AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1913, 9 October 1890, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The report of tbe directors of the Waikouaiti Dairy Factory submitted to the anuual meeting last week showed that about 35 tons of cheeßa was manufactured during the season ; of that quantity about 28^ tons has been sent to the London market, tbe complete returns for which have not yet come to baud. The balance sheet showed the revenue for the year to have amounted to £1474 6s 31, made up of the following if ems -.—Share calls, £436 7s ; one ese sales, £1036 4s 6d ; and incidentals, £1 15s, The principal items of expenditure were — Milk purchasers, £971 8s 3d; salaries, £180 16s 8d ; factory plant and material, £ 58 8s 3d ; cartage, day labour, &c, £58 19s 4d. The total .expenditure, including bank overdraft, amounted to £1959 4s. We learn from the Palmeraton Times that the Chairman (Mr Donald Grant) said, before moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, be wished to make some explanation in reference to the causeß which had contributed to tbe loss on the factory operations during the past season. One of the causes was the scarcity of grass, and the consequent poorness of she milk supply, and another was the low price which tbe cheese brought in the London market — viz , 44s per ton. This he attributed to tho delay in sending the cheese away. To this, however, no blame could be attached to the directors, who the season before had sold the cheese on the spot, the price delivered at Waikouaiti having beon 4^l per lb, and in the expectation of meeting with similar offers bad caused the delay. The first consignment of cbe j se was aont ais ay in May, and by the time )t arrived in London the market was glutted with American oheese which waa selling ftt 42s nud 43? per cwt. The factory was not to blame for the present los 3 sustained during tbe past year, and the best thing the directors oould do during the incoming season would b3 to get the cheeße away earlier, by which msaosthe prospect of a better and more satisfactory price would be afforded. The directors had during tho past season dona their utmost to make the factory a sucaas", acd if they had not succeeded as well m wr-s expected the causes were attributed to those b.3 had Btated. — Mr Buckland moved tha adoption of the report and balance sheet, and in doing so pointed out that the directors had called up during the past year all the share capital, and this year they would have to condnct the factory on business lines. This year there would be no shares to call up, and the

interest and other expenses would have to be met in another way. There appeared to be no certainty of the surplus of cheese sales realising £265, and he was prepared to find this item over-estimated. If 2£d instead of 3d bad boon paid for the milk last year a saving of £160 would have been effeoted, instead of a lose of £134. There bad been nothing allowed for depreciation of machinery, whion he set down at £15. This brought the loss up to £160 for the year. Referring to the operations for tba incoming year, he pointed out that the Home market would be the only one available, and he did not consider they were in a position to give more than 2fd per gallon for the milk during the present season.— The report having been adopted, the Chairman explained that at a meeting of the directors, held some time ago, it had been deoided to reduce the manager's salary from £170 to £145, and a reduotion of the salary of the Beoretary from £30 to £20 had also been deoided on. These reductions took effect on the Ist November next. With respect to the clerk's salary, he pointei out that the office cost_ the company nothing. There was a saving in this, and in any other case they would have to pay for an office or put up a building. The olerk also, who lived in Dunedin, transacted business for them which otherwise would be inconvenient. As far as hia salary was concerned, it was well earned. — Mr Ritchie suggested that the milk producers should accept this year with good grace a lower price for their milk, and take up more shares. They would thus reduce their overdraft at the bank, the interest of which amounted to ft large item. He hoped the directors would be in a position next year to show a more satisfactory balance aheet, and this could, in his opinion, only be done by reducing the price paid for milk. If there was a surplus the directors could pay a bonus at the end of the season. It was desirable, however, to lay something aside to enable a gradual reduotion of the liabilities of the company. — The Chairman remarked that no doubt milk producers would see the necessity of cutting their coat according to their cloth. They oould not go on adding to the debt of the company. Last year they had better pros* pects in the way of prices. He explained that the directors had received offers from Dun* edin to join an asiooiation there having for its object the appointment of an agent to look after the storage of cheese sent to the Home market. The entrance fee was £5, which would cover the experimental expenses. The directors, however, had done nothing in the matter. He thought, however, if all the faotorieß were to combine the soheme might prove beneficial to all concerned. — Mr Ritchie Bug gested as a very good idea the appointment of an expert to examine the ohefese before being

shipped, only tbe question of expense would prob&bly interfere, He also thought that if the ',aeeae was shipped to an agent who confined himself to that particular line, a better price would be obtained for it.— Mr Reid did not consider I\\ per gallon sufficient inducement to send milk from a distance to tbe factory.—Mr Johnston said it would not pay to run it at that price five or six miles. Other factories paid 3d and deolared a dividend of 10 per cent. A writer in the Pres 1 * bas this to say with regard to thej Tai Tapu Dairy Factory :— IC Since my last visit a great change has come over the place, a change which I have no doubt will prove greatly for the better. A new engine has been substituted for the old riokety one which used to do duty. The whole of the machinery was working admirably —aa smoothly as clock-work. The work of the factory has bo inoreased that the directors have ordered another separator, which is daily expeoted, A butter drier (Delaiteuse) has just been set up from which much is expected. Tho present system of working the butter is considered too severe, and I am inclined to think that such ib tho case from the appearance of the butter when cast in pound prints. Tha quality of the butter is simply perfection. Looking round the factory everything wan scrupulously clean, and the hands seemed to understand their business. The system of keeping the record of milk and butter, established by the present secretary, is simple and still effective. The quantities and averages can be seen at a glance, so that the directors can at any moment satisfy themselves on any point oonuected with the working of the factory." At the Hon. William Halliday's station, Brookong, New South Wales, this year, about 200,000 sheep will be shorn by machine. Eighty WoUcley patent machines are used, an additional 20 as compared with last year. Shearing has commenced at Alexander DavidBon'fl Bullenbonp Htntion with non-union labour. There are now 17 Wolseley machines at work. Eveiy thing is pro: "9ding satisfactorily. There will be about 32,000 sheep shorn this season at Ballenboug. A correspondent of the Live Stock Journal relates the following ourion* inoident in horse breeding, Ho writes :— •' A few weeks since I p^nt a mare, khen heavy io foal, to Mr Win. Flanders, Mopal, Me of Ely, to be mated after paturition to his Elsenham Gup horse, Reality. In duo time the mare gave birth to a filly foal, strong and healthy, but with a bag or udder full of milk, which flowed freely from the teats, the mother Bhowing no more than a yeld mare. Mr Flanders was in a dilemma, and became very anxious, having never seen or heard of a similar case. However, he took means at once to keep the foal going by supply-

ing a substitute for Nature's fluid, and by careful nursing and watchfulness the spark of life was kept burning for two or three days. When the mare began to show signs of milk the foal was put to her, but unfortunately the milk was tainted, ' so the last state was worse than the first.' The foal became sick and weakened, and lay down to die. Mr Flanders' anxiety inoreased, and he put forth all his energies, together with those of his son, to keep it alive, while the dam was being pbysioked. This being done, the foal was again put to its mother with the assistance of one or two men, This time all was right, and within two days of the crisis, or eight after birth, it was showing marks of playfulness around the dam and from the last report a fortnight after, mare and foal were doing well, the latters' bag h&ving entirely dried up. Mr Flanders' care could not be over estimated, and but for his experience the foal would have lOBt." Considerable difference of opinion exists (Bays the Melbourne Leader) amongst dairy farmers as to the effects produced by freezing butter for export to London, It is contended by some that in the prooesa of thawing, after being frozen, the butter loses its aroma, whilst others are equally strong in the belief that the butter does not deteriorate in the least. Hitherto the shipments forwarded by the Agricultural department bave been frozen before being placed on board the mail steamers, and kept in that condition in the meat chamber. In the oase of the shipment of 50 tona, arranged to be sent to London by the P. and O. steamer Victoria, which leaves on the 11th October, it has been decided by the department to simply place it in a chilled chamber, in which 'an even temperature of 40deg will be maintained throughout the voyage. This system has been adopted in connection with the shipments forwarded from Sydney to London, and has been found to give satisfaction. The most interesting feature to paatoralists at the annual Wagga show waß (writes " Bruni," in the Australasian) the competition for the " sheep tost prizes." The conditions for this prize were that eacl competitor should enter throe ewes, 18 months old, at the show of 18S9. The sheep were shorn at that show, taken possession of by the society, and kept together in a paddook until thiß year's show, when they were again shorn, There were nine entries in this olass, and the following are the results of the test shearing, which took place on the sth inst., when the wool was exactly of 12 months' growth. Mr G-. J. Mulholland'a three ewes yielded 391b 12oz of unwashed wool; Mr A. L Faithful's sh°pp cut 35!b 14oz ; Mr F. L. Parker's, 34!b 12oz ; Mr A. Booth's, 321b 4nz ; the Tubbo Estate Company's, 321b 4oz ; Mr

L. Litcbfield's, 321b 4oz ; Mr E. Ingrain's 301b 6oz; Messrs Bear Bros., 291b 4oz ; Mr R, F. Horsley's, 291b 12oz. For gross weight of wool Mr Mulholland's shoep are before all the others. This superiority is in a measure owing < to one of his ewes having out the extremely ' heavy weight of 16^lb. The wool taken from the competing sheep will be scoured and valued, the prizes being awarded according to the estimated values of the fleeces. The prizes are first £50, second £25, aud third £10, This year there are six entries. The Indian agriculturists are in great straits in some parts. They are not allowed by their religion to use bones as a manure, and the soarcity of food has compelled them to use the dung of their cattle as fue), consequently their laud is much impoverished, and as their wheat crops are becoming less and less eaoh year, they have seriously proposed to go in for breeding shoep and goats. Visiting some dairies at Baccbuß Marsh, I (" Freehold," in the Australasian) was glad to find that the milk-cooling system had been generally adopted. The Lawrence cooler is now well known in this distriot, and every farmer wbo has tried the system sp9aks positively of its advantages. An iron 400 gal tank is set upon a stand about 6ft from the ground, and it is filled from tbe well or underground tank. A pipo leads from the upper tank to the cooler, and from the cooler the water runs into a barrel ; from the barrel the water is used for all household purposes, and the surplus is carried away by the yard drain. Whare water is scarce the supply from the cooler can be|run back into the underground tank, ac it is not in any way deteriorated in quality by passing through tbe oooling pipes. Under the heading " A Warning to Farmers and Graziers " Mr F. H. Edwards writes as follows in the Adelaide Observer :— " Will you kindly allow me apace in your valuable paper to warn my fellow farmers and graziers against the indiscriminate use of oil for cattle and horses, it being a general thing to say if anything is the mattar, ' Oh, give it a dose of *.il, for if it does no good it will do no harm.' Now, I have been deceived lately to my cos!. a? to its doing no harm. A short time ago I j bought at a country store lgal of raw linseed oil, and gave a dose each to two young horses just in from the paddock, as I thought they required a little opening madicino. It soon tcok efiect, making them dull and heavy. Next day, as they were worse, I began to think something was wrong, and after paying every attention to them for a week one died. The | other got better, but has never been the same horse since. I had some of the oil analysed, and it waa found ti contain lead enough to poison horses, Now if these horses had been sick when I dosed them, the sickness would

have bad the credit of killing one and Unfitting the other for Work, and there is no telling how many nseful and valuable horses have been killed by their owner's in this way. My duty to make this publio was forcibly brought home to me a day or two ago, when a friend of mine told me he had just lost a valuable horse, and on my inquiring what he had given it he said two or three doses of raw linssed oil." The following sheep items are by *\ Bruni," in the Australasian :— The Ballarat Bheep show, held last week, was perhaps the largest and finest display of what we in Yiotoria bave dabbed the "Australian merino" ever Been since the golden footed fleeoe-bearer was introduced into the country. Trnly they were a most attractive lot of sheep, and bo far as the fineness of wool, lustre, softness, and length of Btaple are concerned, could not be equalled in any other country in the world. There was probably not a single sheep in the hundreds of merinos exhibited that could be desoribed as " robust " in wool, and the Vermont type was altogether absent. The judges had the great advantage of dealing with Bheep that were all fairly of one type, consequently they were not asked to decide between sheep tha f , however high their merits might be, were of entirely different character. Tho tendenoy with most of our Western stud flookowners, to judge by this and the Australian Sheepbreeders' Association's show, is strongly in favour of great length of staple, and in the majority of oases it would appear as if the judges were also influenced by this quality. To me it seems there is a danger that, by giving too much encouragement to length of staple, the more profitable quality of density is liable to be neglected. The annual sales of stud sheep should be quite as good a guide to studowners aa the prizes at our leading shows ; and so far as I am able to judge, they indicate plainly that the buyers of high-priced sheep prefer density of covering to fineness and brightness of wool, combined with very long staple. Not the least interesting portion of the Ballarat show was the fine display of merinoes sent in by the owners of small flocks When this show was originated, the committee of the society, with a praiseworthy endeavour to improve the sheep of the country, established the section for " Farmers' Merinos." Since that time the owners of small flocks have reduced by fully three-fourths the distance that separated them from the leading studs. Looking in at Messrs Goldsbougb, Morfc, and Co. 'a office this week, I was shown the fleeces of nine Taemanian rams purchased at the late anuual sales for the C"hen Downs station, N.S.W. The majority of them were highly attractive, and the fleeces of the best deaoription of wool gave the heaviest weights. The pick of the lot was a fleece weighing 181b 2oz, I of moat beautiful oharacter and quality, which

gave one the idea that it would lose very littlo in scouring. This fleece is from a ram bred by Mr G. W. Keach, of Chiswiok. A ram bred by Mr W. Gatenhy yielded 171b 14oz of most beautiful wool ; and another bred by Mr H. S. Smith yielded 171b 2oz. A ram from the stud of Mr T. Riggall gave a fleece weighing 171b 6£oz. Only one of the fleeoes went below 151b. We (Buenos Ayres Standard) hear of an extraordinary vetorinary operation performed by Mr Robert S, Mitchell, M.R.O. V.S., England, perhaps one of the most, if not the most, successful veterinary operation of modern surgery on an imported bull, the property of the trustees of the late Signor Oorti, which was purchased last year for the sum of 5000dol gold. For some time past a large growth had been forming on the throat of the animal, and yesterday Mr Mitohell decided to remove the obstruction which endangered the bull's life, and most successfully removed a tumour 240z weight, sections of which he baa forwarded to a specialist for miorosoopioal examination. This ia perhaps the only oase on record of a bull being chloroformed, it taking as muoh as lOoz of chloroform and 6oz of ether before he was under the influence, A party of 60 Swedish agriculturists recently visited Great Britain with the object of taking stock of British farming, in order to soe whether they oould glean any information aa to how they can all the better compete with British farmers. They were about a fortnight in the country, and the North British Agriculturist suggests that some of the Home farmers might take a leaf out of the foreigners' book by going aoroßs to the Continent to see if nothing oould be learned from these keen competitors there. The agents of Messrs Nelson Bros, have purchased Meadowbank farm, at the junction of the Main South trunk line and Lawrence railway, and it is understood this firm intend erecting freezing works there.