AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2104, 21 June 1894, Page 11

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

An interesting experiment made by Mr C. Whitehead, of Banning House, Maidstone, as narrated in the Midland Counties Herald, is worth recording Mr Whitehead drilled two acres of land with Sea of Azof barley in July last at the rate of two and a-half bushels per acre. It grew with remarkable rapidity and luxuriance, and was fit to cut green at the end of September, when it served as valuable food for horses and other farm animals. It was left on the ground through the winter, and now gives promise of another large crop during the spring. Under the heading "Novel Fodder Plants," the Adelaide Observer says :—": — " There are two plants common in Australia, in some parts regarded as nuisances, which, if put to their proper uses, would prove to be of value for fodder purposes, both being highly nutritious.

The first is tho common cactus (Opuntia vulgaris), having thorny 'loaves' and yellow flowers, followed by what are callefd '.Indian figs.' The 'leaves' of this plant can be deprived of their fearful thorns by holding them on an iron fork over a blazing fire, or could be easily burned off by passing them through a furnace made for the purpose. When cattle begin to eat the cactus leaves— with tho thorns on — they will never leave off till they are killed by the thorns The other plant is the American aloe (Agave americana), which also is nutritious, and liked by stock if cut up like chaff. . This plant seems to have almost as many useful properties as the cocoanu l ; palm. It produces a s rong fibre, is a good hedge plant, yields a kind of beer (which distilled gives a fiery spirit), soap, soda, vinegar, honey, razor strops, backing for insect cases, and fence rails, besides being useful for several other purposes.

The profitab'eness of shipping horses, intended for the sale in England, is (says the Sydney Mail) yet a moot point, although the London market has been tested several times. A project is now taking practical shape, by which a syndicato of London capitalists will test the trade. Arrangemcn's are in progress for the shipment of a trial consignment to London, to be forwarded in the course of a few weeks. The se'ection of the borsos has been paced in ttc hands of Mr J. E. Black, of artanly, and he will probab y be requested to accompany and supervise t is first shipment.

The Farm Implement News of Chicago says that the demand for agricultural machinery, particularly for harvesting machines, from tho Argentine Kepublic last season was greater than ever before, and the aggregate of sales far exceeds that of any previous year. " Much of the trade, however, has been done on credit, and at present prices for wheat down there, when reduced to the god basis, an acre's produce does not go very far on the payment for a harvester and binder They have had a fine harvest, a big trade in farm implements, and have got more deeply in debt, which latter, may be very unfortunate if in the future, as in tho past, gold money continues to appreciate in value, thus lowering prices and making it still harder to pay debts than it is now."

Some pregnant experiments were made last year in the Frenoh department of the Doubs upon the relative advantages of broadcast and drill sowing. Two hundred and twenty-three kilogrammes of wheat to the hectare were sown broadcast and only 151 kilos by the drill ; thus the drill secured a saving of T& kilos per hectare of seed, or over 30 per cent. 'J'ho yield, moreover, in the case of the drillsown crop was found — on land ordinarily manured— to be 22 per cent in excess of that of the broadcast wheat, and this is only a new conGrmation of previous observations ; and tho more highly manured the soil the greater tho advantage of sowing with the drill proved.

Mr W. M. Pearson, who has been in tho employ ofiM'Burney, Wallis, and Co., the wellknown Sydm-y wool and produce brokers, since they commenced business, has, according to the Sydney Mail, invented a quick way of calculating the value of hides at the price per lb realised, with the trade allowance of 6 per cent. tare. The plan has been printed, ancl adopted by the auctioneering firms engaged in the trade, and it is estimated that tho time saved under the new method is more than onehalf as compai - ed with the old system of working out each item. The invention, while proving a great boon to the produce trade in our city, will greatly facilitate the arly despatch, of returns to owners.

On the subject of heavy draught horses, Mr P. R. Gordon, chief inspector of stock for Queensland, writes: — "Although I hail from the home of the Clydesdale, and much as I admire the breed, I have for years past been of opinion that the Australian draught horse of the future will be of the Suffolk Punch type. In the days of my boyhood the Clydesdale was an exceedingly active horse, never exceeding and rarely reaching 16hds high. The modern Clydesdale is not a farm horse. The Suffolk is essentially an active farm horse. Tho modern Clydesdale is bred for sale, the Suffolk is bred for work. During a recent visit to Messrs Dangar and Bell's Noorindoo run, near Surat, I saw at work (tank making) two teams of Suffolk mares, eight in each team, and a prettier sight on a farm it would be hard to imagine. All were of exactly the same colour, whole chestnut, as like as peas. Their beautiful oblique should rs, handsome " crests, immensely strong coupling in the loins, tremendous arm and gaskin, clean legs,' and the manner in which they filled the collar, dragging the large scoop through soft ground, was a, sight I shall not soon forget 1 hey never once, jf-rked in the harness, pulling as steadily as a well-seasoned team of bullocks, but at a pace that would have gone rings round an ordinary team of Clydesdale or shire horses. The two last-named breeds have their uses, of course. Where great weight is required, such as the old brewer's dray, the heavy, hairy-legged Scotch and t nglish horses are unapproachable ; but then the lorry is fast superseding the dray. For farm work, the lorry, and the carrier's waggon, in the Australian climate especially, commend me to the clean-legged Suffolk Punch."

In one or two States of America there have* been laws enacted making it a misdemeanour, punishable by heavy fines or imprisonment, to offer for sale or to sell seeds with which are mixed seeds of noxious v eeds or pests For instance, seeds of dodder amongst seeds of clover or lucerne would subject the vendor to all the pains and penalties by the law aforesaid authorised to be inflicted If such laws were universally enforced, there would be much greater prosperity amongst farmers and gardeners In the Australian colonies there is (says the Adelaide Observer) probably an annual loss of one half of the po-sible product of our wheat fields through the presence of foreign weeds, such as wild drake, and other cereal «. Each one of '^hese 'plants not only occupies the place of a plant which should form a portion of the crop, but it robs all the neighbouring plants of much of their nutriment and decreases their vitality and productiveness. The increased employment of manure, especially artificial manure, in France has been considered as an indication of agricultural progress in that country. It may be interesting, then, to learn the general result of replies made by some 30 agricultural syndicates to inquiries addressed to them on this head. Superphosphates were used to the amount of 32,861 tons in 1893, as against 11,750 tons in 1889, showing an increase of 180 per cent, during the period. In the use of natural phosphates there was an increase of 29 per cent., in slag of 135 per cent , in nitrate of soda 55 per ceut , chloride of potassium 27 per cent., sulphate of potassium 283 per cent. ; while organic and composite manures rose respectively 134 per cent, and 114 per cent, during the same period — 18891893

At last week's meeting of the North Otago Agricultural Association the question of prizes came up for consideration. It was resolved to give cups as usual, against an amendment by Mr Gemmell, seconded by Mr Livingstone, "that cups to the actual value of prizes taken be given." — Mr Hedley considered that chum-

pionships should be given. — Mr Lang thought that if they took sgs from the cup of 20gs for the largest prizctaker, and gave it as a prize to the best auimal in its class instead of a certificate, it would be a very desirable thing. — Mr Holmes moved that the cup for draught horses be 15gs instead of 20gs. — This was seconded by Mr Chaffey and agreed to. — The matter of giving sgs to the champion horse was deferred. — The cup for Ayrshires was reduced from 20gs to 15gs, merinos from 15gs to lOgs, and Leicesters and Lincolns were reduced from 20gs to 15gs in each case. The other cups were, agreed to. An extra cup of 7gs was offered for Alderney cattle; and a cup of 7gs was also added for English Leicesters. — Mr John Reid, president, intimated that he would give lOgs, to be apportioned as the society considered advisable. — The judges were not empowered to withhold prizes even when exhibits, in their opinion, were of insufficient merit. The best animals on the ground to be awarded the prizes.

The Taieri Advocate says: — "In our last issue we mentioned that Mr Archibald M'Donald, of East Taieri, intended competing for the bonus offered by the Government for the "best machine for dressing New Zealand flax We have since been shown two specimens of dressed flax — one being dressed by the machines now 'generally in use, the other being dressed by Mr M 'Donald's machine. The flax as dressed at the present time is (compared with the specimens shown us by Mr M 'Donald) rough in fibre, dirty in colour, and generally coarse in material. Although Mr M 'Donald's specimen had only been put through the first stage it was much finer in fibre, the material was softer, and the strands were, of a good colour. The gum not — as in the case with the other — being allowed to mix with the fibre in any way, consequently the coarse strands so frequently met with in flax are entirely absent. The flax can, if it is desired, be dressed much finer than the sample which we were shown ; in fact it can be treated until the strands 'are as fine as cotton. It is clean and white, with none of the stringy substance (so frequently found in dressed flax nowadays) present. Mr M'Donald has taken out a provisional patent for his ]machine,[which we hope will prove as successful as its inventor anticipates." • The shortness of the supply of New Zealand frozen mutton in London in the first quarter of this year is commented upon by the London correspondent of the Australasian Pastoralists' Review, who writes under date April 6 as follows :—": — " To state that last Saturday morningthe stock of New Zealand mutton on the market was but 200 carcases is to, I believe, announce a record fact From January 1 to March 20, only 99,195 carcases of New Zealand mutton have been imported, against 283,500 for the corresponding period of last year. The difference is very marked, and is to be deplored. The high price has necessarily checked consumption in many districts. Butchers here do not care to stock New Zealand mutton at a price above 4£d, and when the meat is at a higher 'figure they go out of the trade, and want some tempting to come back again. Considerable shipments are on the point of arrival, and these will, of course, have the effect of lowering prices, in all probability with a severe downfall. When they come to hand and are placed on the market it will be interesting to observe whether the mutton will be absorbed fairly eagerly without a very marked fall below average values. Should this be the case it will, I presume, be evident that the trade is thoroughly satisfactorily established, and can ' stand shocks like alternations of famine and plenty ; but from many points of view the scarcity of New Zealand mutton, prevailing for a considerable period, is a matter to be regretted."

A Christchurch Press reporter recently interviewed a Canterbury gentleman (Mr Waymouth) who, while on a trip to Australia, had made inquiries as to the possibilities of the frozen meat trade in the neighbouring colonies. Mr Waymouth is of opinion that New Zealand has nothing to fear from Australian competition, as will be seen from the following extract : — "As I said to a gentleman in Melbourne, 'We New Zealanders are not afraid of spoonfed industries.' You can be quite assured of this, that throughout all my travels in Australia I saw nothing within even measurable distance— or, as we should say, within coo-ec— of either Belfast or Islington. Anyone who has had the fear, as you tell me has been the case, . that Australia is going to be anything like a formidable rival to us for many years to come, can dismiss it altogether. The only chance that the pastoralists of Australia have of entering into competition with us is in a change of the breed of their sheep. At present the Australian mutton going Home returns nothing to the producer They are, it is true, doing some canning and boiling down ; but the prime quality of mutton such as we send into the market from North Canterbury is not there, and it will take a considerable time, even if the squatters had the money, to make the change But they have no money to do it, and therefore I say that' the day when Australia will be a formidable rival to us in the frozen meat industry is a long way off. Summed up, the reason for the faith that is in me on this subject is that the sheep are not of a quality to reach a price in the market that will pay the grower ; and further the appliances of the freezing works are so primitive that they will be far behind us in this respect.