AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1906, 21 August 1890, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Messrs A. and J. M'Farlane shipped on Thurs- j day for Melbourne by the s.s. Manapouri, eight Ayrshire bulls and 30 cows and heifers. Wo are led to believe they are the finest lot of cattle ever sent from Otago, and that they are going to compete at the Grand National Agricultural show, to bo held at Sydney at the end of August. By the same vessel Mr Reid, of Elderslie, sent nine shorthorn bulls, ranging in age from nine months to two and a-half years. He also shipped the entire horse Prince Albert Victor, imported from Scotland about two years ago. Messrs D. and J. Bacon shipped on Monday by the Hauroto for Sydney three pure bred polled Angus bulls from the Gladbrook estate, comprising Laird of Middlemarch, Laird of Gladbrook, and Keillor, together with 20 specially selected cowg. All these animals were in splendid condition, and should meet a ready pale in Sydney. Messrs Bacon also shipped 12 very fine horses, consisting of hunters, carriage pairs, ami hacks. The Auckland Herald says :•— " Some of our local firms own to making a loss on the export of butter, but in New South Wales the Fresh Food and Ice Company seem to have found • a more excellent way.' The whole of the butter operations is dealt with by one syndicate and one directing head. The butter is manufactured in cool chambers, and is turned out in such excellent condition that the company have realised close on the English prices, a thing which the New Zealand exporters have not yet succeeded ; in doing, owing to the number of small people each manufacturing on their own account. The company use nothing but Pond's enamelled butter packages for their butter, and Messrs Pond and Co. have just received an order for 20,000 boxes straight off, to be shipped throughout the season. The question of the infringement of Pond's patent for these boxes has again cropped up in the Victorian Legislature, but so far no amends have been made to that gentleman for the sharp practice indulged in." The manner in which the trade is managed in Sydney by the company referred to was published by us some time ago. The Mail states that the stock of wheat held in store in Oamaru at the present time is considerably under what it was last year. Aggregating the totals supplied by the various merchants, the stocks represents about 79,000 sacks. > - According to Mr M. R. Miller's annual report,-, based on the sheep inspectors' returns; notwithstanding the enormous export of sheep, there were 261,000 more in Hawke's Bay on June 20 than at tbe corresponding date last year. : The, adulteration of manure came in for some discussion at the, last meeting of the Balfour Farmers' Club. The club passed a motion to tbe effect that the member for the district be asked to co-operate with the other Southland member in getting an act passed compelling manufacturers of artificial manures to give analyses of the same. During the discussion on this subject it came out that it was sometimes impossible to' deal with only those who bad a trade mark, as last year the only firm who had a trade mark in Otago or Southland ran out of manure, and most of the farmers in the district had to get their manures from otherß, At the same meeting Mr Eraser read a paper oh the " Best system of farming for the- district." He favoured a six course abift — say, three years in ' grass, two white crops, and * orop of turnips ; or two of turnips ' and one of oats j and be believed in planting trees .and having an Arbor day, set apart .for that purpose. Nearly all tbe members present Bpoke very highly of the paper, Mr Henricksen thought it was the best paper he had heard at the olub. He depreoated the system of burning straw stacks, and thought it a poor example to be giving the sons of practical farmers. Mr Gerkur assured Mr Henricksen that though the straw stack was burned nothing was lost. Tha owner always had tbe ashes left, and although the smoke went away he could console hiimelf that it enriched someone. Mr Oowie thought the paper a good, one, but the system advocated old- fashioned, He thought Mr Eraser bad not farmed long enough in tbe Balfour district to solve "the true secret of farming. He had come to the district full of the old notions about shifts and did all he could to follow the lines laid down by his father. He thought he (Mr O.) could give him a wrinkle or two on shifts, for be bad come to the conclusion that nothing would pay better than the one course Bhift. (Roars of laughter.) "Well," he said, "you gentlemen oan laugh away, but I am sure there is no one in the distriot who has done more to enrich the fertility of bis farm that I have." He bad carted hundreds of tons of manure and done everything that money and labour could do to get grass to grow worthy of the name, but his graßs was not a bit better than other people's. The land here waß unexhaußtible for oat-growing, and he believed inoropping on year after year. He knew land adjoining his own that had grown seven crops in succession, and the seventh one was 40bushelB per aore, He also knew another farm that bad grown the sixth orop in succession, and it went 30 bushels per aore last year. Now, if that did not pay better than keeping sheep at the rate of half a sheep per aore, be did not know anything at all about paying. — (Roars of laughter and cheers for the champion of the one course shift.) Mr Kay said be feared Mr Cowie was not saying what be thought, as his whole system of farming was opposed to his remarks that night. Mr Fraeer replied and said he bad no doubt but a course of shifts as be had advocated would come to pay better in the end than tbe monstrous system advocated by Mr Oowie, A hearty vote of thanks was given Mr Fraßer for his paper. A case which oreated a good deal of interest in the distriot oame before tbe Bungaree Police Court on July 24, when the local rabbit inspeotor proceeded against Mr Smith, J.P., for not taking proper Bteps to dear his land of rabbits. Mr Thomson, P.M., presided. After hearing a number of witnesses the benoh inflicted a fine of £5, with £4 6s 6d coats, tbe heaviest penalty yet inflicted in that court, The bench also spoke to the defendant very strongly, pointing out that, as a magistrate, be should set a good example to bis neighbours, whereas he bad not only failed to observe the law but had himself sat on the bench when 13 or 14 others had been fined under tbe same act. A few weeks since we referred in these notes to the statement of a writer in the New York Forum, Mr C. Wood Davis, that the population in the United States increases at such a rate that tho products of all the available agricultural land in the States will soon be needed for domestic consumption. We are now in a position to give some further particulars gathered from Mr Davis' article^ His calculations are based on the fact tflat 315 acros, according to the statisticians of the Agricultural department, are required to produce what the average United States citizen conBumcs. Tlwp, in 1894, with a population of 72 000,000, the products of 226,800,000 acres will be needed for doraentio consumption. There are now only 211,000,000 acres devoted

to supplying the demand. At the present rate of addition to the acreage so employed only 12,000,000 acres will be added between now and 1894. There are now less than [ 13,000,000 acres devoted to crops for export. These aores will all be needed by 1894 to Bupply domestics needs, and still there will be an aoreage deficit of about 3,000,000 acres. Tben the average American must reduce his annual consumption to less than the product of 315 acres, or else land of lower quality than is now cultivated must be brought into cultivation at the rate of at least 6,000,000 aoreß a year, or else tho product per aore must be increased. That the soale of living of the people will be reduced speedily is not to be believed ; therefore one or the other or both of the remaining alternatives will be resorted to. No doubt much new land, not of the first quality, will be cultivated, and at the same time the methods of high farming wil' be more and more pursued. But to impol agriculturists to these courses, higher prices must be given, because at the prices of late years farmers have found no inducement to add more than 3,000,000 acres per year to the area in staples, nor any inducement to high farming. These are the arguments used by Mr Davis to prove that brighter times are in Btore. A large and influential meeting of paatoralists, representing considerably over 2,000,000 acree of rabbit infested country, was held at Ivanboe, N.S.W., recently, which passed resolutions affirmiog that the compulsory fencing with wire netting of all holdings or groups of holdings should form the basis of future legislation on the rabbit question, and that the state should render material asßißtanoe to tenants in oonneotion with fenoing. It has commonly been said that the Jews have never, at least in modern times, been successful as farmera. According to the New York correspondent of the Manchester Examiner, however, several colonies of Jewß who settled in America when they were petscouted, mobbed, and virtually driven from their homes in Rusßia, have done well. Some settled in the West, others in the South, and at least one colony in the East— in New Jersey. The colonies settled in Dakota, and at Alliance, in New Je^ey, it is said, have attained an exceptional degree of prosperity. When 150 families of the Jews were first Bent to New Jersey, in 1882, the natives of that State were disgusted and indignant, and threatened to drive them out, on the ground that they never would make farmers, and that they would be evildoers and vagrants, filling the poorhouses and gaols. However, the Jews set to work to grub up the bush, and planted vines, trees, plants, and seeds, furnished by tbe relief society which sent them to America and provided them with land rent free. The same sooiety helped to support the people until their land became remunerative. The men worked for neighbouring farmers, and the women and some of the men made shirts and did other work of the kind. And so they eked out their means of subsistence until their farms began to pay. To-day, it is said, they are prosperous. Their mainßtay is tbe growth of fruit, and last year they sent to New York and Philadelphia 25,000d0l worth of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. The suocess of the Riverside fruit-growing colony, near Horsham, organised by Mr A. F. Spawn, is (says the Leader) already assured. There are now 22 settlers in the colony, who have taken up 39 out of a total of 41 blocks. Some 25,000 vines, chiefly raisin grapes, and 2000 to 3000 fruit trees will be planted within tbe next few weeks, and even more would be done but fcr tbe impossibility of obtaining an adequate Bupply of. the right varieties. Mr Spawn has purchased a team, and a number of American implements, ploughs, barrows, &c, and a further supply of garden and orchard implements will arrive shortly. An expert, Mr Arnold, will arrive in a few dayß to take charge of the planting, and to give instructions to tbe Bottlers. The Australasian's Deliniquin correspondent says that " the Wolseley shearing machine bad a very severe test as to its capabilities for standing work, over 60 rams baying been shorn for the Deliniquin Sooietj 's scoured fleece contest in less than 16 hours without a stoppage, hitch, or aooident of any kind as far as the machine was oonoerned. The engine that was provided by the society being out of repair oaußed a loss of one day to put it in repair. The rams were wrinkly and hollow, and thus diffioult to Bhear, but the work done was perfect. A complaint having been made with regard to 1 the laying poison (arsenio) for rabbits on Mount Pisa run in respeot to the probable danger of poisoning the running stream, we (Cromwell Argus) have made it our duty to ascertain from Mr Stronaoh what precautions he takeß to obviate the chance of suoh an occurrence. He informs us that be only lays arienio, (mixed with treacle and spread en twigs of trees) in places where there is no possibility of either water reaohing it or the wind blowing it into the water courses. The poiaon is only laid for a limited time yearly, and when laid, duly notified by publio advertisement. Mr Stronaoh is fully aware of the danger, and on that account is doubly particular where he has it laid. It is bis intention not to lay any more this season.