AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1928, 2 November 1888, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

In a description of the Eddington choeso factory the Melbourno Leader says :— " Tho want of co-operatiou with regard to supplyiug the factory with milk is obvious. The farmers bring the milk regularly during the spring ar.d early summer months, when it is plentiful everywhere, and it pays them better to so dispose of it than to convert it into butter ; but during the winter, when milk is scarco and the prico of butter is so high as to offer inducements to the farmers to convert the whole of the produce of their cows into an article which can at the time be readily and profitably disposed of, they dfsert the factory and go in for butter-making. No appliauces for butter-making are on hand, and it is a pity that such is tbe case, for weil made sweet butter finds a ready sale during tbe whole of the year at fairly remunerative prices. It is the inferior, badly made article which gluts the market and becomes almost unsaleable during the summer months. Butter pays better than cheese during a portion of tho year, and in order to keep abreast of the times factories should be provided with the means of making both. It is of even greater importance that all the butter of a district should be made of a uniform sample than is the case with cheese, for there is a much greater variety in the butter manipulated by different individuals and a much less proportion of good samples than of cheese. Butter factories are now being established with a fair prospect of success in several districts, and it would be wise on the part of the proprietors of the Eddington factory to fit up their building with the necessary appliances."

The experiments of Dr Voelcker, of the Royal Society of England, prove that manure gradually depreciates by keeping, oven under the very best management. It gains in water and loses in valuable organic matter which is spent iv the fermentation. It stands to reason, if this be true, that the old-fashioned method of turning and working over manure for six months before using is wasteful, and to be avoi 'ed unless intended for compost. Then it should be carefully packed and sheltered.

As the roofs of dwelling and other houses catch a large quantity of dirt in dry weather from dust, the exuviae of birds, &c., ami as this dirt is carried into the rain-water pipes by every shower, rendering the water in tanks impure unless the first portion is turned off, much trouble is occasioned. To meet this difficulty, Mr C. G. Roberts, of Haslemere, Surrey, has invented a rain-water separator of very ingenious but very simple construction. It is made of zinc, upon an iron frame, and the centre part or canter is balanced on a pivot. It is self-acting, and directs into the waste pipe or foul-water tank the first portion of the rainfall that washes the roof. After rain has been falling for a certain time the separator-cants and turns the pure water/into Jthe storage tank. This canting is effected by a gradual accumulation of water in a small central chamber. By the use of this very ingenious apparatus, and by a reasonable degree of care in keeping the spouting clean, the water thus stored may be relied upon as being thoroughly pure, and wholesome. The, whole arrangement is of so extremely simple and inexpensive a character as to make it an essential on every farm where rain water is used for household or stock purposes.

The farmers in the Murtoa district, in Victoria, have set an example of combination on a small scale whioh it mighc be worth while for those in some localities in Ofeago to follow. They held a meeting to ascertain the number of bags likely to be required in the district at the coming harvest, and decided on obtaining 50 bales. A large quantity like this would of course be obtained at a cheaper rate than if ordered separately.

A French correspondent writes to the JNorth British Agriculturist:—" Good news for Ireland. M. Frilleux has just discovered an infallible remedy for the potito disease. This is the recipe : J?ut 18lb of sulphate of copper aui the same quantity of ohalk into 22gal of water, and souse the plants with the mixture. An experiment made from the sth to the 16th inst. saved the diseased plants thus treated, while 32 per cent, of those which were left to themselves went to the wall ; but the disease must be taken in hand as soon as the first black spots have been perceived on the leaves."

It is not only important to keep a dairy cool, bat the air should be dry, and this can be effeoted by exposing freshly-burned lime in a tray. One peck of this lime would absorb 91b of water in a week in a small room 10ft x 12ft x 9ft.

The grasshopper pest in Victoria promises to be as troublesome this season as it was last. A farmer at Diggora looking at his crop after a shower observed something moving therein. Curiosity led him to investigate, and, much to his surprise and regret, he found that the softening influence of the rain had been the means of unearthing thousands of young grasshoppers or loousts. "Taking out my kuifo," says he, " I dug into the ground and found it like honeycomb, and containing thousands more of the dreaded insects." Taken all in all we New Zealanders tave much to be thankful for. The rabbit and the small bird pests- are really the only- troubles we have, and these it is quite possible to grapple with if uuited action be .taken at the" proper time. It is very different with our Australian neighbours. Farmers are helpless before ■ a .grasshopper plague or a prolonged drought, while they have numbers of pests to con tend with in addition to. those wo have, rot to mention yields which would drive New Zealandera to distraction. * t

Lord Weulock, speaking at the show of the Esrick Agricultural Society, said He w'is glad t-J see that Yorkshire farmers were taking up to the faot that to be able to ensure a prpsparons career as farmers it was absolutely nenoxsary they should pay attention fo the careful breeding and rearing of .the best classes of animals. There was no doubt that to a farmer a really good brood trare was a thorough gold mine. So strongly did he feel that, that in his placo in the House of Lords he advocated that the Government should put a stop to the exportation of mares. There was no doubt the longer they lived the more certain they would be -that all tbe civilised portions of th.c globe would turn

to England to produce for them the best class of horses, cat'.le, and sheep. Therefore they hhould turn their attention to the breeding of the particular classes which fftrcu rs were best able to turn cut, and he thought that by so doing th^y would defy the competition which threatened them so severely in the matter of toe production of grain and meat. The system of bare fallowing (says the Australasiau) is likely to be made more than ever popular among the inland wheat-growers by the results of the present season. Last year furnished striking evidence of the advantages of the system, and the results surprised even ttK*e who were tuost in favour of tbe bare fallow. Dtfnug the long series of dry seasons through which the northern districts have passed it had been observed that the fallowed land yielded better crops than that which had not been fallowed, and it was considered that the system was specially beneficial in dry years. Last season, however, was an exceptionally wet one, and, to the surprise of practical men, the difference in favour of the crop on fallowed land was greator than during tho drought. The result was that fallowing was fully established as one of the most effectual means of securing a good crop in the northern wheat-growing districts in any kind of season. The present dry season has again shown the advantages of fallowing, the orops which were sown on fallowed ground having in all esses stood tho oold, dry weather better than the others. Where tho climato will admit of tho cultivation of green or root crops, tho bare fallow may not be necessary, but it is one of the host helps for the northern wheat-grower. It is a very significant fact that during the last 10 years close upon 2,000,000 acres have been added to the permanent grass lauds of Great Britaiu, representing an increase of 14 per cent. Reckoning £1 per acre as denoting tho diminished cost of labour on the land converted to grass, we get £2,000,000 per annum, a sum that would support 50,000 families of five persons each, as representing what may be regarded as a loss to the wage-earning class. This change is also responsible for a considerable migration of the rural population into urban districts. The relative increase of permanent pasture has been greatest, as might have been expected, in the grain-producing division. The increase has been at the rate of 14 per cent, in tho grazing districts and 18| in the corn-growing area. The subject forms the basis of a paper contributed to the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society by Mr James A. Caird, a member of the council, who says the area has been sown down to grass because it has been found impossible to cultivate it remuneratively in tho face of the great rcoent fall In the price of cereals. A return to a higher level of values would in all probability cause a reconversion of thia so-called permanent pasture to arable land ; but in the meantime, while the newly laid down land is struggling to a>sc-rt it? permanency, there is a loss of producing power. Tho Chicago il Farmers' Review " says that; in spite of the advantage of being able to soauro the ownership of land on easy terms, American farmers' boys are looking with longing eyes towards every occupation but their fathers,' so uninviting to them has farming become, associated as it is in thoir minds with irksome manual labour which leaves no opening for the exerciso of the highest business faculties. Thi3 conception of farm life the " Review " believes to be a mistaken one ; but it is, nevertheless, a fact that those who are brought up on an American - farm commonly envy even the city clerk, who toils hopelessly for a mere pit* tance. During the last two months the Wellington Meat Export Company have shipped the following quantities of meat :— By the Tainui, 6547 carcasses of sheep and 201,6041b of beef ; by the Kaikoura, 6540 carcasses of sheep and 150,6341b beef; by the Lady Jocelyu, 7607 carcasses of sheep ;— total, 39,922 carcasses of sheep and 442,4351b of beef.' The Government have favourably considered the idea of giving bonuses on stoats and weasels landed in the colony for distribution in pastoral districts. The bonuses have been fixed at 20a on stoats, and 10s on weasels. As a result of copious and much-wanted rain during the earlier part of last week, the grain crops and all pasture in the Waifcaki distit are now looking splendid. When it is borne in mind (says a paper issued by our own Agricultural department) that the cultivated area (including pasture) of Denmark ; is only about 0,000,000 acres, or only two-thirds | of the area of the hay crop out of the combined | grain crops of the United Kingdom, it must bo admitted that the volume of agricultural exports is astonishingly large. In 1887 tho exports of butter, ouly about 19,000,0001b five years before, amounted to 35,000,0001b ; and 250,000 pigs and 47,000,0001b bacon were also sent out of the \ liltle country last year. It is strange that no mention is made of the exports of cattle, of which Denmark sent to this country alone over 58,000 in 1887, aud nearly 69,000 in 1886: or of horses, sent to us to the number of. 4150 List year. With respeob to the sizes of farms in ! the country, it appears that only 881 are over 240 aores eaoh, while about 68,000 are under 100 acres, and nearly 21,000 of these are from 12 to 24 acres. Besides, there are nearly 68,000 houses with plots of land from 3 to 12 aores attached, and over 82,000 with less than threo acres. An Illinois genius has invented a travelling milk separator, which he sets up in a " giffen or two," at the door of each farmer. He puts the milk through, leaving the sweet skim-milk on tho farm, and goes his way rejoicing with the cream I to the butter factory. The capacity of the Hampshire Down to mature early for breeding (writes Mr Alfred D. Mornay in the Mark Lane Express) I have proved this year by putting the tup last September to 174 owe lambs eight to nine months old, and getting from them 81 fine lambs. The tegs are in no way impaired by the extra strain put upon them iv bearing and rearing lambs. They were washed as soo:i as tbe lambs were weaned and sheared, the clip of wool being heavy. Some of the fleeces weighed as much as 121b eftcb, and the average 9|lb. It is a fact (says au American contemporary) that the odlv milk-sailers who use glass pints or quarts in which to sell milk are those who keep Jersey cows. In a glass measure, the amount of cream reveals itself and reconciles tbe customers to the additional cent or two per pint at which the milk is charged. Those milk-sellers who j vend the milk of other breprls prefer an earthenI ware or even a tin measure. Then the buyer only sees th» top, and does not care about the quality, quantity is all that he looks for— i.e., yiat tho measure is full. The Hawke's Bay Evening News is responsible for the following }—" Some years ago a gentleman living at Eopna imported a copq of' plants from India. The pots J were packed in dry weed*, which were thrown out. Iv the process of time tho s*-eds ?v ;w, and h»v e spread so rapidly that tho Indian weed, as it ia called, hts new reaohed along the railway line nearly to ! Ormondrille, and also down towards Takapatfin the opposite direction. The pigs, sheep, and cattlelafter eating it become intoxicated from ita effects ; they will tumble and roll about m a strange fashion^ but do not die from it. The butter made from the cream of cows that have . eaten of it has a peculiar sourish bitter flavour that does not improve, its aaie&biUfcy. Plga thas .

eat it get tipsy andjflat, and it has the effect of causing scabs to break out all over them which are very difficult to heal. Working bullocks under the influence of it will not pay attention to the whip, and remain for a considerable time in a semi-somnolent condition, bub after that is over they seem to be as well as ever. The Indian hawkers who have seen it growing know the plant well, and say that it is very poisonous ; nevertheless they collect it as a medicine, and say that it is a cure or preventative of hydrophobia and other diseases. We have a sample of jit left at our office, and should be glad to know its botanical name. The plants seem to grow as rank and rapidly as sorrel, and the roots are even more numerous."