AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 11

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

(Continued from page 7.) The Australasian Pastoralists' Review says : — "The butter export trade continues to_ furnish a bright spot upon the 'horizon, and attention is more and more being turned to the possibilities of frozen meat. Owing to the excellence of the natural grasses farmers in Victoria have so far not troubled themselves much about fodder plants, but the example of New Zealand is beginning to open their eyes, and possibly the day is not far distant when our farmers will be feeding flocks for .export, even though to-day they cannot provide for the requirements of Victoria without outside assistance." The Jersey cow Lily Flag, owned by Moore and Matthews, Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A., made 10291b 13oz butter in four days less than a year, and by this yield has broken all previous records. Writing on nitrogen in the soil, in a late number of the Agricultural Gazette, Mr R. Warrin b ton, F.C.S., remarks that while the most important of all the fertilisers accumulates in the soil under certain circumstances, there is a limit to the accumulation. In pasture, for example, if only just sufficient plant food be supplied to make up for the constituents .taken away by live stock or in hay, there is an accumulation of nitrogen up to a certain point, and the case of one meadow is given, in which there was an increase of 11931b per acre in 23 years, or about 501b per annum. But, after a certain number of yeara, no further increase takes place, good land tint has been under grass for centuries being found to contain only one quarter of 1 per cent, of nitrogen, without any further increase as time goes on. Even the cjntinuou3 supply of nitrogenous manures fails to cause, accumulation. One plot of land at Rothamsted, on which wheat has been grown continuously, has received an annual dressing of 14 tons of farmyard manure per acre. The soil of this plot contains more nitrogen than that of any other in the field ; but it appears to have ceaeed to gain in this constituent, although getting about 2001b of nitrogen per acre every year, only a portion of which is taken out by the wheat crop. The explanation given is that there is a tendency in natural operations to an equilibrium, and that the greater the amount of available nitrogen in the soil becomes the greater is the waste. The lesson is that the farmer who farms 'well should be careful to crop his land so as to extract the greatest possible amount of fertilisers which he supplies. But this tendency to an equilibrium acts favourably in one way, as it saves land from utter exhaustion. It is wonderful that the soil at Rothamsted, on which wheat has been grown for 50 years without manure, should contain two-fifths of the amount of nitrogen found in pastures which are centuries in ago. ••A closely bred bull of bad shape is the most dangerous of all bull 9, because from his concentrated breeding he is more likely than a loosely bred bull to transmit his bad shapes to his offspring." We have (writes the Queenslander) in this one sentence the whole secret to Buccess in breeding to pedigree. But how frequently is an expression of opinion the very antithesis of this heard in our Bhowyards and among our cattlebreeders—namely, that although a bull may be defective in shape hia blood is good and will tell. It is true a badly shaped inbred bull may at times throw back to good progenitors, but this is not so likely to be the case with an inbred bull as with one of mixed blood. The question may be asked, What is the use of pedigree ? and to that there can only bo one answer — namely, to enable the breeder on the one hand to select from the best and on the other to avoid the bad lines of stock in introducing fresh blood into his herd. Pedigree ia only of value in concentrating blood and. assuring prepo.tenoy, and therefore in

choosing a bull the breeder should avoid a defective shaped pedigree bull even more than a defective non-pedigreed one. • The Queensland correspondent of the Australasian Pastoralists' Review says :— " The number of boiling establishments is being increased, and at the present time there are eight public, besides several private, establishments at work reducing to tallow, some ? of the surplus stock of the colony, while two fresh establishments are in course of construction, and preliminaries almost completed for the establishment of another in the north. Several of these have been formed with a view to being ultimately worked up into tinning and freezing establishments. It is tantalising to see the Brisbane freezing works at a standstill for want of shipping facilities ; but the Nairnshire is now at the wharf loading frozen carcases, and in a few days it is hoped the works will again be in full swing. During the past month several importations of Lincoln sheep have arrived for use in flocks in northern districts, and during the present week several purchases of coarse-woolled sheep have been made at the Sydney sales for Queensland flocks. Experience having shown that our inland pastures are favourable for coarsewoolled sheep, crossbreeding will now be much more largely adopted than formerly, and it is expected that in a few years nearly the whole of the pastures on Darling Downs will bo solely devoted to the fattening of crossbred sheep purchased as stores from the western districts." The Taieri Advocate gives a disoription of Mr J. Williams's East Taieri Dairy Factory, at Riccarton, from which we take the following :— " Since its establishment, some six months a^jo, the quantity of milk coming to hand has been in every way satisfactory, the factory has been kept steadily in operation, the butter is in good demand, and its quality has been highly spoken of. The bulk of the butter is placed on the Dunedin market, but it is intended to forward shipments to England during the summer. The building, although not a large one, is of fair proportions ; but with dairy factories the amount of butter manufactured cannot be gauged by the amount of space occupied by buildings. Suffice it to say, that in this case the weekly output is rapidly increasing, and that with a continuance of the same favourable conditions the East Taieri Dairy Factory will soon make a name for itself. And now a few words as to the factory itself : The milk cans are hoisted from the drays to an upstairs compartment, in which is situated the' receiving tank, ' capable of containing 300 gal of milk. After being weighed the milk is poured into the tank, from which it. is conveyed by means or pipes to the separator, which is situated on the ground floor below. Before being carried to the separator, however, the milk is warmed by means of hot water flowing underneath the tank (and heated by means of steam pipes) until it reaches the proper temperature for separating, when it i 3 conveyed,, to tho separator. The latter is a Victoria separator, manufactured by Messrs Watson, Laidlaw, and Co., of Glasgow. The, machine is simple in its construction, and is capable of performing 7000 revolutions per minute. It is claimed that the' Victoria is an improvement en other separators, being less complicated, easy to adjust, and an economical separator. By means of a simple, yet ingenious, contrivance the skim milk can be raised to a height of 15ft if required. At the* East Taieri factory there is no necessity to use this contrivance, as the skim milk is carried to a tank outside. After the separating process the milk travels along the cooler, which is kept cool by the water that eventually finds its way into the boiler. From the cooler the cream flows into cans, and the next process through which it passes is that of churning. The chum is of the square box pattern, is capable of churning 3001b of butter at a time, aVid it performs its work rapidly if the temperature of the cream is favourable when it enters the churn. After the churning operation the butter is placed' on the butter-worker— which is of the usual pattern — where the necessary amount of salt is worked in. It is then weighed into pound 'pats' and placed in one of Richardson's patent butterprinters. This moulds the butter to the proper shape, double stamps it with the factory brand —the Prince of Wales's feather, and the words 'East Taieri Dairy Factory'— and as the butler is taken from the printer it is divided into half pound 'pats,' stamped, and ready for the market," Mr Grierson, manager of the well-known New South Wales South Coast estate, Bodalla, writes to the Sydney Mail:— "We have just had our returns of yields of milk and produce made up of our various farms for the- 12 months ending June, and as I thought you would like to have the accounts of the various breeds of cattle, I herewith enclose you tho returns of three of the farms where the different breeds are kept, with actual results of each.' At Trunketaballa Farm there had been milked an average of 150 Ayrshire cows during the year, and the average yield of milk' pfer cow was 192 gal per cow, and average jield of cheese 7011b per cow (at 6d per lb, the price our cheeso has been sold at in our store,- Sussex street), which gives a groBS return of £17 10s 6d per cow. At Greenway Farm there have been milked an average of 140 cows, Holsteins. crossbred Holsteins, and South .Coast strain ; and the average yield of milk was 1 70 gal per cow, and the average yield of cheeso 6201b per cow, and a gross return of £15 10 a per cow. At Cooper's Island Farm there was an average of 120 cows milked of the South Coast or Iliawarra strain, and the average yield of milk was l*6ogal per cow, and an average yield of 5841b cheese per cow, and a gross return of £14 12s per cow. The above results are from grass alone, none of the cows having had artificial feeding. During the year we milked an average of 920 cows, the number in summer, of course, being higher than winter. The season on the whole was very good for feed, but owing to heavy rainfall we suffered to a considerable extent by the floods, which covered many of our rich flats and interfered with the cows, and no doubt affected the Average of milk to some degree. We have now a large number of estate-bred heifers of the various breeds and crosses coming into the dairies, and although it costs considerably more at present to rear young heifers than they can be bought for, yet it pays to rear all heifer calves from good cows, as it is only by doing this that a good dairy of cows can be put together, and a high. - average yield of produce attained." A touching old rural custom still prevails in the western parts of France during the harvest season. On the edge of a field bordering the highway a sheaf of grain is left standing, to which all the peasants of the village con- • tribute, and which is called " the stranger's sheaf," as it is the property of the firsts tramp or other homeless wayfarer who may care to carry it away and profit by its price. Professor Nocard, of the Albert Veterinary College, continues his important investigations on the contagion pi stock. Tuberculosis he .considers as the most terrible of cattle diseases in the rapidity of its march and the destructive' character of its results. The danger is th» difficulty of recognising its initial symptoms. It is thus that an infected animal may gain admission to a stable or a shed, communicate the disease, and cause the loss of the stocky

By the discovery of tuberculine these sad results are avoided. It is only necessary to vaccinate an animal with the tuberculine tc ascertain its state of health. If the pulse augments after the operation and the temperature of the body increases, the disease exists, when the animal should be removed and doctored. Should the pulse rest stationary, no disease is present. The efficacy of vaccination becomes still more conclusive and beneficial in the case of pig measles. It is in Hungary where this precaution is most resorted to. In 1887 only 4000 pigs were vaccinated, and in 1892 352,000. Before the vaccination was adopted the loss of pigs from measles was as high as 60, and never below 20 per cent. ; now it does not amount to 2 per cent. Odd that in France the Pasteur Institute only supplied measles vaccine for 2583 pigs during last year. In a work on the resources of the Argentine Republic by Senor Fleiss, recently published, it is stated that, notwithstanding the great progress in agriculture made in that country during the past 10 years, the number of sheep has remained almost stationary, and cattle have only increased from 15 to 18 percent. The quality both of the cattle and sheep has been greatly improvt d by the judicious importation of high-class animals. It is also stated that the area at present occupied by sheep and cattle is only one-third of that which is suitable for the purpose. The Dunstan Times states that sh< epm many parts of the country are in rery poor condition, owing to the scarcity of feed,- and in fact on some of the runs there has already been a slight loss of sheep. Unless the grass comes on shortly it is probable that a considerable number will die of starvation. Messrs H. S. Fitter and Sons report from London on June 23:— "The unprecedented heat and drought still continue, especially in the Midland aud Southern counties of England. The grass in mar»y places is Bimply bcorched up for the want of rain. Owing to the intensely hot nights, much of the west country meat has arrived on the market in a putrid condition, and yet the heavy supplies continue. In many places on the Continent they are even in a worso plight than here, for we are told that in some of the interior villages fresh meat is being sold at Id per pound. A very large amount of money has been lost in London, both by putrid meat and forced sales of fresh meat. Many of the Dutch sheep have been sold at 2d and 2^d per pound, and although the risk is so great in sending this hot weather, they still continue to arrive. Under these circums'ances (which are more disastrous to many English jfarmers than to our friends in New Zealand) it can hardly be wondered at that the prices for New Zealand mutton and lamb have this -.year proved so disappointing, and so entirely upset our hopes and anticipations of a good trade during the present season. We should be glad if we could hold out hopes of a material improvement in the near future, but we are afraid, with present heavy stocks, it may be some week* before we are able to report belter of the trade. Much, however, depends on the weather, and should we be fortunate enough to get a* week's good rain, it would, no doubt, shorten the supply of Home-killed very considerably. The only consolation we can at present offer to our New Zealand friends is that, although the present low prices must necessarily mean a loss, they are considerably better off than the farmers here, who are forced to part with their store sheep and lambs, instead of keeping them on till the autumn. This must cause a shorter supply of Homekilled meat during the winter and spring, and which should then prove a great assistance to the frozen mutton trade." At the June-July series ° f London wool sales, which terminated on the 21st ult;, out of 376,000 bales offered the Home trade secured 175,000 baleß, 138,000 baleß were purchased on Continental account, while not more that 1000 bales were taken for the United States, leaving 62,000 bales for future disposal. The abstention of American buyers is accounted for by the unsatisfactory condition of their own markets for States-grown wool— new clip. As illustrating the unsettled condition of the wool trade in the United States, the writer of a special report to the Adelaide Observer says:— "l cannot do better than record the incident of the arrival in London this past week of a parcel of about 450 bales New Zealand crossbred wool from Boston, U. S. A. The history of this transaction is said to be that the above wool was purchased at the recent colonial wool sales in Dunedin, and shipped direct to America for account of a wool-dealer. Finding prices offered by the American manufacturers altogether out of the question, based on coßfc and charges, the alternative of trying to realise on the London market has been adopted, notwithstanding the heavy additional cbarges which must inevitably be incurred. This is of course but a transitional state of affairs in the United States, but from all I can learn their own wool-growers will have to accept very low prices for this season's clip, or «lse hold it over for some months until a forecast of the new duties can be formulated on which buyers will feel safe in operating." The San Francisco journals (June 6) represent the markets for Californian wools as in a very depressed condition, mainly because of the uncertainty as to impending tariff legislation, and in a lesser degree to monetary complica--tions, and it is stated that " there is no reason now apparent why any improvement may be expected in the near future. The stocks of wcol now in warehouses in this city are simply enormous, the aggregate being upwards of 30,000 bales, but there is absolutely no demand, end prices are nominal. Many dealers freely express the belief that within another week or two the average decline in values will be 5 cents (2£d) per lb as compared with prices at the opening of the spriDg trade." The American Wool and Cotton Reporter, June 15, says of the Boston market (which virtually controls wool prices in the States) on that date : — ** Since the first week in May the weekly volume of trade has regularly diminished with the decadence of values, so that at this writing the total sales sinco January are nearly 2,000.0001b less than at the corresponding date in 1892. The downward course of values has continued, and all kinds of wool are selling at date at a cent per lb less than at last writing, •while some kinds may be had for cash on ytt lower terms. Unwashed fleeces of all grades nave had some call, and sales have been made at from 22 cents to 16 cents for fine to medium. It may be said that the local dealers (Western) are not so much of a factor as usual, because the banks are not giving them the usual accommodation. /Tome spring California is moving here, but it is only worth 12 cents to 16 cents. Northern spring, free, is about 4 cents per lb better." • . The very few breeders of superior draught horses who persevered in the pursuit while so many relinquished it because they failed to make it pay, may now congratulate themselves with confidtnee on the certainty of being well rewarded for their persistence. For some time past there have been steady inquiries for highclass stud Clydesdales, but it has transpired that there are few up to the standard quality to he bad, and in consequence animals of merit, if jjaifc.d with, command high prises, Quite *ecuu% Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Go.

bought from Mr Robert Gawn, Deerpark Farm, North Taieri, the breeder for Messrs Pelichet and Johnson, Hawke's Bay, the entire Clydesdale colt Earl of Glasgow, rising four years old. The Earl of Glasgow is bred as follows : Sire, Glancer, by the famed Lord Salisbury. Glancer's dam, Scotch Annie, imported from Scotland. The Earl's dam, Duchess 11, by Sir Colin (imp.) ; g dam, Betty, by Emperor ;g g dam, by Champion. The Earl is a bay with four white legs and blaze face. He is not one of the " wide-as-a-waggon sort with a leg at each corner," but shows substance, Btyle, and quality, and with broad, clean bone well covered with hair, and exceptionally, good action. The colt's Bhow-yard career was as followß : — As a two-year-old, first at the Taieri ; as a three-year-old, second at Dunedin, being beaten by his stabte companion ; and soon after was flrt>t ana champion in a big ring of entire 3 at the Taieri show. The colt has accordingly proved himself creditable to his breeder. A few weeks ago Mr Gawn sold another young entire (sire Hard Time 3, dam Jess, by Emperor), rising two years, to Mr Benjamin Naylor, Clyde, so that the stud Clydesdale entires at present in the Deerpark farm stables are fewer in number than for several years past. Indeed, in the dullest times Mr Gawn had always ready buyers for colts, because it was widely known that he had exceptional opportunities- and facilities for breeding first-class animals. With Lord Salisbury at the head of his stud, he never spared trouble or expense in buying and adding brood mares to the number of matrons which in his sound judgment were calculated to raise the quality of the stock. «• q According to advices received by the Victoria Agricultural department through Mr D. Wilson from London, the two classes of cheese wanted for the Glasgow market are Cheddars and Dunlops. The Cheddars should be about 701b or 801b in weight, coloured, but nob too high; they should show plenty of quality without being too acid, and the edges should be square. It will be advisable to use very strong bandages on all this class of cheese, so that the retailers can take off the bandages and it may have the appearance of Home cheese when placed on the counter. The most saleable cheese is that made on the Canadian principle. The Dunlops should be about 15£ in broad and B£indeep, white, and showing- plenty of quality, which is obtainable by cooking two or three degrees lower than in the case of Cheddars. Cheddar cheese as described will find a ready sale in all markets in England and Scotland, with the exception of Manchester and the other cotton manufacturing towns, where the Dunlops find mest favour. Messrs Coey and Co. have issued to the shippers of dairy produce in Australia and

New Zealand (writes the Australasian's London correspondent) a little pamphlet, containing a letter addressed to the shipping companies on the carriage of cheese, together with an expert's report on two cargoes which arrived in a, damaged condition during the season. The letter states that of ten ships' cargoes examined by Messrs Coey and Co. during the present season four had been carried "far too cold," three •• far too hot," and. only three at a satisfactory temperature. The letter recommends that the chamber should be kept at a temperature of between 45deg and 55deg Fahrenheit. Besides this there are many recommendations relating to the structural arrangements of the cold-air trunks, all of which suggestions seem worthy of serious consideration. The Central Queensland Meat Export Company, Limited (Lake Creek, Rockhampton), have just finished stocktaking, and the following is an abstract of operations for the half-year ended 30th June :-r-Cattle slaughtered, 20,563 head; Bheep slaughtered, 157,932 head; meat preserved (tins), 2,512,3741b; meat frozen, 5,126,2771b ; tallow refined, 3,701.78Q1b ; hides salted, 20,568; sheepskins dried, 157,932.— Qaeenslancer. The Bourketown correspondent of the North Queensland Herald states that at the Carpentaria Meat Works the highest price realised during the past year for really good bullocks, by the boiling-down process, was a trifle over £2, the return from " scallywags " being less than half that sum. Last year the company attempted to cure beef and tongues by the salting process, but the result was a failure, though an expert was employed to treat the meat. This failure, Mr Allcut, the Government experb in the art of curirg meat, who has recently paid Biurketown a visit, pointed out is due to the want of refrigerating machinery to take the animal heat out of the carcase. Mr Allcut made the following remarks in anEwer to inquiries on the subject of the meat trade in Northern Queensland:— "You ought to have a large and ever-increasing Eastern market for your salt beef and tinned meat. India and Java should take as much as you could supply. With cheap cattle and the market at your doors . you can successfully compete with American traders. Ido not know any industry that woul(J pay a better percentage on the money invested than the meat industry in Queensland." From the foregoing it would appear that beyond boiling down cattle for jtheir tajjow no preparation has been madeto carry on the salting and tjnnpg of beef with any hope of success in a tropical .climate such as that of Bourketown. Tfce sale of fee enfae §ook of pro hlaok-

faced Suffolk sheep bred by the late Mr E. Gittus, of Manor farm, Snailwell, England, is announced in tho Australasian. The sheep consist of 600 shearling, two-shear, three-shear, and older ewes ; 200 ewe lambs, 40 ram lambs, and 10 shearling rams. All these sheep are registered in the Suffolk Flock Book. The Butter Bonus Bill now before the South Australian Parliament consists of the following seven clauses: — 1. This act may be cited for all purposes as " Butter Bonus Act 1893." 2. In this act, unless the context otherwise requires, "exported butter" shall mean butter made in South Australia of South Australian produce and exported to a port outside the Australasian colonies. 3. Any maker of butter Bball, during the period of three years after the coming into operation of this act, be entitled to receive from the Treasurer 2d for every pound of exported butter made by him. A. Before such butter is exported the Treasurer shall bs satisfied that such butter is of the best quality, and well suited and properly packed for export, and no payment shall be made in respect of a less quantity than 5001b exported at one time. 5. The Treasurer may make regulations for carrying into effect the provisions and purposes of this act, and the same shall be published in the Government Gazette, and shall thenceforth have the force of law. 6. Any regulation made pursuant to the preoeding section may provide for the offioial stamping and certifying of butter which as to quality, kind, and packing complies with the requisites of section 4-. 7. The general revenue of tho province is hereby appropriated for the payment of the bonus provided for by this act. '