AGRICULTURAL AND .PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1905, 25 May 1888, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND .PASTORAL NEWS.

The experiments made on the Canada thistle with chloride of lime and the " scrub exterminator " by the Bunjjaree Shire Council appear to have been. made in a very perfunctory manner, and consequently resulted in failure. Both remedies killed the plants and the roots to a depth of Bin or 9in, but nothing further being done the stolons below that depth seat up suckers, and the thistles are now almost as strong as ever. The Australasian says that surely no one could have expected that any ordinary application could destroy the roots to the depth of a yard or more to which they descend iv the rich soil of Bungaree, and expresses the opiniou that the council has neglected its duty ju not taking means, either ; by hoeing or a frash application of chemicals, to cause further destruction, which could have been easily accomplished if taken in time when the thistle? were so much weakened by the previous applications. As usual, it is recommended that Government assistance be applied for. Cheeserine, the latest dairy product placed on the market by enterprising manufacturers, which is described as "skim milk and fat, or grease, or oil, or other extraneous matter," is not (says the Rural New Yorker) of American origin. It is an English product, and made its first appearance iv Londqn. Wo are iuformed that the results of the season's operations of the Gore Dairy Factory have been very successful. The balance of cheese made (about 12 tons) has been sold f.o.b. at Bluff for s£d per lb, and 10 tons more worild have beeu taken at the same terms if it had been in existence. It is eKpeofced that the factory will pay a dividend of 10 per cent, this year, and that the producers of milk will also get the penny per gallon which has been kept back as a measure of precaution. These results are of great importance and must be extremely gratifying to' the directors and the ohees&makers after the stormy springtide' meetings of shareholders they encountered. A translation from the Kleine Milch Zeitung states the following in relation to faults most frequently met with in butters, as determined at Hamburg. " Stavev "or woody butter is one of

the worst faults, which in a short time entirely, destroys the butter. It is caused by the tub in which the butter is packed, it being made of green wood, or insufficiently soaked in water and brine before the butter is packed. The fault starts in the butter nearest the wood, aud thence works into the whole mass. Mouldy butter : If kept in a damp, foul room, mould forms on the' butter, especially if the latter is of poor quality. Tallowy butter is a fault mostly found in old butter, and which is first observed on the surface. Exposure to light at least delays the development of this fault. Cheesey and milky butter comes from such dairies only where the making is inferior. Spotted and streaky butter is caused by inferior colouring or by lack of caution in salting, or by faulty working, especially if the working room is too cool. Rancid and bitter butter comes from lack of cleanliness and otherwise from poor making. Oily, fishy, tainty bufcter often appears a few days after it is made, and is caused by improper precaution of the cream for churning, or by dirty cream vats. Mr Donald M'Andrew, of Wallington, near Geelong, who first brought poisoned apples as a remedy for the rabbit pest under notice, has preferred a claim "for the bonus offered for the discovery of a process to destroy rabbitr." The circular of the inventor names strychnine as the poison to be employed. The proportion is loz of strychnine to 161b of apples. The plan of proceeding is to bait with apples cut and laid in a newly-turned furrow for one night, and on the the second night to lay the cut poisoned apples in the same furrow. The plan is said to be expensive, but there need be no question of its proving a snare for rabbits that partake of the feast. The method has proved very efficacious in the Ararat district. The apples are cut into shreds aud then carefully sprinkled with arsenic in place of strychnine, being much cheaper, care being taken that by turning the pieces all come in contact with the poison. These are scattered about the rabbitinfested area, and along brush fences in which the pest have established themselves, and the result is that they perish by hundreds. The inspector, in emphatic terms, speaks of the system is being the best means yet tried for exterminating the pest in rough country, where digi i^ing out would be a costly expedient, and he exj presses an opinion that if the use of poisoned apples were generally resorted to many who pos- j sess brush fences would not need to destroy ihem. As stock eat the fruit it is necessary to .•xercise care in laying it out of their reach and 'lestroying any left by the rabbits. The two dairy schools which have lately ■>een in full operation in Ireland are doing • xcellenfe work, notably in raising the standard of butter-making. These institutions — the dairy school of Glasneven Agricultural College and the Munster Dairy School, Cork, have lately concluded their viuter sessions,, the reports of the managers "leiug highly satisfactory. At Glasneven, near Dublin, 33 young women had attended the course of instruction, which is of a thoroughly practical character. Mr Boyd, of Limerick, who listributed the prizes in the competition for ■esting the proficiency of the pupils in butteraaking, spoke in the highest terms of the texure of the butter and of the tasteful designs in | vhich many of the girls had worked it up. admirable ' progress also had been shown in cheesemaking. In the Munster school 30 ,iupils had been in residence during the session, tnd the result of the examination showed a high standard of proficiency, 18 having passed with credit. When milk is slowly and partially frozen the ice takes up the greater part of the cream ; ihe unfrozen remainder contains the caseine, milk, sugar, and salts, but, in consequence of its toss of cream, appears like diluted milk, and would be described as such if merely tested by 'he ordinary laotometric instrument. Milk vhich has been frozen should therefore be well thawed and shaken up, and not sold while any ice is visible. Mr R. Miller, of Waukegan, Illinois, who has been breeding Ayrshires for a number of years, has recently been trying a cross of a Guernsey Wull on Ayrshire cows with most satisfactory re- 1 Milts. He finds that the crossbred cows are .veil shaped, have fine udders and teats, give a flow of milk, of a much better quality for butter purposes than the purebred Ayrshires, aud are hardy and docile. The increase in the size of the teats is a quality much to be desired in a dairy cow. In the vicinity of Sydney several large butter factories have been established on the co-opera-Hve principle, the farmers being tha proprietors and supplying the milk to the dairies. The butter is sent to Sydney for sale in the open market l>y the co-operative companies, and the individual farmer ia thus relieved of all further responsibility. Much of the butter is exported, aad in England commands the highest price.' At the same time prices are kept firm in the local market, and the butter is so highly appreciated I hat it is readily saleable at 3d per lb higher -han other kinds. The great success which has attended these co-operative butter factories has led to the formation of .other factories in different districts, We fauoy something very like the following {com a contemporary has already appeared in these columns, but it is well worth repeating : — An expert in the butfcer'making business ventures to assert that anyone who has good sweet pasturage, who keeps his dairy and every utensil iv it scrupulously clean, who never churns cream more than 60 hours old from the cow, and always at the prapsr temperature, tested by a thermometer ; who uses a proper, churn (there are lots of them), ventilating his churn at intervals by taking oub the plug : who stops churning the moment the bqtter sqows itself in small grainy not so large as wheat ; who then lets the cbqrn rest unti} jthe hqttnr " all " floats op to the top,, and then oaref ully lets out the buttermilk and replaces it with clean, ppld water, turning it. very slowly ; who again lets the churn stop to let the butter float up and then lets out the milky water and replaces it with a fresh supply of cold water ; who then gives the churn very few slow turns round nnd then a little faster so as to gaLher the butter into a sort of lump, and then lets out the butter with a cloth over both hands so as not to touch it ; and then, when cool, works it with a .proper butter-worker and never touches it with ids hands, but only with " wooden hands," will most assuredly make top-priced butter. A case of importance affecting sh,eepfarmers and dealers was heard last week' at the Resident Magistrate's Court, Wanganui. The. claim arose over a transaction involving the purchase of 288 sheep, which the plaintiff alleged had been bought on the representation that they wore ewes in lamb. The amount claimed was at the rat© of 2s per head on the number of sheep in question, tbat being tne sum which plaintiff Alleged represented the differenpe of price hetween ewes jn lamb and empty st\aep iv examination by the magistrate, jW. H. Keith said it would be a physical impossibility that rams aould twe been wfth the sheep in questiq^ during the season, or there would h»V9 been 30 or 80 per cent, of lambs at least. W. $}. Fisher, the plaintiff, deposed to having bought the 288 ewes, only two of which had lambs, and he made a claim on the auctioneers, who did not disclose their principals, for £36, but he ultimately ac-i cepted £2$ 16s, He presumed fta* he bought

the sheep under the usual conditions of the ' auctioneers in regard to all errors of description. He bought the sheep after the auction. "He [ relied upon the auctioneer's statement that the I ewes were in lamb. Mr Jackson (the auctioneer) would not be able to say of his own knowledge that the ewes were in lamb. His Worship said he had no doubt of the importance of the case as affecting farmers and cattle dealers. . ' He was inclined to think that the re- ■ presentations made at ' the sale immediately before the' sale from Middleton to Keith were the basis on which the bargain had been struck. Further, he believed that when the sale was effected, Middleton honestly believed the sheep ■ to be in* lamb, and they were sold by Middleton ] and bought by Keith in accordance with this, belief.^ Such a representation amounted to' warranty. ' There was another important item in the transaction, and he ought to say what, meaning was to be understood by ewes being in ' lamb. ' He thought that miracles had ceased, . and it meant that ewes were in lamb when all ■ the natural conditions had been fulfilled. It had been shown that these ewes could not have been in iamb. By the representations made by Throw, Middleton was misled, and the representations made by Middleton to Keith were erroneous, and the sale to Fisher was on the same basis. ' So far as Middleton was concerned he thought he was responsible. His remedy was against the person who sold the sheep to him under the same conditions as he had resold them en. Judgment was given for plaintiff for the amount claimed, with costs; In a description of the Camden and other New South Wales dairy factories •' Bruni," in the Australasian, speaking of the former, says : — " There are 50 suppliers sending milk to the factory, and this is about the largest number. Some factories carry on with 20, and the average is about 30. Many farmers, however, send only a small quantity of milk, so that the quantity received by the factory is the best guide. The Camden has not received more than 2000 gal per day.aud the lowest has been 1600 gal per day during the three months of itis existence. Some of the factories receive no more than lOOOgal, and I was informed that a factory would pay with an small a supply as 500 gal per day. A supply of 500 gal per day would produce about 2501b, of butter- per dayi the factories averaging lib of butter to 2gal of milk. Private dairymen cannot get move than a pound" of butter from 2i or 3gal of milk, and the results obtained by the factories in this way is one of the sources of their popularity. This testimony is obtained not only at Camden but throughout the IHa war r a district, and nothing is better known than that the factories increase the quantity of butter as well as securing a higher price." A correspondent of an American paper tells of two cows which he once bought from a neighbour — one for 50dol, the other for 60dol. Both were fine-looking animals, the lower priced in particular being of beefy build, yet withal having the points of a fairly good milker and buttermaker. She was considered by all who saw her at the purchase to be a remarkably cheap cow. He had not owned the two cows very long when he discovered that the 60dol cow, on the same quantity and quality of food, made IMb more butter every week than the other. Both cows continued in milk about 11 months in 12, the only striking differences between the two being in the amount of butter produced — namely, ljlb per week. The butter sold for an average of 20c per Ib, hence ' the 60dol cow in, say, 47 weeks each year produced 14dol 10c worth more of butter than the 50dol cow. Query : If the 50doi cow was cheap at the price paid for her, would not the other have been cheap at lOOdol ? In the home districts of the Herefords, that famous beef breed in the days of its caUfhopd is allowed all the milk from the cow for; some months. AnjAmerican correspondent sayb'"l am satisfied oalves cannot be raised on skim-milk and be as good at four months as those allowed to suck. I have seen enough skim-mUk calves to satisfy roe that this theory is at least sjO years behind the times. To be good calves they need their mother's milk at least five months, an,d. good oare afterward. ' Then by the time a good ahor thorn calf is one year old you wijl not be ashamed of the treatment it has received ; and at that age it will be able to stand rough feed without setting it back." ' The other day we (Auckland News) were shown by Mr Andrew Gray, of Ohaewai, Bay of Islands, a sample of red clover seed grown in the Canterbury provincial district. The seed sown was grown on the farm of 1 Mr' Dean, Riccarton, and is evidence of the work now being done by the bumble bee which was introduced to Canterbury several years ago. We learn th,afc a considerable quantity of red clover seed is now being produced there, though none of the farmers have yet fitted up the necessary machinery for cleaning and dressing the clover seed. The seed is good, an,d m,ay he deeded upon to grow. Mr W. Gibson, writing in the Sydney Mail on the preparation of sheepskins, says ;— " Arseuio, dissolved with soda, has no sediment. I have used it for over 35 years dressing my sheepskins and hides. I may mention \ consigned, 12 years ago, to Brunker and Sp^u^ Maitland, three bales sheepskins, mentioning they were arsenicked, and no one would bid for them until I explained. Now, all the agents are recom.mending the arsenic wa,sh for keepiag the weevils, away." A case of a horse having to be destroyed through suffering from rabies is reported from Olithero,e, Lancashire. A carter was propeeding along one of the roads with a pair of hordes yoked to a, lorry, v?b.e«all at once an Airdaje terrier dog flew, at one of the horses, and bit it on tb,e n,oae, leaving a mark on the bridle. Nothing was noticed amiss with the horso for fully two weeks after, till one day the driver noticed the attacked horse biting at its bridle, and also at the horse with it, whilst froth was issuing from its mouth. When stahjad, 11; refused fco^ake any food, aud cornrftOiH^ed biting ah thu manger nnri sides of the stall. A. watch was kept by the horse dating the night, hut as it see-miitl to get worse, veterinary assistance was called next morning, and the animal was, pronounced to be suffering Erom rabies. It v?as then impo.sible to get near the auimal, and on water,' being put near; it fell down in a fij. The hor?e was yn mediately shot, as was also, a dog which had been in the habit of lying under the manger, aud which wa.s heard, to.crj out during the night. On examination the horse was found to be unmistakably affected with, rabies. Mr Thas. Thursfiaia, of Barrow, Shropshire, has (says the N.orih British Agriculturist jusfc iasued a small pocket calculator for estimating the dead weight of cattle whose Uve weighb is known. This table [gives the price per cwt of 1221b, as the machines which are put up under the recent Act of Parliament all give tfca weight in cw«a, I ,qw, and Ibri. In an explanatory note Mr ThwßI field says, fat cattle (fosj&ed) and sheen (shorn) o£ good quality will weigh dead fyom 5f to QQlb |«fop every 1001b of live weight) extra fat will ( range up to 62 aud excessively fat show animals would range higher. An. aaimaJ, fat and of good quality, averaging ssb per cent., would at (Id n.Qr lb, dead weight, be worth 32s 0q lr?e weight, and if he weighed JOcwt Jqr fib, would ba worth £1Q 15s. Store i cattle, if you take |d to Id per lb^ according to quality, un,der m*r&e,s v^e, of s^nje, <&SQrintfo«

and quality of beef, and lay them at 60 per cent., you will generally get at the market value,; and for better quality, fresher, and more 'forward animals, lay them in the same way at 52 per -cent, or more, according to their quality and forward condition. Thus, if the same description and quality of beef is making 6d per lb dead weight lay them at from 5d to s£d per )b, say, 5Jd, at 50 per cent.,' and they would be worth 24s 6d per cwtjalive, or a little over 2Jd per lb. In this way the variations in price and quality of both fat and store cattle can easily b« met. The profit on feeding lies as much in the buying and selling as in the increase per head per day whilst they are feeding. Dr Hector has dissected the body of a ' rabbit suffering from bladder fluke disease, which causes'.the bladder to swell and displaces the internal organs, and ultimately causes death. He is of opinion tbat the process is too slow to eradicate the pf.'.st, unless a speedy means could bo found of spreading the disease. Mr John M'Lean, M.R C.V.S., who was assisting, in the operation, thinks it a form of hydratia, which is also found among sheep, and experiments ought to be undertaken to ascertain whether its spread among rabbits would he fatal, to sheep. Ar.-angements have been^ made by a Welling* ton firm to send an experimental shipment of horfins to India by thu Tekapo, specially chartered for tbat purpose. It is probable that ISO will be taken from the South Island and 100 from the North Ihlaml. Samples of prefer ved Meats will be sent, with a view of establishing a trade. . ' - The following paragraph appears in the Australasian of a recent date : — Malting barley is rather quiet, none but prime samples being noticed by maltsters. The Maripesa has brought 3124 centals for Sydney and 20 centals for Melbourne, all of which has been bought at 1.37£ f.o.b. The Patterdale (sailed March 13) has oi: board 20,686 centals. From advices before us we gather that further purchases are beiDg made in San Francisco for Australian account. From the opening of the season 1887-1888 up to April 5 the quantity of barley shipped for New Zealand and .Australia was as follows : — To New Zealand, 9254 centals to : Melbourne, 91,662 centals ; and to Sydney, 16,695 ceutals ; — total, 117,611 centals, equal to 220,000 bushels. Of the quantity manifested for Melbourne, a considerable portion has been scut on to Tasmania and Adelaide. At a meeting ef farmers, held at Chrisfcohuroh on 'Saturday, a committee representing the various districts in Canterbury was appointed to draw up a prospectus as to the basis upon which a co-operative dairy factory should be established. 'An influential committee was appointed, and it is proposed to hold meetings in each district to ascertain the amount of support the factory would be likely ta receive. The New Zealand branch of the amalgamated Shearers Union of Australasia has not been a success so far, and at the annual meeting at Oamaru on Friday, presided over by Mr Slattery (the secretary), a report was read from the head office stating that it was necessary to give up> attempting to establish the union here, it was found last year that out of 2277 members enrolled only 889 paid their contributions. While shearers who had agreed to uphold a oertaia price went to work at a lower figure, in some cases below what was ogeiea by sheepowners. The agenw senc to tha colony had a very cold reception, and suearess not only refused to join, but induced shipowners to refuse admission to the agents. The' balance sheet showed, that £400 had been drawn by the New Zealand' from the head office. The meeting at Oamaru resolved to continue as a New Zealand branch, and A. Earl was appointed secretary, arid 1 J.'A Adams treasurer;- Messrs Lundon, M'lntosb," Allan, QKJrady, Brown, Williamson, and Younr were appointed a committee. The bytteltoA Tiwes, states that there are no signs of the truth of the statement that the shipping companies are reducing, ox> about to re»l uce t the freight on frozen muttoa to 3d. The Canterbury Freezing Company' (the only supolkrs of frozen meat in the province) are booking for the winter at h freight of Ud. This is a ire.luction of gd on tbe price hitherto. ruling 'In a leading 'article on the subject our con.temporary remarks .—" The further reduction ■of freight to be achieved in the not distant futwva may be regarded as destined to fix that? charge at f d to Jd pt» lb, at which' rate it wil) pay the shipper well enough. The prices,. ont itho other hup.^ may be ezpooked to harden.*,