AGRICULTURE AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2303, 21 April 1898, Page 4

AGRICULTURE AND PASTORAL NEWS.

\ Probably tl;e only, case -on record int which [a landowner summoned for rot kef-ping down • the rabbits has g~.t off without a penalty occurred at BalcluLha oa the 13"h. Some ■time ago Mr Moore was fneJ because trapping had not proved effectual iv keeping down the | rabbits on his farm on M=itiuka Inland, aad. on j Wednesday, after sjs'emitic pci3oning, he was again charged with failing to comply with a [ notice to destroy the rabbits. Inspector Bree i admitted that Blr Moore had boneutly tried to kill the rabbits by poisoning, bub poUard poisoning had failed and no other means were taken. It was>not his place -to suggest means; what he insisted upon was the absolute destruction of the rabbits. Gwrgo Moore, defendant, said from October 25 to November 7 he had a man trapping with 140 or 150 traps, and ha caught 596 rabbits. After that laid poison. Poisoned twice aince Ocbober. Pat a trapper ou again on March 17. Laid poison. on February 11, 15, 17, ancL 19. Virtually nothiog was done between February 19 and- March 10, as- he was busy harvesting, but on February 25. ha saw a trapper, who was to come within a week but did not do so. Witness remarked that" he was seriously thinking of rabbit-fencing his property His Worship said it would be the best thing he ev-or did. He iva? sure it would pay. well, and save him all this annoyance aDd worry. If he could not fence the lot then do say 100 acres of the wotk. He would soon find the benefit. The $.M. said ha did nob think this was a c-ise in which he should fine. Perhaps defendant had' not done all that -was pos- • sibie -or all that he could have done, buij he thought he had taken all reasonable means to destroy the rabbite, and the case would 'be dismissed.. ' The North, Ofcago A. and P. Society have appointed Messrs Holmes and Borrie as delegates to the agricultural conference iv Dunedin during show week. The Agricultural deparhnDnfc hag received a further supply of the natural enemy to the mealy bug, and this will be divided between ' Wellington and 1 Nelson. According to the Tapanui Courier, the New Zealand Ttofrigerating Company is about to inaugurate a system which has long been advocated by " Drover " in his " Stock Nctes " column — viz, killing at country 'centres. Our contemporary ears- — "Operations will commence this afternoon (13th) at the Tapanui Meat Export Works, when the 'first consignment of locally-slatightered sheep v.ill be prepared for London. The temporary works are at the dairy factory buildings, near Tapanui railway station. Mr Frank Tiischnec 1 lta& charge of the slaughtering department, and local butchers (assisted by a first-class slaughterman from the New Zealand Refrigerating Company's works) will kilL the first lot. The sheep will be frozen at Burnside works, and conveyed" thither in railway dead meat vans." The Southern Standard says that during jhe visit of the . Minister for Lands to ilie Sandstone Ridge on.' Friday, Bth, the opportunity was taken, to inspect a paddock of 30,00 acres of oats, all in stook, wit'i tlie exception of about 200 acres. The locality was the Waimea Valley;,, lying, between the Sandstone and the hills. Carting in, stacking 1 , and threshing were going on in several portions of the flat. lhe area belonged to the contract croppers, and is expected to yield ft lly 40 bushels to the acre. - The Timaru Herald has tha following with' rclerence to the prospecus in South Canterbury • — "A "great drawback to the pleasure of the townspeople who > have made 'trips intQ' the country during- tlie Easter holidays was the unavoidable sight of the wretched' state of the pacchedrU]} country. One can' only,

Nimmo and Blair's collection of Bulbs, a 6 ss, 10s, 15s, 20s, and 4-Os each, are fcbe best v value ever offered, Delivered' free" to 1 any'JJMJi of New Ze&l&ueU

wonder how the live stock to be seen about manage to keep alive on the apparently bare paddocks that at this time of the year ought' to be' green with the autumn growth; and as for feed for the winter, it is now too late to' Fope for any useful growth even if rain came at once and plentifully. Fortunately the .whole district is not equally bad, though, no part of it is in as good condition as usual. Alcng the hills the paddocks are generally not green, but greenish, ancl at some points, .we hear, the pastures are in a satisfactory condition. Around Timaru, however, it is 'distressing to see the dismally bare ground, .where sheep and cattle are supposed to be * feeding.' " Growing gorse for sheep pasture has been carried on for some time in the North Island with, it is claimed, considerable success. We (xaieri Advocate) learn that Mr Donald Reid intends trying the experiment on a small scale on some of the poorest of his land at North Taieri. Sheep are said to thrive well i on the. young shoots of gorse. I An experiment was made during the 'season by Lincoln College for the purpose of finding out the best sorts of crossbreds, and (says the Press of the loth) at yesterday's meeting the results of the experiment were made known. Fifty crossbred ewes were used in each of the undermentioned instances, and their progeny were sent in two consignments to the Belfast Freezing "Works — one consign- j jnent in January and the other in March — j and both were reported extra prime. The . appended- table gives details of the results of J the experiments, which the board decided to i repeat : — !

The Taieri Advocate says that among the ] many good yields on the Taieri Plain this season there are few which can beat that of Mr W a^ er Blackie, of Glasgow farm. From one field of wheat lie realised the fine return of 75 bushels to the acre. ; Of the state of some of the streams in North Otago the North Otago Times says: — "The jV'aiareka Stream is still dried up, only a few pools indicating the bed of the stream. The Kakanui River has become so contracted that It can be crossed in ma,ny places on the stones, j •ll is rare that it is so, but the lengthened i di ought has reduced its volume to something '• ia the nature of a creek instead of a river." f Says the Wairarapa Star: — "A resident of j •the Argentine was recently asked by a Master- j lon relative to explain the reason why New Zealand rams had been for some tune pro- j hibited from being landed at Buenos Ayres. j The reply came to hand recently, and states j that there^is a law prohibiting the landing of Australian sheep in the Argentine, and New Zealand was considered to be a part of Australia. It is due to the Buenos Ayres Standard that its efforts on behalf of the Maorilanders were m the end successful, but it ' took that journal a long time to convince the authorities that New Zealand was not a por- , lion of the Australian continent." i The manager of one of the largest estates In Manawatu has informed a Palmerston Daily Times representative that there is rea- ' son to expect that beef will be dear during the approaching winber. The exceptionally , 'dry season has left all but the very best pas- j 'tnres very bare indeed, and where are supplies ol winter beef to coroe from? Certainly not i ■from. Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay, where it ' is doubtful if there will be any feed to speak ] uf before next spring. !

According to a letter which the Victorian Minister for Agriculture has received from Mr J. M. Sinclair, the representative in London of the Agricultural department of that ctlony, the grocers in England are becoming alarmed at the frequent prosecutions to which they are being subjected for selling butter containing boracic acid. None of these pro- . seditions have so far been successful, as medical gentlemen have given evidence that the quantity found in the butter was too . small to bo injurious to health. At the same time, the grocers do not like the annoyance ' and publicity attaching to these prosecutions, ! even though the cases break down. The , matter has been considered at a meeting of the Grocers' Association in Wales, and from j tho tenor of the discussion it was apparent ; that unless the quantity of acid which is used i

for preserving tho butter is reduced to the .very lowest compatible with the avoidance of rancidity they will decline in future to purchase Victorian butter. The Australasian gives some particulars of , ix peculiar cattle disease which is causing ! anxiety in some parts of Victoria. The fol- I lowing are the symptoms as described by Mr 'J. Desmond, bacteriolologist to the Melbourne , "Veterinaiy College, who was sent to Port ' iL'airy to report oa the matter: — A cow in j Sail profit will be quite well in the morning:, [ .giving the usual quantity of milk ; in the / evening she will look off, and only give about . half the usual quantity ; next morning she jnil) be found away from the other cattle and

, quite dry. The- eyes will be glassy, the hair , Iruuglr, rumination entirely suspended, tongue protruding, loss of power of the lower jaw,.; pntf unable to take food, although most de- ( Birous of doing so. About three days after , jthe first symptoms are shown the affected janimal is found lying down, and saliva from the mouth. In* this stage, if ifood' be placed in the mouth, it is most eager jto eat, but cannot do so. If liquid is poured elewn the throat it may. live for two or three Weeks, and in many case 3 will, recover. The [flowing are the. post mortem, app.earau.ceg ;,

The covering of the brain is highly congested, and about half a cupful of clear fluid is found in the cavity occupied by the brain. Mr Desmond admits that he absolutely failed to establish any idea, as to the cause. The only actual result achieved was to prove that the theories relating to Cape tulip, flat- weed, ancl poisoning through eating the bones of rabbits were not to be countenanced.

The Victorian Government has not made a success of village settlements. In all cases tliu settlers were artisans out of work or other members of the great unemployed, utterly unfitted to go on land a\id grow anything, and in many instances the land was utterly unfitted to grow anything. As to the State management, the Leader has an article on one settlement, in .which the principal headlines are " Official Bungling," " Grave Blundering," and " More Bungling."

The Sydney Mail says: — "It is reported that considerable activity in the frozen meat trade has been aroused bj the rumours of wars, which are rife everywhere. An order was recently received in Sydney for 4-0,000 carcases. TJnfortuately this could not be filled in time."

Inquiries occasionallj r reach me, says a writer in the Melbourne- Weekly Times, about the Tamworth pigs. Some farmers are not Ef..tihffied with the results obtained from keeping Tamworths. It is not recommended to keep pure Tamworths. The chief characteristic of the breed is theii adaptability for crossing purposes. When crossed with the Berkshire the cross yields an excellent proportion of lean to fat, and the pigs are in good demaml for bacon purposes. The crossbreds grow "wonderfully fast, and must be kept well fed, otherwise at seven or eight months old they will be too heavy for bacon purposes. The introduction of the Tamworth Uood makes the cross very handy and good feeders, nothing coming amiss to them. The Sydney Mail says that in connection with the recent Goulburn show there was a weight-guessing competition, the animal being a prime bullock. Most people in the town bad a guess, and the list included all the butchers and other experts who- visited the show. Yet a young lady who sells the manifold goods which go to dress a woman properly was the winner. She had been presented ,with a guess ticket while she was opening a packet of gloves, and she selected the number of the packet, which hit the exact weight of the bullock.

Mr Arthur Haly, assistant inspector of stock in the Belyando district, reports (says the Brisbane Courier) that he has inoculated a number of calves and young cattle with blood of the Mundoolan steer sent by the Government for inoculation of the herds in the district, and that the herds on Mount Douglas, Jacamundah, Natal Downs, Conway, and Mount Wyatt are being, or are about to be, inoculated. The Bullewallah bulls, Avhich .had been twice inoculated, have been sent jrto a tick-infested district near Sellheim, and co far have effectually withstood the ordeal. This test is being anxiously watched, as on its success will largely depend whether inoculation will become general throughout the whole of the Belyando district.

Official statistics are about to be issued on T.he ravages among cattle caused by the rinderpest iii the Transvaal. They state that nearly 80,000 beasts have died. Two hundred and fifty thousand were shot by order of the authorities and paid for, and 150.000 beasts were successfully inoculated. The residue of, cattle is estimated at half a million.

The Sydney Mail mentions that the result of experiments with Mr L. G. Jones's specific to cure fluke and other parasites was made public last week. Mr Morrice, in a patriotic spirit that cannot be too highly commended, allowed the Stock department to conduct the experiments at Bromley. Fifty-six sheep ■rcere divided into lots and placed in separate paddocks. One lot was treated with the specific, the other sheep were given plenty of salt and kept as controls. The test examinations were he'd on September 17, 1897. when three sheep from each lot were taken, killed, and post-mortem examination held ; on October 22, 189 f, on two sheep from each lot; on November 19, 1897, on three from each lot ; on December 22, 1897, on three from each let; and finally, on January 28, 1898, when six from each lot were" taken. The result of *he various examinations held show that the sheep, both test and control, remained flukeinfesied throughout the experiments, both lets appearing about equally infested. No ireneficial influence of Mr Jones's specific on the liver could be detected. Reporting on ■ihe result, the chief inspector of stock claims that, though the specific failed, the experiment was useful because of the information gained as to fluke, which will be of service in the management of flocks. First, that so far it has been found impossible to destroy fluke iv the liver without injuring the sheep, and ti erofore the best course is to give licks such as salt, sulphur, and lime ; salt and sulphate ; provide the sheep with good pasture, fatten qi.lcl.ly, and send to market, in the case of 1 reeding ewes, keep them in fairly good health. Mr Bruce, takes the opportunity to urge sheep-ownsrs in fluky country to observe the recognised rales, such as to avoid oersto eking, give plenty of bait, burn off old pastures, keep the health- of the sheep under supervision, give proper licks and drenches, keep young sheep off pastures previously fed by infected old sheep, use quicklime in watercourses and tanks to destroy germfc, ancl get ric' of as mueii surface water as possible. / nd. so it seems that the experiments resulted in the discovery of exactly as much as has" been known to every practical sheep-farmer in Australia for years past, which is tho most disheartening outcome of all. The' failure of Blr Jones's gainst «,nd painsjtakigg effort

and the republication of the old formula of precautions against the disease bring out the magnitude of the undertaking to get rid of fluke in startling relief. ' Writing to a friend in Invercargill. Mr "Walter Blackie, of Glasgow farm, Ea&t Taieri, says: — "We have iust finished our harvest, and so far have had a good yield. One field threshed 74g bushels to the acre."

Bueed. Number. [ Carcase Fat Skin, j I lbs lbs s d Kouthdown..-. ... 43 376 2| 2 2J Shropshire 53 36 2 2 2 4i Border Leicester ... U 'Si'o 2 2 ft English Leicester ... 47 355 2j 2 4