SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES. (Form Our Own Correspondent.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 14

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES. (Form Our Own Correspondent.)

Ihe weather was comparatively fine during the past month. " The crops have The Weather made very good progress in conand sequence, but. the growth is the Farm, irregular, which no doubu Eccounts for the conflicting opinions expressed. Some say that they never looked so bad during any previous season, and others asf crt that tbe yield is likely to be up to the average. In a number of places the oats are too light in colour and very short, but there is to be seen a good dtal which looks very well. I think it not improbable that the yield will be nearly up to the average, but the crop will be so l&le that one hesitates to express an opinion ab present. It is nnfortunate that there is a larger area tbaa usual uuder wheat tbis ceasor, as Ihe w«t weather experienced during October and November was most unfavourable to the success of the crop. Much of it is not loskirg well except where the land is well drained (either naturally or artificially) and fertilisers applied. Oats also both on flats and ridges are much better where the l»nd has been drained, and a heavy crop will be reaped in spite of the unfavourable season. The po f a(o crop will not be heavy this season. A number (probably 15 or 20 per ceDt.) of the earlier planted sets rotted, and the bu'k ef the crop was planted 100 late. There is a smaller area of ryegrass to be reaped this year, which is owing to the scarcity of feed early in the season and to the facfe that a good deal of la3t year's seed is still on hand. The crop is heavy, and reaping will probably be commenced next week. The grass has been very good during the past month in paddocks which were not overstocked. Many allow the grass to grow too long, which results in much waste. It has been well said that the farmer's eye makes the -basst fat, and it would be of much advantage where the piddocks are too large to reduce the siz-s occasionally by aaakiug divisions with wire netting.

The I*s!j month was a very busy one preparing the land f«.r turnips. A, considerable number of farmers-- had the sowing finished ab*ut Christmas, but others are only fiaishing now. lb is seldom that lite-sown turnips grow to a large siz* 3 , but it war impossible this season to pet the various crops sown ia due time. A large breadth is under turnips, and a larger area than last year is on the raised drill. Broadcast sowing will soon be a thing of the past, but some farmers are slow to give it up. After failing to get good crops on the shallow furrow, they have by turning over a 7in furrow with the digger plough succeeded in burying the weeds for a season or two — some think they have destroyed them in this way — and are gettiDg good crops. A good deal is sown with the drill on laDd turned over with the digger. Half the manure suffices when put in with this machine. Singling basbeea commenced, but the work will not be general till about the middle of the month. A good deal of land will be laid down to grass this month, which is the best month in the jear for doing so. Many could not get the seed sown sooner, and so it happens that more than usual •will ba sown without a crop.

Notwithstanding that some members of the

veterinary profession pooh-pooh Tlio Bot Fly. the idea that the presence of

bofcs in the horse's stomach can cause the animal's death, paragraphs continue to »ppear in the newspapers from time to time stating that horses bave died from 17 the cause mentioned. In looking through the works of three eminent veterinarians — Youafet, Mayhew, and Steel — I have come to the conclusion tbftt in regard to the presence of bots in the horde's stomach it is a case of doctors differing. It is noticeable, however, that they do not express t heir opinions so dogmatically as some writers whose knowledge of the subject h&s been acquired only from reading. The first-named remarks that bots are nob usually injurious ; Mayhew, on the other hand, says they are injurious, and Steel ••sorts tbafe "bots sometimes penetrate the walls of tbe stomach of tbe horse and work among the tissues around." The conclusion to be drawn is, I think, that there is danger to tbe horse under some circumstances, especially if a large surface of the stomach is covered with the bots ;' and the practice of washing the jaw*, knees, or other parts attacked with kerosene emulsion or sheep dip should be continued, but they should be used only according to directions, ss the using of compositions which fire too strong has in some cases led to bkod poisoning, resulting in death. The manufacturers of Little's dip recommend 1 part of the fluid dip to 20 parts of water. I bavenged it with satisfactory reenlts, and kerosene emulsion el*o (1 to 14), but the latter tak«s longer to prepare. Either of theße washes will kill the *ggs, but I don'fc think any preparation will keep the flies from molesting horses, although it may for a time prevent them from laying eggs. It is not necessary to apply the wash oftener than once & week, as the eggs are not hatched earlier than the fifth d*y after being laid (sometimes not for three weeks), and they could not be swallowed before hatching.

The shearing is a-little later Ibis season. The

work ia now over on the m» jority Miscellaneous, of small farms and the wool

sold or sent to tbe auction sale*. Wool was about a penny lower last year than the year b f nd thiß year the same thing happens in i<- of the coarser wools. The finer kinds have been keeping stoadiar both this year_ and last. Of late years the wool has been getting fiaer, which is probably due to some extent to the use of Romney rams. Both fleece and constitution benefit by a change of blood occasionally. A Urge number of foals have diad tbis season, «Dd aomo farmers caanot account for the mortality. It is supposed there is gome mysterious disease at work, I have no doubt the deaths

li&ve been due entirely to the inclemency of the weather experienced during October and November, and h<we wondered that bo many horse-owDers did not think it necessary to keep the mares and foals in loose boxes on tha nights which were cold and wet. Foals pass a deal of their time in a recumbent position, and one can easily imagine the e-ffecb of bad weather. Owners who cannot understand it might, with, advantage to the foal*, try the experiment of spending a night out in the open. * The sodden condition oi the pasture during November was detrimental to the growth of the lambs., but they have improved considerably during the past month. Some say that 8s will be the ruling price for fat lambs this season iostead of 9s, which was obtained last year.