AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1958, 30 May 1889, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

/ In theproptwed'prize farm competition being j I arranged for by the Canterbury A. and P. AW ciation, there are to "lie.' three' classes 6f,fe n> * —viz., those from 50 to 150 acres, those from 150 to 300 .acres, and dairy farms, » tn *jT ! between the Hurunui and Rangitata. Wj prizes in the first two classes will be a fl»» o* £25 and a second of £10. ih6 A discuesion took place on Tuesday (wy^ "? Australasian of the 21st) at the Trades BW» before the Millers' and Bakers' trades oojon societies, on the question of " RoUer Flonr t. Stone Flour." The discussion was between «» S. M. Harvey (a retired working miller) ana j" J. : L. Wilson (the president "-of: the /Society). The chair was ocenpfed by '»* % Mr Harvey opened the dueaim and stated that Mr Wilson and himself had m* liogetber previously, and argued the qaeew

convincing each other, and it had been to discuss it before the Millers,' and Rakers' Societies, with the hope that perhaps it j zLhb lead to further consideration amongst the i members of those societies. On the anerol question, he contended that the prinftoal advantage of the roller system was that it flattened the bran or/h'uek ot the. wheat, and jjo the germ, instead of pulVerising them, as Jrt» done by the stone ays tern; and consequently hindered it easier to sift them from the flour by [be proper application of machines.* ffjth the roller system', an^groper cleansing of the wbeat in the first instance, flour was made o f a whiterand finer quality than. by the stone •vitem, and it fetched a higher price, which, of course, must be the first consideration with jDJllerfi. M r Wilson, in .reply, described at length the system of milling by stones, which he its now pursuing, and contended that by it a good wholesome flour, was obtained. It was vsrr questionable, he considered, whether it was ijgbfc to extract the "germ from, the wheat so jauch as was doric by the roller system. Bread made from the roller-milled flour would not keep so we^ a 8 tha\from flour, and {, c was told that bakers could get more bread from a given quantity of the latter* than from I similar quantity, of the. former, and 'if that fere the case the' additional weight of bread might be placed against the higher price of the roller flour. There .was no doubt in his mind thst & more nutritious flour was obtained by the itooe system than, by, the roller system. A vote of thanks was passed at the close of the discusijon to Mr Harvey and Mr Miller for their jem&rks. Although in the light of recent researches into (be bacillary nature, and communicability of tubercle by direct experiment the consumption o( milk from tuberculous cows (remarks a contemporary) cannot fbuf, be looked on as fraught with danger, instances in which such a mode'of communication can be absolutely demonstrated id, from the circumstances of' the case, not frequently, met with. . The fact that, even in ufyftneed stages of the disease, the. bacilli are often not to be detected in their- milk, the generally long incubation period, and the pro{utility that the milk supply, has f been changed or, ihe r animals slaughtered before, palpable miiohief has been done, s* well, as the frequency o( tuberculosis in man arising from'bfcher causes, mrround with 'almost insuperable xlifficulties all observations on the' human subject. But an Instance has lately come under the notice of the "British Medical Journal " which admits of no doubt, and consequently deserves record. The oiraer of a valuable herd of cows, finding that a large proportion of them were tuberculous—- so Urge a proportion, indeed, as to strongly suggest infeotion » by association in . the sheds — withdrew his milt from the /market, and used it, unfortunately, without boiling, for fattening the pigs, of which he has a. large number and on wlych he prides himself riot lees than on. his cotsi The result has been that the pigs have, almost without, exception,, been affected with the -'disease--' to' an extent that has necessitated the slaughter of the -whole stock. Another point of, practical interest is that he has not been able to discover nodules or other indications of localised tubercle in the cows' udders— a c«nHiwn' still held by some to be necessary to render the milk capable of ' transmitting the disease. • • • ' • ■ ' Flax, 'Owners ard' getting very handsome royalties' iast now. Rumour^ says the proua ttttift ;refceiireff JB2SpO a. yewyroyalty on a weed -: that they have spent much 'money. in_ trying, to eradicate. Another big West Coast estate is retting over £1000 a year in royalties. The favourite form of the royalty is a rent of £1.4 . per shipper pe)r month for a day, of 10 hours,, whether the mill be working or idle. '.Some wdlords charge a royalty of 7s 6dto 10s per ton, Igreen flax, and -even higher prices are men-, oed. — Wellington Times. 'Freehold," in the Australasian, makes' some: : <jffl«kß on New South Wales dairy factory praotices^whicbjajfe'equapy^applic^ble ,'to those of NeWfZealand, .Bte writes Mr-'lQne^of the weak points of the^ew^ufo, cW^les butter factory if item is that the skim milk is-take^frpm -^he firms and not returned. It is noVnecessary that the skim milk should be left at the factory "and ~ Mid at avery low price, to^pig-feeders, but^the. milfc suppliers, do 'not; seem to think it is -of infficieut value to carry home.' If instead of todpg bacV'tfte' empty, cans -.they jwere. utilised in carrying the skifn milk for" pigs,:, it, would' be found that a considerable profit would be made. At present asmall quantity "is ' taken* fcrqme foif the calves, but it '.is 'a mistake to allow pigtadoift to come in'and make a profit" out 'of the rat, The value of skim milk for feeding < pigs bu been demonstrated over and oVer "again, ud recently the matter haTattracted c'6nßide.rib!e attentiop--i^[4i}ieV[cki ] $tbr should the (U&warraia. risers jailf tp., recognise a. fact which v brought "directly ( under, "their'notice* by the "petitions of thejpig-t eeders. It is . found . that t«sgß will ! grow,'ahd fasten' bri^inftk'alone. It Wnld be better ffir* the 1 fiirtn^rs and better for the land to have the'pig-f eedin& dtin&oiithe farm. ibis is a point which sfion'ld riot'bo'lost sight of in Mtnmenoing new Gutter factories. The styes fa a nuisaneeapHOopnection with- the factories, »nd it is bet^rldlWund thaVtheV should bo on I tofaraan, « * > ' 3>l -' ; ;; ' ' '' - 1111 1 1 »-■■•■'■' formers are beginning to 1 realise that shallow ploughing; ;Dr ploughtog-.atiacerfcain uniform «pth year after, year, is -.chiefly! resppnsible fpr «» marked., ifalliogi oft tin: the yields compared *ift 15 or 20 years, iftgp. And there are undoubtedly seme grounda-upon which to build inch an argument;. -pOneiarmer jof our acquaintuce has pbtaWea-^gVeatlyMAbreased yields of P^in after-: hftyJDgiJßubsoiled ifiS'^Buitivtftidn 'Kidocks. It cannot bbc /doubted that where we fond fi§ £I ,cppstantly; ploughed .to a' certain wrform depth* the sub»Qil cakes badly, and bp»aes almost impenetrable" to either the fain 6r weroots.of jih&crip'^aD^that the latter fails m Mniequenc'e' at' '6ne most. ..critical period— yiz. : , of summer when the ears are just ginning to fiJiro&t.TiAuStfalsisian. In the ppurse.4)f a very suggeativo t .paper on Tenant Farming," ' read before the' Kotaer«W and District'.Farmers' 'Club 1 , Mr W. Troy "we thß'followin^'observations on this subject: "" We can't expect' to" sell live stock at so muoh P 6 ' foot as we: dp .timber," but) we 'can aud ought «b&11 it as we b^uy. pu£ meat Worn the butcher— "**»!», at so much- per pound-; and instead df "^ing with the buyer over 20s or 30s in the ; Re of a beast, we ought to be pleading for |d j f 1 Win the pound, -Of Qourse,- as a rule, farmers i p v e no means of weighing $heir cattle. ThereI think orie^of the first" acts' of the new winty government should be to have a weigh', j jl Machine set up in every market an J d village, , * if a farmer knows the live weight of his '«? l can Kuesa better what the dead weight Joe. oe. But I should like to do away, with j jP^ing altogether and buy and Bell all stock ] j? we weight. Of course, when I say all stock I J'^n store - and " fab stock; I do nob . thiok 'Vl cows » horses, and donkeys can very well ftjwght or sold by weight:, l\ . - ' ffti « i Bfcock of P° Dl ' es in Shetland is runniDg 'Hi Mares, formerly obtainable; at from ■w BOs ca nnoi: he had to-day at much-under *j or £12. average size 'of "a Snetland' fp» 44in ; if they are higher than that they ftL' so valuable, but the highest pricGS are j ittpcfu for those that are only 40in or under, j being scarce and much sought after. A ]

good many years ago Sir Arthur Nicholson, Fetlar, introduced an Arab stallion into Orkney, which he crossed with the native mares. The product was a larger pony, very hardy, swift, and active, but too big, except for some purposes. The Fetlar ponies are quite distinguishable from the original Jstock" on account of their size. The prevailing colour of true Shetland ponies is brown, and there are also a number of black ones among them. Compared with the native from Iceland, and North Farce, ■ which are; sometimes offered fcsreal Shetlanders, they: are much finer in '.the head, which is small and handsome. They are capable of great endurancei especially in their native country, and in the days when/the stallions were more largely used than they are now in the mines some of them have been known to live for\2o yeara below ground. , . \ , As an instance of the extraordinary fecdndity that is sometimes found amongst sheep, it is reported frtfm Cornwall that a' crossbred ewe of the old Nott breed, belonging to Mr T. Shepherd, of Woolley, Morwinstow, had produced during her lifetime no less than 44 lambg. She bred 13. seasons, and had twins four times, triplets three times, quartsrnions three times, aud quintets three times. A case of considerable interest was tried at the Southwark Police Court, England, recently when" a -Mr ?. Matthews, of 64 New Church street, Bermondsey, was charged, under the Seed Adulteration Act, with sulphur smoking a quantity of clover seed. Mr Grain, for the prosecution, said the case had bean taken up at the instance of some of the largest seed merchants in Mark Lane, because for years past rery grave frauds have been going on. JBj a system of. dyeing, old seeds were sold in the garb of new, a fraud which not only affected lonajld^ .merchants, who were undersold, but - also fanners and others who bought the seeds. For- thft<piirpoaa ; of, -.putting a stop to the practice, they secured the services of a man named Titchmarsh, to whom three sacks of seeds were forwarded by Messrs Hurst and Son,..qThey were first sent to Plymouth to Titchmarsh, and then to the corn granary of the G. W. railway, Paddington, where samples were taken. The sacks of seed were then sent on to the defendant, Who subsequently' returned them j to Paddmgton " dydd." Samples were" then analysed, and proceedings were taken. Mr Bernard Dyevanalytfcalohemist, stated that Ke found the seeds had been subjected to f antes of sulphur. ! Mr Slater, for defence, said J?itohmarah had laid a trap for Mr Matthews* and, he knew nothing about the, matter until the. ag- | count had been paid. Mr Shiel, the presiding j magistrate, said the act would be a dead letter I if that were taken into consideration. It jft a most useful act, because it protects agrioul- j turists ; but if you let people injure them upon that>xcuse the act would be absolutely usetes*. My opinion is that the highest penalty of £5 is too small. I fine the defendant £5, with lOgs costs. '■ " ■• <-:c An important case, affecting all the shearers and pastoraHsts in , Queensland, occupied, thji court at Barealdine recently. A shearer named Brook sued Mr Rogers, of Barcaldine station, for wages due. The amount in dispute was "only £3, but it involved the principle whether, under the Shearers' Union rules, all rains shorn were to be countpd as two sheep. Mr Rogers maintained that rule 3 meant only rams for stud purposes. The. bench decided upon the usage, and returned a verdict for the plaintiff with full - costs. • . " ./•'":< The IVWestejn' Agriculturist," of Q6incys Illinois, remarks that " farmers are organising companies all over th« West to buy imported draught stallions on the co-operative plan, which has prbyed bo successful. A liberal patronage is ' ,at once ensured to the horse ; the owners fix the breeding free, and the horse soon pays for himself.. The drajught horse is the only stock that the demand is greater than the,, supply ; hence ; the price is .good. " The ; heavy.idraught horses are driving out the small horses for heavy hauling on the city streets, and on our farms as well, ■ but neither out cities nor.our farms* are'half 'well supplied^with , heavy .horses,, but the draught, hprse is comingjto thfr front all along the line." ' Mr B. Slater, veterinary surgeon, of Lucknow, ' clear Bairmsdale, in a lecture delivered at Maffra .recently, on stringhalt, ..now. so. preva? -lejit among horses, said this disease was nbt-jthe' old English stringhalt, which was paused by the smalhbonesof the.hock' becoming earipus/^biit ■was. in reality.a catarrhal'fever, andxonld'easily be treated by anyone in its first stage. There were three stages of the-disease ; the first, as he :^ad. stated, almost anyone"' could" successfully treafr^but the second 'and third would^nequire the, services of a veterinary surgeon to effeci a cure. "The first Bymptoms of the disease could be detected by the" swelling of the muscles of "the neck, and the. ' eniaygefl. The 'SeVond stag©;, was inflammation in the region of the lungs, which caused ;the horse to appear as it ifc had the gripes., third stage was. when the kidneys were' attacked,, and was more dini- ' cult of- detention.' 1 .'-There was a' sympathetic Reeling betwdenlthelungs arid ; the kid&eys l^ He' 1 had recently made a post mortefii examination of a horse which had died of it; and he found the lutfga very much decomposed, and passing along the spinal 'marrow" t<|>* the, kidneys. . Tb» treatment he adoptedlri the first 'sUg/e'tra* s 't6 take^the horse ia,-and agply a' blankw acroes the loins, djpped in a ld«ion ! consisting df>2gal .of boiling water and a bottle bf turpentine, to be iept on for about 20. minutes, then taken off, the >horse welljrubbed down, and a dry blanket put on io keep him warnu. Alib apply a mus.tard, plaster to the glands, of Jihe neck, and bister across the saddle and 'loins. The horse to; bo kept;wwm. forget f,ew days, and he would oVall right. .Jn.replyto a question the lecturer said the following. .was a good recipe for nse in $he stage" of the disease;— One, pint of dear' water and loz'eucalyptjus oil, eight two"'"doses" a day;' : After three or, fouf doses the pulse. The standard was 35 to 40, arid ib these cases should not 'be let lower than '3o: ■- . ,~;-. : . ; : ":.,- K'i , The manager, of. the Ballarat Ice Cojnpany has (says u the 'Melbourne;' Leader) during the ' summer season bepn engaged in experimen^iog 'With fcuit l and3eg"gs,'w)ththe' : view'of ascertaining -whether both conld be" preserved' by means !of refrigeratingj andJtbus, daring th&time.o'fr'a Wuitfed market, purchase the named and store them in the ice-chambers pending arise in the. market value. The experiments bave proved very successful, and in reference to the experiment made .with eggs, Messrs Robert Ludbrook and Co.- report :-r" We hive Jo-day receiveda dozen eggs" from Mr Humble,'" of the Ballarat" Ice Wprks, sample of lot guaranteed to have been stored seven months. They break whole; both yellow and white appear of the same consistency as in the new laid egg. They also -boil wellT and were of good flavour, except a slight taste of "the packing. ThiF, of course, could be obviated by placing jthem loose in. boxes, or patent, cases/; We: .think the experiment a decided success, and we would have no diflfonlty in placing a line as good as 'sample at close up to full market, now 2s. When the eggs experimented, upon" - wejre' - unpacked, , number of; leading jß.allarat.tjades'm.e'n wejrerpresehfy and- " "expressed' "satisfaction with tine appe&ance and condition of the eggs." We are informed that the storage of eggs at the ice works in a glutted market, and their disposal at a time when the "commodity" is scarce would

yield a profit of at least 100 per cent, to the investor. A correspondent signing himself " Oamaru " writes ac follows in the North Otago Times i~ , "I am inclined to think the potato' croppers in this district are making a mistake in not selling their potatoes at prices now ruling—viz., about £3 3s at store (bags extra). No outside demand will justify such Jprices jm view of rates ruling in Sydney (JE4 lOs), Melbourne (£3 5s to £4), and DunetUn (£3 lss). The fact is prices here are kept up by the croppers themselves, mariy of whom are backing their opinions by speculating, buying their neighbohrs'ctops in addition to holding their own; Another lot, of local buyers are town publicans and town carter*, many of whom have bought from 50 to 3.00 tons each. No one can deny the fact that twice as many potatdls are being pitted this year as there were last P year. , I wonder how it will end ?" - , „ . At a meeting of the'Tuaneka West branch of the Farmers' Union, held on th¥22ud inst:,*Mr Williams sfated that, at the r^qu3stof khe branch, While in Dunediti a day of two »"go previously, he had made inquiries as to ibe advisablenes^ or t>therwiae of a number of settlers banding" j together and forwarding- a shipment of grain either to Sydney or Melbourne. He had been recommended to. .interview two or thre* firms, and among ; ;tb,© number the Nati/nal Mortgage and Ag*ncy Co of New Zr*land, from. Whom h« had got a' Hat of th« chorgea, including freight,^whaffag^, in•urance, commission, &o , to either of the ports named. To Sydney the charges would amount to 6£d per bushel, the freight being Is per bag or, say, 8» per bushel. The charges to Melbourno, more than-doabled those to SyfJneyi the amount l^ing; Is s£d. per .bushel, including freight (1 •Sd par bag) and duty (10d).' : He was advised tbit it would be impolitic to send any grain to Sydney, at 'the present time.^or the market tK*re*was pretty well" supplied.^ % fn the j course of a few weeks, however, there would be a stronger demand and prices would improve. They mp«.t.bpar-'in mind that bags were weighed ih with. t'»» grain in Melbourne and Sydney. And speaking, of- the bags, that, reminded him that a ri»r: had been formed among, the grain buyers in-I)anedin.n.ot to-buy grain bags extra on any pretence whatever, : Indeed, there were only three firms in Dunedin— viz,, Messrs, Fulton, Stanley and Co;,, theyNatioaal Mortgage and Age.tay .Company, -•♦ and ,Me«?r,s,, Arthur. M'Donald; mi Co.-^whoibpught grain „and; pjiid ejxtrafor the B bags. . Some.. qI : those flcmsobhat. made the Mtast.noise abpu,t %c. bag qnestipn; and protended Jo i» the friend* , pi \sxe tuptkfgp W^re thegrefttMt^nner^JaJhisrespep^ Ther,ewas no omll for him to mention names, but]g^ejirj>y pf •Tidence.Ras fortb,eomjng i»- »?ppojt,.o,f. .what Up stated. ,, L Hb wafl'adsured,;that nearly n?n& tenths M 'the gVain isqld in Db'Miri" 6f "late 1 had beta with the bags j weighed mV' I( ;Tiie settlers , certainly h»d got mow for tbtJir grain; b\a the^nierctianw apd dealers' ref used tp recognise "bag«,ext'ra t "| 'A 1 country rar.m|Sr> eVen after . hayingr; thei scales rubbed fjdmhfe eyes, eould 1 nbt' credit: what tricks the agents resorted j^o in the t diß|fo's'ai bf grSin 1 . PersbpiaHy' he felt' cOnrince^r -that it .would' be the tetter plan^to 'ship' to 1 Sidney .or" 5 Melbourne .when the maritetfwasfivouVable rather than sell jrifptm- 1 edin. If grain was consigned to the- Naworial J Jortgage and?A|ehcy: Op. they, wb^d; j&nderke to look lifter: the. shipment and) have ifr operly placed on thetnarket eithw |n Sydney or Melbourne.' 'The President aaid the meeting was Tery! thankful indeed to Mf Williams for the valuable information hi bad. imparted to them. Themeetifag.then-brOkeup. '» ;: . i Th 6 Pukerap. people, have, decided t^ erect a dairy factory. At .the. adjourned meeting held oh the 21st the secretary said v the, ITapanui factory y.a* the model Which wotuq' 'suit, at Pukerau very well. ,The T^apanai pjant, inoluding extras, had, cost £234 hi America 1 ;" it was ckpable. of manufacturing; i2oogal daily. . The fitting up here wonld post about' '£15, and" the cost of rennet qa& bandages for a year about £35 more ; the last* nkm6d items could be .ordered to come with the • plant,,! if ' desired. Ttfen, the .freight wotild.cost about~£3s. , The Tapariui plant, landed there, cost' about £303. If the Pukerau settlers carted 'the rtiinbeft free, they .could pnt':the*c6Bt of building down at £200, or a total cost of about £500. .Probably £515 would be all they require to put the' whole thing in' a good position, iljlr Robbins said- that- Tapanai factory v ['buildings cost £220; it bad a, concrete floor hi one room. On the motion of Mr Herron, seconded by Mr Pullar,it was resolved— " That I it is desirable to establish a dairy, factory -at Pukerau, with not less than 800 shareholders at £1 each, to bq called up a« follows :-r-2s fid on applioation, 2s 6d on alliitment, and 5s by Ist ifovember," 1889." Provisional directors were appointed, and the secretary, who stated that •the total number, of shares hoyi promised was 689, was instructed to have the prospectus drawn up bj Jjune 8. , ' ' English agricultural papers of a, recent date the districts allotted to the " Queen's "Premium " stations. The namber of mares to be served infixed at 50 for a -£2 fee, and Us 6d to the giroom.. r T^he effort is made to encourage the breeding of stock by small farmers. , ■' | Complaints are rife as to the falling off of quality in'the pnrebred ybung shorthorn bulls for "sale' the present year in- England. Rich American buyers offer tempting prices for the very beijt.ntock, and English farmers cannot afford to become careless with respect to '.sustaining at all hazards the magnificent reputation of their flocks and herds. ' 1 In what other city in the world of an extent equal to Sydney willthere.be found cows walking from their pasture to .their owner's | house and back again entirely unattended? A j pjretty Ayrshire may be seen any day in Sydney < walking uji King street" oa the pavement, look- j L ing into the shop windows, waiting at the.cros*- j Wg'fo'r the tram to "pass by,"and petted by ; everybody. Did anyone ever see such » sight before in the busiest street of the metropolis of a * country "?/",' ,'.."•' ' iA- trial of Mr Di M'Andrew's method of d<isfcreyi«jf-rabbtbs -by-weans of-poisoned- apples : wbs raade t ' tfpder the superintendence of the Ca-own latin's bailiff for the Geelong district, Tfce teai W& upon raobit infeste,d»land on the cdast nejftk Bar won. Heads. Several furrows wjere Roughed and, unpoisbned fruit .laid in them. J sh(rfrnit was eaten during .the eight.' O)a the v tollo'Wing night slices of apples over* which powdered strychnine had been shaken i were deposited in the furrows, and next morning I '2?6 ddad rabbits were found lying close, to the farrows. This result was considered satisfactory, as the land had been twice this season laid dowa.-.with" -poisoned fruit; : and young grass, wbioh-the' rabbits prefer to almost any .description, of food, is fairly abundant. LA Bhipuient' of cheese, onions, chaff, and other pijodnce has been sent from Tauranga (Auckland) to] BrfSbane.with'aviow to opening up a trade Iwi th.theJatter marJtet , . ,Speaking,«t, a luncheon in Christchurch, Mr 01 iver, a miller of .great experience from AustrUitf, referred to the" telegram respecting- the "fahneriof. IWtobo and New Zealand'seed wheai It| w^ibeuremembered Xsays the. Press) : thatthe telegram Wat'eHWatHheßubbbtar^ersrefna^d to take New Zealand seed wheat,' alleging thati it would not germinate. Mr Oliver stated that he imported 1000 bushels of New Zealand seed

wheat into New South Wales, which was sown at Riverina, one of the driest districts of New South Wales, The New Zealand wheat produced 22.bqahels,to the acre, whilst the local seed.only produced 13.,