AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2181, 19 December 1895, Page 49

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The lonic, which left Wellington for London on Thursday, took one of the largest dairy produce cargoes ever sent from the colony. One thousand and thirteen kegs and caies of butter were transhipped from the Takapuna alone. An Order-in-Council prescribing regulations for tbe introduction of stock and artificial manure from Australia into New Zealand is gazetted. The introduction of sheep from Western Australia is prohibited. A Nottinghamshire farmhouse and land*, which formeily sold for £10,000, bave jußt realised £4000. The total receipts in connection with the Cantsi bury metropolitan show amounted to £1760 7s, aud fche expenditure to £1236 18s 6tl, leaving a credit balance of £531 9s 6d. Messrs Louden and Maw, of Mataura. have (says ihe Mataura Ensign) applied for letters patent for a combined scu flier and turnip thinner which they have been workiDg at for over 12 months. Last season they tried a modification of tbe machine on some crops of turnips, bat were not satisfied with its work, but have now produced an implement which many practical farmers p-onounce to be perfectly adapted for tbicning and scuffling turnips at one operation. A trial was made on Mr Gray's farm last week, and all who saw the working of the machine were satisfied that it will scuffle and thin turnips sufficiently well for sheep. It operates on two drills at once, is hauled by one horse, and can bo seb to any width of drill. It 13 intended to give it a public trial within a week or 10 days. Bight head of Clydesdale colts, four and five years old, were recently shipped to Eogland by their breeders, Messrs George and Charles Binnie, of Liverpool Plains, New South Wales. They were sons of Duke of Athol, from firabclaes mares. Duke of Athol, bred by the New Zealand Stud Company, is a son of Blair Athol, imnofted at a cost of £1200. The Duke took

, first prize at Singleton, and has the champion* ship of his diatiicb. The colts h&(\ been on rich pastures ever since they were foaled, and were expected to make good prices in England, but fche result was sadly disappointing. They were sold in England on November 16, and realised from 15£g6 to 40g*, averaging 25gs each. They would probably have brought more in the colony. American flookmatters are showing a strong partiality for the Shropshire, and of late they have been importing freely from England with the object of improving tbeir flocks. The steamship Covic recently took from Liverpool 104 registered Shropshire sheep, consigned to Mr John Mahouey, who purposes starling a purebred flock with them in Wyoming State. A correspondent writes to the Southland News that the trial of a recently-patented implement known as Graham and Wntgon'a Light* uing Gorro Clipper caused some sensation atnoDg the folks of Inglewood, Riohmond, and Grove Bash districts. For chipping and clear* ing scrub of any kind it is described as invaluable. There is no jar to the hands, whioh ara kept free from contact with the gorge or eorub, and ib is impossible to break either handle 01 blade, which are set in such a manner as to dispenss with stooping. The Ohristchurch Press says that Mr 0. Dam-pier-CrosF'ley, who has been viewing hi« Bskhead run after the severe stirnu, finds that 3600 1 sheep out of a flock of 6500 ewes have perished, and that nbont 11 ponies and horses are not accounted for. Io one instance sheep were found frozen with their heads sticking above the anow and ica. Mr Trebeok, sen., of Sydney, recently observed that a salted bide was covered with something, which proved to be & vast aggregation of the Queensland tick. The tkin was simply invisible by reason of the multitudes. Each insect, when distended with blood, would be about the size of a pea, and probably when it attached itself the size might not have exceeded a very large pin's head. Having obtained a meal, the insect falls to the ground, probably to mature its reproductiva life and deposit a couple of thousand eggs on the ground. These in their turn hatch and watch for the main chance of an animal approaching. If the adhesion is successful the tne»l of blood is taken, and the tick falling, doubtless faz away from where it made the acquaintance ol its host, renders another spot of ground infected with the pest. Thus it comes to past that a large area may become dangerous to animal life. When myriads attach themselves the aggregate loss of blood is very great, and no wender that the weakened animals die.— Sydney Mail. A paper in California, the Woodland Mail, gives this statement from one of it» readers :— T " Oh, yes ; we are learning very fast to adjust ourselves to the times. Many years ago my barnyard was as full of chickens as now. But we are much more respectful tc them than we used to be. Tben, when I could come home from my annual wheat sale with a mulepack of 20dol pieces, none of the family knew or cared where the hens' nests were ; but now, when we take eggs to town to pay grocery bills, every nest i« spotted and every egg is counted. The roosting place is alio well known, and often raided to fill the coop for mirket. Yes, we are learning every day how to live. We will soon be graduated in this school of hard times." The following is from the Tuapeka Times ol a late date : — •• There was some trouble recently on an up-country station arising out ol a 6ttike among the rouseabouts. It aetms they had been engaged for the shearing season, and, in compliance with tho rule enforced by the owner of the station referred to, they had to make a deposit of 10s as a guarantee that they would be prepared to commence work at the appointed time. On arriving at the station, and before commencing work, they demanded to know what wages they were to receive. ' Whatever I think you're worth,' wa< the not very ingenuous reply. Knowing the gentleman they had to deal with, they declined to accept such terms and struck instanter. Of course the station-owner determined to stick to the deposit, and so sultry did the trouble grow that the services of the local constable had to be called in. Ultimately the rouseabouts left, but not before they got their deposit money returned. The station-owner, however, after some trouble succeeded in getting hands from Dunedin." .The Waimea Plains correspondent has the following with reference to the Riversd&le Dairy Factory :—": — " The dairy factory at Riversdale, which only commenced operations this year, is an institution in which great hopss are centred. The factory was started on co-operative principles, each supplier being also a shareholder, and on these lines only, experts tells us, will factories'pay in the future. The suppliers get an advance payment of 2d per gallon, after a deduction of 15 per cent, is made towards the building fund (this amount being credited to the suppliers as purchase money for shares). The advance payments are made per lunar foue months, and at the end of the season a division of profits will be made. The factory opeued on October 21. and since thea 14.660cal have been

dealt with, about six tons and a-half of cheese being manufactured. It is, I understand, the intention of the directors to sell locally on trucks, if a satisfactory price can be obtained. The directors erected a very commodious factory on a most suitable site near Pyramid Bridge, and have adopted the latest plant, which has been pronounced up to date in every respect." 11 1 saw a return of 17 tons 15cwb of lucerne taken off 13 acres of land," writes a Forest Hill correspondent of the Lockyer (Queensland) Star, " and not a bale in the whole lot weighed over 3owb, the average weight being 2Jcwt per bale. Had this hay nos g°fi so dry and the bales averaged 3icwt— a perfectly s&fb weight for lucerne hay, — the return would have been about 22 tons. It was cut just three weeks | ago, and will be re»dy for cutting again in a j week's time. This one piece of lucerne for the | last three cuttings has given a net return of over £150 to the fortunate owners. This land has never had any extra cultivation — in fact, the seed was thrown in the land when it was in about as bad condition as laud could be, and the crop a source of wonder to anyone acquainted with its marvellous growth." The crops all over ths and the &6 joiniDg districts (writes the Tuapeka Tiroes) are looking uncommonly well just now, and give promise of an abundant harvest. Farmers are well pleased at the prospect, and are confident that the yields will touch a higher figure than they have done for several years past. This is particularly so aB regards the oat crops, which have a very healthy appearance and promise remarkably well. What is now needed, particularly on the low-lying lands, is a period cf heat, as the ground has been thoroughly saturated, and can stand plenty of sunshine. The long spell of web weather appears to have had a splendid effect on the ridges, where the drainage has been sufficient to prevent too large a lodgment of water, in the ground. With the certainty of prices keeping up, the outlook for count/y settlers may be regarded as exceedingly encouraging. It is understosd that the South Australian Government bave ptaclically decided to purchase some 6000 odd aor.e3 of the Rosewood Estate under the Agricultural Land Re^urcLase Act. The land in question is a magnificent agricultural area, situated on the northern side of the railway lice, between Forest Hill and Gatton, and -having a frontage thereto of about three miles. In all probability the land will be thrown open for selection as early as February next. Reports from various sheds which hare finished shearing in the Wettern District of Victoria show that the leason'a clip is heavier all through than that of 1894, says the Hamilton Spectator. The greatest increase vrbioh bas so far come under our notice is at Stratrkellar, where the sheep have averaged no less than 21b 2oz more wool per fleece than was taken off last year, the stock being of exactly the same character as in 1894. The increase in production is also no'iceable in the farmers' clips, and so far the sales of these smaller lines have been very satisfactory, and the prices much in advance of last year's rates. The Pastoralists' Review eajs :— " Mr S. B. Kennard, of Toowoomba, in conjunction with Messrs Ramsay Bros., has purchased the Elderelie station, on the Diamantina River, from the executors of the late Sic S. Wilson. The pro- ] perty, which contains 5560 square miles and has its head station about 40 miles from Winton, is only lightly stocked at present, carrying 76,000 sheep, 23,000 cattle, acd 600 horses. Qver £80,000 has been spent in improvements by the late owners, and by Mr Eounard of Toowoomba, one of the purchasers, believes it will be necessary to spend another £20,000 on bores »nd fencing to work the run to advantage. iChe country on the Diamantina is in magnificent order, and the proprietors hope to shear at least 250,000 sheep next year. They aro sending out three years' drop— lß94, 1895, 1896— 0f the Balgowrie polled Aberdeen-Angus bulls, itarting the first lot immediately, about 80 head."