AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2203, 21 May 1896, Page 14

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

(Continued from page 7.)

The report of the liquidators on the affairs if Chaffe*- Brothers (Limited), of Mildura, contains some trenchant remarks. At the outset it is stated l that, white the company had a large nominal capital, the total received in cash In respect of shares, wasonly £4-* > 77Q, — a sum, it i& cemirked; which, was quite inadequate for tho requirements of & company conducting operations under extremely novel ci> cum stances and. on a. scale of great magnitude. Further capital was acquired between 1892 and 1894by the issue of debentures. It cost, however, £13,239, or about 18£ per cent., to place (he first issue oir £100,000,. aud » portion of the Becond issue sold — viz., £14>90Q, cost £10,156, or about 68 ncr cent., to float. It is said thai; the eagerness di'spiayed to obtain money at any cost was a sign of recklessness in an attempt to escape the; growing necessity foe liquidation. The cause- of tbe collapse of the company is attributed by the liquidators to the meagre proportion of paid-up capital actually received in cash, which, caused 'the company to beccme a burden with a dead- weight of interest, making it practically irjopossib'.e foi it to succeed. The interest received on had sales, together with other payments by lettleri at Mildura. and' Renmark, was quite insufficient ta meet the interest charged on the company's, indebtedness aa well as the current expenses. It is further stated that in 1894- tbe land held by, the company at' Mflduta and Renmsrk was revalued, and as a consequence of the revaluation, the amount written up was £136,218. Of tins Bum £75,000 wss carried to the reserve account, £15,000 to the contingency Recount, and £46,218 to the profit snd loss account. The liquidators do not speak too hopefully of the future- of the settlsments. Ferrets and weasels are becoming unpleasantly plentiful in the Taieri district. The Advocate says that weasels have been captured in Mosgi-1, and on the hills surrounding the Taieri Plain femts are becoming very numerous. A rabbifer near Harvaj'n Flat caughb two weasels acd five ferrets in bis traps Dne motnieg, and scarcely a day passes that he does not trap a ferret or two. Many horses in Gfppstand 1 , Vrctoria, says the Express, have recently been *fHie!ied with a compsic\ted disease, sometimes resulting in death, which, has. caused con*iderable alarm, and Enxiety among the local farmers. Mr A. W. Reid, South Warragnl, has had all his horses affected by it,, and Mr H. O. Harvie, Mr Hunter (South Warragul), and Mr Garvie hk.ve alao had horses on the sick list. The Dhief symptoms of the disease appear to ba a thickness of svis.d, specially nnticeiblc when drawing a heavy lotd or going up a hill, and »p€culi*r tendency of the animal to drag one Dr more of ks legs as tborrgb the muscles were »ffected, while the- appetite gradually falls »W*J. As aborning the volume of trade now dona bj the Taie-i and FeninsuU Milk Supply Company, we (Taieri Advocate) lesxa th»t during the month of March the total amount of butfcei put out was 75,0001b, of which 31,0001b were

sold in Dimedin — »r thn rate of lOCOIb per day. Recently 30 tons of butter were despatched to Sydney, and Mr M'Bwan, the dairy expert, upon hie return to New Z? aland said there was a gocd demand for the New ZeaUnd article, snd <h<it it brought top price. In M'lb'urne, too, the butter has bet-n placed on the market, and advica has come to hand that ,the quality wa-j admitted to be all that could be desired. * The Christchurch Press of Saturday last says : " Our attention has been called to an invention lately patenttd by Mr H Foster Fisher, the cbjt-cb of which ia to prevent a horse attached to 'a vehicle front, bolting. Messrs Wardell ' Brothe-ff and Co., the grocers of this city* hive had ono of their delivery- carts fitted with tbe patent, so that its efficiency is likely to be well • tested. The contriv»nce, which ia very simple , and inexpensive, contista of a small cylinder or 'drum. of ab^ut, one inch in diameter flsad to and an a line mfch the axle. At one end o£ the 'cylinder ier a cogwheel,, which, when a lever is .palled, fi's iuto and is put iv motion by jinother cog fixed on the inner side of the hub of ; ore of the wheels or/the outside.. A leather strap, , which i<i fired' to the cylinder, runs under the ' cart aud comes up just in front of the driver's j feet. IF he wants to leave his horsa, or the \ hoi se bolts and gets beyond control, he merely pulls his lever. This last action gears the • cylinder to tbe wheel ; if the horse moves forward the cylinder revolves in art opposite direction to the wheels find winds up the strap which * • gulls the reins, and the horse, after *. very few stride?, is compelled to come to a stand. As soon as the horse stopa tha cylinder cases to revolve, and if he backs a bit the action of the cylinder is rever?ed ancF thi pressure on- Irs mouth relieved. Many pe.iple' who have seen it affirm that this invention will do the work attributed to it, and thnt tho question of bow to Htop a runaway horse ba* breu- solved. We have no doubt that M<-.-sra Wacdell will be pleased to exhibit thia novel invention to persons interested in such matters."