AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2300, 31 March 1898, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

At a general meeting of the Dunediri^ and Suburban Dairymen's Association held in tb.B Agticul'uur&i Buildt7agß on Saturday Mr Camp, bell (presideat) occupied the chair. The committee's report was lead and adopted. Thfi association will commencs on the l»b of nes.it month to bring into operation their new tariff; This tariff does not raise tbe price of milk above the regular price charged, which is sil per quart snd 2 Ad for two quarts or over,, but it is intended tba; ail suppliers shall bring their pviee to that standard, aud do away with cutting prices. Tae next general meeting is to bs held on Saturday, 26th met , when linsl arrangements will be made, and the public will be Do'Jfisd of all changes ititendfd. A'mogfc all the Dunedin and suburban dairyman me new nipmberas, and in a very shcit tirce ifc ia hoped there will be very few outside ihs tanks. A thoroughbred stallion belonging to Mr C. Lewi?, M.H.R , has been scabbed in a pVldcck at HalswelJ, Canterbury. The jugular vein was severed with a d»ep, clean-cut wound. Steps are bfJDg taken to send Australian meat to the East with a view to opening up the market there. A large area of ground in the Government; plantation at; Waitangi has been ploughed for wattle-growing. The department are quite satisfied with tte previous operations during the season, acd a large quantity of bark has been stripped and stored ready for the ope Ding of the mill. Owing to the low prices given for b&rk, no stripping has been done this year at the large plantations of Young and M'Lean afe Waitangi. Under the caption " An Exploded Idea " tha Christcburch Press a»ys :—": — " In connection *»ith the theory I hat the perpetrator of tbe hors» outrages sanut be «. man *v\lh some knowledge oi anatono?, Mr ,7. *?. C-arlton. ftl R.C.V.H. f rectn-'y cxpr ssed tte c 'nviction to a Piv-s reporter that such Icix.wjedge was not ut-cea-j-ary. In h's opinion anycup who fci».d been a tiroora at a stable or knew anything whatever abost horfes could inflict tbe woun^ with an erdiuarj; knife. Fe pointed oub that tbe jngntai" vein is perfectly -distinct and bb large as a man's finyer; so -hhab bo one could haye 'any difficulty in Scding'ifc." • Thfc Fcildirjg SCar says tbat tjie whole of the catlle on tbe Hcloa. di'gf.rici;, sense 1500 of all a^es, have, been dehorned. One of the -conxiterbass.ncmg effect* of tbe tick ppf-t (gays ibe Quepnsiantl^r) in likely (o ha tJbat a large area of excellent sheep coDntr.r. now under cattle, will an no distant date he furred to better account in the ieArwg of nheep. The effect of tbis c*n readily he foreseen in the example of rnus in the Mi:che!l district. svicSTas Darr River Downe, which only a few years ago was stocked with cattle, hut which <iow annually exports over 270 tons of woo!, which, eveo at the present low prices, reuse reac-b « valne oE £18.000 of £1 reign ruouey intrcriijced into the colony, where formerly fcbe exports from the same country were Htniied to an annual consignment ot butchers' tallow, hidts, Corns, and hove?. Much of tbe couotry north of tbe tirk Ime is nMI-ohea nenitby phrtp country, and it has locg bren tbe ooinion o£ practical glaziers that iti is a waate of power to kt-pp i' under csttlo It' tiherefoie the tick pesd results in a \%tp,6 iuc>f-asc of sheep ami in opening up foreign • ! - 's f"' our beef ifc will not have been an unmissd ev'l. j'i.v i;te!tco Times of the 24th ?ays :—: — '■^Vbcc a larg« line of sheep w.-»re being subruir.ter. fco auction »fc fchs Addington yards yesj,erday b? Mr Leicester Matson, they were knocked down at 6s 3d to a gentleman who disputed rhe bid. They were again put up and knocked down at the si.sne nric^, when the bid was once more disputed. Once more the auctioneer submitted them to competition, with the rt-sult that the line changed bands aL 7s per bead." Tha facb thsA tuberculosis is esstnti*lly an indoor disease has been brought oat in discussions of that subject i»\ tbe Rural New Yorker, which says :— " The free range cattle of the w<sfc, which supply our best baef, are far healthier than pampered. shuMu herds. It ii in aecoraanre with this teaching that consumptive invalids in the Adircndacks are kept oub of rioo.-s.' wrapped in furs, in the b-ight sunshine of pf-reiug wircer days. Daring tbe old days before nh° Unian Pacific railroad, every waggon train would take consumptives, who recognisea the pos?abijity of health in the rough outdoor life. It ia said that c-exfc spring a waggon train will start from Kansas to Wyoming with a number of invalids who wish to fery this old cure." Strong testimony as to the progress being made by Toi Tois settlers was forthcoming from two reliable eourcea at the E. A. Elliot banquet on Friday evening. Mr Henry Templtton said that during his residence in the district he had known not a few but several cases of men who had started as "little cockaboos" v?hoto-0ay — some of them were in the room — owned 'hundreds and thousands of acres. Mr Robert Blair added that in Otara district, which was essentially adapted to dairying pursuits, the settlers were all doing well, despite poor prices. There was not a supplier to Otara Dairy Factory bub who had doubled his property within the past 10 years. Most of the settlers had a little money, maybe, when they came to the district, bub ha thought it safe to say that not one of them had lost their cash by coming to that district — ifc was rather the other way. — Wyndh&m Farmer In the laud regulations it is provided that reservations of forest land along the ranges and afc the sources of streams are to be made whenever the opportunity occura. According to the Press, the .Canterbury Land Boatd received on Thursday from the department a circular on the subject, iD which was conveyed the Minister's opinion that something more would have io be done in view o? the disasters which had occurred, chiefly from the denudation of the covering provided by nature in the hills where tbe streams have their sources. The board waß requested to

20,000 Bedding Pi-ants, including Asters, Phlox, Cosmos, Stocks, Lobelia, Coreopsis, Marigolds, Dianthus, Gaillardia — Is dozen. Orders for 5s posb free to country. —^jiKMQ AND BiMßt Dunedin.

make such recommendations from time to time j as would serve to mitigate this evil as far as J possible. The circular suggested that not only ' tbe mountain and high hills where ] streams rise should be reserved, buk also belts j of land along the larger or navigable rivers in I ths interests of conservation and of tourists and other travellers. The board approved the j circular, and decided to at ones put into opera- ; tion the suggestions it contained. ! Mr Beck, of Ida Valley, intends to erect a j windmill for irrigation purposes. i The Christchurch Press says that harvesting \ operations have l&tely been completed in the ' Winchester districi, and stacks may vow be ( teen in ail directions. The sigbt from the station looking towards the sea is an exceedingly striking one, stack after stack being seen *s far as tbe eye can reach. A potato famine is one of the probabilities of the sorninjf winter (says the Warruambool Standard), judging from the manrer in which tbe ] ' crops in ttua district are becoming exhausted, ■ Thi early crops in tb.3 neighbourhood, ol' ! lilowa have in many cages been dug and sold, ! aud it is likely that consignment goin? for- | ward in future will be much lesa than during { the la6t six weeks. OwiDg to tbe absence of t rain, growers have been unable to pit their ! potatoes this season, and for the ta.ms '. reason the late crops vrill give infinitasimally ' sraall returna. There cannot be a doubt that as the season advances tbe export from Wsrrnambbol will fall off mateiially, and it is not anti- • cipated that either the Ballarat or Gippsland < districts will be able to send out big lots. Con- ' sequently Tosmanian potatoes will have to be ! relied upon to supply the intercolonial markets i iv the winter, bus the crops there are not pro- j •raising, though present expectations may be - •r-eublsd or eyeu trebled if .there happens to be ] . a good fall of rain in a f«w weeks. j The Allanton correspondent of the T&itri Advocate writes :—": — " The crops in this part of the district are very heavy this year. Not only one,^but all ouv farmers are able to report ex- j ctllent yields of bath wheat and oats. The j season, in fact, has been a splendid one co far t as we ara concerned, and it is a very difficult; | raatter io find a poor paddock m tha district. J Atnong thosa who have particularly good '■ results I may mention Messrs J. Bruce, G-. j Nichol, and Forbes. Threshing is now welll advanced. A good quantity of the wheat has been already sold, aud it has realised, so far, about 4s Qi, bub this price has not proved sufficient inducenaeat for some of oar growers to part with their grain. The poi.afca crop here ha? been aa exceilenc one. Nearly every field presents a fine healthy look, and as tha price keeps good the financial result should be very satisfactory. The yield of hay is unusually heavy this year. Large conHgnments of pressed hay are being sent to Dnnedin every week. Altogether our farm«r3 have every cause for aelfcongratulation »t tha remit of this season's , •work, particularly wheD one considers hew agriculturists in other disfcncfca are wailing over the complete failure of ail their crops. Il is an ill wind that blows no one good, and the shortage of grain caused by the dry season in the north will have the effect of beeping prices up, and so enriching the fortunate growers of the Saieri and other favoured districts."