AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1903, 11 May 1888, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The decision given in the Aberdeen turnip seed dispute, by which Lord M'Laren ruled that the tankard turnip was, from a farmer's point of view, a thing specifically distinct from the greentop yellow, and to give one for the other was not a mere error of judgment but a substantial failure to comply with a contract sale, has been upset in the first division of the Court' of Session. Lord Adam, who gave the leading judgment, said the conditions contained in the defenders' letter of December 11 were that defenders " gave no warranty, express or implied, as to description, quality, productiveness, or any other matter, of any seeds they may send out, and they will not be in any way responsible for the crop. If the purchaser does not accept the goods on these terms they are at once to be returned." It was proved that the pursuers knew of these conditions, and if the defenders could get customers to deal with them on these terms —which his lordship could scarcely have expected —ho saw nothing illegal in it. If the admixture of seeds could have been detected by sight the seed would no doubt have been returned at once, but . unfortunately it . could not be detected. The seed was accepted and afterwards sown, and when the crop grew up it became apparent that the seed was mixed. That a great deal of loss had been suffered had been certain ; the question was on whom it was to fall. It was a hard case in any way, for the blame lay on neither of the parties, but on the original grower of the seed. He thought that the case which had occurred was just the case which the terms of sale were intended to meet, and against which tha defenders wished to protect themselves, and he thought they had done so successfully. He could not follow the reasoning of the Lord Ordinary, by which he had arrived at an opposite result. To say that one turnip was specifically distinct from another was just saying, in another form of words, that they were not the same description of turnips. Lord Kinnear was of the same opinion. The pursuers' contention that the defenders had not conformed to the contract would be quite unanswerable were it not for the stipulation in the terms of sale, which was designed to meet the case. The Lord President also concurred. The court accordingly recalled the interlocutor of the Lord Ordinary, and aseoilzied the defenders with expenses.

The Rabbit department points out that wheat is preferable to oats for poisoning, as it absorbs more of the poison than the latter.

Mr Alexander Gray, Kaitangata, has been very successful with his agricultural operations this season. As an example of the quantity of honey obtained, it may be mentioned that from one hive — this season's swarm — he took 2181b of honey, leaving about 301b for feud during winter.

Most people (says an exchange) are aware that dead meat in the London market is sold by tbe stone of 81b ; but few perhaps are aware of the reason for making this the standard while the imperial stone is 141b. The adoption of 81b as the standard stone for dead meat was in consequence of an old Smithfield reckoning that 141b live weight gave 81b dead weight. This proportion of dead to live weight may have been a fair estimate in the olden days, befora cattle had been so highly improved as they are at the present time and before high feeding was so well understood as it now is ; but 81b of dead to 141b of live weight is equal to but 57 per cent., whereas only a week or two ago we quoted a case in which a shorthorn heifer gave over 71 per cent, of dead to mis w».-iui<c — that is, 101b of dead to 141b live weigh!.. 'J'n»- cattle fattened on the indigenous gmsMja of Australia, if ordinarily prime, give 63 per cent., equal to 8 4-sth lb dead to 141b live woiVJi't

AtaFreuch apucultural school wheat is soaked is acetate of lead solution six ho>;i < before sowing. Theeeed is said to gernmi&Ui mkifh quickly and grow more vigorously than wheat subjected to any other fertilising treatment.

The Mark Lane Express s«ys { — " Australian butter does not seem to meet a very good sale here as yet, and the value of a consignment dropped about Id par pound recently. It is, however, a question of packing, and we are afraid that this competition from the antipodes will yet prove a serious matter for Home producers."

In a recent' issue we (Queenslander) published the information -that Professor Fjord, of Copenhagen, had reported that J^lb of separator butter was on the average yielded by of milk there. We have since compared this statement with the yield in this colony, and are in a position to state that 270 gal milk,' weighing 22671b, obtained recently from bush-fed cows, produced 841b separator butter, or at the rate of 271b milk to each pound of butter. This means 3 7-10fcli 1b of butter to every 1001b of milk. Decimally expressed, milk in Copenhagen yields 412 per cent, of butter, while in Queensland it yields only 3"70 per cent. Supposing thecase of a factory in Queensland therefore turning out 10001b butter a week from 2364 gal of milk, the proceeds, at Is a pound net, would be £50; while in Copenhagen the same quantity of milk would produce 1113§lb;butter, with proceeds £55 13s Bd. The difference in the quality of the milk arises from the fact that in Copenhagen cows are hand-fed and milked twice a day, while in Queensland they are bush-fed and retain the best of the milk for their calves. No doubt cows in Queensland would, with good feeding and careful treatment, yield a better quality of milk yhaq the average quality of the common article,

but> the batter-maker on a large scale here who calculated upon Professor Fjord's return would soon find himself in the Insolvent Court.

In its report of one of tbe sittings of the Intercolonial Rabbit Convention the Sydney Mail says : — " The afternoon sitting was devoted to the examination of Dr Ellis, who, in con junction with Dr Butcher, has been for some months past carrying on experiments at Tintinallogy, on the River Darling. Dr Ellis brought with him a living rabbit suffering from the effects of the . disease, and he explained the manner in which the germs' were inoculated, an<i the process by which its deadly effects to rabbit life were accomplished. The contagion, he stated, is conveyed to the animals by means of an injection beneath the skin of the belly of serum prepared with all scientific and antiseptic precautions, as rabbits are very susceptible to blood-poisoning. The instrument used was as mall hypodermic syringe. An alternative method of inoculation was by means of sections of worsted thread vitalised in infected, matter. After being stricken with tho disease the rabbits gradually wasted away. Tlia diseases was not in the least degree loathsome. It is only external indication was extreme emaciation. The disease had been tested on horses, cattle, goats, and sheep without the slightest symptoms of any injurious effect;. Inoculated cows had been daily milked, and the milk had been consumed by men, dogs, and cats, and none had shown traces of sickness. Dr Ellis informed the commission that after the disease was communicated to the rabbits the animals were worn to complete skeletons, and died in from 15 to 20 days. The experiments made had shown that Dr Butcher could send out infectious matcer in the form of infected setons, to be used by unskilled hands. The disease was highly contagious by casual contact. He believed that a tube of infected matter and a hypodermic syringe was all that was required for a large area of country ; more especially in the winter season, when the rabbits in the course of breeding would resort more to burrows than in hot weather. That the disease was highly contagious he had no doubt. In all the rabbits affected by the disease the same pathological symptoms of death were noticeable. There was not one-tenth of the number of rabbits upon Tintinallogy Run now that there was when these experiments were commenced. The disease was fatal in about 999 cases out of 1000. Prior to the discovery of the present disease, Dr Butcher has experimented at Wilcannia with poisons, trying strychnine, arsenic, sulphate of carbon, and phosphorised oats, but with such a moderate amount of success that he became more than ever convinced that by the spread of disease' alone could the evil be eradicated. Twenty per cent, of deaths had been obtained as the result of poisoning, but that left the majority of the animals untouched. Dr Ellis was questioned by the commission as to the possibility of other animals catching the contagion, and regarding that he gave satisfactory assurances."

" Bruni,"in the Australasian, gives some further particulars of the vegetation exterminator mentioned in our columns a week or two back. He writes : — "On my expressing a wish to see the exterminator applied to some plants, Mr Murchison brought over to Llanberris a couple of bottles ready mixed. This small quantity was applied to the stump of a vigorous young gum tree which was cut down for the purpose. The tree was over lft in diameter, and waa crowned with a fine dark foliage, showing that it was in perfect health. The result of this experiment cannot be known for some time. About a quarter of a bottle was used on this tree. The remainder of the liquid was sprinkled over a young gum bush about 4ft high, a young wattle of the same size, a thistle, a furze bush, and a bunch of fern. Next morning on visiting the spot I noticed that the young gum, wattle, and thistle seemed very sick and droopy.- There was not much difference noticed in the furze bush and the fern. Mr Murchicon said that though the exterminator would kill any plant by sprinkling it over the leaves, it was better to put some at the roots of plants of strong vitality, such as briar, furze, and strong gum scrub. The scrub exterminator is prepared in the shape of a powder, 1001b of which dissolved in 300 gal of water forms a liquid strong enough to destroy scrub, Californian thistle, prickly pear, briar, furze, and ferns. To destroy Cape weed, sorrel, burr, and small weeds twice the quantity of water may be used. For 2d per gallon a liquid may be prepared that will effectually destroy any vegetable pesfc. It is not dangerous to handle, but it is recommended that after working in it tbe hands shculd be carefully washed, a precaution anyone would naturally take without any directions. The 'sprnb exterminator ' has been patented in all the Australian colonies, and when its merits become generally known it will come into deserved repute with all who have to deal with noxious weeds. It has been proved extremely useful in keeping garden paths and carriage drives free from weeds,*bne watering with the weak solution sufficing to effect a clearance of all weeds. Since my visit to Llanberris I have heard from Mr Dobbin of the results of the experiments made with the exterminator in my presence. The gorse and gum bush were completely withered in a week. The thistles died in about 48 hours. The fern was quite dead when pulled up a week after being dressed. A*" that time the wattle still showed & little life at the tips of th.c branches. The exterminator appears to poison any plant to which it is applied to the uttermost rootlet, and I fancy that any living insect on the roots would undoubtedly be destroyed." A gentlaman who is conversant with the frozen meat trade has (says the Oamaru Mail) given it as his opinion that beef in considerable quantities will be exported from this district before long, Already a number of the principal graziers have expressed their intention of sending their fat stock Homo instead of to Dunedin and to other markets where the price of fat cattle is 60 unremunerativa. Again, the continued low price of New Zealand. mutton in the Home market has given rise to much speculation among shippers, and it is asserted that the mid; die men are themselves the agents, and are in league with the butchers in rigging the markets. The result is therefore that while first-class New Zealand mutton is sold as English corn fed, River Plate and New Zealand inferior alone represent our best consignments, A settler who has interested himself largely in the matter states tljat recently a pedagogue in Canterbury, who has a penchant for farming, shipped Home, through the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, some 27 carcasses of mutton. Haying a friend ia the Old Country, he requested him to look after his interests, which he did, with a satisfactory result to the shipper, the account sales, with .draft, being duly forwarded by the agents acting for the Refrigerating Company. Subsequently fur? ther account sales were sent to the schoolmaster, with the intimation that a mistake had been made when forwarding the first, and that, instead of his consigpinent realising so, much, the amount due to him was some £9 less, and re? questing a refund of that sum. Believing that an unjust demand was being made upon him, and not being satisfied with the particulars set .forth in the seoond 'account sales, which did not "show the price "per pound realised for the mutton, > be got the matter brought before the directors

of the Refrigerating Company in Dunedin, who,' our informant states, in torn communicated with those acting as agents for them in the Old Country, the result being that the agency was cancelled.

The Coal Creek Flat correspondent of the Tuapeka Times says :— " I was told the other day of a rabbiter who made from £16 to £20 a month daring last summer. This man worked hard, and set nearly 200 traps every day. The rabbiters' lanterns can be seen every night where they are working on the hill sides ; for, I can assure you, that the life of a rabbiter is by no means an idle one." In an article on the rabbit pest the Mount Ida Chronicle says> — "Whether the introduction of disease is going to supply the specific for the rabbit pest remains of course to 'be seen. Such a thing is by no meaus an impossibility, though at the present moment it would seem almost too » good to be true. Yet M. Pasteur, who suggests the remedy now about to bo tested, and who is evidently thoroughly convinced of its efficacy, is the man whose genius restored the silk industry to France when it was in the last stages of decay. In that instance he bad to discover the presence of disease and avert its consequences. In the present he proposes to use disease as the destruc- < tive agent. He may know little of the rabbit pest as it is known in the colonies, but it is equally true that he had never seen a silkworm at the time he undertook his remarkable experiments in France. On that occasion he was sneered at , by the scientific world, who expected little from the youthful efforts of a mere chemist in the domain of biology. Doubters, sneerers, and objectors there are in the present case, too, but the man of genius will doubtless have backers enough in the face of everything that can be said against his scheme. A new and important phase has been entered when the theory is being put to the test of experiment. There are people who start back in affright from the deliberate introduction of disease. The feeling is natural enough, but there is nothing to justify it^in the present instance. Whether or not there is danger to human life, or to that of useful domestic animals, is a question that can be settled with scientific accuracy. The whole subject must be treated with great care, and no risks must be run. But, on the other hand, no mere sentiment must stand in the way of getting rid of so great an evil as the rabbits. Disease is, after all, Nature's own method of getting rid, in the last resort, of animal life that has got beyond every other check. In the case of the rabbits we forestall her ultimate action before the intermediate mischief has been wrought. That is really all " The proposal of Professor Thomas, at Auckland, New Zealand, " to propagate bladder fluke disease amongst rabbits by the inoculation of their natural enemies— dogs, cats, ferrets, &c. — with the disease," appears on the face of ifc (says the Australasian) equally foolish and wicked. That the disease in question will be conveyed by dogs and rabbits is remotely improbable. If it spreads amongst dogs and cats it is obvious it will not only destroy two of man's best friends, it will also endanger the health of his flocks and herds. The natural history of fluke parasites should have been studied before any steps were taken to employ them. In the case of Uver fluke, a dry season will render any such attempts abortive ; a damp pasturage in the summer, or slight hollows in which water may lodge, are essential to the life of the parasite at that season of the year. Mr Thomas, it is said, is experimenting with the bladder fluke ; let us hope that his experiments will be kept strictly within manageable limits. In the Australian colonies, owing probably to the discontinuance of sheep importations from Great Britain, and the absence of wet weather at the critical time, liver fluke has rarely been heard of for several years. There is great reason to believe that it was reimported from time to time with the long-woolled sheep, the Liccolns and the Leicesters, of which our southwestern flocks are largely composed, and in which fluke used to play havoc during certain conditions of weather.

The following communication has been received by the Premier from the Secretary of State for the Colonies : — '• Great quantities of meadow foxtail grass are grown in Finland, mainly with the object of raising seed from this plant. It would appear that the seed is almost entirely sold to Germany, and thence shipped to Australia, where it is sa.id to be in great demand for sowing large areas of meadows and other land on which sheep are pastured. In all probability Australians and also British exporters of seed are not aware that meadow foxtail seed is largely produced in the Grand Duchy, and that they could purchase it from direct sources at of course lower prices than those they pay to German intermediaries. It is desirable, therefore, in my opinion that publicity should be given to the circumstances in the Board of Trade' journals, or in any other manner that may be deemed expedient, in order that our exporters of grass seeds and Australian land owners should be able to reap the benefit now apparently enjoyed by German seed merchants in this particular branch of trade."

The Canterbury Agricultural and f-astoral Association haye decided to request the (government to place £500 on the Estimates for providing a model working dairy to be exhibited at agricultural shows throughout the country. The representative of a big Melbourne house of wholesale produce merchants was in Gore on i Wednesday (says the Ensign) making inquiries concerning dairy produce. He was inquiring particularly for butter, which his firm were willing to take in kegs in preference to pound ! tins. He expressed great confidence in the future of the New Zealand dairy produce trade, and wag much struck with the abundance of pasture everywhere visible. He was confident that the Australian colonies must continue to i drtfw largely upon New Zealand for dairy produce, and explained how Melbourne was at pre- I sent and must remain for some time a distributing centre. From a return supplied to the Cromwell Argus by Mr Cowan, the manager of the • Eawarau and Northburn runs, it appears that ! during the year ending §lst March 1888 there were 2j1,5Q0 rabbitskins, representing 80 bales, weighing 28§cwt }qr 41b, shipped Home from I^awarau station, the area of which is 10&000 1 acres ; and from Northburn station, which com- | prises 34,000 acres^ there were shipped Horne 1 during the same year 115,100 skins, represent-. , ing 89 hales, and weighing 148cwt 3qr 211b. The grand totals of skins shipped from both stations in, one year aggregate 388 1 600 skins, weighing 437cwt Oqr 251b. O,ut of the grand ! total, 192,500 were winter skins, and coat 20s per 100 to be obtained; and 194,100. were summer skins, costing 16s, Together the cost of obtaining Jthe 5J86.600 skins was ju^fe £34:11 16s. To obtain these 5.0 men were employed in > the summer months and 90 men in. the winter months.

4 reraark,ahle nuance of. spontaneous com bastion occurred the other day in a threshing machine working ,gb same wheat stacks on a farm near Ambevl'ey, revealing a hitherto unsuspected source of danger. The wheat operated on was very foul with smut, which it can only be inferred is under certain conditions highly inflammable, and was probably in this case the immediate cause of the accident- One of tt}e hand? ttf wo.rk, v?^ t&e ma^^e, a&d, aj tyg

; time behind riddles, says that the sudden flash' of fire overpowered him, singing his face, but was unaccompanied by any" noise save a puff. The feeder knew nothing of it until he saw, the straw ascending ' and the elevators in flames, which almost instantly enveloped' the' straw stack, straw, and unthreshed grain, which were consumed, but the damage to the threshing plant ■ was not serious.