SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 956, 16 May 1889, Page 16

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

' (From Otra ©war OoBBfespoNDBNT.) ' THE 1 WKATHBB AM) fUSK SRlflOff . ' ' Up to the last •week of April the weather was Very favourable for' hfcrvest* operations', but during the earlier part of the month' it, was too calm, the conse-' quence being that's good deal of the oat crop did not dry satisfactorily in the efcook. Under the band, in the centre of the sheaf, there was a good deal that was net adequately dry before it ,was ataoked, and farmers were anxious therefore Jto thresh within' eight dAys of stacking. As machines are now very numerous in most districts, the majority obtained their: desire, but the sample was found to be much better than was anticipated, ( It Js fxue- there was a small percentage of .discoloured grains, but these were not very noticeable among'the rest, and the value was not reduced for' feeding purposes. In some cases farmbrs had to .pull down their stacks, which had heated* iHappily, however, these case* were rare, , and I have not heard of a single instance of seriovis loss. It was a unique season, lnispme respects. While the Harvest of last season was' remarkable for wind and i;ain together, the' late o'ne'was notable for the absence of wind. During tlie' first half , of April it was seldom there was as much ts,a breeze of wind,, the consequence being, that a fipe crop of oats was hardly ready for stacking three weeks after having been cut. In an' ordinary season a ripe crop is ready for stacking in about a fortnight's time. However; the experience of the late 'harvest will be useful to farmers' when dealing with succeeding , crops. The dampness of.,the centre of , the , sheaves was due ; mainly, to tight binding— a mistake which; .was made principally by those who worked the binder for the first time, and by those who were too economical in the use of twine. In an early season it is no doubt an. advantage to bind tightly, became if the crop is, ripe, the winds and hot , sun will soon dry the sheaves,' in. which case the saving of time, effected in stroking and forking to the dray, stack; and threshing machine is a consideration. ' Threshing is pretty well over now in most dis-' tr'icts ;■ but a goodly number , of farmers are just now, taking the threshing maqhine back to thresh what was left in the efcook to dry when their first threshing took" place.' Others' will not thresh again till' ..spring: In these late seasons many farmers here thre»h as soon as they get .'about two-third' of the ' oropjßtacked in order' to get some of the grain carted . away before the roads are too much cut up by the drays of their more favoured neighbours. , In' the' more fertile districts the yield exceeds expectations, but in the pooter ones it so very disappointing indeed'; bat this is not to be wondered at, for there is a limit to the v fertility of. soil. 1 » This year there are .fewer cases than usual of extraordin-, ■ ary yields, and the yield is on the ;wnole not up to the average of the last few years ; but' after the unfavourable weather of ' the first part of the summer few expected that it would be so high as in former years. There was a; general consensus of opinion, too, that the grain was deficient in weight, but here, again my. observations lead me to differ. And this brings me Ifco a subject which has been much discussed here ! of'late — viz., < WBIGHING TBtK GRJITS. ' Every year many farmers complain of dealers re- , 'turning less than the, real weights, and they axe in consequence loud in their denunciations of the tricks of grain dealers.' Sometimes farmers are appeased in this way. the blame is put on the Government, who,' it is alleged, weigh the tracks only once— that is, when they are made. lam not prepared to deny thii.'but I can unheiitatingly assert that the returns - of some dealers are hardly ever correct— the difference always being in favour of the buyer— while those of other buyers or agents are, on the other hand, invariably correct. J, have- sold grain in cpnsiderable quantities to some dealers year after year, and have felt satisfied that the full weight was returned ; and I have it the same time consigned trucks to others, and hsjye, been mortified to find a deficiency of a quarter of n bushel per bfcg, and some; t times, even more than this. < Sometimes only a" few pounds per bag are deducted, and if »the farmer is not weighing , or, selling to others this may go on, for years unnoticed, I knew a case where the deficiency was only 4lb pet bag ; but this at the present price of oats is equal to a loss of 16s per truckload of 70 bags. Farmers have similar experiences- when gelling other products of the farm- such as cheese, batter, and pork ; bat it is in the disposal of grain that the greatest loss is, sustained. Whenever I have, found a shortness in weight twice in succession' I have shunned all dealings with my smart friends, and no excuses would' ever induce me to deal with them in future. lam' pleated to add, however, that there are. a considerable number of honest dealers in Dnnedin and Invercargill as well as in 6h« smaller towns. I would recommend farmers to deal only with these. Let them* not be tempted to deal with the other class, although. <

t&ey .may offer a •tfette'r price; ' Bu£ it may^4 asked, 'HoW'is a farmer, ,to:flad out whois honeitandrvha !Bno£? By „, , „, « , ' . . . -. . WBIQHIN'ffKVBBSTiiINffHB'Siaxy."' - Us> '"'*' pong experience convinces me that it would pay pvery farmer ,to weigh all the oats he sells— nay, more, and am certain that farmers who dispose of a considerable quantity of grain every year,. would In one or two seasons find the cost of. a , good weighing machine repaid. As it is, some farmers by showing a buyer the returns from another buyer, have been paid for the difference. Now, if a farmer was in a position to prove that his oats exceeded the weight returned By the buyer, who can doubt that the latter would be careful to seethe grain correctly weighed,, because, there is now such keen competition for grain that buyers and agents suffer % considerable 'loss of trade in a district when there is a single instance of short weights P - ' „>,•■" 1 ' ' ppicas. " J- ■ The comparatively high price ruling now for oats ■has a very sensible effect 6n the mind of many' farmers here. ' : The high price will clear the farms' of some from debt and~plaoe others on a firm fpoting, I am sorty to 'notice, however, that It' has the usual' effect of encouraging .many, to' sow as much, bats as • possible 1 for next year: • Croppers' Who' undert6ott ; t6 ■ pay at the rate of one bag in four have in most instances done' very well, and others are seizing oppor-i tunities to take up land for cropping purposes. For i sometime the ruling price for, aparrowCill has been 2s 3d 1 per- bushel on 'the truck- at -country stations, and for Sutherland (prime milling sample) '2s 3d. At' these prices 6d is paid for the' bags,- andt buyers are. quite willing, to buy and pay for the bags separately. The usual 2j* per, cent, and Is per truck for. weighing has of course to be deducted from this. .Some' buyers give net cash, but as much lets is paid' per bushel ns will give tbebuyer the usual commissidn. During the, past week prices have improved slightly. , A goodly, number are ohanging their, iseed this winter, and at the present time, in some places, as much as 9s 4£d, bags 6d, has 'been paid on the ground. " Fork fetches id -per Ib in Dunediti,' and fresh butter and : r cheese ar« easily sold at satisfactory prices. ' ■• - i