AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2207, 18 June 1896, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Some few minths ago reference was made in ■ these colunans to the importation by Meisrt Ross and Glendining of 53 very high-class stud Cheviot! ewes and two stud rams from the Elliott' a, of Hiadhope. One of the rams is reputed to have besn the second best Cheviot ram in Scotland at a shearling. One half of these iheep are' now located at Barewood station and the other half at High Geld. This importation has created a good deal of interest amongst sheep farmer*,, dcubtleii became of the increased favour into which, Cheviot orosses are comiDg as the most nuiUble ' mutton for the Home market;. , At evidenos 'of the ■ growing popularity of the' breed, and. ai •bow?;> ing* the opinion of other breeders of Cheviots ■ concerning this particular importation, we may i mention that quits recently the Hon. ftf. * Holmes despatched his head shepherd at CasCl«- 1 reck estate, Mr Robn-fc Watson, -ia^o the,interior to see and report upoa these'shyep, " As the result of this visit the Hon. M Holmes: has since arranged for the service of 20 of hi* selected ktnd Cheviot ewes' by Messrs Ross and Glendiniog's imported rams, the servioe fee being lOOgs. No higher tribute to the excellence and purity of breeding of Messrs Ross and Gltadiniug'o sheop oan be given than the state* , meat of this faot. The committee of the, Wellington Agricultural and Pastoral Association have resolved t<». adopt the " one-judge system " for the coming show, and allot two prizes of £20 each for the,' breeding sheep class, to consist of 10 freezing, shorn wethers. They are to oome from the North and South Islands, and after being Judged here they will be frozen and sent Home to be judged in England. A prize of £5 wilt be given to the winning pen of froze- Bheep. A The Dairy Regulation Committee of the Wellington City Council have had samples of milk tested. The result being not altogether sat&t* factory, the inspector hat bean ordered to make further tests of tne milk taken from ordinaiy cans. The committee also determined • to, request a man who was cembining a dafrjr and pork shop in one to choose between them* declining to allow two sach bu&jnesses t6 be carried on any longer in the same place. At the Auckland Supreme Court session? on Wednesday, the 10th insfc., John Bapblstfi Authemao, Lnoretia Authemas, and Reginald Aatheman were charged with having, at Otongt^ stolen 22 sheep, the property of Alexmaw M'Kenzle. This case was heard last week, 'bus the jury disagreed. The Crown now offered 00 evidence in the case, and the jury returned A verdict of nob guilty. . Luoretia Authemam who was found guilty on the 3th os "V"Hrt| charge of sheep-stealing,, ma sentenced to ninl months' imprisonment, 'with' hard labour, anq ordered to pay £20, the cojfr of the prof ectfr tion. • ' la the S.M. Court, Wellington, W. g. Franklyn, of Inglewood, was charged with haV> ing exported 223 boxes of batter not stamped aj) leqoired by the Dairy Industry Aot. _Ut Jhornton, Government produce gß»ae*» Ww*

Jjngton, stated that he had learned that )he butter was about > to be exported from Wellington. It had come from New Plytnouth in the Takapuna, and was being tran- ' - Bhipped at this port for Sydney. There was no brand , on the boxes as required by the* Dairy Industry Act and no registered number. Witness wired to the defendant, who was the owner, telling him that if he desired, * witness would . stamp the butter here. The butter, however, was not held back, but was exported without being stamped. Thereupon tie instituted proceedings. Af tar the evidence of Mr Thornton had been taken the case was adjourned for a fortnight; in order that; coumel could be instructed. At a meeting of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association on Thursday it was reported that the recent' winter show resulted in • loss of £92. Sir John Hall brought forward the question of the necessity for legislation for the prevention of the spread of noxious weeds, , which were now increasing at such a rate as to j greatly discourage farmers, and in this connec- I tion the Californian thistle, he said,- was growing a great curse. He moved a resolution to ' the effect that the president should address a letter to the Government asking them to bring in a bill dealing with the matter, and also send > » letter ' to each member of the House of I Bepresentatives and Legislative Council asking j - tham to assist in passing a measure. { Last year, shortly after the Metropolitan A. and P. Winter show, we (Southland Times) published a detailed list of the stand shown by QlrW. F.Beid, Monte. Cbristo. The number and variety of farm products, rawandmatrafac.tured, was a sort of revelation to many. Even farmers and farmers' wives and daughters, who thenght themselves pretty conversant with farm products, were amazed attbe number of articles they would have to add to their previously conceived mental list. The stand, in fact, was a Complete and most interesting show in itself. Mr Reid's only competitor on that occasion, as on the recent one, was Mr D. Dun; of Green- _ hills, near Gore, who confined himself chiefly to field productions. This year be followed more closely the lines of the Monte Chrisro table, and bad a very large and attractive display. He j still, however, gave pride of place to the staple ! , totoduots of agriculture, and the more prominent of his exhibits were subjects of primary importance to farmers, showing the results of a wide Series of experiments conducted by Mr Dan. He had already made a name for himself as a Cultivator— on scientific and experimental lines —of the potato, and bad also tried a few sorts pf wheat and oats not common here, with the i tfew of discovering classes of these ' cereals adapted to our r soil and climate. This year he staged about a dozen large samples of true Bprlng wheat j sorts grown in America and Germany in climates unsnite'd for autumn sow* ing. The' object of his experiments was to avoid the risk of frost at the ripening stage, by j securing wheats of hardier habit and as as prolific as (or more than) th ered straw, velvet, and other varieties usually grown in this dis- '' triofc ; and the different sorts exhibited were the produce of one ear of each sent him a year or two ago by a correspondent from the southern coast of the Baltic. These wheats were all sown, we are informed, on August 27. The earliest was cut on February 20 ; others between that date and March 3, and all not j ready by the end of the first week of March, of whioh tkere were some six or eight kinds, were discarded. ' At the same date of sowing white, velvet and red straw were put in, but these were not ripe till about, the- third week of Maroh. 4- second set of experimental samples -was shown in glasses, consisting of rust-rssisting wheats, now tinder trial in Victoria. "'These' were all early sorts that .have made names for themselves in .the wheat States of America as. the best' rustproof wheats known. The New . Zealand. Government took credit some time ago for intending to conduct some experiments j of this nature, oat* from what was to be seen • at the show' it wonld seem that local *nd mdi- . vidual enterprise is quite ahead of Ministerial intentions. The roots on Mr Dun's table, though behind in size as compared with other lections, were in quality a show of themselves, and the collection of potatoes deserved special notice. .To the exhibitor is due the credit of fcaving introduced Mr Findlay's " The Bruce " to the. colony some years ago,'' bat " Up-to-date" by the s»me raiser looked as if it would make room for itself. The whole of his potatoes were hybrids,, produced - from the best ' known disease-resisting varieties, and they we're all desoribedas of robust habit and of firstclass quality as well. - Australian butter exporters are finding that their consignments to England are falling rather flat, and that the Dauish product again * tops the market. The fact that a good deal of Victorian butter landed in London lately has been,found to be adulterated has perhaps lomething to do' with the fall, but both in New South Wales and- Victoria the impression prevails' that the adoption of the Pasteurising method of manufacture by the Danes is alone responsible for the difference in quality. Victoria is hotly discussing the pros and cons of the* process, while New South Wales has gone , $, step further, and is making a thorough test of the value of Pasteurisation. Denmark's export of Pasteurised 'butter last year was 130,000,0001b, whioh realised an average of 4s per owt more than Australian, bssides pushing the .latter back into seoond place in point of quality. The new- process practically consists - p sterilising the milk and afterwards setting up ;he desired fermentation in the cream by add- j hag a prepared ferment. This ferment is prepared bf the bacteriologist, and can be conjrolled at will.— Queenslander. j "'." ' . She Manawatu Farmer of a recent drift bad

the following :— " A large stockowner residing at Pigeon Bay, Canterbury, who buys wherever he can, often sending stock from 1 Nelion, has been through the Horowhenua and Manatratn districts looking out for stock. It is a long way to come to make purchases, bat this gentleman is of opinion that he can trade successfully and profitably by shipping cattle at Foxton, and if arrangements can be made, it is likely that the steamers trading at the port of Foxton will be often used for carrying stock across the Strait. Farmers sometimes express their surprise at the price for stock bsing so much higher in Canterbury than on this coast. Not many days since the owner of some fat wethera in this district was offered 9s a head for them. The price was refused, and they were sent to Canterbury, where they brought 14s after paying all ' expenses. This item of information will make farmers consider how much they, are losing in a year by selling locally, when by combination a i better market can be secured down south." ! A Biverina pastoralist near Albury, who had 600 bags of wheat last year as his share of crop. ' under the halves system, will, says the Melbourne Weekly Times, this year have 10,000 acres cropped, and others have largely increased , the areas under wheat. The squatter does not | receive any return unless the yield exceeds five | bushels to the acre. ~ I Thursday's Lyttelton Times says :— " At the ' Christ-church Meat Company's High street shop may bs seen j& four-tooth purebred Lincoln wether bred by Mr D. G-. Holmes, of Holmeslea estate, Bakaia. This sheep is one of a line of 1058 purchased by the company from Mr Holmes, and weight, as dressed for their shop, 1561b." The Christohurth Press, under the heading '•The Latest Record," eayß : — " Different people have different ideas at to the best method of spending a holiday, but certainly one of the oddest ways is that which was adopted reoently by a dweller in the Alford Forest district. It appears that a few days ago a resident of that locality asked Mr E. Herring, -of Alford Forest 1 station, to give J. King 1 , one of j his employees, a day's holiday. King is an old i and valued servant, and the request was of I course readily granted. The manner in which King spent his holiday would hardly commend itself to the average town man, nor for that matter do we expect a rush of dwellers in the country to emulate his example. As a matter of fact he got into a shingle pit at half-past 8 in the morning and undertook to fill 25 two- ' horso dray loads of shiogle inside a. working I day of eight liaurs, a wager of £5 a-side having been laid about his accomplishing such a task. King went to work very methodically, and with only an hour's spell for dinner kept well ahead of his work until 4 p.m., when the severe strain beangtotell upon him, andhe showed signs of great distress. However, after a little stimulant | and a short rest he set to work again with such ! vigour that the last load was hauled oat of the pit at 5.10 p.m., or 20 minutes within the eight hours. Every yard of shingle was carefully measured, and it was found that King had given three-quarters of a yard over and above the ' stipulated 25, besides fulfilling the other conditions of leaving a good face and" throwing aside all stones above regulation siza. Kiag's per- ! formance was watched by a number of people j interested in such a test of pluck and physical endurance, and when he finished he was warmly congratulated upon having put up the world's record." ' Every day (says the Melbourne Weekly Times) new testimony is being" produced as to the value of lucerne as a fodder crop. In the growing season 10 or 12 sheep may be kept on an acre without overstocking, and four sheep can be carried all the year round. . The plant does nod cease 'growing altogether even in the winter, although its growth is. slow. . Frost scarcely affects it. With a good luoerae paddock, the sheep-owner can laugh at winter. The ! growth in summer, is so heavy that several cut- ' tiugu may be secured and stacked for use when fodder is dry and scarce. One advantage of lucerne is that it makes an excellent fire-break in districts where bush fires are prevalent. This suggests that those stations which grow lucerne for artificial feeding during the winter should so plant it as to completely surround the homestead at least, and thus afford security against fire. •