AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2210, 9 July 1896, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The Agricultural College Committee in con« nection with the Canterbury College Board of! Governors has been abolished, and in its placa a Board of Advice has been set up consisting of nine members — three members of the Board of Governors,, four gentlemen experienced^ia agriculture, not being members of the board, and two ex offlcio members (the chairman foe the time being of the Board of Governors aud the president for the time being of the Canterbury A. aud P. Association). The following gentlemen have been appointed on the board for the year ending 30lk June 1897 :— Hon. W. Rolleston, Messrs David M'Millan, William Boag, and Henry Overton. All ordinary travelling expenses of the members are to be provided out of the funds of the School of Agriculture, from which.~£loo is to be also annually provided as an honorarium to be divided among the members — except those-, who are members of the Board of Governors— in proportion to the number of attendances at meetings properly called. The powers provide for filling vacancies, eleot.iiig a chairman, consulting with the director, and to on, and also that the Board of Advice has no power of voting money. The duties of the Board of Advice are extensive. They empower ths members to inspect the school and farm when necessary, to examine into it 3 methods and work, its condition and mansge* meDt, to advise as to improvements -or any changes in subjects or method of instruction, ,io institute or coufiucb examinations, and to report to the Board of Goverco-s.* At a metting of irrilk suppliers at Ohanpo, Auckland, a resolution was carcioi declining the term^of Mes3rs Reynolds and Co. and in favour of noli accepting anyth'ng lesi than 3d per gallon, with t-o skim milk returned. As Messrs Reynolds and Co.'s representatives would nqb agree to these to ra B , a member from each creamery was appointed to obtain the besb possible price. Tha delegates then met and agreed to ask Me W. Spragg if he would ba p-eparei to build or t-ike over, creameries, and what price he would pay' for milk ; also to telegraph to the Minister for Laudf asking if the« Government would be prepared to find the money to build or purchase creameries.

Ab tho anrual meeting of the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association the balance sheet, fthowiDg a num of £14,347 to ba dealt with in dividends, bonuses ou commissions, purchves of merchandise, aud wages w«8w «8 adopted. The chairman rcportsd thst during the year there had been an increase of business in all iti branches, and the association had been proßt*bly and successfully conducted. The firob lambs of tbe season have made their appear ai.c3 at Mr Patterson's farm at Circle Hill.— Bi uce Herald.

The B uje Herald s»y3 the pres-nb winter S3 far has afforded rabbi ters in nil p3rts a splendid chance of dealing w,th " buni.y," and iv consequence the rabbits have bten trapped ia thousands., 'Jha continuous attention which they receive ab the hfiLcis of the fsrra*r and r»bbit°r is telling ibs fctle, for the little animals are becoming very scarce in many district?. A few mo-'e fcsins of this treatment, both summit aud winter, and very littla will be heard of them in this district

A bad ca*e of tuberculosis was (says the Cj.u'erlury Times) brought to' light lasb week by Sfr J. Jarman, inspector of slaughterhouse*. His suspicions being aroused by the appearance of a h-ifer sold at tha Addingt:n Yards oa Wednesday, he made a point of seeing tha beaab after i1:i 1 : w*fi kille.l on Taursday morning. Upon fxamiuv.tioti ho fouud that the lungs were almost completely covered with tubercules, tnd he pronounces ib to be one of the worst cases ha ha» met with in the colony. He took prompt mians to have the carcase de'trond. Ib shoui3 "re mentioned th»t the heiftr," which whs on?y three years old, was" in gcod condition, and tin ieexperienced eya would nob have datedisd anything wrong with her whilst she was alire.

Over 6030 rabbit? were received ab the Mataur.i Freezing Works oa Saturday, 27th ult This is the season's record.

Of the initial shipment of Tasmanian apples to Eugland the Journal of Horticulture of April 23 sajs :— " The first fa^go of the seaion arrived en* Thursday last by the O k-nt liner Ornba, the consignment coruis'iog of about 6700 cases. Tha quality, particularly of the TssmaaUn apples, is said to bo baiter than has be^n known tor several yfars, the apples in question realising from 12s 6d to 22s pec bu&el casa."

"To persons ergaged in grazirg and dairying some experiments," writes the Auburn • correspondent of the South Anttralian Rtgivte*, "with 'rib' grass (Plantago UnceolaU) which Mr Q. G*rdiner, residing on Mr J. B. Tothill's Woodlands estate, near Wee't ■Auburn, has been carrying on should ba of gre*t interest. MrGvrdiner is a recognised authority ou Eng ish grasses, and had many •year*' .exptrieucj in New Zealaud be/ore coming hn.'s. Although he does not consider this rib grass as the besb for feedirg pprposfs, he finds it one of the beit for. standing the climate,' and, what is more, where it grows tho Rtinkwortcarinob livfl. This feature is particularly exemplified ia a paddeck cf about 50 acren, wLere Mr Girdiuer broadcast the grass seed in ridges on grass land not fallowed or worked in any way. Whtra the rib grass has como up hardly a plant of stinkwort is growing, although tho weed abounds all around the paddock. The cattle on the place, which hare Jived almost solely durirg the summer on the grass, are in good condition, and sheep'should do a g'e->t deal better. 'Ihe grass seems to thrive well on almost any kind of soil, from cold clay lhts to stony ridges. The paddock is about to be broken up."

Mr John Living, a Queensland cattle-owner, who ia at present on a visit to Melbourne, has kindly supplied me, writes "Bruni" in the Australasian, with some additional information on the subject of the Queensland tick, which is the result of his own observations. The young ticks, he say?, when just hatched, are remarkably active, and bo quick are their"motions then when some of them were put into a large sheet of paper it took -two persons employed with camel-hair bruehes to prevent them breaking bounds, Ab thub stage they are cxtreme'y small, and to note their formation it is necessary to observe them through a powerful magnifying glass. When they reach a warm-blooded animal tboy are four- legged, bat they soon develop a third pair, which are armed so as to assist in holding on to the skin. The female develops rapidly, but the male remains always Small. As the female develops tha becomes striped on the back, and when she falls eff the host to lay her eggs «he is of a dark brown colour. The blood of a beast; suffering from tick fever, whea observed under the microscope, shows the red corpuscles with the edges indented as if nibbled away by the micro-organisms o£ (he disease. As an instance of the remarkable vitality of these insects, a few of them aftec being kept in captivity for several weeks were put into a bottle containing proof spirits, whea they swam about for half a day before tha

spirits took effect on them. The worst hews" Mr Living brings is that ticks have been found on wild turkeys *nd water fowl thab have been identified by persons competent to give an opinion as the tick that produces the fever in

cattle. That the old method of making butter on the ' farm is being rapidly snpplanted by the factory system in New South Wales is amply proved b7 figures given in last yew's official report The output of butter made on farm? in 1895 was only 12,670,0001b, which shows, by comparison with the 21,6a0,0001b returned for tbe prtceding year, a decrease of nearly 50 per cent. Under the caption " Some Good Dairy Gospel," the Wyndham Farmer says :— " Every tellow who has charge of a factory should be competent to do, ss the occasion may require, all sorts of temporary repairing — except in case of serious mißhap — of the machinery and appliances under his control. Pvi 1 that teason every

factory should be fitted up with at least a vjc?, pipe tonga, pipe cutter, monkey wranch, and hammer. With these t:ols a manager should be able to meet any emergency. So much importance do I attach to this matter, that I would insist, if speeifioa-

tions were being made out for the fitting up of a

factory for myself, that the providing of such ~Tsots^'lnc!uSed- ia them." Such were the remarks of Mr H. H. Sharpies during tbe course of his "brief talk" to the G.D.&.s'udents onMonday last. Who will dare dispuW them ? The New South Wales Minister for-^ands has received a s : ngnlar letter from a gentle^ man. in New Orleans, United States, Ib is , Bugg*ated by the writer that the Government should make an importation of the great horned owl (Bub) virgiDiauuii) to mitigate the rabbit peub. Thi3 owl "prefers rabbits for food whera they are obtainable, and it« destruction of them is marvelloua." The- Sydney Telegraph st»te3 that the writer is informed that there arc birds of similar habits in New South Wales already. Mr' B. Etheridge, the curator of the raus«ucn, in a report to Mr Carruthers, points out that in Australia wo have many diurnal birds, which are' the nataral enemies" of the rabbit. Chief among them are the wedge-taiJed eagle aud the black-breasted kite. Both birds capture and

destroy an immense number of rabbits, as an examination of tbe nest or the ground beneath will prove. The destruction far exceeds that by any nocturnal bird of prey. While admitting that rabbits, constitute a large proportion of the food of these owls, it mu^t cob ba overlooked that they also destroy all the birds that they can capture. Mr Etheridge suggests the publication of an illustrated book on Australian

birds. A Victorian horse-breeder, Mr J. O. Inglis, estimates the cost of breeding and rearing a foal to the a?e of four years at not less than £15 or £20 a head. Here is his way of arriving at the amount, as explained in a recent public lecture :—" The cost of your brood marr-s," Baid Mr Ing!i«, "can bo placed at about £20 each, the interest on which oum for the year before your foal is born at 5 per cenb. is £1 ; Is per week for grass during same time, £2 12s ; same amount annually during the four yews your horae is maturing, and £1 for breaking in, will tot up £15 each. As I have charged nothing for tte services of sire; or interest on the grazing fees, it will be evident that nothing under £20 apiece will clear the actual expenses of rearing. But you muib remember that you will seldom get a foal from each mare every year, and that acciden's and deaths will occur, and oulh which -will be unsaleable will be met with ; so 6hat £20 each would prove a certain loss to 'any breeder. And how-nnny. can count on £20 for even the pick of their annual drafts ? " Comparing this outlay and return with the profits obtained from sheep, Mr iDglis estimated that 10 sheep soul'd be kept to each horse, and that if the same country were devoted to eheep-breedingj "at the low f sHmate of 4s each net for wool, and charging 3j each for grass (one acre) annu»llr, it would return-a profib of 10*, or £2 10s in tho fiveyea:s occupied in rearing your horse."