NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2242, 18 February 1897, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The British Anti-middle-man Movement.

The Home papars during the past 12 months have been full of Lord Winchilsea'a efforts to entatthsh » { National Agric.nltaral Uniou, by | raeaus of which the British farmers are to league fcheinselvea together in their ova defence nnd endeavour to coanter&ot the ruinous state of affairs now prevailing in regard to fore'ga competition. The union also goes in for legislation for relief of farmers, and has been agitating for lower railway freights for farm produce. One of its chief objects is fco do away with the middleman, and endeavour to supply the cousumar with farm pro luce direct from the producer. There i« no doubt the uoion will have a hard battle to fight in such a conservative country as England, and probably many of the farmers themselves will view the movement with suspicion aud hold aloof till success is assured. One thing in its favour is the possession of suoh an enthusiastic and energetic president as Lord Winchilsea, who appears to have the welfare of farmers at heart and is most indefatigable in his efforts to relieve them of some of their burdens. In approaching tliH railway oompxnies with a request for lowa' freights the executive of the union urged that foreign mutton and benf. &c, were carried at a mich lower r*te than English produce. Th'j answftr was that the foreign couMgnmenta were ' lirga and uecuraly *nd neatly packed, and if the ' Home cocaignmenta were larger acid wroporly | packed for transport/ thea the rate would be tha \ same Afc the aonuai congress of the uni >v held | in Birmingham last December it was resolved ' that " iti* desirable to establish a customs unioa between Great Britain aud her colonies" The movar b&u! that no more imoorfeaut question could poiaibly occupy the public mind thin tTio question of the federation of the- colonies, and that if Britain wished to occurs trade ifc must be preferential trade with the colonies. The President said that the position taken up by the council of the union was identical with th»t taken by Mr Chamberlain— namely, thatthe advantages, from an Imperial uoiat of viow, of securing closer unioa betwaen Great Britain and hor colonies were «o enormous that Mr Ch%mberUia was prepired, if necessary, to sacrifice, for gaining them, someshin? of the utmosS limit* of freebrt.de, and everybody wellknew that MrChamberiain. was an avowed and well-tried freetrader. It ii quit 9 evident th*fc the British farmers dou't see why their mi-'iiu should be swfcmpsd with wheat, me*b, aud wool from Russia and America, seeing thit they do very little expert business with those countries. The idea of ft custom? union with the oolonies is, I suppose, to shut out if pcnuible such foreign countries as compete in British markets and confine rb.9 Irade fco the colonies which do a large trade in nf inuf actures, &c, as a sst-ofE against the produce skipped to British ports. 1 The freauenb and welcome showers that have fallen during the last i'flw week* have put an end to the drought and started a good growth in all ! kinds of vegetation withou l ". doing any injury to ! the grain in atook. The burned-up pastures are already putting on a greeu shade, aud the grass and turnip seed* that have beeu lying in the ground for a month or two are springing forth in such a rapid style as to make one think that they are determined to make up for losb time if ponsib'.e Notwithstanding the improved outlook for feed there is still much to bs desired in the way of winter and spring feed for stock, a< the hay was a failure, and the oat crop 1 ! iv many parts are so light as to famish ' but little feed in the way of ch»ff. Under these circumstances, then, it b?hoves f every good farmer to bathink himself whether i ,he cannot in some way supple-neat the prospective supply of fodder ere the season has become too far advanced. The ground is warm yet, and the late rains have just sufficiently moistened it to make the conditions most; favourable for good growth during , the next t-vo months or so. The dry sea»ou has brought the harvest on earlier than usual, thus leaving a longer time for growing weather between harvest and frost. Some , far-sightßd farmers have already got the disc harrows at work between the rows of atook preparing for a sowing of some kind of catch crop. When the harvesting is hindered by broken weather there is a good opportunity ' to put the team or teams to work in the way mentioned, and if the catch crop does nob come t:> much the land is all the better for the working thus given, and the horses may as well be at such work as being idle during the odd times | when they can't work in the harvest field. ' They had just such a dry summer in Britain last year. The h*y crop was nil and the roots little better, and as soon as harvest began the rain began to fall and fell without ceasing until the poor crops that survived the drought were spoiled by excessive moisture. The British Board of Agriculture issued a circular to all farmers enumerating all the most popular

Various Green Crops.

green crops and the mode of cultivation, with a view to reminding farmers of tbo possibility of in some measure repairing the deficiency in their fodder crops. Of course I -Mil vrell aware lhat no general rule can be laid down concerning the kind of crop to grow and the time to now it, because circumstance* of soil and climate, as w<jll as tha time of getting the atubble cleared, must bo taken inbo consideration. Little autumn growth cau be expected from a cold, stiff soil, bat ia any soil of a five and kindly uatsure there should be a fair amount of growth up to the end of May, which gives three maiUhs if the land is clear by the cud of this mouth. Moreover, it does nob neco3»atily follow that autumn crops should be sown on stubble land alone, but, generally speakiug, it is the u«,ual course to sow on stubble, as it tan be quickly prepared, and is, or should be, fairly clean aud in good heart. Rye, oats, and C»pe barley are all good fov autumn growth, but will do all the better if started off with a huudredweight or two of some kind of fertiliser ; and the s inn may be said of any crop sown at this time. The crimson clover (Trifoliu n mcarn*.tum) i« a rank and rapid growc, and is much fanoied for this purpose by Eaglish farmers. Italian ryegraM, sown thickly i»nd pratty early, will furnish early spring feed ; it is well adapted for dairy tfccok. Mustard, raps, kohl-rahi, and retches an good where the soil is warm and moist and lies to the sun, bub cannot be recommended for autumn cowing in high inland districts where frosts conn pretty early. Ido not think ib is much use to mention turnips us fit for sowing ao late, but there is a variety of so-called stubbie luruip that is supposed to m&ke fair weight iv a couple of months or so, but only under most favourable cond tions. Much good can lie done, too, in stimulating growth of grasses, clover*, fci., by top-dressing with artiBci*l manure, but as the grain crops are not likely to bring in much retura this operation m*y be beyond the pockets of many. At any rate, everybody cau conserve all the straw th*« i» available, and that may be very valuable if tho winter proves serere, which Heaven forbid ! The world's markets are closer to us now than they used to be soma" years ago ; and one renult of this if the stability of the price of wheat. Time was when, if the crops failed iv Australia, the price of whsafc rapidly advanced here, aud a plentiful crop in Australia meant a drop in prices in New Z»alaud. Now, however, the huge cargo steamers which bridge over the sew that divide bave chaasjed all that. Ia therft a sharp rise in the price of wheat in New Zealand ? then Australian supplies are speedily landed on our shore?. Or if Autbralian supplies run sborfc. ships from America will soon come over with supplies. A recent cable manage announce* that a vessel from Oregon with 55,000 bigs of flour aud 41,000 bags oi wheat has arrived at Sydney. This proves if anything can prove, that the old days of booming prices are dead and gonfl. A*nd for the hulk of the people that is a good --thing, although the farmers ln&y consider ifc otherwise. No doubt it i* very pleasing to have * good crop of whsafc and to get 59 or 6a a bushel for it, but the oonsumer does nob join in with the congratulations whoa he has to pay 7d to 8d for the 41b loaf. If our general supply of commodities depended upon tha local markets we shoald witness sharp fluctuations in prices all round. The farmers would nob congratulate themselves if all of a »udden they had to pay nearly double for tea. or sujjar, or clothes, or boots ; they must therefore recognise that a steady price is best for all concerned. The price of bread is the moot important factor ia civilisation, and far transcends the price of meat. Even the people of these colonies, remote as they are from the great supply centres ot* breadstuffs, are yet near enough to benenb from the abundance elsewhere when local supplies run short. Steady markets and fair prices are always the be3b. I wrote a note the other week on utilising wast*, products ; but there are m^ny useful produces in New Zealand which are allowed to go to waste all for the want of a little enter1 prise to turn them to good account. First on the lift is the New Zealand flax plant, which, when ths early settlers cams to Iho colony, covered the face of the country in broad acres of tall flax bushes. Had anyone originated a plan for utilising this plane what an unexplored mine they would bave had to work. That the plant possessed a valuable fibre the intelligent Maori showed them by the many useful aud beautiful articles made from ib. Even now acres of flax are destroyed to make place for cultivation, all becaase the manufacture of fibre is too expensive a process. Doubtless a profitable process will be discovered when tha fUx fields have disappeared, and th»n we shall have to grow the plant for the sake of its fibre. The silver tusjock that waves in tha breeze over thousands of acres in New Zealand, aud which is speedily disappearing before the combined attacks of fire and stock, to say nothing of the rabbits, is a valuable substance for paper-making. Yet ib is allowed to grow unheeded and left to rot where.- it giowi. I know that it bai be*n sparingly used by our paper mills, but I feel oerbain that were the same tussock grass near a British oc American paper mill it would be recognised &• a I valuable natural product. The snow grait which 1 grows to TUorotulrincold, wet locaUtiea iaalep

Catch Crops.

The Price of Wheat and tho World's Supply.

Useful Products.

Slnckbuihling.

Slnckbuihliug.

valuable for paper-making. And last, but uot least, there are the valuable tanning barks of our Forests, which have hardly as yet been touched. [ know half a drz< n good tanning barks, and ulthough I have directed the attention of the Government — I may say successive Governments — to them they still remain unused where they grow. I trust, however, the day is not Car distant when onr truly valuable tannk-g barkx will be regarded »s a merchantable commodity. Theie are other valuable natfre products lying unused which will be put to good use someday. Now is the season when the question of stackbuilding is a very important; one indeed for the farmer. Where the grain cannot ba threshed out of the s took — and in our variable climate this can seldom be done with safety — greater care than is generally exercised ought to be taken to make tha stack thoroughly weatherproof. Tbe careless manner in which this operation is performed by too many farmers leads one to believe that they are simply courting disaster. It' no heavy rains or wild atorrns come the stacks may do well enough, especially if the tbreihiug mill is expected to come along in a week or two. But no risks should be taken whither or no, as a single downpour of rain might ruin all or most of the grain in the stack yard. Where the threshing mill is expected shortly stacks, if well built and roped, may be allowed to remain unthatched, but if the stacks are to stand a month or two it is too risky to allow them to go without thatch. The Urge stacks that are sometimes built, too, require some ventilation if they have to stand long, as them is very great, danger of their heating, especially if the grain and straw are not properly hard and dry when the stack is built. As & rule the smaller stacks are the safer, and if built on a nice dry site with proper drainage and a little dry brushwood or other suitable material for a foundation they will take no harm if carefully thatched. Surely it is not good farming to go through all the trials «nd trouble of sowing and harvesting the grain and then allow it to be damaged in the stack. My best advice to all my farm frieuds is to v -ake no riiks in this respect. Agricola.