AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2263, 15 July 1897, Page 5

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL. NEWS.

ff Mr Thomas D wan, of Wellington, wh» has re- j cently been in Canada and the United States, ; takes a very doleful view of the New Zealand j flax trade. When he was in Fiji he learned that ■ ramie, which produced such an excellent; fibre, was beiog extensively cultivated thece. Three crops a year were grown, and in temperate ] climates two crops could be produced. His : friends there strongly urged that New Zealand should cultivate the fibre. When he lefb New ; Zealand he firmly bslieved that he could sell a ' good deal of our dressed flax in America and ; . British Columbia, but; he had returned to tell ! the people of the colony thab there was nothing j in the industry. One manufacturer of binder i twine told him that our flax was no good, and j when used had given more trouble thau any < other fibre brought to the mill. When ha com- ' pared the binder twine made in Canada and tha ; States with what was manufactured in the j colony lie was terribly ashamed of our homemade article. Another firm informed him that they did not intend to use any more New Zealand ; flax, because it was much inferior to all other I fibres. His inquiries had convinced him that ■ our flax was only used as a makeshift when ! other florae were not available or were too high i in price to be extensively used. Ib was evideufe J that we could not expect to do a large trade in • flax with America and Canada whan there wero j infinitely superior fibres procurable, and the ; sooner we cleared our flax lands and grew ; potatoes, be., the more profitable it would be i for us. Esparto grass and ramie would grow ' well in 4he colony, and their cultivation would pay infinitely better than fhx. . The quantity and valua of certain exports 1 from New Zealand during the month of Jane was :— Butter, 65*2cwt, valued at £30,387 ; ' cheese, 4-Wlowb, valued at £9091 ; frozen beef, i 5131cwt, valued at £5875 ; frozen mutton, ■ 70,632 carcases, valued at £35,827: frozen) lambs, 122,155 carcases, valued at £89,918. ; The Gear Meat Company, Wellington, ; decline to have anythiDg to do with the Hooley . icheme ot amalgamation. A Wellington tradesman, who has an order , for the supply of 10,000 butter boxes for the Argentine Republic, is nending tho first instal- j ment of 4000 by the Kaikoura on Thursday. . The Oamaru Mail of a labs date says :—": — " A i prominent pastoralist of this district returned ( from Australia just in time to visit the great , winter show in Danedin, and was, not on- j naturally, forcibly struck with the comparison i of the position of the agriculturist and pas- ' toralist of New Zealand with that of his fellow- . farmer in Australia. Here, as evidenced by , the wonderful show he was visiting, waß a land j literally flowing with milk and honey, with | prosperity visible at every turn, while in the i sister colony which he had just left were drought and desolation well-nigh unpictureable. ' JUp to the second week in June, when our informant left, there had been no rain for months j and months. Upwards of 15,000,000 sheep had died from starvation, and this represented only a first loss to the unfortunate pastoralists. The fleeces of those sheep which survived the . drought wonld deteriorate greatly in value, j * whilst the lambing next season would be in- j significant beyond all precedent. At the time , of bis leaving for New Zealand thare was not a ' green blade of wheat to be seen in New South j Wales, although the seed had been sown upwards of six weeks, and as an instance of ths j straits to which stock-owners were reduced he j mentioned that ib was costing them £6 a ton to I feedstock. Batitisanill wind bhabblowa nobody i good, and the misfortune of New South Wales was the financial windfall of New Zealand. The eyeß of our sister colonists were turned to us as the natural granary to supply them with artificial food for their surviving stock. The very steamer which took him over earlier in the season carried 16,000 sacks of produce for the relief of drought-stricken districts. It was solely to the drought that our informant attributed the substantial rise in the prices of produce in our own colony. The prospects for wool and mutton in New Zealand were also good, on account of the losses in Australia, more especially as there were fewer sheep in New Zealand this season than last, owing to the exceptional export of lambs and the large area under crop. Although rain had been much delayed in our own colony there was still plenty of time for spring sowing, and our equable climate would never allow ub to arrive at the disastrous condition in which our neighbours found themselves. Although Australia might boast a richer soil when abundance of rain fell, the prevalence of a drought made her a distressing spectacle to owqiib of stock, and spelt xuin in many instances to experienced breeders. The winter show he regarded as a most valuable method ofgllustrating to oar visitors the splendid resources of our colony, and he felt sore that such exhibitions would lead to investment in the colony, and do good to the whole community." As showing the activity in the demand for Bheep for export it may be stated, says the Lyttolton Times of the 7th, that one buyer alone bought no less than 3700 freezing sheep (exclusive of lambs) at tha Addioeton yards Inat Wednesday, all of

which have beeu frozen ab the Islington j works. — The same paper says: — "During the j past week the Cbristohurch Meat Company has ! killed six bullocks, the total weight of which was 80411b, or an average of 13401b each. The bullocks were reared and fed on the Peninsula, and showed a wonderful proportion of lean for their weight." Some returns published by H'Meekin Bros, and Co., of Melbourne, showing the exports of butter direct through their agency from tha factories, are interesting. Tha figures are as under : — 1895. 1807. Company. Cases. Cases. Warrnambool 7769 ... «101 JTarnhavm 5148 ... 5339 Glenormiston 3218 ... 3633 Koroit 2577 ... 1729 Camperdowu ... ... — ... 4800 Mortlake ... 2497 ... 144S 21,509 23,050 The amount realised by the above f&ehmea' consignments in 1896 was about £55,350, and in 1897 £57,370. The figures do not show the Campardown Couaoany's export for 1898, as it was sold direct to firms at Home. In addition to the above Urasmere exported 5384- cases in 1896 and 3188 cases ia 1897. The oiher district; factories would briug the total quautiby of butter exported during the past season to about 45,000 cases, with a total value of nearly £120,000. Mr M. Murphy, secretary of the Canterbury A. and P. Association, presented his report on the Dunedin winter show to & committee meeting of his society beUl last week. Mr Murphy says : — " . . . Now as to some of the causes which may in part account for the enthusiasm of our southern friends as compared •with tha apathy of Canterbury farmers regarding the winter shows. From observation and inquiries made, the reasons — at lea3t, some of. them — may be found in the fact that farming is carried on in a more intense form in Otagothan in Canterbury, owing in part feo climatic differences. Root culture is carried on to a greater extent oa small holdings than in Canterbury, and with greater care. A spirit of emulation appears to exist amongst these people, which encourages them to try issues in the annual show rcooi. The fact thab there were 185 entries of bread is in itself evidence that farmers' families take a deep interest in the Bhow, and of coarce they and their friends help largely to swell the attendance. The manufacture of cheese h-is now become one of the staple products oi Ofcago and Southland, as evidenced by the aumerous entries in this section. These exhibits were an undoubted centre of attraction, the keenest; rivalry existing between the various factories, which creates a healthy competition, and naturally attracted a large number of interested peiaons, more especially as the National Dairy A-isociation held its annual meeting during tha show d»ya. The cheese was judged by points by the Government experts. The quality of a large number of the exhibits was nearly perfect, judging by the points awarded. With a view to encouraging the use of fertilisers, cups, medals and kind, valued at £130, were offered by agents and others in field turnip competitions. These were fairly well competed for, and must have materially aided the show in tho matter of exhibits. Valuable prizes were also offered for the best-leapt farms. Ib has been said that to carry a winter show to a successful issue, from a monetary point of view, there must bs oida shows. This assumption was nob borne out in DunediD, as there were no sida attractions beyond the sale of cheese and the delivery of lectures by Mr Bayne on ' Land Drainage,' Mr Gilruth on * Chicken Cholera as Applied to the Extermination of Ribbits ' (experiments'in this direction are now being ' carried out at Clydevale estate, the results of which will probably be published in i due cours9), and by Mr Macßwivn on dairy ! matters. The attendance at each of these leei tuyes was moat satisfactory, the room being j filled on each occasion by an appreciative ; audience of farmers and others. On Friday | afternoon a large gathering of farmers took place to witness the presentation of shields, cups, and medals for best-kept farms, &c. Mr Smith, the president, presided, and commenting on the few farmers who entered the farm competition, said he hoped that in future the farmers would wake up to a sense of their duty aud their own interests by supporting theie competitions as they deserved to be. His experience was evidently similar to that experienced in Canterbury some years ago when prizes were offered by the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, and which apparently proved barren of results. The Committee of Manage- . ment and their secretary, Mr Duthie, are to be congratulated on the success which has crowned their efforts, aided, it is true, by a chain of fortuitous circumstances, backed by the support of the farming community and the general public in this the Record Reign year, and the coming of age of their association, which was founded in the year 1876. Finally, the conditions of things in Otago are doubtless more favourable for holding winter shows than appears to -be the case in Canterbury. I am, however, at a loss to understand why our farmers and townspeople have not supported the efforts of the Canterbury A. and P. Association to establish an annual exhibition of roots, ko. Unfortunately, facts extending over four, efforts in this direction, with a loss oa each event, are conclusive evidence that our farmers are quite satisfied with their great annual gathering in November." Seven Thistle milkers arrived in New Zealand by the s.s. Kaikoura, and Mr J. C. George informed, our (New. Zealand farmer) special

reporter (North Isl&nd) that Mr West, of Tariki road, who led the way in introducing the Thistle milker into Taranaki, is increasingly pleased I ■ with ifc month by month. ] A profit of a thousand a year on 55 cows is the kind oc return which makes the dairyfarmer anxious to know how ib is done. Thia j was shown at a meeting of a farmers' institute in Canada recently, when Mr C. D. Telsar read a report of the returns from his Holstein cows for the year. One cow gave lsoogal of milk, which at 5e per quart made 300dol. O.en cows averaged 11,6001b, 40 cows av,-raaed 90001b, and 55 cows averaged 80001b. From his dej seription of ihe methods of care and the buildj inga employed to attain thcie results, ife was ; evident that consideration for the comfort aud I well-b3ing of the animal ia the primary object ,of attention at fchia place ab leasb. The diet j used consists of bran, 6lb ; pea 3, '21b ; corn, ground on the cob, 3lb; ensilage, 501b; clover, 81b ; which, with other ingredients, brings the cost per cow per day to 14-c. Taking the average yield of the whola 55 cows, each cow | made a net profit of 109dol affcer allowing for I cost of keeping at 14-c par day, or a total for bhe whole herd of 5995d01. Mr flay Smith, of Clarkaville, Kaiapoi, has, says the Lyttelton Times, just purchased from a well-kuowa southern breeder, through the j agency of Messrs George King and Co., a I Clydesdale entire colt which is considered by | competent judges to bs one of the best colts of ! his age ever bred in New Zealand. Two of the same colt's full sisters, aged two and three years respectively, have also been bought by Mr Smith. Mr Smith is to be congratulated on his purchases, which should prove acquisitions fea the Canterbury studs, as their pedigree is o£ ' the first order. That of the colt runs thus :—: — ' Bay colt Good Times, foaled November 1895, by Hard Times, dam Madam I, by Prince of Wales (imp.) ; granddam Madam, by Sir William Wallace (Fleming and Hedley's) ; great-granddam, Miss Symmons, by Lincolnshire Hero (imp.). As staled, the fillies are full sistera to Good Times. The exceeding dryness of the past few months has not, we (Norl;h Ofcajjo Times) are informed, prevented the grain on the Papaka-o Plain from springing, and many fields are looking quito green. On the other side of the Waitaki River ib ia nearly as good, but further north again, particularly near Timarn, much grain will haye to be reaown. The Lytfceibon Times says that Mr A. Park, the Government veterinarian, has for some days been applying the tuberculin test to several cows ia the neighbourhood of Christchurbh. As many of these cows have been fed upon ensilage they are considered somewhat unfit for <-e?ting purposes, and for the next day or two will be subjected to further trials. Information of a definite character may be looked for at an early date.