no superior, and for some time they had. got the beat that England had produced. A New Zealand breed of bulls had gone to Australia and beaten all that came before them. He saw no reason why they should not in time be able to beat England, as well as they had done Australia. He conoluded by thanking them for the manner in which the toast had been drunk.

Our Arrowtown correspondent sends u3 the following items : — A walking show of entires which came off last Saturday at Arrowtown proved that those interested iv the improvement of horseflesh in the district had taken the matter in hand in a veiy thorough-going manner, There are at present about 12 entire horses in this district, and six were brought to the show. The Clydesdale entire, Duke of Hamilton, owned by Mr Hamilton, and Mr Ross's Lincoln Hero, received the lion's share of admiration, both being very fine specimens of their respective classes. The other horses also came in for a large amount of praise, and are all animals far above the general average standard of entires. They were Mr R. Pritchard's Defiance, Mr Braden's Perfection, Mr Johnson's Young Napoleon, and Mr Kinross's Dainty Davy. While speaking of entires, I may mention that Mr John Cameron, of Lake Hayes, contradicts a rumour derogatory to hia OlydesdaJe entire Napoleon, and announces that ho got upwards of sixty foals last season. The horse will travel the district as usual. — The rabbit nuisance is at last attracting public attention, and after having brought their annoyance before the County Council, the farmers about Queensfcown held a meeting in the former place, at which a Committee was appointed to devise and carry oufe the best means by which to destroy, or at least limit the ravages of this pest. As there are many and grave objections to laying poison in the close proximity of farms, the Committee's alloted task receives an additional difficulty from this objection. _ The most that may be expected is from the united and voluntary efforts of the etfclers. Ifc is essentially a " putting the|»houlder o the wheel" cise.

Mr M'Gill, the well-known miller, intends erecting a flour-mill at Tapanui shortly. A site has been secured in a very favourable position, being only about ten chains from the line of rail way , a with which the mill will be connected by a siding. The erection, of a second mill in Tapanui will, no doubt, give an impetus to the more extended cultivation of grain crops, for which the splendid land in the neighbourhood ia admirably adapted. Hitherto thi3 branch of farming has been rather neglected in the Tapanui district, the attention of the farmers having been principally devoted to sheep farming Grain growing is generally the fundamental principle of farming, and the substitution of sheep for grain, in a great measure, requires some explanation. The explanation is not difficult to find. The land yields splendid crops— equal, indeed to any obtained on the Taieri— but the district offers a very limited market, and its situation debars the farmers from competing in the Dunedin and Invercargill markets. This difficulty will in a great measure be overcome on the completion of the Tapanui railway, but this, unfortunately is at present at a complete standstill, or very nearly so, at all events, the only signs of life in it being a little work in hand by a few sub-contractors, who are leisurely completing small contracts which have been in hand for some considerable time. Some # weeks ago our correspondent stated that in the thon state of the work the line could^ not possibly be completed within contract time unless energetic measures were inaugurated; but since that time barely anjthing has been done, and the chances of its completion are becoming every day more and more problematical. The settlers in the district are very indignant ia che matter, and have already protested against the delay, strongly urging the Government to insist upon the line being opened within contract time. A petition has been forwarded to the M.H.R. for the district, asking him to use his influence to have the line opened as soon a 8 possible. We wish the settlers every success iv their endeavour to have the work on the line pushed on with as little loss of time as possible. In next week's "Witness will be commenced a series of " Chats with the Farmers " in the Tapanui district.

The discussion iv the agricultural press of the continent of Europe regarding the fattening properties of various breeds of citfcle ha 3 developed the equally important topic :— " la ifc safe to use the milk of animals affected with foot-and-mouth disease ?" The French veterinarians would appear as almost unanimous that the milk of such animals, if cooked, is perfectly wholesome for food. The Belgian veterinarians take the opposite view, and cases are mentioned where not only did the milk prove injurious, but disease was communicated to persons who had used butter and cheese made from diseased animals. All are agreed that the flesh should not be eaten, but it is not disguised that such flesh does get into use and is bought up in the dense populations, where cheapness of food is a primary recommendation. The question of milk supply is a most important one in France at the present time, milk being amongst the most fashionable sustenance for invalids and those who affect to study very closely what they use as food. Doctors are prescribing milk for various complaints, one of the special recommendations being that the same cow must provide the fluid. This latter qualification has given rise to a claaa of dairy, men who guarantee to supply given quantities of milk daily from the same cow,

Such diseases of animals as are capable of transmission to man are usually fatal. We read in anEnglish paper that two fatal cases of glanders in man recently occurred afc Bays water. A glandered horse, blowing its nose, unfortunately discharged somo of the specific virus in the face of an infant which was being carried in the arms of the stablekeeper's wife. The child shortly died of glanders, and an elder sister who nursed ifc also fell a victim to this dire disease. Such cases are not of infrequent occurrence, and indicate the necessity of obtaining the best professional advice in regard to auspicious nasal discharges of horses, and promptly carrying out the instructions of the Act of Parliament, and having all glandered horsea immediately destroyed. Whilst the glandered horse continues in the stable, although he may be fife enough for work, he is liable not only to inoculate and infect; the horsea with which he ia brought into contact, but also to transfer the loathsome disease to his attendants. Afc the coroner's enquiry regarding these fatal cases afc Bayswater, it came out in evidence that the instructions of the Act in regard to glandered horsea were systematically contravened, and instead of the carcasses being buried unskinned they were treated in the ordinary way, the skins removed, the flesh boiled down, the fat disposed of, with the obvious risk of communicating the specific disease to the persons thua employed, or to those who make use of portions of the infected carcass.

The Graudin farm, near Fargo, Dakota, is said to bo the largest wheat farm on the globe. It embraces some 40,000 acres, and is divided into four parts, with dwellings, granaries, machine shops, elevators, sfcables for 200 horses, and room for storing 1,000,000 bushels of grain. Besides the wheat farm, there ia a stock farm of 20,000 acres. In seeding time, 70 to 80 men are employed, and during harvest 250 to 300 men. The product of one field of 2315 acres is 57,285 bushels, or some 25 bushels to the acre. The average yield of the wheat farm ia from 20 to 25 bushels per acre, and ifc is considered that ifc ia unequalled as a wheat region iv the world.

Professor Stockbridge recently said before the State Board of Agriculture of Connecticut : "The soil is best ploughed when ifc is most thoroughly crushed, twisted, and broken, with the sod well covered. On some kinds of land I would have furrows lapped an inch, as the Canadian farmers plough. Let the air and water have a chance to circulate underneath the surface. Light lan ds, however, should have a flit furrow if we wish to make such lands more compact.

At the lowa Agricultural College, in the United States, every girl in the junior clatis has learned how to make good bread, weighing and measuring their ingredients, mixing, kneading, and baking, and regulating her fire. Eaoh has also been taught to make yeast and bake big. cuibs, puddings, pies, and cakes, of various kinds j how to cook a roasfc, broil a steak, and make a fragrant cup of coffee j how to stuff and roasfc a turkey, [make oyster soup, prepare stock for other Boupa, steam and mash potatoes bo that they will melt in the mouth, and, in short, to get up a fire fc- class meal, combining both substantial and fancy dishes, in good style. Theory and manual skill have gone hand-in-hand. Vast stores of learning have been accumulated in the arts of canning, preserving, and picking fruits, and they have taken practical leasons in all the details pf household management, such as house furnishing, care of beds and bedding, washing and ironing, care of the sick, care of children, &o. The girls, we are informed, are also thoroughly taught in science, mathematics, and English literature j but this is of »light moment compared with the foregoing catalogue of virtues. If there is anything that challenges the unlimited respect and devotion of the masculine mine ifc is ability in woman to order well her own household. Each one of these charming lowa girls, ifc is safe to say, will marry within six weeks after gradation.

The Times reports that the Hon. T. Russell of New Zealand, was a buyer of both Clydesdales and shorthorns at Lord Dunmore's sale, and he also bought two valuable fillies at Mr Martin* important sale in Dumbartonshire which was held on Thursday, the day following that at Dunmore. Mr Russell, however, made a still more noteworthy purchase of four very high-class young shorthorn bulls of fashionable pedigrees, from the herd of Mr R. Oliver, of Whltfclebury, consisting of one of the purest bred Oxfords in the Kingdom — Oxford Royal, by 3rd Duke of Mr Cheney's celebrated Duchess bull, and from 10th Maid of Oxford, a cow sold to Earl Bective at the last Gaddesby sale for 1600 guinea? ; Prince Wild Eyes and Duke Winsome, two exceedingly well-bred animals of the Wild Eyes tribe, the former by Grand Duke 22ad and out of Velvet Eyes, the latter by the same sire, and from Winsome 6th, bred by the Duke of Devonshire, and so highly prizad at Holker ; also a son of the 7th Duke of Tregunter and Grand Duchess Fawnley 3rd— the former a pure bred Duchess bnll, bred by Colonel Gunter, the latter a well-bred cow of mixed Bates and Knightly blood. Mr Russell haa one of the largest shorthorn herds in the world in New Zealand, and a herd of pure-bred Hereforda almost as large, and from the latter he ha 3 baen enabled to select some of the besi bred animal* ia England of the whitefaced breed, snch as Coomassie, the Royal firstprize calf at Kilburn, and who has been unconquered afc all other shows this year ; Horace 2nd, who won a Royal second prize at Bristol ; and a full sister to Leonora, Mrs Edward's champion cow, who has been first in the Royal lists since calfdom.

The North Ofcago Times states that Mr Reid, of Elderslie, president of tke North Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Association, while on a visit to the Sydney Exhibition, has ininduced Mr Horwood, of Victoria, to exhibit some of his celebrated shorfchorn animals at the forthcoming Oam iru show. We trust (says our contemporary) that this will only be the beginning of a competition with the breeders of tha sister colonies.