AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1933, 25 February 1892, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Our Canterbury correspondent writes on the 17th : " Rapid progress has been made with harvest work during the fine weather of the last seven days. On Sunday men who, never 'broke Sabbath' before were; busy reaping, carting, and stacking, and women and children on smaller holdings were helping to turn the stooks. Some of the smaller farmers have taken the sensible step of stacking the sound and damaged sheaves separately, thus ensuring that part at least of their grain will be good sample. In some instances stacks were penetrated by the rain, and these are now being pulled down, the sound being either restacked or threshed, and the wet set up in stook again. The damage done is happily being found day by day to be less than was feared, and probably 3d or 4d per bushel will cover the depreciation on all that was iv the fields when the rain came on. There is great demand for men for carting and stacking ; it is not so much that there are fewer men than usual, but that crops ar,e greater in area and far heavier, and owing to bad weather are not so easily handled. All ■the crops, too, are ripening at one time, which CTtakee ex,tra demand upon the supply of labour,

Stubble grass is of such luxuriance as has never been known before, and turnips promise an unprecedentedly heavy crop. The puzzle to many farmers is where sheep are to come from to eat all the feed in the ensuing autumn and winter."

The Christchurch Press says that it is estimated "that during the past two months from 700 to 800 stud rams have been drafted to the North Island. This of course reduces the number in Canterbury, and as a consequence it may be expected that a brisker demand for this class of sheep may be expected at the coming ram fair.

The Taieri Advocate says that a son of an Otakia resident who is at present at Palmerston North, writes to say that the harvest is proving a very successful one, and that he is cutting crops with the reaper and binder at the rate of from 10s to 15s per acre. He pays 16s per day for the reaper, and the farmers supply him with horses. It will thus be seen that the wages he makes must be very high, and this fact shows that in the North Island farmers have to pay pretty dear for their labour. Some idea of the value of the fruit-growing industry at Coal Creek may bo formed when we (Tuapeka Times) state that the present season's produce will give a net yield of L2OOO or more. One grower informs us that he invariably draws L3OO to L4OO per annum from the sale of his fruit ; and this year he expects the latter sum to represent the amount of his sales. The wonder to us, taking into consideration the profitable character of the industry, is that a larger number of small settlers are not attracted to it. The advantages in its favour, natural and artificial, are very great, and, if understood and appreciated as they should be, the fruit-growing industry in the Coal Creek and Teviot districts is capable of expansion to a degree undreamt of at present. Both the climate and the soil arc eminently suitable for the cultivation of the very best and most saleable varieties, and Dunedin proves an excellent > market, whilst the facilities of transit and cost on the same are sufficiently convenient and reasonable to encourage the growth of the industry. The fact is, with a market so handy as Dunedin to the fruit-growers in the districts named, fruit in either a raw or manufactured or preserved state from Tasmania should be a thing unheard of. We hope to see the industry thrive and expand from year to year, as it provides a good deal of employment and keeps a lot of money in circulation. Henry Fitter and Sons, meat salesmen of the Central Meat Market, London, give New Zealanders a hint worth considering in their report for the mail dated January 8 last. They say: "We could probably dp very well just now with good small frozen pigs. We would, however, remind intending shippers that pigs should be shipped only so as to arrive between October and May, as the pork trade falls off in the summer." How would these dates suit our pig-growers ? Their report alludes to the " stale condition of some of the New Zealand sheep," and says: "Best quality | New Zealand sheep are still very scarce, and we are daily receiving numerous inquiries for them."

The Waimate Times says : — "Mr W. Nicholas, of the Hook, three years ago received by post from America a few seed oats. Among the oats were a few grains of wheat. The first season the three grains he sowed multiplied wonderfully, one grain yielding 40 head. The third sowing produced 1821b, and the present sowing, which is the fourth, covers one acre, and is expected to yield fully 50 bushels. The wheat is a bearded Tuscan variety, and is a grand wheat." . The Tuapeka Farmers' Club passed a resolution regretting the withdrawal from the Farmers' Union of the Waitahuna Club, and expressing the opinion that the union is projected on lines which must ultimately benefit the farming community, and that the failure of the union at present to effect greater good is due in a great measure to the meagre support accorded to it by the farmers themselves.

It is all but universally acknowledged (says the Queenslander) that the official test of dairy cows in public show-yards is little short of a farce. Cows are brought into a strange place, facing numbers of strange people, are milked on the evening preceding judging day and again on the morning of judging day before a large crowd of strangers. An old cow, well seasoned to strange faces, will take little note of her new surroundings so long as she has a good meal in front of her ; but a younger one of perhaps nervous temperament will fret and refuse to let down her mil k, and thus an inferior cow is as iikely as not to secure the prize. But even if all things are equal in this respect, it almost invariably happens that some of the very best cows , in the district in which the show is held are not in full flow of milk at the time of holding the show. In America, where such tests are carried out with a thoroughness not to. be found in any other country, these drawbacks have long been noticed and commented upon. A reform in official tests has been proposed by the Ohio State Board of Agriculture. It is intended that the tests be made at the farms where the cows are usually kept and fed, and prior to the show, and in all cases where the cows are in full flow of milk. This mode of testing would necessitate the judges travelling to the various dairies of those entering cows for competition, as is done in judging farms, and the results tabulated and dedared at the show, it being a sine qua no a (•of competition that all the animals tested shall be exhibited at the show.

Rain-making experiments, wherever they are conducted, seem to be provocative of conflicting accounts of results. According to the Times of India, Mr Wolfe-Murray's experiments in Madras have been attended by a success so remarkable as to suggest the occurrence of a singularly fortuitous coincidence rather than a triumjih of science over Nature. The centre chosen for the experiment was Cuddapah, where the rainfall is always scanty, and neither kites nor balloons being available, the dynamite was placed on a ridge of flat rocks 2400 ft above the sea-level and a couple of hundred feet above the plain. A hundred pounds of dynamite were used in all, 10 packages of 101b each being ranged on the rocks at intervals of 60yds, and fired by time fuses at intervals of one minute. Nine of the packages were successfully exploded, and six hours later, while the sun was still shining, there came a magnificent shower of rain such, it is stated, as has hardly been experienced in the district during the present year. The shower lasted half an hour, and was confined to the region affected by the explosion, which Mr Wolfe-Murray deems a conclusive proof of the success of the experiment. The total cost was only 200 rupees. A correspondent writes in the Leader : — "No doubt thousands of citizens who travel the St. Hilda and Toorak roads have been agreeably surprised during the dry hot weather lately experienced while passing Government House at seeing the beautiful green paddock adjoining his Excellency's residence, and not a little astonished to hear that Lord Hopetoun, probably unknown to himself, was showing the industries unemployed what could be done with a small patch of land cultivated with care and judgment. Ten months ago Lord Hopetoun made up his mind to try what could be done with four acres of poor land that was

growing little else but weeds, to grow green fodder for his milking cows, as he had little or no grass for them during one-half of the year. The Agricultural dcpartmcntjwns requested to assist, and the dairy expert was asked to superintend the experiment of growing two crops in one year. Under his guidance a crop of oats and tares was sown last Easter, and 10 tons to the acre of nice green ensilage was cut early in November. Another crop of maize was sown, which is the beautiful green field admired by passers-by just now, when all our natural pastures are so parched and dry. This second crop, which will average 4ft in height, and weigh about another six tons per acre, the cows are now being fed on, evidently to their satisfaction. It is thus shown that 16 tons of the best green fodder can bo grown to the acre in little more than 10 months. Now, at the present time, when the success of otherwise of the homestead block system is under discussion, here is an object lesson from a source that was least expected. And when we think of the tens of thousands of these unsightly acres of our exhausted goldlields that could be converted into as good use, and be a great assistance towards the maintenance of so many half employed miners and mechanics, it seems astonishing that we should be so slow to help ourselves at Nature's bidding."

About 9,000,000 scalps are accounted for since 1881 under the Queensland Marsupials Destruction Act, and it is calculated that the total slaughter exceeds 12,000,000 in nine years.

Ensilage appears to have found an active detractor in Professor J. W. Sanborn, who is reported to have made some experiments in Utah, U.S.A., the results of which he summarises as follows: — " 1. The silo is a very costly system of storage of crops. 2. It is believed (not shown by the trial) from general data in possession of the station that mature fodder corn as now packed is subject to very great loss in the silo, and that cutting at an early period cannot be afforded on account of diminished yield. 3. The loss of fodder in the silo is far greater than dry storage in Utah. 4. Air-dried fodder corn was more palatable than ensilage. 5. A .given amount of air-dried fodder corn wns more effective when fed to both steers and sheep than fodder corn ensilage. 6. Animals fed on ensilage had a more watery composition — live weight being maintained at the expense of flesh. 7r Ensilage-fed steers contained less fat than those fed on air-dried fodder corn, 8. Lucerne ensilage was less valuable than fodder corn ensilage. 9. Green foods do not seem to be eaten with the relative relish that they are in moister sections of the country. 10. The silo does not seem to be desirable for the dry harvest climate of Utah." The Queenslander, in which the foregoing appears, has not given its American authority. Since 1883 no fewer than 1508 foxes havo been shot, poisoned, or trapped in Victoria, and with the improved system of bonuses it is hoped that the number may soon be largely increased.

A favourable impression of the practical character of the training received by the students at the Longerenong Agricultural College was (says the Melbourne Leader) conveyed by Mr T. K. Dow, the principal, at the closing of the summer session recently. The shearing had been clone entirely by the students, and throughout the harvest just completed the machinery was driven and all the most important work carried out by the senior students. It was pointed out that the system of placing the students in the most responsible positions in connection with farm work is now introduced in all departments. The butter factory is managed exclusively by the students, and in the vineyard, orchard, and plantations of forest trees, as well as in the various operations of cultivating the farm crops, the students, instead of being merely assistants of experienced workmen, are actual doers of the work, being assisted and directed by the workmen. The system is said to result in the work frequently lacking the finish of that carried out by older and more experienced hands, but there is a decided advantage to the student, whose practical training could not otherwise be so complete.

Information has been received at the Tra-« ralgon (Victoria) butter factory that the consignment of butter by the Valetta sold at 123s per cwt. That from the Glengarry factory also realised 1255. These results are regarded as highly satisfactory to all concerned.

Speaking at the annual dinner of the London Farmers' Club recently, Mr C. S. Read said that Sir John Gorst asked how it happened that there were so many unemployed people in Whitechapel, and so much unoccupied land in the country ? He would ask Sir John, on the other hand, how it happened that the metropolis sends so much manure daily to the ocean, which if utilised would fertilise large tracts of waste lands ? The reply to both questions he thought was the same. The unemployed at Whitechapel did not find occupation on the waste lands nor the sewerage of the metropolis find its way thither, because it did not pay. But it was said they were to have a new creation of small farms and allotments by legislation. Allotments in the past had done some good to working men obtaining them, but lie had noticed that even these had been altered in form in recent years. They used to be in squares to be dug by the spade, but now were in lengthy strips that they might be ploughed. He for one did not believe that any working man could live out of three acres even if he had the cow given him into the bargain.

An extraordinary incident is reported from Trealaw, South Wales. A truck of cattle, sheep, and pigs was being discharged at the station, when it was discovered that the pigs had devoured three sheep, the skins and bones only remaining. The pigs' mouths were covered with blood.

A good story (says the North British Agriculturist) comes from a midland county. A farmer, who weighs all his stock at home, drove six nice little Highland heifers to an auction mart. After stalling them he was offered full value for them according to their live weights. He accepted the qffer, and latterly told his purchaser the dead weight of the cattle according to Mr M'Jannet's tables. Shortly afterwards a well-known and extensive dealer came round and was induced by the first buj'er to offer for the cattle. After muoh careful examination and mental thought the dealer purchased the lot, and the first buyer pocketed a profit of 7s 6d periiead. This good commission rather chagrined the farmer, who began to think that the live and dead weight table might be wrong. His fears on this point were soon dispelled, however ; the cattle passed into the sale ring, and no one would bid near the original price. The dealer accordingly withdrew the cattle, and now wonders how he could have made such a bluuder.

The French Journal of Agriculture gives a number of interesting details with reference to the employment of steam in connection with agriculture in France. In 1839 there were only 2450 steam engines, representing 23,308 horse power, in the whole country. In 1855 the number was increased to 8879 ; in 1860 there were 14,513 machines ; in 1879, 39,600 ; in 1889, 57,568, with a total horse power of 825,320 ; while to-day the number is estimated at 59,000. Iv 1862 there were only 1312 farm*

where such machines were used ; but the exhibition of 1878 stimulated the employment of steam upon the farm, for in the following year it was found that there was an increase of 23 per ceut. in the number of farms on which engines were in use. Threshing machines held the first rank, these being necessary to the farmer. They appeared to number 5835, many being owned by syndicates or by persons who let them out. In the second rank there were 710 machines in 701 establishments, while m the third rank there were 212 machines of much smaller power, chiefly used for the breaking of cake and similar small matters. At the present moment statistics show 12,418 establishments possessing 14,827 machines. The North British Agriculturist says that during the past season the Donaldson line ot steamers have carried 14,885 cattle and horses from Montreal to Glasgow, and notwithstanding the many violent gales that have raged, only 24 of the former and three of the latter were lost. The following very significant letter appeais in the Grocer :— " We have advised the Danish farmers that unless they send better butter (free from salt and water) than has been sent during the last few months, they will soon find the Dauish butter trade going down. I now will point out to the editor of Smor-Tidende that if he will come over heie I will show him 200 butter shops where a few year., ago everything was marked, and really was, ' Danish. But, instead of selling Danish, these 200 shops now sell Swedish, Dutch, or French, or even Irish, and find this more profitable than Danish butter. We therefore propose also to do away with our name ' Danish,' and have already workmen employed to extinguish the name. It is with a certain amount of sorrow that I aver this, as lam a Dane myself ; but I find I can buy Irish, Swedish, and Dutch butter cheaper and better than much Danish."— p. pro C. Jenskn, Gen. Manager Danish Dairies Co-op. Soc, Caki. Lant.kvad, 186 Manchester road, Bradford, November 17.