AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The Agricultural department forecasts - ; a medium harvest, owing to the damage to the crop 3in Southland and Obago by wet and in Canterbury by drought. The North Island is not greatly affected by weather. Forty Lincoln rams were shipped by the Rotomahana at Lyttelton on the 21it for trau-

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• shipment to the Kaikoura at Wellington. They • are* bound for Mon'.e Video, and have been shipped by the N<.w Zealand and Australian Land Company, Mr Reid (of Elderslie), and James Holmes. A return laid before Parliament shows the number of owners and the number of sheep in - the various diotricts as at 30th April, 1898, and 30 April, 1697, as follows :—

It is slated that hawks are picking out the eyea of a large number of tho he&vily-woolled sbiep in the R&ngitikei district (his season.

At Bkckhead station, H*wke's Bay, recently 23 men shoie 3100 wetbers and pressed 81 bales of wool in ore day. Further, the siroe men shore 10,000 sheep in three days. Mr M'Hardy says the late clip is the best he ins had for 20 years.

The LylteKon Times of tLe 23rd says :— " A peculiarly givss case of cruelty to animals was brought under notice at the Addingtcn live stock market yesterday, and it was one vh'cb, by a very little trouble, might bave been avoided. A three-year-old bullock which came down from the North Island in a mob had its herns ingrowing to such an extent tlist they h&d pierced the head just above the e>e to tha depth of ever an inch, and the p or aninul was unable to clote its eyes from/the fact that the mutclei if the uppsr ejelids were contracted by the pressure of tLe points of Ihe horns. Upon the agent's attention b'sing cal'ed to the matter he at once srrapged to have the tips of the borris^cufc eff, and the operation was speed'ly perfoimed wilh an ordinary lein.ant saw, without causing the beast any pain. Upon the points being examined they were f<.uud to be'eovered with blood and matter for fully an inch where they had been fo*cad into the head. It is astonishing how the owner of any ai-itul ceuld have allowed itto have suffered the ageny this one must have undergone, whci such a simple operation would have given ii; relief. Those »he cbjcoi to dehoruiug as a cruel process would have had an iushucUve lesson by visiting the yards yesterday, &*, besides the animal mentioned, in the tauie mob were three or four bullocks with their horns broken off ssd Heeding, while the zifei of nesily all of therj were badly gored. Another matter which should be put a stop to as quite unnecessary and cruel is the practice indu'g<sd in by at le^st one buyer of fat pigs cf punching a piece out of ths ears of all ihe animals ke bnys when they could bo as easily marked with raddle. The animal*, which are full grown, are very thick in the eary, and mustsi'ffrjr considerable pain from the operation !> Accoidiug to the Australasian, a disease has broken out within the past week amongst milch cows at Murlien, a few miles distant from Stratford, arc! is causiug grave auxiety to faimerp. The fi<st indication manifested is a reduced milk yield ; the animal then becomes c'zzy, lies down, and refuges food. It is impossible to keep them on tlu-ir l^gs, and they to- -< v become incapable of swallowing. Death occurs within 36 hours, and much froth gathers i. bout the mcu'.h. Subsequently the l ody docs not swell, and, on a post mortem being made, ihe internal appesrances are perfectly healthy. The blood is of a very daik colour, and appears concentrated about the kidnejs.

Dr Brittin, of Chrietchurch, who has just returned from Australia, has, according to the Pres*, brought with him exhibits and photographs of the t : ck pest, which, together with the reports of the intercolonial conference on the tick pest and red water disease, can be seeu at the A. and P. Association office 3. Oao photograph shows the blood of a bullock thickly sprii kted with the micro-organisms of the tick itvi-r.

'Xiie North Otago Times ' says :—": — " Reports from the country districts say that the gr*s? is making some headway after the rain, but not sufiiuient yet to warrant increasing the stock already depasturing on most properties. This is the cause of the absence of life at the Junction Yards stock sales. — We are pleased to learn that the crops throughout the Waimate district wi'l be fair to average. The reports that have been circulated respecting the crops have not been altogether correct, and our information is gathered from a gentleman who travelled a".l j over the district a few days ago. The crops | there have not suffered so much from drought j as frcm the high winds. In some place 3 there j are poor crops, bat in others the yields, from all appearances, will be almost as heavy as could reasonably be wished." The sub-committee of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, who were' requested to make arrangements for a weighing machine for ascertaining the live weights of stock at the showi, have selected (says the Jjytlelton Times) a machine that will do all that is required of ib, and at the same time Trill be portable, so that ib can be taken to »ny of the pens required, instead of having the animals driven to it. This should assist the judges in the freezing classes materially, and prevent the repetition of the blunders made at the last metropolitan show.

The Weekly Pres3 says that in consequence of the icarcity of grabs and other food the small birds are at present nuking serious denre-

datious on the ripening grain crops. The £ea«cn seems also to have been uncommonly k'nd to the production of larger broods of birds than nsual.

A large number of horses fall in the London si reefs aonuilly from sudden par«l;sis of the hindquarters. In some instances these horses have been destroyed from ibe mistaken notion that the fall was the re uib of accidental flipping on the paved street, which was followed by permanent injuiy to tho spine. Such acci-dei>t-s do occur sometimes. But in com 9 of the cases the Ml ia the oubwprd mani^estalion cf a mysterious disease known to veterinarians as azalui'ip, from the opinion formed that it is ilue to an over supply aud presence in the system of szotisfd cr a'buminovis ingredient", or to disturbances in tte assimilation of food consumed.

A French inventor bas made use of a rubber tube as a core on which to mould pipes cf cenienb and saud. To make a continuous conduit in the ground a trench is dug, and at the botlcm cf this ia placed a layer of cement mortar. On this rests tbe lubber tube, which is fcurrounded by ennvas and inflated. The remaicder of the freuch is then filled with cement m-u-tar, and as so:>n as this ia set the rubber core can be difUted- and removed for use elsewhere. It is stated that 6in pipes have been made on this plan out of hydraulic lime and tand. at a cost of about lid per yard.

Mr J. Christie, ths well-known Lincoln shf-epbreeder, of G-irvald Val! 1 , Victoria, has oblijed the Hamilton Spectator with the weigl-ts of wool clipped from his stud r-iras and ewrc. They are as under : — E-itu, 4yrs old, 22ib 8 z ; ram, 4yrs old, 201b ; show ram, 2yrs oM, 22ib; bhow ram, 2irg oIJ, 21' b ; ram, lyr ohi, 181b ; show ewe, 4yrs old, 221b ; ew«, 3yrs old, 201b ; cwr>, 2yrs old, with twin lamb?, 20. b ; cv. c, 2yrs old, with lamb, 18!b ; esvc, 2>ra old, wibh lamb, 181b ; ewe, 2yra old, with lamb, 18!b ; show ewe, lyr eld, 171b 8 z,

Owners. I Sheep. , -*. J, s 1596. 1837. i 1896. 1597. \.ucklaud ...! Napier SVellingt'n-W. Coast Mai lboroughNelson [,'anterburyKftikoura ... >tago : 2,523 1,589 4092 3,595 3,980 3,944 17,703 2,561 819,221 3.7C4 4.242.5.18 4,340, 4,0f9.9C? 3,743 580.863 4,079 5,121,398 4,011| 3,995,496 18.4G5' 19,138,494* 859,471 4.355.59 C 4.322.P56 932,980 5,193,101 4,021, (WE 19,G57,90i Totals ..J