MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1700, 21 June 1884, Page 13

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Pall Mall Gazette and Ladies' Pictorial have both contained interesting letters on tha subject of New Zealand frozen, mutton during the past week. The latter was from a delighted housewife, who had just discovered the cheapness and excellence of the meat, "It is really," she says, " wonderful how ultra-Con-servative the people of England are, even when Conservatism touches their pockets. Here is an example : New Zealand meat is to be procured in almost every place; but, because, English people have not yet discovered how good it is, they still go on paying the ruinous prices they are charged by their own butchers, notwithstanding the remedy is in their own hands. That the meat is most excellent ia proved by the fact that we 'ourselves tried it in company with the most fastidious folks, who did not know that they were partaking of anything but the best Easter lamb, when one of the most particular of that particular assemblage remarked that that was the best meat he had had since the palmy days of seven-year- old mutton, raised carefully on his own estate. We said nothing. Next eveniagr a steak came to table. ' Well, you must have changed your butcher,' remarked the domestic critic to the hostess ; ' for never sinca we "have? been here have we had a decent sfceak. Now this is something like,' and he handed up his. plate for a second helping. Now, mark what, this means. Here is the butcher's bill for four.day b : Hindquarter of lamb, Tib, Ps ll^d ; leg of mutton, 6ib Goz, 53 2d ; hop side of beef weighing 12lb 15oZj 9s Sid ; anJ some suet! making a total of £1 Is 4d. And then, compare that with wbat the bill would have been at Is 3d for lamb, Is Id for mutton, and Is for the top side ; besides which we discovered that the reason why our njeat had beea so unsatisfactory lately was that our butcher had been daily supplying us with New Zealand meat at the best prices, and as he had not told us, naturally enough, that the meat was frozen, we had it cooked immediately without thawing it, which resulted in dry food ' shrunk up to nothing,' ,as our cook expressed it. The servants are delighted with the meat, which is another proof of, its excellence; for everyone knows how particular domestics are about their food. If people will only be persuaded to try New Zealand mep' c there will be more money left for them t^ bviv books with, or travel." ■* y

A short time ago great uneasiness waa caused among the stookowners of Soutl* Australia hv a report that a disease similar h, j^SSiS* broken out in the sou th - east part of the. Colony. _ Tha bosses are very heavy, and thai cusease ia *ot con fi ne( i fco any particular portionot aQ district, but it chiefly attacks the we aers and young sheep. The Chief Inspector of Stock, Mr C. J. Valentine, accompanied by Mr .Chalyin, a veterinary surgeon, has visited the district, and their report, which has been accompanied by the result of the analysis of the blood of the diseased animals, says that the cause of the mortality is not a contagious disease, but is due to worms in the intestines, the stomach, and the lungs. The effects can be greatly mitigated by giving the sheep salt, iron, doses of oil and turpentine, and change of pastme.

Fencing that has hitherto b9on the bush settlers dread, on account of its drawing so heavily upon his time, capital, and labour, has gradually become so simplified, since the introduction of the barb wire, that in a short time it will only be looked upon as a moderate item in the cost of roclaimin'g the forest. The latest idea is "to set the posts half a chaiu apart, staple the wire 3to them, and then, about every five or six feet, staple on a batten, so that they swing clear of the ground. In this way a vast amount of labour is saved, by the small number of posts to be split, and the few *hole 3to be dug ; whilst the battens, i£ tightly fastened on, are moro effective m binding the wire than if the posts were used the usual nine feet apart ; whilst f roaaa the swinging nature of the fence, any beast, trying to push through the wires, the fence naturally reeeeds with the preasure, and then recoils back, driving the barbs well home into the face of the deluded animal, who immediately hoists its tail at right angle over its back and. travels off at a 2.40 gait. A four-wire fence» like the above, consisting- of two barb and twc> plain wires, could bo erected by any settler,, doing tho work himself, and barbing bis owm wire, for about three shillings a chaia ;. and< het would have a better, more effective, and permanent fence than if he expended six times the amount of labour aud capital ia erecting the old orthodox po3t and rails, — Taranaki Herald.

The London Standard has a sub-leader upon the introduction of ferrets, stoats, and wensela into New Zealand in which it sn.ys : — "These recidivlsta of tho animal kingdom — habitual and incorrigible criminals— are looked upon at the Antipodes with feelings very different from those excited by the influx of French scoundrels from Now Caledonia. If it be true that the rabbits in New Zealand and Australia have.

so multiplied as to become a plague, simply because they have had abundance of food and no natural enemies stronger than themselves, the stoats and weasels ought, by a parity of reasoning, to thrive and multiply at the expense of the rabbits, which they will be welcome to attack without fear of the gamekeeper or the trapper. Of course, we wish the experiment every success ; only the thought arises as to what will the colonists do with their stoats and weasels when the rabbit plague has been abated? Of the ten weasels that arrived safely in New Zealand last year, one began at once to destroy, not rabbits, but ducks j and as beasts of prey, like othei; creatures, proceed in the line of least re3istence, we may suspect that, with the increase of enemies to the rabbit, there will come increased necessity to guard the hen-roost and the duck-pond. The balance of nature is a ticklish thing to interfere with. It was sadly disturbed by the introduction of the rabbit into the New World, as well as by some other ill-considered freaks of acclimatisation. The importation of stoats and weasels is a wise attempt to redress the balance. But will it not, after a while, again want redressing on the other side ?" At a meeting of the Kaiapoi Farmers' Club held on Tuesday, Mr J. Lowthian Wilson read a paper on the manurial value of charcoal, advocating its use for the absorption of liquid manure on the farm, and on the utilisation ot sewage and nightsoil collected by the pan system. A discussion took place on the points brought out in the remarks of Mr Wilson, during which it was considered that if charcoal could be produced at a reasonable rate it was likely to be exceedingly useful on the farm, andm absorbing the ammoniacal qualities of the dung heap and farmyard drainage, which could be utilised to special advantage in open or shingly soil. " Anglo- Australian " in the European Mail writes : " The striking thing now to ma is the fact that the New Zealand mutton seems to be all at once the meat in possession. It has the first front rank in several large Christmas-like displays, and the English mutton is for the present relegated to the- background. Considering the shortness of the time it has taken to bring about, this change is indeed remarkable. The fact is, lam told on good authority, that as the retail butchers 'stood by each other ' for a long while in declining (openly at least) to keep the ' cheap meat,' so they have agreed as a body to take it up manfully. There can be no doubt but that in the southeast of the metropolis the New Zealand mutton is now being rapidly popularised," A plague of mice is causing some alarm in Victoria. A telegram in a Sydney paper say£ : " Terrible destruction is being caused all through the Horsham district through the ravages of mice ; so much so that farmers are becoming alarmed at their rapid increase, and tha consequent destruction "and loss caused thereby, A farmer at Kalkee last Saturday sowed 16 acres of wheat, and on Monday the mice had destroyed the whole, the farmer stating that there was not a cupful left. Some prompt measures w: ? have to be taken, otherwise they will be worse than rabbits." The Waisato Farmers' Co -operative Associa'on have opened a butcher's shop for the sal* of their meat in Auckland, and are making extensive ai m rangements to avoid the middleman's profit respecting all produce. The small-bird question cropped up at a late meeting of the Kaiapoi Partners' Club, during ■which a statement of some interest was made by one of the members, who said that it was possible to poison 300 birds in one night while the keen frosts lasted. The members present considered the killing of the birds before mating time of more importance than taking the eggs, as one gentleman put it one bird then was jvortk a dozen eggs. '^he following paragraph from the Liverpool p7 . - qr speaks well for Amberley butter: *' We Th'ave heard," says our contemporary, "of 'tonnes in trees, books in the running brooks ana sermon? in stones,' but we have S been Uu fe -ht to look for written messages from remote ebonies m the very heart of a Law «f hnttar i However, let Messrs Jordan SitSey 'of UVewport, Isle of Wight, speak: ' We beg to enclose for your inspection a written memorandum ineptly found by us in a small glass bottle embedded in a tub of butter which was being cut tip oa our counter.' T£he memorandum was as follows : This keg •of butter was prepared by J. Harrison, of Amberley, Canterbury, New Zealand, on the 11th of December, 1883, m a vtrial shipment to England for the firm of W. S. Smith and Co. Should like to know how it landed— whether coocj or not.-J. Harbison, late of Barrow-m-lurne^B, Lancashire, England. There are 490 other kets"* '. this is a fair average of the lot.' The Stlcui^ ke & containing the bottlei™JKS harwd to come to Newport, S'Ksts'orSn >^ Slan W-V r PP BaS8 a S ** the interrogator far o jay in New Zealand •thafcihe butter was excellent , both in {i™} l^ :and m condition. The •bottle-fc>C nd bufct |* would make a very good alliterative **£. me ror future shipments from New Zealand."

According to the New Zealand Times settlers in the Wairarapa are already suffering ivom ferrets, which have recently caused "serious loss to breeders of valuable poultry, .and it is only the other day that some men came across an old buck ferret which actually showed fight, kept their dogs at bay, and was with difficulty despatched with firearms.

At a meeting of the Kaiapoi Farmers Club, Mr E. Parnham stated that his shipment of 10 fat calves in the freezing- chamber of the Victory, although reported on in London to have been well butchered, and as having arrived in good condition, had resulted in a loss. Instead of bringing 7d to 9d per lb, the shipment was sold for 3|d per Ib. We (Taranaki Herald) mentioned the other day as a rare occurence that some strawberries had ripened at Rahotu, but we learn that it is not an uncommon thing for this fruit to ripen in winter. Mr John Veale, sen., brought us a plate of strawberries recently, which he gathered in the morning from his beda, and he assures us that he takes a similar quantity every week from the plants all through the winter. The strawberries are of the Duke of Edinburgh variety, and are of delicious flavour.

Matanra J-. and P. Society's Grain Show

O^ce-beatevs —President : Mr J. A. R. Menziei, \t ti ' Vice-president : Mr James Milne. Secretary nn<i VV : Mr I. W. JSayrnond. Committee : „' , a Z. l.mes Caobaio, J,impa Uolinea, A. Beange, j- am « toau^den, Thomaa Ay son, and I. W. Raymond.

The third nnua l Grain Show in connection with the abovb Socie *y wa *? he >\ d «* Leahy's Hall, WyndbEUM, oa Thursday last. Owing, however, to the !ate season entries were backward, although the cl&b? of exhibits fully made *ip for the deficiency aa number. The wheat elapses ware poorly represented, Mr F. King, of Toi-Tois, .havjtog it all bis own way. Hitherto oats have been wojl to the f oce, but on this occasion they were backward. In " shorts," Mr James Holms, of WaimpJbaka, was again successful in carrying off $rtf£ ..honours, this making tho third first in succob-

sion, the weights for the three years being oOJlb, 501b, and 501b : these weights speak for themselves. The ouly other class worth taking notice of is the turnips. The display was splendid, and the judges had great difficulty in awarding the prizes. The special prize for best drill common turnips, one chain in length, was secured by Mr Thomas Ayson, his chain weighing scwt, Mr Gregory being close up with 4cwt 29qr. Two cabbages were also on exhibition measuring about four feet across, and weighing respectively 201b and 181b. The judges were Mr J. Cooper, of Invorcargill, and Mr D. M'Kay, of Wyndham. Thair decisions in all cases were upheld.

PRIZS LIST. WHEAT.

Red Wheat, of any variety. — First piize, £1 ; second, 10s ; third, hon. cer. Two eutries. F. C. King, 661b, 1 ; J. and J. Lumsden, C3lb, 2. White Wheat, of any variety.— First prize, £1 ; SGcand, 103 ; third, hon. cer. Two entries. F. C. King, GIJ b, 1 ; Geo. Crosbie, C3|lb, 2,

Long Oats, any variety. -First prizo, £1 ; second, 10s; 3rd, hon. cer. One entry. Jamea Cushnie, 421b.

short Oats, any variety. — First prizo, Ml; second, 10a ; third, hon. cer. Four entries. Jnmes Holms, 601b, 1 ; F. C. King, 481b, 2 ; Geo. Crosbie, 45ilb, 3.

GRASSES.

Rye-grass —First prize, £1 ; Becond, 103 ; third, hon. eer. T^o entries. Cargili and Audetson, 271b, 1 ; James Holms, 301b, 2. Cocksfoot —First prize, £1; second, 30a; third, hon. cer. One entry. Cargill and And. rson. Timothy. — First prize, £1; second, 10s; third, hon. cer. T>o entries. Cargili and Anderson, 1 ; Jame« Holms, 2.

POTATOES. Early Potatoes, Icwfc— Firac prize, 10j; second, Bs. One entry. John Bankin.

Late Potatoes, lewt. — First prize, 10s; second, 5?. Six entries. C. Wyeth, 1 ; J. M'Phail, 2 ; John Kankin, 3.

TURNIPS. Purple Swede Turnips.- F.rst prize, 10}; second, 6s. Four entries. T. Ayson, 1 ; W. Gregory, 2 ; J. and J. I/umsden, 3. Purple Common Tuvnips.— First prize, 10a ; pecond, ss. Five entries. J. Cushnie, 1 ; J. and J. Lumsden, 2 ; J. M'Kay, 8. Yellow Common Tarnipr.— First prize 10s ; second, s'. E'g-ht entries. J. Holms, 1 ; J. M'Phail, 2 ; J Guahnig, 3.

CAEROTS.

Twelve Field Carrots.— First prize, 10& ; second, sa. Two entries. J. Holms, 1 ; J. Woods, 'I. Twelve Short Carrots —First prizo, 10a ; second, 6s. One entry. P. Traynor.

SPECIAIi rRIZES. Diill of Common Turnips, ona chain in length.— First prize. £1 ; second, 10s. Two entries. '£. Ayson, 1 ; W. Gregory, 2. Cabbages.— Two 1 entries, weighing 181b and 201b, were awarded prizas, but we ware unable to obtain tho exhibitors' names.

Collections of Fruit.— J. Rankin, X 0. Fy/e, highly commended. Rape Hants and Linseed.— T. Ayson exhibited three of the former an a sample of tho latter.

31iristchurcU Corn Exchange.

Report for the week ending Friday, June 13 :—

The continued depression in wheat is> moat di£he&vteniug to producers, who may be aairt to be hoping against hope. Cablegrams from t.ho Loud.m marßefi have become so monotonous tnat tooEe intevested on this side of tho globe have begun to look for them in each day's issue of the payers with a degree of despondency which bids fair to extinguish the expectations of evon the most ban^uino. Tho prices offered in the local market are such aa to.preclude much business being done-indrcd, they arc ecjuiva'eat to the, announcement that buyers decline to operate for the present. There have liuuii, &3 atatou in \a-t week's report, a few epa-modic inquiries for intevcolonial trade, which can be readily supplied without in any way interfering with values. Oats are not quite so firm, although former qtiota'ioni are sti)l upheld. In barley the market is quiescent, showing no prospect of change for tho lime boms?. Beans and pease nave bean in no way affected binclasfc report, while potatoes are Bluntly in better request, 'lhere ia no alteration to report in daity produce. 'i ho following are tho latest quotations : — Wheat.— Sound Tuscan, 3s 3d ; pear), 3j 2d ; Hunter's white, 3s to 3a Id ; damp and soconcU, 23 to 29 6a.

Oat3.— Milling, 2s 4d ; shot* bright feed, 2a 2Jd to 2s 3d ; inferior and discoloured, Isßd to Is iOJ. Barley.— Prime malting, 4s ; second quality, 3s 3d to 8s 6.1; feed, 2s to 2s 3d. Pease.— Sound and clean blue Prussian, 33 6d ; groy or dun, 2s 9d to 3s. Beans.— 2s fld to 3s. Potatoes. — 27s 6d to 30a at country stations within a radius of 12 milea.

Butter and Cheese.— 8d to 9J for the formor, and 4£tl to 5d for the latter. With the exception of barley and potatoes, the above aie all quoted as paid to farmers whou delivered f.o.b. at Lyttalton.