AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 14

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Tha appeal by the Rev. J. C. Andrew, of lea station, against Ihe notice from the inspector of factories requiring him to provide sufficient accommodation for shearers before Ist October, was. tbat the notice was too short, that ~ the roads were bad, and th%t it was impossible to provide accommodation according to specifications by Ist October. It was further urged that there was already abundant accommodation-, and that the private residence of the appellant, with hot and cold water laid on, was available for shearers if neccseary. The evidence for the Labour department went to thow that the whare in which tbe shearers bad lived in tbe p&sb vra? in a filthy state, that shearers who had lived in ib had contracted la grippe^ and that there was no worse acrommodation in the colony. Mr Haselden, S.M., set abide the plea regarding lbs private residence as frivolous. He ht-ld that the sccDtnwodation was insufficient, and said tbat tbe evidence regarding the state of things which had existed in tbe pa<*t fully warranted tbe legislation on tbe subject. He ordered thut .bu'ldings according to specification be provided by 14thNovember so long as shearing was not commenced before that date.

A number of twruTfl in the old wheat distiicts of Victoria used fcoDedust when drilling in. their \*heab tbis year. The cost was about 3s 6i an acre, and this would probably prove too high in seasons when wheat is at low figures. However, the crops cettainly get a great r.dvantfege ab the start, and the wheat grows rapidly. Oce farmer missed a strip of land with tLe bonedust pu-poi>e!y to obtain a reliable lest, and on the uvssed portion the ■wheat fell a loug way tehind ths other in two months' growth. In othtr respects the manure proves valuable, atd farmers could d« a great deaL,with tbis manure if they paid more attention to its use.

Tby Sydney Mail says that a remarkable subeoil plough was exhibited by the Agricultural department at the Wagga 6h0w.~ This American invention cuts out rco's in great slices and etill g'oss on ploughing as though it had hit notbiDg ba.ider tban loom.

The Meat Trades Journal of London says : — " The. most rectnt cosop any -floating ventures with which Mr Hooky h»s been concerned represent him in a distinctly more modest frame of mind tban he displayed at the outset of his public career. In the Dunlop business his share of the profit amounted to tho round sum of £2,000,000, or 40 per cent, of the total capitalisation ; the Bovril profit wrs £500,000, or 20 per cent, of tbe capitalisation ; and in the case of Schweppe'ri Mr Hool«-y*s margin was £250,000, which was also 20 per cent, on the capital. Now the promotion of the Auttralian meat amalgamation is only 15 per cent, of the aggregate capit&Hsatic n. Perhaps this declining scale is duo to a growing suspicion on the pari; of the investirg public that Mr Hcolty has, in common parlance, 4 cpaned hia mouth too wide ' for their iutereitc"

A new method of relieving cittle that huve b*come "blown" «ibh rank fodder is being practised with success in Victoria. While in the Goulburn Valfey recf-nlly a representative cf the Mail saw several animels which were suffering from the effects of gorging with new grass. One of these was taken in band by the oncer, who simply poured cold water on the animal's head till ib recovered. It is claimed that this plan is jusb as effective is the insertion of ft lance into the paunch and hip, snd it l» preferable, because there is no danger of subsequent collapse. The water should be as cold jib posbiblp. The lower the temperature the quicker the recovery."