SOUTHLAND FARM NOTES. (From Our Gore Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2004, 21 July 1892, Page 11

SOUTHLAND FARM NOTES. (From Our Gore Correspondent.)

The monthly meeting of this club was held at ' Gore on Saturday last Mr Gore M'Queen, vice-president, in the Farmers' chair. The proposal by Ihe Club. County Council to subsidise local bodies such as farmers' clubs or responsible committees pound for pound for the destruction of small birds came up for discussion. This offer of the couiic'.l was deemed to be "not good enough." A number of members spoke on the subject, and the opinion was general that as the farmers paid the bulk of local rates already, club members were simply being asked to tux themselves twice over for the public benefit, and consider- | ing many farmers will not subscribe to tho club's funds, the meeting, on Mr Coutts' motion, unanimously agreed to decline the offer, but to inform the council that if they thought fit to spend money in the preparation of poisoned grain the club would give every help in the distribution. The incidence of taxation for charitable aid, which had been previously Charitable before the club, was brought up Aid. in a paper by the secretary, which dealt with the fact that land is assessed on its improved value, and borough property on its annual rental, while

the large majority ot tne people— civil servants, professional men, saljiiud officials, and big wage-earners— escaped scot free. The paper wound up by the expression of opinion that the whole cost should come from the consolidated revenue, and" failing that the resort must be that each district and borough should maintaiu its own poor. The matter was adjourned till next meeting. The club having in the past been active in urging the Borough Council to (•ore improve and extend the saleSnle> Hids. yards, will soon be called onto prove its sincerity of intention, for at a recent meeting of the council it was resolved to advertise the yards for lease. AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS. (Continued from page 7J An American contemporary furnishes particulars of two steers which for size, uniformity of colour, and exact matching are probably without rivals in any part of the world. The combined weight of the pair is 55001b, or nearly 2£ tons, and when last weighed there was only 21b difference between them. They are crossbreds — three-quarter Holstein and one-quarter shorthorn — four years old, quite black, and so much alike that it is difficult even for their owner to tell one from the other. They were

bred by Mr Frederick Richmond, of New Mil- | ford, Conn., and are owned by Mr C. W. Barnum, of Lime Rock, Conn. It is stated that representatives of the French Government are at present in Ireland purchasing horses. The number wanted is 1500, and the prices offered range from L2s' to L4O. Some difficulty has been experienced in getting horses for troopers ; but the Frenchmen will proceed to the principal Irish farms in order that the animals may be secured. The Conservator of Forests iv South Australia has been instructed to distribute eight tons of wattle seed in order to encourage the growth of the wattle. The quantity given to each applicant will be limited to lewt. The Agricultural Bureau has issued 14,325 packets of seeds, comprising 92 varieties of fodder plants, vegetables, wheat, and trees. Packets have been distributed all over the colony. It is said that cats which have been liberated in the Coonamble district, in South Australia, for the purpose of dealing with the rabbit pest, are multiplying rapidly, and aro killing the bush birds wholesale. Scarcely a pigeon can now be found where formerly they existed in large numbers, and even young ducks that are hatched near the edges of swamps are killed. Many of the cats develop to an abnormal size. The Graziers' Butchering Company, Brisbane, have secured from the Netherlands-India Government an extension oi their contract to supply corned meat to the troops in the Bast for a further period of three years. This means 7,000,0001b weight of meat, a supply for which 25,000 bullocks will be required. The company have also obtained a contract from the French Government for Haiphong (Tonquiu), and the first shipment has already been sent. According to the Melbourne Leader a Parliamentary party, now in the Cobar district, New South Wales, visited various pastoral holdings last week. The country is reported to be in a deplorable condition, even on fenced runs, owing to the' ravages of the rabbits, notwithstanding that the late drought killed innumerable numbers, and a very large number have also been destroyed by poison, &c. The runs are completely bare of feed; thousands of sheep have died, and those that have been saved have in many instances had to be sent aw ay. Quite an impetus has been given in "Victoria to the invention of rabbit traps by the taking out of patent lights by Messrs Blease and George for an automatic poison blade exlerniiuator, says tho Ararat Advertiser. Mr W. Howard, who has been engaged for some time on the perfecting of an automatic trap, which secures the rabbit alive, is now in a position to state that it will oatch an unlimited number of rabbits and still remain " set," as its action is perfectly automatic. A trial is to bis arranged for shortly. Mr M. O'Beirne has also invented an automatic trap, the principles of which have bi en proved by tiial, and this was to be set at a place where rabbits most do congregate, with a vii>w to its subscqmut examination by several local gentlemen. Mr George Primrose is also an aspirant for honour as a rabbit exterminator, and iv his invention he explains that he takes advantage of the scientific fact that a slight concussion on the cervix is sufficient to cause dislocation of the cervical joint. He uses a rotary fruit slicing machine, through which apples are passed, and as the slices drop out at the back a pepper castor attached to the machine sprinkles them freely with cayenne. He places the ''poisoned apple' 1 in rabbit infested country, and the victim, attracted by the bait, approaches to seize it, -when instead he is seized by a violent sneezing fit, and dislocation of the neck results. Mr Primrose assurer all that his patent-automatic-cayenne-peppcr-apploi'abbit extirpator is simple, cheap, and efficacious. Mr Philip C. Threlkeld has the following to say on milking strains of shorthorns in Monday's Christohurch Press :—": — " In the first place let me observe that a good shorthorn is such a good all-round animal that they cannot bo bred purely for milking attributes; 'principally' would 1)2 a better word. Well, I want to show that there have been numbers of milking strains of shorthorns iv New Zealand. First, we will take Dr Moore's shorthorn*. I remember that many of them were first-class milkers ; indeed, two of the original cows came from a part of England where they will not keep any but good milkers. At Dr Mooie's sale Messrs R. And G. Rhodes bought Brother Phil for lOOgs— a pretty good price in those early days. At Aburiri Messrs Rhodes had a splendid lot of well bred shorthorn milkers of the H.O.H. Australian brand. Brother Phil and his son Duke, from Duchess (imported) were put to these. Their produce were such that I would give much to see the like again It was a sight indeed to see these 60 or 80 fill-pails come up to the yards. The produce of Mr J. Page's bull, Omar Pasha, showed great milking qualities for generations. Many of Mr J. S. Caverhill's cattle were great milkers, especially some with * Regicide ' blood, and what was Mr A. A. Fantham's herd but a very grand strain of milking shorthorns ? Then what about Mr G. M. Bell's great family of the Jessamines, several of which came into the possession of Mr Bluett ?

Jessamine 24th, by Royal Butterfly 6th, was the grandest specimen of a dairy shorthorn I have ever seen. I will just add that one of her sons sold for a long price — I think 600gs, in Sydney. Her daughter, Princess Royal, was owned by Mr J. H. Hill, of Christchurch. Another son, Prince Imperial, g&fc nothing but heavy milkers. This very clay I was looking at one of his daughters, clo.=e on 18 years old. She was out of one of Mr Caverhill's cows, and has been a prize-taker almost up to the present day in the milking class. I have not gone over much of the available ground, still I think that I have shown that there have been milking sfcraius of shorthorns in New Zealand, and I have no doubt but that the experience of Mr J. Deans, Mr W. Boag, and other breeders will bear me out in asseiting that these families of heavy milking shorthorns have been almost innumerable." Iv noting tho end of the threshing, the Waianiwa correspondent of the Southland Times says : — "The crops were not so good as last year's, but the majority of farmers still had from 70 to 90 bushels per acre. A paddock of Mr J. S. Grieves, that last year threshed 114 bushels, this year yielded close on 100." •• Bruni," in the Australasian, writes: — "At the Sydney sheep show I met with a curious instanoeof the persistence of an accidental type in a stud flock. Some six or seven years ago there appeared in Mr V. J. Dowling's Lue stud a ram having very peculiar characteristics. He was of a handsome form, with heavy folds on neck and lighter ones on thigh, extremely robust, the staple of his wool was short, with heavy yolk and small but defined black tip, and almost without those serrations that give merino wool its elasticity, but it was packed on him in a way that is not often seen even. in the most dense-woolled flocks. The most marked peculiarity of this ram was the character of his horn. It was of small circumference, described two complete circles, and the ordinary corrugations of a merino ram's horn were absent, their place being marked by fine lines in the substance of the horn. This ram had great prepotent power, and the few ewes jiut to him produced animals of his own type. lie was a handsome sheep, but from the shortness of his staple and the straightness of his fibre I doubted if he would be of any use at the stud. "While looking over the sheep at the Sydney show I found a ram that gave unmistakable indications tbat he was related in some way to • Waxy,' the ram I have described. The staple of his wool was longer than that of the old ram, with defined serrations ; his fleece was very dense, and he had excellent covering, < but had not the handsome form of old Waxy. Even in the character of his horn this sheep bore a strong resemblance to old Waxy. It was almost smooth, and there was the same marking in the substance of the horn. It was placed first in the class for strong combing aged rams, a position his sterling merits deserved." The Metropolitan Tramway Company of Brisbane, says the Queenslandur, are at present conducting some interesting experiments regarding the preservation of maize, which go to show that the grain can be preserved for a long period by simple means. The company acquired 24 tanks of maize in May 1891, and proceeded to store it for future use. The tanks used wpyo ordinary galvanised iron tanks, each coiitftlwug about 120 bushels of fully matured maize. Twelve of thess tanks were Uerineticully sealed, the air being completely exhausted, by rocans of a lighted pnndle placed in -tho tank. The other 12 were treated in a similar manner, bub after fumigation by sulphate of carbon, for the purpose of destroying all insect life. An ordinary piece of gas piping was in&eited in tho corn, the lower end resting on :i piece of loose tow. The chemical was poured down this pipe and absorbed by tho tow, the fumes lising to the top of the tnnk through the grain. The noxious fumes of the chemical were by this means avoided. About two months ago, or almost a year after the grain had been stored, one of the tanks was opened and the grain allowed to run out through a small hole near the bottom of the tank. On examination it was found that the maize was perfectly sound, and iv as good if not bettor condition than when first stored. The contents of the tank opcuod were not subjected to the bisulphate treatment. Great satisfaction is expressed at the result of the test, and the company "are confident that when the other tanks are tapped the grain will be found equally good. It is, of course, necessary in making such experiments that the maize should be fully matured, and the tanks used should be rendered perfectly air tight. We (Australasian) hear from our Narandera correspondent that Mr Samuel M'Caughey, of Coonong, has sold to Mr Robert Rand, of Mahonga, five two-tooth rams at 200gs each, 54 two-tooth ewes at 20gs each, 26 two-tooth ewes at lOgs each, and 100 flock rams at 12gs each. Mr Rand purchased from the Coonong stud last year, and is quite taken with the weights and quality of the wool and general outline of the stock from this atud, with three-quarters and seven-eighths Vermont strain of blood. The Minister of Agriculture intends intro-

duciug a short bill this session to prevent per* sons putting colouring matter iii oleomargarine and thus giving it the appearance of butter. The colouring matter is not injurious to health, but at the same it is declared by farmers that its use enables unscrupulous shopkeepers to dispose of oleomargarine as butter, and thus diminish the sale of the latter article. Writing of the Sydney ram fair " Bruni" says : — The prevailing depression was very plainly manifested at the first day of the annual Sydney ram fair, but it was evident that even in these hard times stud sires of the highest class will realise fair prices. To many of those who are unacquainted with the breeding of stud sheep the prices paid for the pick sheep of the season may seem absurdly high, but it must be borne in mind that the ram is half tho flock, and to have a ram that suits the stud merely because he is high-priced is a false economy. It was a favourite theory with the best sheep-i farmer I ever met that if a man has got ewefl of the very highest class no price is too high to pay for a suitable ram. The sensational event of Monday's sale was the purchase of Messrs M'Farland Bros.' champion ram Triumph by Mr R. Rouse, jun., for LSO0 — a good price in these times — and yet the ram was cheap, for I have seen the time, and that not so long ago, when he would have realised considerably over double that sum. The other notable event in the first day's sale was the purchase of Mr G. 0. Clark's ram Jack Dowling by Mr Thomas Gatenby, of Pisa, Tasmania, for the sum of 2Gogs, a good price fora ram over seven years of age. . . . The sales improved considerably on Tuesday, when good prices were realised for some sheep from wellknown Tasmanian studs. The Scone merinoes, which, by tho way, did not compete at the show, realised excellent prices for the times. The event of the day was the sale of tho splendid ram exhibited last wepk by Mr C. B. Grubb, Strathroy, which took first prize in his clas*, and was tho reserre number for the championship won by Messrs M'Farland's splendid Vormont sire. In his class this ram beat his fcire, old Golden Horn 11, and the judges' verdict was endorsed by the public. This fine animal was secured by Mr James Lee, after a spirited contest, for 500gs. He comes of a splendid strain, running back through five intermediate sires of the highest class to that grand old ram Sir Thomas. His fleece is of the best description both for quality and quantity of wool, ho is well developed, and of a handsomer shape than his sire. As illustrating the enormous losses which have been sustained this year by English speculators in grain, it may be stated (says a Home paper) that the Samoa's cargo of wheat, which has lately arrived, was sold here first at 42s ; the purchaser disposed of it at 355, and finally it was sold again on arrival off coast at 30s Gd. This represents a loss of over LSOOO from tho time the cargo was sold here till its arrival off coast.