OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET

Otago Witness, Issue 2263, 15 July 1897, Page 6

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET

(Fitoai Our Own Cohbkspondent.) Christchubch, July 10. I had almost made up my mind not to write again until there was a change The Season, in the weather, but this seems an event that will not happen. We have had a few showers here and there in the district, but nothing approaching the general steady rain that is so much required. In my recent travels I have found that South Canterbury, which has had several most favourable seasong, is now in a worse state than any other parb of the province. Less rain fell there daring harvest time — loug enough ago in all conscience — than in other parts of Canterbury, the last good rain being; a3 long ago as November. Tbe -soil there being o£ a stiff character, ploughing of grass land has been the hardest of hard labour, and sowing is very backward. This is the more serious when it is considered the smaller farmers, as a rule, were going in for cioppiag this season, la what may ba termed Mid-Canterbury, tbe soil is lighter and the grass does not remain down so long, and though ploughing has necessitated tha use of an extra horse to the team (double-furrow plough) in most , localities, most of the land has been i ploughed and much of it sown. In North ; Canterbury there have been useful showers, ! and farm work is not so very much in arrear. ! Everywhere, however, the unworkable Rbate of ! stiff land has been a hindrance to sowing, and | where the seed has been put in it is coming up ( very badly or has altogether failed ; a considerable area will have to be resown. All this makes a backward harvest and, unless future conditions are unusually propitious, a poor yield. There is yet much Wheat to be sown, and with good treatment fair crops may be obtained. Good results have been obtained from the use of a nitrate drilled in with the seed, and some such course as thi» appears to be advisable this season, lewb to 2c\vfc of a special fertiliser being used. The wheat gets a good start, and it is considered, as the result of experience, that the danger of rust later on is lessened. About the same area of oats ac last year is intended to be pub in, and a rather | larger breadth of barley, but the elements have yet to dispose of these propos \le. Thanks to the fine weather turnips are still holding out well, and there are still buyers for good wethers which are all but fat. There are, however, no buyers here for stock which require long holding. Consequently the Southland farmers who are bl sed with abundauce of feed are buying good useful stores in. South Canterbury at prices which will leave them a good margin of profit for fattening. Only four months ago stores were b<*ing brought from Southland to Canterbury. Sheep arf, all round very clean and healthy this year, neither Ecour, lungworm, foobrot, nor any of the troubles from which the ovine race most euffer having made any appearance. The only trouble ia tbe unusual oue of sand or earth collecting in the inteutines and causing many deaths, this being a consequence of the dry weabher and lh« scarcity of feed, the animals eating the herbage and turnips so close that a quantity of earth is eaten with them ; besides which the leave 3of the turnips have bßen coated with dust; for months pasb. If we do not get a change very quickly there will be a bad farm lambing. The report by Mr M. Mutphy, secretary of the Canterbury A. and P. AssoTwo Wintor ciation, upon the Dunedin winter Shows. show confesses that Canterbury is distanced in this event. When Mr Murphy tries to account for the Dunedin success and the Christchurch failure he does not grasp the pomt — indeed, he does not appear to have seen it. Perhaps, however, he was restrained by consideration for the feelings of i his committee from stating wherein the differ enca in the manner of running the two shows

consisted. It can be very briefly stated — Me Murphy's committee passed reaolutiona and left him to work them out; Mr Duthie'a committee planned their work well and carried it out themselves. Ib is no part of a secretary's duty to "hold a ladder while a workman was nailing up a flag." Mr Murphy's conclusions pracbically are that Canterbury should throw up the sponge as regards winter shows, but I can scarcely believe that tho association will ha go pusillanimous as this. Certainly it hag lost much ground lately, both Dunedin and Wellington being now much more " live " bodies ; in fact, if Dunedin had not abandoned the Agricultural Conference, that society would have nearly or quite established itself in the position of the leading agricultural organisation in New Zealand. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Farmers' Co-operative AssociaPnrmers' tipn of Canterbury" (Limited) Co-oncratire was held this afternoon. Tho Association, profit for the year, £11,692, added to £1599 brought iocward, made a sum of £13,291 to be dealt wibb. This was disposed of by paying a dividend of 6 per cent, and a bonus of 4 per cent, to paidup capital, a bonus of 4 per oent. on purchases of merchandise, a like bonus on salaries and wages earned, a return of 25 per cent, on commissions, writing off 10 per cent, on the machinery and office furniture account, and placing £2000 to credit of reserve fund ; the balance, estimated at £2000, to be carried forward. To the possihle — indeed, natural — question why it is necessary to establish a suspense fund, seeing that the association had worked for so many yews without such a reserve, the answer was. given in the chairman's address, that until the last few years advances were made almost entirely to freehold farmers — men who. although their farms might be mortgaged, still possessed a substantial interest in the laud value of the farm, au interest which always acted as an insurance against these advances. Now numbers of leasehold farmers have ooma for advances, and in the event of a bad season occurring they hswe nothing to fall back upon. This answer is either "drawing a red herring across the trail," or discloses that a very hazardous business 19 being done by the asso- ! oiation. Only £110 was written off for bad debt* during the year ; but £750, in addition to £500 in the previous year and not drawn upon, has been placed to a suspense account to meebpossiblelo'ses. One thousand new shares are to be issued at the same premium — Bsper share — as recent issues. Tho chairman stated that the reserves and money carried forward equal 203 per share. Arrangements have been made to go in for bacon-curing, by which means it is hoped "to assist in preserving the good name Canterbury bfscon has earned, »nd to protect the farmers' interests in the disposal of their piga." Considering that farmers' baconera have commanded for months past 3£d to 3J-d, and even 4d, * per Ib, one would think the farmer*' interest are rather safer than those of the curers. The address also mentioned the shipping and railway rates questions, the proposal to open a branch in Ashburton — which will to some extent be carried out, — and the ••Prime Canterbury" controversy — somewhat disingenuously using the plural in referring to the " brand pirates." One of the shareholders strongly condemned the payment of 10 per cent, dividend and bonus on capital as contrary to the principle of co-operation, and stated that there were 17 shareholders fewer last year than the previous year, and 78 fewer then than in the year before that (a falling off of 95 in two years). He contended that the profits should be returned to those from whom they were made ; the investors were making too much money. The report and balance sheet were, however, adopted nem. dis. Mr A. Park, M.R.C.V.S., of the Department of Agriculture, has been for some Tuberculosis, days engaged in testing dairy cows with tuberculin. The results cannot yet he published, but are rumoured to be startling. Feeding on ensilage has been found to increase the temperature of cows to such a degree as to make beating impracticable. This is a point on which Mr Park should be asked to report, as maintaining the temperature of cattle in winter is an important matter, and if nob overdone re»ultß in an earlier and better yield of milk in the spring. Mr J. Bayne, director of Lincoln College, visited many farms during his Miscellaneous, winter show visit to Ofcago, and was much impressed by the excellent system generally followed, particularly aa regards the care of dairy stock during winter. His cows at Lincoln, unsheltered as they are, beat Mr Brydone's Edendale record of £7 for the season by over £1 » head. Mr Cameron-Holmsbrom expresses surprise that dairvfarmers persiet in growing turnips instead of mungels for winter feed for v milch cows, thereby giving the butter a bad flavour ; wbile mangels also are mors profitable. Pasteurisation is coming prominently into attention here, and several De Laval machines have been sold since the Dunedin show. A company has beeu formed hero to supply pasteurised milk to the town. „ There is a ke^n demund for freezing sheep, and fully 2£d per Ib skin and fat) is being paid, delivered ab works. At the same time the storage capacity of the works. ia taxeot to almost the utmost, and very little freight is in view. The reduced rates of freight have gent up the price of sheep quite Is a head. _ Both the local fre zinK companies claim credit for obtaining the reduction of freight. " Coaiin v. Shorfc," as usnal. " One who knows" tells me that if the Premier had nob shown so much determination to obtain other vessels if the lines now in the trade proved obdurate, the shipping companies would nob have been so ready to grant concessions.