AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1862, 29 July 1887, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

A feeling has prevailed among sheep breeders for some time past that New Zealand might, if an effort were made, participate in supplying the demand for stud sheep of superior quality

that has arisen in the Argentine Republic as a result of the greater care being bestowed on the flocks in that state during the past few years. The great drawback hitherto has been the want of direct communication, the present roundabout route — necessitating passing thi'oiigh the tropics and transhipment at Rio do Janeiro— virtually rendering the trade prohibitory. With a view to giving it a satisfactory trial, arrangements have been made with one of the linus of forge steamers for a vessel to sail direct to the River Plate, taking samples of stock, dairy : produce, &c. MrJ. L. Leesmith, whose effort.* in the establishment of the Farmers' League throughout the Southern part of the colony hive brought him into direct communication with members of the farming community throughout the whole of Otagn, is the prime mover in the matter, and proceeds to Buenos Ayres to endeavour to put the trade on a satisfactory footing. Mr Leesmith takes with

him stock from the following well-known breeders, and it will be seen Iroro the diversity of districts named that the colony as a whole will be fairly represented, although we could have wished to have seen Otago stock breeders take a little more practical interest in the experiment :— Mr John Reid, Elderslie; Messis R<>)M! and Anderson, Napier; Mr Deans, Riccarton; Mr Threlkeld, Flaxton ; Mr Washburn, Riccarton; and several other Canterbury tenders. In addition to the stock, the Henley Dairy Factory Company send samples of butter a'ul cheese, and the Mosgiel Woollen Factory specimens of their manufactures. Mr Leesmith *nticipates being away 10 or 12 mouths, by which time ifc is hoped that some substantial results will accrue as the outcome of the experiment.

Mr Charters, of the Taieri, shipped on Saturday to Melbourne, by the Rotomahann, 12 pure Wdesdale horses of bis own breeding— the first shipment of the kiud that has beeu sent to Melbourne, although a good deal of our stock 'as found its way to Sydney. All judges of torse flesh who inspected the animals were much struck with their excellent breeding and borough soundness, and the experiment is "Rely to prove highly successful. 'General re|et was expressed by those who inspected them wat so many fine animals were leaving the colony. .The Rotomahana took with her on her last wp to Melbourne a shipment consisting 01 16 superior carriage and buggy horses and jme pure Shetland ponies (the latter bred by ™ c Hon. W. J. M. Laruach, C.M.G.) the property » Messrs D. and J. Bacon, of the Queen's "rery stables, Dunedin. The shipment com■h u r s P lendi d carriage pairs (three of iem beautiful bays, and one pate chestnuts), wo buggy pairs (both bays ard almost thorough'ea;, four grand hacks and single-harness owes (very suitable for professional gentlemen ««* sportsmen, as they are capital jnmpers), and *o fine ponies (broken to harness) true specimens of the Shetland breed. A better bred lot » Horses has not been seen together for a very «ng tune. The shipment is probably the best aat has yet left these shores for Australia, ami ™, Victorian friends, who already know what P°a Clydesdales we have, will now be afforded S°PP° rtu nity of seeing that we can produce a wendid class of light horses as well. Mr D. oacon went over in charge of the shipment, and m^ him success. Ane Riverton Star states ifoat .Mr Edward »&naers, O n behalf of Mr.Guyjg, of Longbeach,

Canterbury, has been buying horses in the district during the past week for the Indian market. About 50 of the best light animals have been secured, and go on by train next Tuesday, to be shipped at Lyttelton for Calcutta. If the prices paid at a sale of cropping leases on the estate of R. Campbell and Sons may be taken as an indication, the people of North Otago expect fair prices for produce next season. The prices given ranged from 5s to £2 per acre. Of the 10 lots offered, five brought over 20s per acre. The prices per acre and area were .— 94£ acres at 20s, 193 acres at 365, 117^ acres at 14s. 202| acres at 225, 101 J acres at 10s, 117§ acres at 17s, 685 acres at ss, 118| acres at 335, 213 acres at 16s, and 138§ acres at 40s.

At a meeting of subscribers to the Christchurch Corn Hxchangft it was unanimously resolved to recommend importers to import sacks that will carry 2001b of wheat in place of the larger sacks hitherto used. A deputation was appointed to wait upon the Minister of Public Works with the object of getting a pledge from him that in the event of the size of cornsacks in use in Canterbury being altered to suit and carry 2001b of wheat, the railway tariff will be reduced to a corresponding extent. At the Adelaide Exhibition a model of a patent ensilage press is shown. It is designed for making sweet ensilage in stacks. In noticeing the press, the South Australian Chronicle says : — " The principal points in favour of the apparatus under notice are its simplicity and cheapness. It consists of two or more pairs of drums, each drum being fitted with two rack wheels, fixed exactly opposite to each other on either side of a stack ; a single wire rope passes over the stack, and is attached to both drums of each pair by inserting the end of the rope in a holo in the drum provided for that purpose. The ropes are tightened by means of a lever, and as two levers are supplied with each apparatus both sides of the stack can be tightened at the same time. The drums rest on a framing, which consists of as many strong timhers as there are pairs of drums, 3ft apart centre to centre, and long enough to project 2ft on each side of the stack. Ths advantages of these presses over silos is that they cost less, and by this system it is easier to make sweet ensilage than in silos. The object of the process is to press the air out, and one of the most important rules to be observed in the use. ot this patent, or in stacking, as it is called, is not to allow the crop to get over ripe, but to cut it in its full succulence, and to stack it as soon as possible. An advantage, too, is that the crop may be stacked in fine or wet weather, rain making no diif erence, as the pressing process always forces out the surplus moisture. When the construction of the stack is completed, it should be peak-shaped, and thatched with straw like an ordinary haystack, thatching going above the wire ropes. This naturally saves the expense of a roof, and another item of cheapness is in consequence secured. This fodder will keep for any length, of time, but, as a rule, it is used in the winter following the summer in which it is made. The wire ropes are usually arranged so as to provide for the cutting of a suitable truss, and when the fodder is required to be cut the only thing necessary to be done is to throw off the wire ropes from one pair of drums and to cut out the truss with a patent knife provided for the purpose, the full width of the stack, so as to leave no part with the pressure taken off except what is being used from day to day. More of the valuable ingredients of the fodder are preserved by this process, and the objectionable smell that is always given off from silos is avoided."

Tho Anckland News is very severe on local buttermakers. Our contemporary says : — "With our natural advantages of climate and pasture for production, and the world's markets lying open before us, there should be no room i'ov disappointment. We ought to produce a quality of butter equal to the best in the world. Have we done it? Anyone who will look into our provision dealers' shops, or spend half an hour at a sale of butter in an auction mart, will be shocked at the disgraceful negative to this question which they give. It is no uncommon thing to find so-called butter gravitating from the maker to the dealer, and from thencf; by stages to the auction room and soap-boilers, where it becomes a poor substitute for honest tallow. Imagine tallow which should be worth 8d per lb selling for- an average^ of 2d or 3d ! This kind of waste, more orless pronounced, lias been going on for years, ami a consideration of the loss to the country thus occasioned is instructive and painful. The production of butter in our provincial district for the last five years was over 2000 tons, and the los.s on the average in the manner above stated may be safely reckoned at 3d perlb. Sotnetimesjthis loss bas fallen on the produced, sometimes upon the merchant or the dealer, but in any case it has always l een a loss to the country, and at the modest estimate given, totals £56,000 sterling. Nor is this all, for, as profitable export has been impost o\e, production has been checked, the settlement of the country retarded, and the contingent business which would have resulted has been lost. The total loss to our own provincial district thus occasioned is almost incalculable."

The Auckland Freezing Company are about to make a new departure, and start the manufacture of butter on an extensive scale. They find it impossible to purchase cutter of a uniform character for exportation. It is proposed to take each day's milk as it is obtained, and to separate the cream by means of centrifugal separators. These separators will be erected iv creameries, to be established in all dairying centres where sufficient inducement is held out to warrant the outlay. The u^wly separated cream is then to be forwarded direct to the company's premises in> Auckland, special cans, which are ingeniously constructed to carry the contents without the slightest risk of detriment, being employed, and the first difficulty in the way will be surmounted. The even temperature which the Freezing Company can command during summer and winter will give their system an immense advantage over the ordinary plan, and with skilled labour and the best appliances a butter of uniform excellence should be produced from year's end to year's end. In commenting on the new departure the News says:— "By this means the waste which has characterised this trade in the past will cease ; climatic influence upon the manufacture will be defied; the injury occurring to butter during transit to Auckland will be avoided ; every settler who has sound milk to sell will be able without risk or failure to obtain its value in cash ; and, far more important still, an article will be obtained which may be exported with the expectation that it will compete on even terms with the produce of any of the famous butter-producing countries. We understand that the Frozen Meat Company has, for the past eight months, been in possession of a complete plant, specially imported for the tinning of butter, but the quantity forthcoming of really good butter suitable for the purpose has, after satisfying local demands, left n<» surplus warranting the working of the plaufc."

' The question has arisen (says the Sydney Mail), whether it will pay better to breed kanpnroos or .«heep? This week Messrs Mort and Co. sold kangaroo skins up to 7s 7d eacb, or about double the prices obtainable three months ago. There are, however, certain drawbacks to kangaroo breeding as. an injdugtryj one of which

is that the market for skins fluctuates in a, most extraordinary manner; another that your kangaroo is not of much use when his skin is removed.

The Department of Agriculture (says the Leader) has received a small consignment of " Mold's ennobled wheat," which is Baid to be especially suitable for growing in late districts. It has been sent from Ashford, in Kent. Farmers desirous of testing the wheat will be supplied with small parcels on application to the Department of Agriculture. The wheat has been tried in some of the arid districts of the colony, especially at the Dookie Farm, but the results obtained did not come up to expectation.

Prom several districts of Victoria (says the Australasian) we have accounts of the success of poisoning rabbits on bare spots of land, or on places rendered bare by running a short furrow here and there. The rabbits are doubtless attracted by what appears to them to be workings, such as are outside of their burrows. Wheat or oats poisoned with strychninn are laid upon the spots, and are quickly taken by the rabbits. It ib necessary to keep stock out of the paddock for the time, also to bury the dead rabbits, and take up any remaining grains of wheat or oats, and distribute them over fresh spots. In the practice of simply covering them up there is an element of danger which it is worth while to aroid.

The enemies of the unscrupulous and übiquitous sparrow (says the Adelaide Observer) are again organising a campaign, and have drawn up provisions, to be submitted to the Government by a deputation from a meeting of fruitgrowers and others held on Monday under the auspices of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society. The meeting was a representative one, and the bill of indictment against the sparrow was a heavy one. Ho was accused of neglecting his legitimate business of grubcatching to despoil the gardens and the wheatfields, and his capacity for multiplication was spoken of as being most unreasonable. Amongst the proposed provisions are clauses for the proclamation of infected districts, the imposition of a special uniform rate for the heads and eggs of sparrows, the licensing of sparrow catchers, the visitation of private premises, and the effectual closing of inaccessible breeding places against the birds, as in the case of the roofs of houses where there is a space of only a few inches between roof and ceiling. A good deal was said about the birds being permitted to breed in private plantations and public buildings. The meeting was unanimous on the subject of sparrow destruction, and decided to appeal to the Government again.

The newspapers of the district are complaining of the refusal of the Victorian Government to assist the landowners of Bungaree and the neighbourhood in eradicating the obnoxious thistle, which has been allowed to increase to such an extent thereab6uts. The Leader speaks pretty plainly on the question. Our contemporary says: — "The Bupgaree farmers knew the thistle was there as soon as it appeared, and they also knew the injury thistles do to the land, but not only did they neglect to destroy it, but broke the law in failing to do so, rendering themselves liable to a penalty which they may even now be called upon to pay. By their neglect of what was clearly their duty, the property of their neighbours on all sides has become invested, and some of them have been put to considerable expense in clearing their land of it."

In commenting on some mangels grown on Mr Sinclair's farm at Gimmerburn the Mount Ida Chronicle says: — "The opinion prevails amoug farmers that in order to secure a good crop of mangels it is requisite that the land should be prepared by a thorough course of manuring, ploughing, and what not. Mr Sinclair, however, did nothing of the kind. He simply turned over a portion of the poorest land (a light, sandy soil) on his farm and put in the seed in the ordinary manner, and without any further trouble it turns him in 10 tons per acre. One acre of mangels is said to be equal to three of turnips ; and, in addition, the former are preferred by cattle to the latter ; while, if the. two are chopped up together they will pick out the pieces of mangel and consume them before touching the turnips. From a dairy-fanuor's point of view, the mangel is a long way superior to the turnip for feeding milking cows with. Turnips as a, rule, impart a decidedly unpleasant twang to both milk and butter ; but mangels do not interfere wit li either, except to enrich the milk and increase ibs product of cream. This is an important consideration for farmers who have to feed their cattle on root crops during the winter months. Maugels are rather susceptible to the influences of frosty weather, but if pitted and well covered in they will retain their normal condition till well into the spring."

Mr A. A. Howell writes as follows in the Southland Times -.—". — " As I saw a few days ago that news was being anxiously awaited for from India relating to the market there for the cheese, buttpr, haras, &c, sent through theN.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co , I may say that I was furnished with the desired information solae time ago by one of the leading firms in Calcutta, with whom I did business from the Old Country. There the firm I was connected with sent prime cheddars, 701b each, cased in tins, and with four inches of charcoal outside of that ; bub that is not necessary from this side of the tropics. The Calcutta firm, writing to me, fay : ' Cheese should be loaf-shaped, about 81b each, 12 in a case ; each cheese sewn in bladder and packed in sawdust ; cheese not to touch each othpr ; price, 8 annas per lb, or lljd to Is per lb — orders on hand for the ab we. Butter — Must be thoroughly prime, if sent, as the natives here mostty supply 'the market with a fairly good article. It must be put up neatly in lib tins, soldered. Bacon and Hams— Nothing but equal to best English curevs' will do, and packed carefully in canvas.' My own opinion on the above is that only the English cheddarloaf cheese will suit the people or the climate of India, as they are thoroughly firm and nutty in flavour. The Canadian cheddar, as it is called here, is soapy aud lacking in that appetising flavour which the English possesses. Butter made by factories here ought to be good enough, being made fresh every day, aud is wQvbn 'a trial. The price was not stated, but I think it is about Ssperlb generally. Of bacon and ham there is nothing good enough here yet ; the oi din ary method of New Zealand factory curing would not suit. I would like to suggest one thing for which there is a large market in Australasia, and which we in Southland are well able to supply, that is, condensed milk in tins. Thousands of pounds are sent away every year from New Zealand, and an immense sum from each of the othei colonies, for this article of consumption. Our coming member of Parliament should apply to the Government for a bonus to give the industry a start "

The Popotunoa Chronicle states that Mr David Young, of Arthurton, had four lambs drobped ou his farm on the 14th inst.

The following valuable information has been forwarded to the pamaru Mail for publication, with a view to doing something practical towards the' solution of one of the greatest scourges with which we have to deal. Our correspondent has jiot only a personal knowledge of the evils of the rabbit pesr, but ifc is obvious that he has been exceedingly painstaking in his investigations. As will be seen, he is of opinion that the poisoned grain ordinarily used is not

nearly strong enough, and that the proper strength would be 20 sticks of phosphorus to the 1001b of oats, whereas in the majority of cases only from nine to 12 sticks are used to the 1001b. The animals were full-grown rabbits, caught in their wild state, and fe.d for three or four days before experimenting :— TESTING A RABBIT'S APPETITE. 1. Gave one rabbit 1000 grains of oats— ate them all. 2. Gave one rabbit 1200 grains of oats— ate them 3. Gave one rabbit 4000 grams of oats—left 360. Total eaten by one rabbit at one feed, 3640 grains ; oats used, sparrowbill ; 16,000 grains of oats to lib j weight TESTING VABIOUS METHODS OP POISONDTG. Mixed Poisoned Oa's. Thirteen sticks of phosphorus to the 1001b of oats, mixed in the usual way. 1. Gave one rabhit 10 grains of oats, and fad the rabbit on other food for a fortnight— had no effect. 2. Gave one rabbit 15 grains of oats, and fed the rabbit on other food for a fortnight — felt a little sick, but got over it easily. 3. Gave one rabbit 20 grains of oats— sickened in about six hours, and died in 64 hours after the poison. 4. Gave one rabbit 30 grains of oats— died in 32 hours. Twenfcy-two sticks of phosphorus to the 1001b of oats, mixed in the usual way. 5. Gave one rabbit 10 grains of oats -died in 40 hours afterwards. 6. Poisoned oats from above strength picked up after being exposed to the weather for a fortnight. G-iveone rabbit 80 grains of oats — hail no effect. Tried same rabbit with 100 grains, but could not get I it to eafc them. Trying rabbits with salt and sugar, without poison. 7. Gave one rabbit «ome oats mixed with salt and some oats mixed with sugar— ate all the oats mixed witli sugar and some of them that were mixed with salt. 8. Tried a second rabbic with salt and sugar— ate all the sugared oats ; but none of the salted one. All the above experiments were gone over a second time with phosphorised oats mixed at another station, with much the same result. The North Otago A. and P. Association have added a sires' produce stakes to the Ayrshire class in their schedule. They have further decided to confine the wool exhibits to exhibits of fleeces, and not bales, each entry consist of three fleeces each of merino, Lincoln, Leicester (with hogget wool of the same classes), and crossbred sheep. The society have also passed a rule which we hope to see generally adopted— viz., that all sires pass a veterinary surgeon's examination before they are qualified for prizes. Iv moving that the rule be adopted, Mr Todd said that at Home the plan had beeu followed with marked success, which had shown itself in an improvement in young stock. Only the horses that might be awarded prizes would be examined. The rule would only apply to horse sires to see if there were any hereditary disease. It would prevent the stamp of the society being placed upon a horse that would be likely to leave bad stock behind him.

Mr Thomas Murray, of Mangapai, writes as follows in the Clutha Leader :— " I wanted to point out a new industry, which strikes me is every way suited to your district, where you have unlimited good land, complete access by road, rail, and water, coal and water power, I mean milk preserving. The preserved milk is used all over town and country, and is sold in every store. To say nothing of the prospect of an export trade, why should we go to Switzerland for it? In that country one industry, 20 years old, produces, in one establishment, a 1,000,000 tins of the milk, of about 21b each, in the year, using the milk of 8000 cows, and give about 5d a gallon for the milk. It was first established by an American. The operation is simple, only requiring to be evaporated in pans for about three hours, at a heat of about 120deg, and under a low pressure of atmosphere, when it is tinned and soldered up when cool enough. While I am writing, I would like to express the wish thai, some member may take up my ideas about rabbits, as expressed in a letter I wrote to Sir Robert Stout. I would like to see ths war commence, even if onasmall scale at first. I have often thought that a trial on a small scale should be made. An acre of ground might be inclosed here and there and put. into crop and plover, leaving a few openings in the fence next the rabbits, in which were troughs, with the top in two parts opening at the middle, equally balanced and working on pivots ; so that the lid would stand level until the rabbit came on, when it would open by its weight and swallow it up, nnd look for more. The box should be set with the opening 6in below the fence, and 6in or lft below the level of the ground, so that the rabbit would pop down to get under the fence, and so be entrapped by the lid closing upon it. The lid could be made so as the rabbit could not get out. The boxes should be made so that they could be barred and made fast for a day or two, and when the rabbits had got accustomed to go in the bars could be all drawn by a wire from a distance at feeding time, when a man could go in with a yelping dog and drive them all into the boxes, and would be ready to deal with those outside when convenient."