AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2209, 2 July 1896, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Mr E. Menlove, of Windsor Park, shipped by the s.s. Wakatipu .on Saturday a consignment of 104 two-tooth stud sheep for the Sydney market. The shipment consists of English and Border Lekertera, Shropshire, and Lincoln's, out^of imported sbiep, and.are considered by Mr Menlove and the several experts who inspected them one of the finest that has left the colony for some time. Mapy of the sheep have taken first prizes at Cbrittchurch, Oitnaru, and Dunedin shows. Mr Menlove had- entered a large- numbar of the sheep for competition at the Sydney show, bub unfortunately, owing to the detention of the boat, they will not reach Sydney in time. - This is to be regretted, as no doubt many would have secured the coveted ticket.

5y the. last San JFrancisco mai) 'one. of -the' principal rail'-owneri in 'tho North of Ireland' wrote to Mr M; Murphy,' secretary of thetGiin" terbury Agricultural -and Pastoral Association, referriogjo a (ample of Earopeau flax grown in New Zealand which had come under his notice. He stated that it was of very superior ,q'ialily, and had been sold for 10a per stone 6? 14«b, while' ther best locally grown fibre was only fetching 6s per stone. Mr Murphy has ssub this gentleman by the' s s. Gothic a sample of European flax fibre grown at the Styx, and has requested him to have it tested and send out a report on its quality.' A meeting of 24 pastorali*ts at Timarn adopted a petition to, Parliament praying for the erection of a leading line of tabbit fence through South, Canterbury, at au' estimated cost of £24,000. The meeting also passed a resolution asking au amendment of the Rabbit Acts, to provide for sub-inspectors under rabbit boards beiig Government officers. ,In the Supreme. Court, ia Banco at Auckland on the 24 h inst., his Hon6r Justice CoaoJly gave judgment ia the case Laoglay v. Colbeck, heard some time ago. Plaintiff claimed the value of 11 bilas of wool, sold and delivered to the defendant, but refused by dtfendaut on the- ground that' the wool was not of the quality it had been represented to be, as it contaiut-d-a quan'ifcy of sand. Hia Honor now gave judgment- for'.plaintifl: for-d6125 9s 3d, with coßtn on the lowest sosle..

According t) the • Bruce Herald the proprietors of the Waihola D.iir? Factory intend to.add a rofngerftting^chsunber to their factory. 'In reference" to a decision, in the law-court* ! condemnatory 'of the ' practice,, qi d^h'rnirg 1 •<sat le aud a, correspondence 11 thereupon .in i the. Ldndort. Times, Mr Albeit'Pe'J; an authority on British =■ agricultural, subjects, iriade'-publio ' his views. ftud." experiences: '^He-says, :' {' Tueplrac---Hee "of, dcnqirnirig fully-grown cattle by.-aa\jing "offtUeir h'oiens .seems a cruel ahd'anoedles*, one, as the object 'can' bfcf attained' irr^another way. The hores shouldnot be allowed to grow," and" the grow h can be lasily stopped by the applic&iioa'of a red hot iron, or of cnutt.c potash, at the time whm the horn is just pushing through ill? ski a. For some time I h\ve adopted this method myself, with jhe result that the stock fo treated are quie(er,"and tt>ks notbiag like the shed and manger room" they otherwise would require," while very striom loss and p*id are avoided,' esprcially in dairy herds, 'where goring frequently Jeads'to'pirtial or totalloss of milk. In the transit of cattle by rail I find that one or two more beasts will go in, a- truck without their horns than with them, and at the same lima a polled bessfc has a better chance, should he get down in a truck, of getting'ori his leg* again." Mr Ptll corresponded on the subject with many farmers t i great practical experience in Englatd. Mr Clare Sewell Read, of Honingham Thorpe, Norfolk, wrote him : '• You' ask for my experience in winter grazing polled aad boroed cat le in covered yards. lottbe fiwfc phce you can stow quite 50 per cent, more polled than horned cattle- ia the' same space. Wo bother our landlords to provide us with shelter tor our grazing bullocks," and then two humane judges prevent us from making the best use of that shelter. In Norfolk we graze a largo number of Irish cattle. You pick cut 30 on Noiw'ch Hill, aud perhaps these 30 Kullocki were bred on 30 different farms in Ireland. You turn' these strange .cattle into a' otflued frpscerfcpm which tiers is no', escape, and all ,t(ieir OelSo animosities afe,arouse'd. J So>' after ' a'free fight'of niatfy-iveekß theweaker gfive ; way tq the. Bl)ronger,-?nd they- c'owtr io th<* windy "oorntr <& tbeyard .while, tho master -bul'o^ka e»bii? all the meal apd : cake'th>t pb' uuld ba; their •". •Dehorn- the lot, jmd'i«ace : arid''guietß«s reigns tupteme, while; they) "wUlvfeud- as-. -happify together as so , many, pigs." -Another well* , known authority (Sir Weatley Richards, of Ash--Qeld, Rutland) irrifcs : — "In answer to jour inquiry about dehorning cattle for grazing pur-po-.es, I have no hesitation in saying tfcab dehorning appaurs to alter the character of c ittle ; they rest and feed Letter.' All the shorthorns I have bi ought from Ireland the last two or three years have been dehorned. I think butchers appear to prefer dehorned cattle,' as they are i not bruised in the same way that horned cattle frequently are.- For cattle that have to be kept in yards, ie is absolutely necessary that they should be dehorned if. they are to. get their I proper share of food' and shelter." '•' ■■/ ' .Mr W. A.' Murray, of- Cappeedee (writes the. Chronicle, South Australia), recently forwarded to Mr.E Jewett, of Melbourne, a fleece taken from Young Pomus, grandson of the fatneus sire Cappeedee. Mr Jowttt has since written him as follows :—•' Melbourne, May 2, 1896 —Dear sir, — I have finished scouring the etud ram fleeces, yours included. Ycur fleece gave a splendid return. The wool was a grand specimen of robust combirg wool, vcy shifty. The greasy weight was 221b 2 z? and the "scoured weight lfyjfib of clean wool, which is a big return. ~ The, fleece is altogether a not* We one, ""and I am keeping it iv case you would like to have something special dove with it."

A correspondent of the Live Sbock Journal Btates that in April last be saw,, on -a hifcb expooed farm a few minateb' walk from Mu-sU--brook rSUtioii, Salop, a {-Shropshire owe 'which', has just> r completed ■ her iiineteei/th vesr. She was bora on tbe farm in- March. 1577, and hss.' bred fop her present owner 33 lambs— n*mely, • 14 twins, two tingle*, and one case of triplets. Laat year she did not breed, bu!?. from her sp- 1 pearanoa it was quite possible she might add tj her record as a limb producer. £ha has nerer lost a la-jib, and has never had footrob, though some of iho low-lying pacts of the farm are veryapt' to give the disease. If the quantity of wool this ewe has jiolded duriDg her long career of usefuluess bad been given the record would have

been complete. • That a sheep ebbuld prorm fertile for suoh a number of years and then be in^good health- is an unmistakable- evidence oE ' a 'remarkably sound, robust constitution, even for a' Shrop*shire. x Her' long life and fertility are evidently not in any way the result of any special care that has been bestowed upon her. Had all her femaleproduce been kept and bred from when 'of sufficient. age .the result would have been a good-sized jfloqk*'- •— . ~ v ,^ ...^ inJhe^yM^tajiSHr'^i^^Be'tol"", ,- ,lQwihg reiultff of V|e^nt shipment of Victorian, horses to South Africa :— " Some months ago: a representative ofjthe firm of Messrs Soames :, and Co., Johannesburg, South Africa, viiifced . Melbourne, and majje a selection of high-clasa<: hacks and hacaess|hoises, v?h : ch , he shipped tsl, South Africa. ---^^Q6Y^siedio«kjeai.a waU»~ chosen one the result was looked for with mucrr interest, it being' hoped that a trade in" horses might be established. A friend in. SbutlrAfcicV has' sent me a copy of the catalogue, 1 with tbe prices realised by. those lots that ■■ were .sold. The pricey ranged, from 18 guineaSi,up to 71 - .guineas, .and a^pair of ; ,carri»g«.: Horsa^roalised 120'gainfeas. The" Bidding's, however,: were so . slaok that a considerable number of the horses ,were withdrawn for private sale. From someremarks in ifie Johannesuui'g'Thrie'aTleatn thafithe horsas in this shipment were above the" quality of the animals usually put up for sale in tbat town. It is said that tbe unsettled state of affairs in the country in .consequence of trie . Ute raid had much to do with' the dulhes's of

• A Danish -co-opeiffttive company,- writes th'B. ,Marls;JianeExpr.es^,.^as bean former} to. collect: egg's from the farmers', who have to stamp them, with a trade mark, and the:dato on <tfliicrl~,e%ch is" laid. ' They ard sorted fofco four the result- that the retainer • can 's.ell' eggs, of, unifofoi s'zaa. The^ price, 'too,sis\ at present rather lower than the current 1 rates forioiher ' ; foreign eggF, and what is .more, .the rggs are guaranteed to be nob more than eight days old. .The Danish company, undertakes the locs on any bad eggs which may be put in the cifes, and they fine the fa r mer £1 for iuecrlin™ them on a first offeuce, and exclusion from tho privilege of sending- eggs. on a' tecond effer^ce. The. Danes recognise the necessity of aecunug and' retaining a .good reputation, and they assure the Eoglish dealers, whom they want to secjue" as cuftomers, th»t they- will "only, tzport', clean acd quite fresh eggs, .signed" The Danes are moving ahead rapid y, taking up one dep^rlment of agriculture after another, with which bo benefit; thtic own people *t the expense of others. . The '/single judge" system had a thorough' trial at the Glasgow' show on, April island 'the verdict of the public, the North British Agriculturist notes, was overwhelmingly in its favour. It is sb«,jbad that rarely has - there been so little disappointment expressed with , tbe awards, and one of the speakers at the luncheon raid the Hingis judge system Bad the merit of fixing up-m one man th"c reJi'Oisibility of making tho awauU in any oue class, so that the jadg'S was put upon hit) mettle, and could not lay upon any fellow judge tbe blame of, making an error r of judgment ia awarding Jhe

In an article on the tick pest, at,pre"BentprovV ing so'fljwßtrpus in trppiosl Australia. '*VBrapiJjJ. J in the A : usVala«i4n7?ayi_:-- u -Wh J at.thrfaten8 v ioi be one of the worst t.vil« that <h^B,'f»)Jlenyupoia.' 1 the.n>'.tir,«l;irid.'ai,try < :i,a v |U|.^pi^ leterjVge^er^Uy^nQwirjnTQu^ensland^as.'.fedi'; -water.', li is eyen-woMeth'anlarougßtrandTpfei prictg for sldßk,'-f6r;(he drough.t- is , nott/Awijk. with "us, and'" there is '.'always a prospect tba<T pices of stock will rise to tbe p&yh-g limit. Toi judge by present appearances the tick will ba as difficult to eradicate ai the rabbits, and its march,. southward is even more rapid than -is tb%t of the rabbits to the northward. Though this put to the cattle of i northern Queensland has ouly lately come.- into prominence, ibhas btenJjDOwn in. a portion of the Northern Territory, South Australia, for - a goqd many, years past;., Froni/tbe experience pf c>j,tlc-owaei;s ia. the infested localities the 'stock .appear to .gain n certain degree, of immunity after -being sub* jected to ihi attacks of the tick f< r some years. The paatoralists in- the Northern Territory now pay little attention to tbe tick; and they appear to be nurprised at /the scare its presence has excited among the Queensland squatters. There seemi tn belittle known as to the .origin of the tick. Some assert that it is indigenous to tha Northern Territory, while others main- • tain that it w&s imported on the bultVo^s tbat no v run wild over a large area of Nortuera-TftrrN tory, ; or on the Brnhinin eatble, of which there are considerable numbers on the northern littoral ' of Australia. It was noticed from the first that the tick showed a marked preference for cattle introduced into the district. Travelling cattlo suffered neverelv, arid it is reported, thab " ( ac mob of 3000 Jo*t 1000 head while passing through the tick-in r ested country. ,When fa's ' cattle were seat to the varioas^boiling-dowa? establisbmonts-of-the north the. tick peit-begkn-. i to'»pr«adl A,noth3rcau?e.o? theYprdsd I . ot the lick was the teimf. of 'working-' bullosk;Tjfe»Vel* ~ t llt'g through ineJ-00uWy.". ," ', •-'- "<•*•■]•' ; "yj-C ; The Mat'auca Ensign tpays^^'' On £h«"Dest[ ' kuthority wi have it = that if circumstances^' auother terni for, "the irenncti'o.n. of r .railwayi' chafgesV-permifc-'of the 'S6'&thlaDd i "Free2L2gi i . Com'panyTteeping their Mataura'wQrkjr-gdib'g,"-' it is their intention to' concentrate their atten- ■ tions as »r as ' possible: upon that particular locality. The magnificent water power ofcourse is the chief factor in determining the line of action to be pursued, in the immediate, future, and that policy embraces. much thafc' v;iH add to tbo commercial importance of the rising Borough of Blatanra. Bone mills, manure makiug plact, &0., &c, are among the things promised, and. tbe company's, endeavour will be to render the Mataura workß eflicient enough to deal with every of the.bj--productß wßich^are now either, wasted ' be forwarded under heivy expenditure' eleeV where to be dealt with. This means [that, additional labour must be .employed, and also that a considerable amo:nt of capital will' be. brought into the p!aca ; consequently, when these fact? come to be known, it is nq rash speculation to predict that the support' of everyone in the district will be cast into the balance on the side which favours the adoption of a more satisfactory, jinrfand equitable «cale of railway charges on frtzen meat. . .'. During the past season the rabbit freezing industry has been a source of considerable benefit to all concerned. The trappers have been well paid for their labour ; freezing companies have picked up a tidy little sum which would qtherwiß3 not have come their way at. all; rabbit exporter* have had their enterpriserewarded by something more than the historical «rest ; andj Ustly.. the British cwuumer has been provided • with • a -constant- supply or >» wholesome and fpoapjupal article of' diet/. These four classelTaTOl events might shake ' hands among themselves "all round, and, considering the first season's results, protest th»t Brer Rabbit is really not half such a bad little fellow as his detractor* seek- to " show. Thtfi latest aspirant to rabbit fame is * Waikaia; trader, who go fa? has had large quantities of. rabbits treated at the Mataara Freezing Works.' Despite the f«ct of almoi-t fabulous numbers of rabbits having been exported' from this distribb; alone daring the past-few monthfli the demand'

'for them ip'as, keen' as ever,' and their market . value'-per- pair ab this end— at Mataura at all jeventXr-id expected to reach 6d, and probably xnorsf-bpfofe operations ate sujpeuded for.-tUo 'Beas'on.'' • , , ■ „ . ■ ■