AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

In those districts in Canterbury where there are extensive potato crops (says the Press), and where the weather has not been too dry to check the growth of the tubers, the recent rains are exercising a most beneficial effect, which it is to hoped will not be marred by frosts. Grass crops everywhere show a wonderful improvement, and upon the up-country stations the rapid growth of herbage upon the apparently bare soil has to be seen to be fully realised. The scarcity of water in the wells and some of the river beds has been amply supplied. As the majority of the country roads had been quite loose, causing looomotionto be both difficult and unpleasant, the late rains have effected a wonderful, change in consolidating the surface, besides laying the dust. "Freehold," in the Australasian, has a word to say about lucerne. The increased attention which is being given to pastures and fodder orops is (he writes) an encouraging indication of improvement. In the various inland districts lucerne is being sown much more extensively than in former years, but the crop is not yet so general as its importance would warrant. I have frequently recommended drilling in the seed, and last week I met with a grower who had for many years adopted this system with highly satisfactory results. His reason for preferring drilling was that all of the seed is put in at the same depth, and this he considers a great advantage. All the seed germinates at the same time, and the crop can be treated as a whole in subsequent operations. Mr John Pottie, a Sydney veterinary surgeon, has been conducting investigations in connection with the existing outbreak of stringhalt amongst horses in the Mossvale district. As the result of these investigations he concludes that the primary symptoms, cause of the disease, and autopsy undoubtedly classify stringhalt as a disease closely akin to rheumatic fever of an epidemic order, possessed of a poison that can be' transmitted from animal to animal, like pinkeye. It has been imported, Mr Pottie believes, and he is of opinon that if taken in its early stages stringhalt can be easily cured.

There is (says the North Otago Times of the 28th ult.) evidently a revival in the' draught stock market. At the sale of Mr John Cameron's horses, &c, at Papakaio, yesterday, Messrs Fleming and Hedley disposed of the lot in about half the time it has usually taken at auction sales in the district to quit a similar number during spme, years past. The bidding was free and spirited, and every lot was disposed of at good prices. This is a satisfactory sign that we are getting out of the doldrums of depression, and emerging into a latitude- where a more hopeful financial atmosphere exists. According to the Southern Standard, the crops along the railway line between Gore and Clutha are not altogether in a forward condition. Not a few of the fields are quite green and very short, and will be. cut for chaff. Some fields of turnips, too, are very bare-looking.

The South Australian Chronicle is informed that the machine for raising potatoes which was brought from England a short time back has proved an unqualified success. It was tried on the farm of Mr P. Collins, of Yargery, Warrnambool, and it is reported that most excellent work was done, the tubers being raised and divested of all stalks and weeds. Besides bringing the potatoes to the surface, the machine proved a splendid fertiliser by the manner in which it exposed the weeds and turned up the soil. A number of farmers who witnessed the trial expressed great satisfaction at the manner in which the machine did its work.

Shortly after Dr Germont and M, Loir (the representatives of M. Pasteur) so successfully demonstrated at Junee the efficacy of inoculating sheep and cattle with the attenuated virus of anthrax to ensure immunity from the disease, the Queensland Government (says "Bruni" in the Australasian) made arrangements with those gentlemen to undertake a series of experiments with a view to cultivate the virus of pleuropneumonia in order that the Queensland stockowners might be enabled to inoculate' their cattle as a prentive of the disease. A laboratory was fitted up for the purpose, and a number of cattle were placed at the disposal of the scientists. For four months Dr Germont and M. Loir have patiently and carefully worked at the task they have undertaken, and with what result will shortly be made known in an official report. The experiments have been conducted with a twofold object— first, to discover, if possible, the microbe of pleuro ; and second, to endeavour to keep up a constant supply of pure and effective virus in the event of failure to discover the microbe. Success in the first object is of the greatest importance, for once the microbe is discovered, the cultivation of the virus can be carried on apart from the living animal, as the virus of anthrax is cultivated. The results of these important experiments cannot be anticipated, but certain facts are known to those stockowners who have taken an interest in the matter. It has been conclusively proved that a minute quantity of the virus of pleuro taken in sterilised test tubes from a diseased beast will produce death when injected into the blood of a young beast in some place other than the tail, while the same quantity of the same Virus injected under the sfcin at the point of the tail is not fatal. The same quantity of the virus injected into goats and guinea pigs gives no results, thereby proving that the disease is true bonne pleuro-pneumonia. It has been also found that the virus taken from a beast that dies from inooulation is equally as effective as the virus from a beast that has taken the infection in a natural way. The virus evidently loses none of its power when it has passed through-four animals by means of inocu-* lation. The animals that die from these inoculations have all the lesions of- pleuro, and the quantity of virus which one animal will supply is sufficient to inoculate from 2000 to 3000 head of cattle. Should no further discoveries be made, the French scientists have shown that they can supply from the laboratory a small quantity of virus, in a sterilised hermetically sealed tube by means of which the stockowner in any part of Queensland can provide himself with as muoh virus as he may require for the purpose of inoculation by injecting a small quantity into the blood of one or more worthless calves. The question as to the efficacy of inooulation with the virus of pleuro as a preventive o£ tilQ duetts? hag be^n. a m&tftr. of dispute

for many y*ars past, most^experienced,cattle? breeders being strongly in favour of the practice. It is extremely probable the question will be set at rest by the experiments of Dr,Germont and M. JJpit,] the report of .whose Work will be of the highest interest to stockowneb in all jjarts of Australia,' -. ■ •"i --. : . The Illinois Experiment Station has' made some'very interesting experiments in oats *dur« ing' the past year, with the following results :-iIn seven plots sown to test quality of aeed pet acre, at the rate of from 1 t0.,4 bushels per acre, one in which 2^ bushels were used caijae out fir3t, with 63-8 bushels agwnstan average of 59*7 for the six other plots. A little more straw, however, was grownvwith'3 bushels per acre. Of three plots,'one of which was compact in seed bed, one very loose, and one, medium lopie, tha . medium loose- produced 6d"3 bushels" per acre, against 60 bushels for the compact., and, 60*6 bushels for the very loose. l,Onejpjb,i?wa&Bown April 6, another April 13, another. April 20, and another April 27. The first produced 663 bushels per acre, the second i56'9 bushels, the third 48-8 bushels, and the last 49'4/pushelsl, In experiments made' in depth of seeding, varying from lin to 6in, the best results were obtained at 3in, 4in being next, followed by lin and 2i«. Welcome oats were used in the ■ experiment. The bulletin from which these' resulfca^aracondensed^says in closing:—" Testing the vitality of oats designed for seed should be a common practice. With ordinary ' methods "of field culture probably less than one, half "the kernels sown produce mature plants,"- : " ' '* ' - Mr Thomas Ackland, in a letter to the Christchurch Press/advocates the offering of prizes by the Canterbury A. and P. Association for the best-managed farm.* He writes :•—" Nothing would be really more conducive to the. solid well-being of this part of New Zealand than the development of our lands near the centres of population by small farmers, and I venture to think that there would be no difficulty in raising money prizes sufficient to make its worth while for small farmers to get their farms into such condition as would enable them to compete, and whether successful or not, be themselves gainers in the end. Having this objecb in View, I' would advocate the following course j~(1) A prize of £25 for the best-managed farm of 150 to 250 acres of a bonajide farmer living on and cultivating the land himself; second prize, £10. (8) A prize of £25 for the best-managed farm of 50 to 150 acres (having special weight given- to dairying results) of a bona fide farmer living on and cultivating the land himself; second prize, £10. The present and previous course' of cultivation would have to be specified by competitors, and conditions would have to be made by a committee of inspectors appointedfor the purpose, who would have the right to inspect at any time between time of entry and time of awarding the prize." A Rangitikei paper says that Mr James Coombe, of Fern Flat, has' had a magnificent yield of grain this season. He has threshed 83, bushels of barley to the acre, 62 bushels of wheat, and 70 bushels of oats.

The first auction sale of. grain by sample on the ticket principle held at Invercargill took place to-day (says the Southland News of the27th ult.) in the rooms of Messrs R; B. Williams and Co., Don street. It attracted a large attendance of buyers. The number of entries was fair, but a large increase may be looked, for, when the grain is threshed. The bidding was spirited, but the offers made were not up to the reserve. Most of the lots, however, will -be placed privately. \ Harvest operations (wri'ifr the Limestone Plains correspondent of the {Southland News on the 27th ult.) are prdgressing about as well as could be expected, and all has now been cpt with the exception of very late : sown stuff . ' Several of your correspondents, I notice, report this season's crops to be much better than last year, but in all parts of the Western District, or, at anyrate, those parts. thitf, l, have, visited, the reverse unfortunately 'appears to be the case. There are, it is true, some first-rate crops up this way— take Strathmore, for instance, where Mr Thomas Cupples has threshed a 40-acre paddock, which averages 70 bushels to the acre. But where could you find another farm like this P Not on this side of Taieri Plains. But we have nob to go far to find' tracts of country under cultivation the yield of which -would- not tot up to the above in five years, even if cropped continuously for that period. The croppers on the # Gladfield estate have finished cutting their ' oats, and in a few days the wheat will also bo down, and, should the weather turn out to be favourable, the stacking will not take them many days, as the crop is very light. The oats may reach 25 bushels to the acre, but the wheat- will surprise me if it threshes eight bushels. By the time the rent is deducted, let it be ever so small, it is doubtful if the croppers will get clear and hold their own.

I Mr T. B. Howson, owner of the Sedgemer© estate, near Southbridge, threshed (states the Canterbury Times) a portion of his crops last i week. From a 40-aore field of barley, which was harvested to perfection, he has obtained a yield of 72 bushels to the acre, and. he says that, his neighbour, Mr G. Washbourne, threSHed 78 bushels to the acre of a 50-aore paddock adjoining Sedgemere. The crops on the lighter land of these farms are equally good in proportion, and expected to yield over 40 bußhels of wheat to the acre, Mr Clause Spreckels has recently established a beet sugar factory in California. In an interview on the subject on January 4 Mr Spreckels is reported as saying :— " My beet sugar factory is completed. It has a capacity of 44 tons a day, and this will eventually be increased to 50. This is really the first successful effort to make beet sugar in this country on a Urge scale, and it is a grand success. There is no doubt in my mind that this country can me not only the material and manufacture all the sugar it can consume, but will in a few years be able to export 1,000,000 or more tons a year." The Australian TradiDg World, a London paper, of 25th January last, contains the following :__« Some one has sent us by parcel post » tin of butter labelled « Taranaki Butter Packing Company.' We thank fche unknown sender. « opens well, and is good eating. The butter J« perfeotly fresh, and only sufficiently salted to make it palatable ; but the main characteristic is its evident purity and freedom from adventitious aids. We can buy fresh butter in London or from country dairies, but the best of it is wanting in the pure grass-feeding flavour that tatf New Zealand commodifcy possesses ; and wa believe that considerably more milk goes to make a pound in New Zealand than in the best ol ordinary English dairies. The New Zealand butter has more of the old-fashioned, firnii satisfying taste, and we feel sure thatif well dtf* tributed in thiß country it will soon take »fir« place, and oust muoh of our poor, milky stuff. We are inclined to think that if a norm can oe adjectived, there is butter, butterer, ana butteresfc. The New Zealand article is last. There is an anomaly in the law (says toe North Otago Times) which^-requires removing. The other day a Livingstone settler was fined tor killing two hares, and under ordinary cironffl* stances this would have been right enough* »»» under the circumstances 1 as they a PP ear on J?,!! planation, fchero' is a decided hardship. i«w settler is told by the rabbit inspector that n« must be«p th? rabbits on bis property down,

and as it would be dangerous to lay poison, the work is carried out with dogs. The dogs do not distinguish between hares and rabbits, and both fall victims to their destructive instincts; but because the owner of the property prefers to carry away both hares and rabbits he is fined. Wo are aware that the law, as it stands, does not distinguish between a hare killed in this way and one killed in any other way out of season, but it should. The settler who lives in a rabbitinfested country must as a matter of course kill both animals, for it is impossible to preserve one in making efforts to kill the other. As the fur of one is as valuable as that of the other, he can surely be excused for adding both to his stock. His offence is not a wilful breach of the law, for if it were there could be no reasonable excuse for it, and no fault could be found with the penalties of the law being imposed. If the truth were known the ekins of hares in many places are paid for at the same rate as for those of rabbits. We have heard that such is the case. In the rough country bordering on cultivated lands hares are numerous, and, with the rabbits, are either poisoned or killed by dogs, and no distinction is made between the skins of one and the other. If, therefore, the settler in his efforts to carry out the provisions of one act unwittingly breaks those of another, is he to suffer ? We do not think he should. Some distinction should be made between the person who wilfully breaks the law and the person who breaks it against his wish, and the two should not be placed in the same category. What is the good of analysing soil ? A critic of the Lincoln Agricultural College teaching wrote: — "If a farmer can tell the value of a soil by analysis, he is likely to be a valuable man." On this Mr Ivey, the director of the Lincoln school, remarks that "no man can tell the value of soil by analysis. It is my duty to take care that suoh a heresy does not obtain here." Where lies the heresy ? The teaching has been that the value of .soils can be learnt from analysis. Mr Ivey's is the heresy then. And if he, the heretic, holds the true faith, what, we repeat, is the good of analysis?— Timaru Herald.

A firm of auctioneers in Chrisichurch met with a singular misfortune on Tuesday. They had received two really superior hacks from a client for sale. Having buyers, they gave the two horses to them to try. One was an experienced horseman, the other not so. Both rods in different directions, and strange to say both returned in a short time with the horses' knees cut badly, disfiguring the animals for life. The horses were both perfectly sound, and the reason assigned by both riders was the sameslipping on some of the loose stones in the streets in Ohristchureh. Giving horses out on trial is evidently attended with considerable risk in Christchurch while the streets are in their present condition. — Lyttelton Times. The Hon. Minister for Lands has received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies the prize list and regulations of an agricultural exhibition to be held at Windsor Great Parki n June * 1889 ; also enclosing a copy of a letter from his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, acting president' of the Royal Pastoral and Agricultural Society of England, in connection with the same. His Royal Highness says inter alia'.— lt is hoped on this occasion to bring together the finest and largest collection of pedigree live stock that , has over been exhibited in any part of the world ; and in view of the increased extent to which purebred animals are being annually exported from the United Kingdom to the colonies, the council think that the representatives of agriculture abroad may be made acquainted with particulars of the exhibition, which the society are sanguine will attract large numbers of .colonial visitors. In the summary of prizes it is shown that the total value of prizes respectively for horses will be £3008 ; for cattle, £3952 ; for sheep, £2507. In farm and dairy produce : For corn, £135 ; for wool, £144; for cheese, £252; for butter, £39. For jams and preserved fruits, £90 ; for ; agricultural appliances, £155 ; for buttermakers' competition, £53 ; and • for horseshoeing competition, £42.

At Oamaru showery weather prevailed all last week. The ground is now well soaked, and should the frost, keep away good winter feed will be assured for stock. Large quantities of grain are now coming into town, all in first-class condition. There is an improved demand for draught stock, and already potato croppers are looking out for suitable land for next year's crop. Our correspondent hears of land close to town being let at £4 per acre for this purpose. . Compared with last year the increased value of wheat, oats, and potatoes will amount to fully £100,000, and if farmers will only consent to sell at prices now prevailing instead of waiting till California has flooded our only market (New South Wales) with wheat cargoes, prosperous times for this district is assured for at any rate a year or two.

Attention has been called by some of the collectors of agricultural statistics to the fact that these are obtained too early in the season to be trustworthy, and that they consequently possess little practical value at present. They are taken before the' farmers have been able to thresh out any of the grain, and consequently the statements made as to yield per acre are mere guesses often of the wildest and most inaccurate nature. Information has been received subsequently from grain growers expressing regret at having unintentionally misled the colleobprs, as they found their yield was enormously -greater owing to the favourable character of the season than they had ever dreamed of getting. One man estimated a large area of wheat at 32 bushels to the acre ; he got 45. Another put his oats at 40 and got 70, and so on. Experience proves that this year in particular the actual grain yield has been generally from 20 to 50 per cent, more than the growers estimated before threshing. It h suggested that the date of collection should be altered to a period when the farmers would have had time to make at any rate a partial or experimental threshing of their corn.

A good deal of difficulty has been experienced by the collectors of agricultural statistics in inducing farmers and others to make a full and true declaration of live stock in their possession. Some said that they were afraid some new tax would be imposed on them if they gave a full list. On being warned that they would be liable to a penalty for refusing, they gave a statement which in several cases was subsequently discovered to be a long way short of the truth.