AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1916, 30 October 1890, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

A line of oats, consisting of 1006 bags, was sold the other day, dolivored at Inch Valley siding, for 53 6d per four-bushel bag, sacks weighed in. The hail showera and high wind of the last week have done a lot of damage to gardens, Tho wonderfully ffliid Winter aud fine spring had forced vegetation, and an unusually early season was looked for. Young fruit has suffered greatly from the pqualls, and gardens which a couple of weeks ago looked, to use a colloquialism, "aB pretty as a picture," now present a much batterod appearance. The hail has been singularly hard in some parts, nnd has come down with such force that leaves have been fairly riddled fts if by shot, The barometer has an upward tendency, and ib ia to be hoped that a break is about to take place in the wintry spell which has come at such an unfortunate time. — Southland News.

The tobacco growing industry is progressing in the Hutnulua district. Three hundred and thirty-nine. baleß cultivated at Bardwell^a station were recently despatched to Sydney. The Michigan Farmer says :—": — " When you kick a cow just pause and think that you are kicking dollars out of your pocket, and when you pound her with the milk stool that you are robbing your wife and. children of lieCansaries, and you probably won't do it." Acoording to the weather reports of the Leader, the orops of Victoria are vigorous and healthy as a rule, but the season iB now evidently going to bo late. Cereals were nearly a month further advanced towards maturity at this period last year. The rains jußt experienced have dispelled all fear of drought as regards the wheat crop. The brairds now cover the ground so thoroughly that the moisture in the soil will ba retained, a,nd this will no doubt have a most beneficial effect on the yields. A preliminary official estimate puts the French wheat crop at 105 to 110 million hectolitres, or 36 to 37| million quarters. Acoording to this, France will need to import during the cereal year from four and three-quarters to six and a-quarter million quarters. The final estimate of last year's orop was equal to about 35,300,000qr5. English journals Bay that if it turns out that France will require the larger quantity of foreign wheat so great a demand will have an appreciable effect upon the course of prices, as French competition for cargoes usually gives an activity to the grain trade whioh is greater than the mere quantitative demand accounts for.

A Wellington flax- dresser, who has been visiting the mills in Canterbury, declares that with inferior flix the Canterbury men turn out a very superior fibre, despite the better bleaching climate of the North. The reasons he gives for the superiority are that the Canterbury men sort the leaf before stripping, that they use better strippers, wash thoroughly, understanding the art, which in the North in neglected ; that they have in the heoklo scutcher a better scutching instrument, and that they pack their fibre better. The Canterbury fibre ho says is worth from £3 to £6 per ton more than the Northern article.

The production of milk, says a dairyman, iB in a great measure determined by the quality of the food. The best food, ia my opinion, ia clover bay and mixed grasses. Farmers in general d > not appreciate clover. Clover ia good ; you cannot sow too much of it. It has all tho elements necessary for the Bupport of beasts ; it is at the same time a meat former and a purveyor of the heat. Bran is another good food. I prefer the modern roller bran to ttje old process or brown bran. Bran contains phosphateß, and other elements entering into the formation of bones and muscles. Cotton soed is a good food for milk making. It contains an excess of albuminoids, and is one of the best things to mix with straw, hay, ensilage, &c. Linseed meal is good, too, but bettor suited to feed calves than for milkmaking.

On a farm about three miles west of Sheridan, on Big Goose Crock, Wyo., there is a herd of 800 sheep. They are slowly ohanging to the many-horned variety. Three ago years a buck with four horns made its appearance, and now there are among the herd, which are of the mixed merino, about 100 of theee freaks of Nature, with horns on each ranging in number from three to 3ix. The wool on these many horned sheep is of a coarser quality than that of the merino, and at the age of three years from 91b to 101b of wool is clipped from each. These sheep are really a curiosity. The owner has had several of them photographed for Eastern papers, and a lamb with six separate horns will bo kept for the mußeum.

Locusts are making theii appearance in some parts of South Australia. Mr French, Government entomologist of Victoria, has published a, letter suggesting the une of roughly constructed bush harrows, which, with a fast horse, might bB dragged rapidly over the in'eaied places, when millions of the partlyfledged locusts oould ba easily destroyed just aa they appeared above ground. Bpating with branches, he say?, is an excellent plan. Any newly fledged locusts whose wings bscoine damaged do not coma to psrfection, but die shortly after beiug injured. The steamer Palmer shipped 5000 bunchett of banana i at Geraldf,on, which is the largest cargo on record aenfc fryra a North Queensland port. The grown*.* supplied more than the vessel could take, and a quautifcy were thrown into tho river by the craw, as they would only spoil bsfore tho eteauier returned.'

The Muckadilla bore is now down 3100 ft, and boring^ is still being continued. Tha flow of wsiter ia about 1000,7 a! pnv hour, and is increasing. The Government land sale h^ld at Geraldton proved a great succeso. Forty-seven town lota Bad 42 Bu.bu.tban lots were offered, all of

whioh were disposed ofy 6he total amount realised being £2287 15b. A BGlcofe cow for a dairy herd should be Hi medium size, fide" la bono, broad in loin, with wide quartera and full dfeep barrel, showing large storage capacity. She shodd not be too email in girth around the heart, but Be? wedge shape should be caused by a still more protnf* nent development in the bind quarters rather tfeati deficiency in the vital regions, which would indicate laob cf constitution. No animal needs constitutional -?'ig"onr and healthy digestion more than a dairy cow?, aS her profitableness depends on her ability to conveft groat qiiantlfcias of coarse food into milk, fit food toi wan". The North i?fiCifth Agriculturist saya that cattledealera in Montreal bate not been long in finding out that store oattlri command the beat prices in Scotland, and are engages shipping immense numbers of stockers to Great Sritaitl. In Canada stockera can be (bought at 4 cents per lb, while fat bullocks cost 5 centß per lb. Some of the frozen meat factories in La Plata are conducted on a colossal scale. One at St. Nicholas, upon the Parana, appears to be admirably managed. The manttfaebory is placed near to the river bank, so that the frozen meat can be shipped on board vessels of 2500 tGfls direct from the freezing chambers without contact with the air even for a moment. The facilities for slaughtering are so complete that 80 men Can dispose of 1000 animals a day with ease. After drying for a few hours in a large chamber, the oardas'se's are removed to a freezing chamber, where the degfeo of cold is only about lOdeg Fabr. In a few hours they afe removed tp a second chamber,- where the temperature is 30deg below 2ero, rthere they remain for tLree days, when they are completely congealed and as hard as wood. They are then Bhipped to' England. Over 300,000 sheep were disposed of at the St Nicholas manufactory last year. As the carcSoeea dverage 481b, and do not cost more than 4s each, aud sell at 4d per pound, there is a good margin for profit.