AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2014, 29 September 1892, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

William Frisby, a settler, was committed for trial at Invercargill on the 21st on a charge of killing a cow, the property of William Butler, with intent to carry away the carcase. The-sow had been straying on Frisby's place for two years, and over 18 months ago he advertised that unless removed it would be destroyed. No one claiming it, he killed it in July last. He never denied killing it, and showed t.he skin to the owner when asked to do so. Butler wanted L 5 for the beast, but Frisby would not settle, and a criminal prosecution was then instituted. Mr Rawson, R.M., fixed bail at L2OO. The s.B. Talune landed at Dunedin wharf on Thursday morning three very handsome entire horses for Messrs Bacon Bros., with a remarkably compact-looking trotting pony for Mr Sinclair Thomson. The Lyttelton Times states that in place of the usual method of destroying sparrows with poison, Mr E. Wilder, of Ngapara, Fernside, has made a trial of netting them, with a very satisfactory result. The net used is stretched on a hoop at the end of a rod, which also carries a light. On passing the net along the hedges at night the birds, being disturbed, make for the light and are caught in the net. The first night a trial was made over 100 birds were caught. . f; Some considerable sensation was caused in the Leithfield and Balcairn districts a short time ago (says the Lyttelton Times) through 39 lambs, belonging to different farmers, being worried. Several of those interested armed themselves with guns and agreed to watch at

night in the paddocks. The destruction still went on, and one person reported that he had lost three pigs and the tail of his sheep dog." At last it transpired that a well-known farmer in the district had left off its chain a pet monkey, which had amused itself with strolling' about cracking lambs' skulls as though they were large species of nuts. The immense scheme for the compulsory insurance of crops brought before the Soci<sl6 Economique Impexiale de St. P&ersbourg by M. Grass, says a telegram from St. Peters-., burg by Dalziel, is attracting the greatest attention throughout the country. M. Grass, who is a great authority on agricultural subjects in Russia, has elaborated his scheme upon the following lines:— There are in normal times 100 million arpents (1 arpent = 1£ acre) of land under cultivation in Russia. On a study of previous crops, quality of the land, atmospheric conditions, as well as of fluctuations,' tables have been prepared to show the^ average harvest that may be anticipated from each arpent of land under cultivation. On these tables a tariff has been drawn up, based on the theory of probabilities, by which the value of 80 per cent, of the average crop can be assured to every peasant on payment of a premium varying from six kopecks to 94 kopecks per arpent of corn. It is understood that the Societe Economiquo Imperiale has approved the project as indispensable, and that it is now under consideration at the Ministry of Finance., The principle of compulsory insurance has already been adopted in Russia and in several provinces. Every peasant's hut is compulsorily insured against fire. A farmer assures the Mount Ida Chronicle that never since settling in the district — 10 or 12 years ago— has he seen the land in such grand condition as it is in this season. Farmers everywhere are already indulging in bright hopes of abundant crops, and although it is, somewhat premature, still the present conditions are so satisfactory that they have some reason for looking forward with hopefulness, and we sincerely trust their anticipations may be "VheHabart Mercury of the 16thinsfc. refers as follows to a quintity of stud stock brought out by the Coptic by a well-known Manawatu settler :— " By the s.s. Coptic, which arrived' here yesterday, Mr Robert Cobb, of Raukawa'^ Palmerston North, New Zealand, is bringing some Cotswold and Romney Marsh rams and ewes, which he has selected out of no less thafc 30 of the best English flocks, afkr a mostcareful examination. The Romney Marsh Bheep, Doric and Coptic, are imported for the purpose of improving Mr Cobb's 'wellknown flocks. The Cotswolds are for Me Davidson, of Levin, Manawatn, New Zealand,

who hopes to establish this breed In that district. The two ram hoggets are of enormous size, and it seems scarcely credible they are only 16 months old. These animals* with the ewes, -were selected, without considering expense, from the flocks of Mr Garner, of Northbeach, on the Cotswold Hills. For the past few years Mr Garner has carried all before him for rams and ram hoggets at the R. A. shows of England. Mr Cobb's Romney Marsh sheep are evidently the result of a selection based upon the experience of a number of years. In two of the Cotswold rams, Buffalo Bill and Ta-ra-ra'-Boom-de-ay, will be found weight, substance, evenness of fleece, and symmetry combined in such a manner as is somewhat fbreign to English sheep-breeders, who it is known consider mutton of paramount importance. The rest of the sheep are fine specimens of their class. The rough weather and privations inseparable from a sea voyage have "had little effect on the animals, which may be taken as an evidence of their strong constitutions. Some Pekin ducks accompany th 6 sheep. They wereprizetakers at the Highland Agricultural Association." . It iB stated (says the North Otago Times) ■ that a quartet of grain speculators in Canterbury have, between them lost about LIOO.OOO this year in grain dealings. They made about A -similar amount last year, and the ups and downs of grain dealings are exemplified in these facts. X The application of eleotricity to tanning on a commercial scale is reported to be making quite extensive progress (says the Engineering News). Although often spoken of as tanning by electricity, it is really tanning with electricity. The tanniug process consists in a chemical union between the tannic acid from the bark, or other tanning agent, and the gelatine of the hide. As ordinarily carried out the process is a slow one, requiring from a few weeks to a year, or more, for the proper treatment of the skins. The application of the electric current is claimed to greatly expedite the process, so that two to four days suffice to complete the tanning after the skins are made ready for action by the tanning liquor.' Various theories are proposed to I account for the action of the electric current in this case, but the well-known effect of the current in inducing chemical action is sufficient to sslow that the process has really a scientific i basis. '. 'The Lyttelton Times of Thursday last says : I'. I ' No' better proof of the value of the pastures in Canterbury could be desired than that afforded by the phenomenal size to which some merino wethers which were sold at yesterday's live Btock marktt by the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile' Agency Company on behalf of the Baccleuch ' Estate, near Mount Somers, had attained. For quality of breeding, staple, size,

symmetry, and finish, the picked pen of merino •wethers, which were bought by Mr James Knight, of High street, at 21s 6d a head, could not well be beaten in the world. Mr Knight ' also bought from Mr Tabart a very prime pen of crossbred wethers from the Cust district, which were undoubtedly the best of the kind in yesterday's sale, and realised 23s 6d, We (Mataura Ensign) are glad to learn that the. slaughtering works at Mataura are now kept fully employed, and that no fewer than "nine butchers are required to deprive the sheep of life and render the carcase fit for the Home "country. Some exceptionally fine drafts have bsen placed' under Mr Kingdon's care recently. .One was a line of 2000 from the New Zealand 'Agricultural Company, and anyone who has resided iv Southland for even a few years knows that-the management aim at producing — and do produce — a class of sheep fit for any market, and a credit to the Waimea Plains. Another lot that deserve mention are almost "foreigners." "They come from Messrs M'Ritchie". and M'Leod, or Tapanui. Altogether they sent down 2500, and oE this number 1200 have already reached the works. They are two-tooth wethers, and on the scale average just about 641bs a-piece, the weight that will be most acceptable in London. Two-tooths should be appetising morsels for our friends over the sea, and we are assured the quality of the lot under notice is superior to that of any other line ever shipped from New Zealand or likely to be despatched for some /time to come. It is gratifying to have these Tapanui people down our way, and may they always bring with them such superior lines of sheep for the works recently established and which promise to be of great advantage to the Mataura Valley !— There is a good deal of trouf poaching going on just now, and we expect shortly to see some of tho poaching gentry introduced to the R.M., when they will no doubt meet with their due reward. We can bardly"believe that any follower of the gentle Izaak would so far transgress as to fish during the close season, and any poacher deserves a heavy punishment. Taking the fish from tbe river 'before the season opens, or even after it comes in, and without a license, is nothing more, nor less than stealing, and should be punished as such, seeing the great expense the acclimatisation societies have been at in stocking our rivers and creeks with trout. We [ trust that this note of warning will pub a stop" to the practice. ' "At the beginning of tho sale of fat sheep at the Addiogton market yesterday (says Thursday's Lyttelton Times) Mr J. E. Hanson, of Riccarton, asked leave to say a few words. Having ascended the raiis,Mr Hanson remarked that ho should bo glad to know how it was that

the skin marked was so managed in Christohureh that at *hfl present time, when th» value of skins should be considerably mor* than it was some six weeks ago, and there* was no depreciation in the value of wool at? Home, they were getting considerably less for their skins than they ought to. He -was particularly careful to a'aalyae what^hß/bougnt, and he found that he hafl been paying as much for his sheep up to last teek' as before, but the skins realised fully Is 3fl less than they were bringing sis weeks ago, whVeas they ehduld be worth at least 2s more.\He considered. that the auctioneers did not deal* fairly' with the butchers, as they strove to gti the last penny out of them for the stook, arid' did nob watch their interests in the disposal 'oTtlhelfki&S, .** anyone could give tho explanation he 'aboutd'toe glad. Mr J. T. Matson, in retoy, rfeidarkedl that the butchers purchased theiftshe&p in the open market, and no attempt waifcmade to ex».tort excessive values. As for th^ skins, the auctioneers were not responsible for jhe actions of the fellmongers, who controUed\the local market. The auctioneers could nofc compel tho buyers to pay more for the skins.' Alf mote competition were required, the .butfSnsrS had better introduce some new blood into-the fellmongering trade. He Contended that ..the butchers had not been paying so much'toßtheir meat during tho past few Weeks as the^had ' been previously. Mr Hanson replied ithat he could prove they had paid fully as much. The matter then dropped, but during the day the subject was freely discussed.'and the question of how to deal with the skins was warmlj , argued. V ' • » James Ellis, butoher, of the ■ Viotqria Meat Market, Melbourne, was recently ' fined Lls, with 12gs costs, for offering for sale mutton unfit for human food. The inspector of markets found 10 Bheep full of flukes, and a veterinary surgeon stated that he had never seen worse mutton.

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at Brantridge Park. In 1843 Gaptain Macarthur's sons—who had never before parted with ewes— sold 160 ewes oMd some rams to Mr Campbell, who depastured them on his stations. in Victoria. This flock (with their 6tation) was sold ; ' and the Camden flock changed hands more than once, but it has always been treated by its successive owners with the care duo to its high character. In 1873^ the Hon. 'William Campbell again became possessed of it, and placed it on his estate-ac Auchmore,Jout he afterwards took it to another station, , where it 6till remains. To bring tho history d<nvu to date, I have to state that 10 ewes and-^wo rams of this stock were imported into England by Mr Campbell in 1885. These — aid their increase — are now the property of. Mi^Finlay Campbell, at Baloombe. With the range of the Southdowns in full view, the merino ! sterns to have found a congenial home. It. js possible that, in the damper districts now held by Cheviots and Border Leicesters, merinos might not flourish ; but there is no reasonjvhy they should not again do so in the drier jparts of England, as they have been doing in? Surrey and in Sussex. The flock of merinos kt.Brantridge Park consists of 36 ewes (including .seven of ; the original lot imported from Australia), and eight hoggets which have not at present had . lftmbs. The old and young ewes -together enable one to detect the character of the breed,- • They are exceedingly uniform (as might be expected from their close breeding), and they-are. almost as well shaped as are the best Southdowns. . They are straight in back, dpep in chest,' barrel-shaped in body; and, although a few of them may be slightly "throaty"— having the skin of the throat rather fully developed — not one of them is disfigured by,* dewlap. The face is well covered with wool, and the legs and belly are so too. The wool' reaches .below the hock and knee in all the youriger sheep ; though the ewes sometimes lose this characteristic at lambing time. The facts are white, sweet in expression) and covered with a lovely skin of such soft texture a^d Bbiuing appearance that perhaps satin is the right word to use in describing its texture, rather than -velvet. Let it be added that if there is one kiud of soap better than another, such as this or. that noted person uses to soften the "skin, it might* be conceived that such a compound had been used at the toilet of' these beautiful merinos; so soft and tempting do' they look. They are all thickset and low on the legs ; and the rams are slightly Roman-nosed. The stout build of this particular strain of selected merinos may partly account for the success which has attended the sheep farmiDg of Mr Campbell, senior (who is still living), andW his eon. A knowledge of the superiority of their own sheep induced the in-breeding.- They carefully avoided the introduction of blood from other flocks in Australia, because a selection of only the best to breed from has not been very much practised there. By the "wholesale method of sheepbreeding of ' Australia, many of the flocks, although pure in blood (at the period when wool alone was exported and frozen mutton unknown), were inferior in character. Tho special suitability of the breed for a droughty country, where the sheephave to travel far for water (though not so far nowadays that reservoirs are being multiplied), was its hardihood and power of withstanding drought. The merino could endure' a great deal of exercise, and yet recover their condition rapidly after suffering hardship. In all these respects the breed now represented- at Balcombe were pre-eminent, and they exhibit no sign of degeneracy. Up to four years old the rams, when washed, have cut 12ib of wool yearly. - After four years old the fleece begins to get lighter and thinner, which is manifest in the case of an old ram from Australia which,-*at 12 years old, has a fleece shorter, thinner on the skin, and therefore lighter than that of the younger animals. As the sheep, on' Mr Campbell's home farm are kept on pastures the wool is always clean. It repays examination ; for finer merino woolmore soft and silken in texture— can hardly have been eeen. It belongs to the class of wool used for the 7 very finest cloth. Owing to its spiral habit" of growth, it lengthens when pulled ou€, measuring about sin long. Mr Campbell informs- me that the merino mutton of Australia is superior to that of any of the crosses ; he compares it with the Welsh. Still, it is hardly likely that merino mutton will eclipse tbe t popularity of the best mutton of our own breeds'. "

The flock at Balcombe was primarily introduced from Australia in consequence of the great interest which attaches to a flock known to have been in-bred for 100 years ; but it was also prized as a" memento of the great industry in which, the owner was formerly engaged. It is, however, an incidental advantage of the presence' of these pure merinos that they give the opportunity of crossing them with several English .."breeds. ' T)uring my visit to Brantridge Park on June 4, I saw three or four lots of halfbieds/ and, 1 among them, were some wether , hoggets \l3 months old, bred from Southdown ewes-anS a merino ram. They have whiter faces' than^Southdowns, the colour of the male -parent' having" been impressed upon them. The headend belly are, as shepherds Bay, well-" woolled pp," and the fore legs are covered down to'tji'e knee, while the hind legs are covered below the hocks. They had not been shorn when-L saw them, but I have 6ince been informed that some fleeces weighed 101b each. The hoggets were estimated to weigh Bst each, 'and they would have weighed lOst at 13 months if they had been fed for the butcher. The effect of the cross has been to improve the wool, which'is finer and longer than in the pure Southdown, while the quantity has been -increased. . The weight of 81b per teg per fleece — or lib of wool per stone of mutton at 13 months old — id above the average yield of the pure Southdown. But then this particular breed of merinos— selected, as it was, for many years —has probably yielded, per 1000 or per 10,000 sheep, the largest quantity and the best wool of any flock in the world. So, at least, we are told in a book from which I have taken some of my facts— i.e.', -Mr G. A. Brown's "Sheepbreeding in Australia." Buckland farm, outside Brantridge Park, has a fair view of the Downs, 12 miles distant, that part of the hill which is pierced by the London, Brighton, and South Coast railway being immediately in front of us on the south, and the Devil's Dyke a little on the west. At Buckland farm we found the ewe-tegs of the same cross, and there were also three other ewe-tegs out of Kentish ewes, by a merino ram, the latter being a month younger than the former, but larger nevertheless. The wool of the Kent cross was rather harsher than that of the half bred Southdowns, and it retains less of the fine merino quality. Nor were the fleeces so heavy, the picked specimens of the half Kentish weighing 91b 2oz against 101b. It ia too soon to speak of the quality of the mutton. It is well ,known that the crossbred sheep (between merinos and Southdown 3) have furnished much of the mutton which has come from Australia and New Zealand, and this fact, with the preference for small joints, lends greet interest to Mr Campbell's experiment. We callFd" at. -another homestead, known as N'tw England' farm, to vibifc 22 pure merino r.ams, a" stsud}' and pugnacious crew, 88 tho broken honis of one or two champions amongst than assert. They are an interesting lot of

sheep with stout horns that take a doable twist close to the cheek.

I hope that a sample of them will be sent to the Royal to show what in-bfeeding and selection will effect in a breed which has never yet been tampered with. After four years old the fleece of the ram weighs less every year, one of the rams is now a veteran' l2 years old, and he is the only one of the original lot that came from Australia ; in consequence of declining < years his wool has become shorter and thinner on the skin, just as in the case of human hair under similar conditions. It would seem not impossible that this pure flock of ancient origin may possess good points— hardihood, excellent small mutton, and the finest possible wool— i. which might render its admixture with English breeds advisable. One can hardly doubt the prepotency of this old breed when crossed with sheep more artificial in their mixed blood and more recent in the fixation of their types.

[Four samples Of the wool of this flock have been sent to this office. In order to obtain an opinion of the character of the fleece which should be worth the having, we submitted the packets to a member of a firm of wool mercbauts who hold a high position in the -trade. The report is t •• The samples you send are good well-bred wools; which would compare for quality and condition with most Australian wools. No. 4 seems not to be quite equal to the others. The weights,^** corded are (1) th 9 aged rams, lllb 9oz; (2) two-shears, lllb 14£oz ; (3) shearling, No.'l, lllb 8oz; (4-) shearling, No. 2— i.e., the onewhose fleece is held to be less fine than the others, weighed 121b 4£oz.— Ed.]