AGRICULTURAL AMD PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AMD PASTORAL NEWS.

Some interesting figures, showing the forward and prosperous condition of Southland, were given by the Hon. Mi "Ward on Tuesday night. Southland, he said, possesses 14,000 horses, there being only one province in the colony ahead of it. Southland had 59,000 -head of cattle, which number was exceeded by only two other provinces. It had 17,879 dairy oows, only three other provineea beating them. Of .sheep, Southland possessed 856,416, and the only province in the colony that possessed more was Hawke's Bay. The pigs in Southland numbered 7366, only one other province having » larger number. The one heading in the statistics which showed a decrease, so far its Southland wat) concerned, was " asses and mules," in which there had been a material falling-off in the hut few yeara. In the export of frozen meat, the efforta of Southland were excelled only by those of Canterbury. Mr Ward does not favour Otago and Southland being classed together in some of the statistical returns. He thinks they should be separate] so that tho

progress of eachrdisfrict might Be easily ascertained. " - .*-— — MrJSv". L. Mitchellfthe judge appointed 'by the committee of the Otago Agricultural and Pastoral Society to inspect the different farms entered for tho best-managed farm competition, intends making his second inspection next week. Mr Mitchell has already paid one visit during January, and on this occasion he will have Mr James M'Kercher associated with him. It is to bo regretted that the society is not better supported in this competition, as only seven entries have been received — two from Waikouaiti, two from the Taieri, one from Kaitangata, and two from Southland. Tho Takaka correspondent of the Nelson Mail writes:— "The hateful blackbar.y still -continues to increase its extensive hold on the land in the valley, and no soonsr is tho | land cleared of the primeval forest tht.n. th/a I bramble appears and clkairb poassMiori. The ! crop of ben-183 I\rs not bean so good thi3 jjsai* | as formerly, and the blackberry industry ha 3 I thereby experienced a check. ! More prime Canterbury ! The Marlborough ! Times says: — The Charles Edward, which. has ! been conveying sheep from the different stations in the Sound to Picton, has made her last trijj on that business. Altogether she has | made nine trips, carrying about 700 sheep each trip. The ketch Lizzie, and the steam 'launches have also been utilised for the purpose of conI veying sheep to Picton from the near stations, I and business in that line has lately been' brisk. < Tho buyers are from Christchurch, and the • sheep will be driven from Picton overland. Tho Poverty Bay Agrucultural and Pas- ! toral Society has assets to the value of £405 138 lid, ana liabilities nil. A Masterton farmer has threshed 20 acres of oats, which gave an average of 77 bushels to the acre. At a meeting of farmers, butchers, and othets, hold at Grimsby, England, it was de1 cided that for two months sellers and buyers | of cattle at Grimsby should each pay Is per j beast to a fund, and from this fund full compensation should be paid for any animal I found to bo suffering from tuberculosis. It | was also resolved to petition the Government i to pay the compensation in such cases. Tho Mataura Ensign says that the Railway ! department is meeting the demands of rabbit ■ exporters in Otago and Southland for im- | proved transport facilities in a most satisfactory manner. This is comprised in the fitting up of roadside waggons of the "X " class ■j with frames and battens for hanging up rab- ■ bits in transit from the depots to the freezing works. These waggons each have a capacity ' for 1600 rabbits, and all the carcases being i hung up, the risk of daniago is reduced, to a ' minimum. "Waggons are being fitted up in I this manner as rapidly as possible, to cope with the demand, the improvement being much appreciated by rabbit exporters. The j fittings, it may be mentioned, are of a tem- | porary nature, and may be removed or ~e- , paced in a few minutes. Some interest is being manifested in England in Pouting's Patent Butter Box. .Mr Ponting took Home a small pared of butter , lately from Victoria packed, in this box, which is. intended to. do. away with vthe 1 necessity for ships' refrigeration for butter carriage, as- each box. is insulated with asbostos and gypsum' arranged in plates in »he interior. The trial was so far successful as to encourage further experiments. , Our (North Otago Times) Otiako corres-

. pondent writes on tho 6th inst : — The harvest in this settlement is now well nigh finished. It has been a very troublesome one so far as the weather was concerned. At one time there was as .nuch as a week lost with rain ; in fact it looked as if chere would be plenty of sprouted ■jfr.iin, but that is all over now. and with ih« exception of a little discolouring all is *ight. The wheat, which is tho principal crop, has ! turned out very well in some cases and Dad in others. One party had all the way from 30 to 70 bushels, and T believe his average would ibe 50 bushels. Another had an average of ', 45. Thi3 was mostly on tho flat ground. The lull ground has not dove so well. It hha ■4ono from 20 to 45, but it would not average, 1 think, inoro than 25 ; while the other would, I think, como well up to 40 bushels. On the whole the crop is not to be grumbled at if there had been anything like a nriee for it; but tho fact is wheat can hardly La grown, at 2s per bushel. Barley has gone from 20 to 40 btiaheld. Oath have also done fairiy ' well; 1 hear of a patch that has gone 60, but that ib an ovception. However, there i are not many oats threshed. They are mostly ■ cut into chaff. The grass is standing out . fairly well, and slock look in good condition. 1 Potatoes are also a good crop. 1 According to tl>e British Australasian of February 16, tho prospects of the rabbit season were at that time being debated with some amouut of uncertainty. Many leading houses who took up the New Zealand rabbit trade hist year were involved in guch an enormous amount of trouble and loas, owing to the wretched condition in -which much of these goods arrived, that they were declining to touch ' the business ngain, : and as. insurance companies will not cover, itlwas difficult at the moment to see how the trade was to be carried on. This state' of alt'airs was expected to react upon the trade in Vici torian rabbits. The trade, 'however, :'Bad i grown to such magnitude that it was certain the difficulties would soon be adjusted. j The close, muggy weather during the past ■ fp\v days, says the Mataura Ensign of the 4th, has proved most disastrous to stocks of rabbit* coming in to the various depots during the holidays. Onu firm forwarded 100 casc-B of rabbits to the Ocean Beach Freezing Wot-ks on Saturday, and out of these only three cases were placed in the works, the rest being rejected owing to being slightly too " gamey." An interesting return of the cost of keep, product, and value of milk of a Jersey cow is furnished to the _Live Stock Journal by Mr A. F. Parbury. The cow (a pedigree one) was born in March, 1882, and in the year 1894 she gave 817 gallons of milk, valued at £31 9«, the cost of her keep for the year being £13 8b 3d. In 1895 she gave 518 i gellons of milk, valued at £22 9a Id ; cost of keep, £11 11s Id. In 1896 she yielded 438 gallons of milk, value £21 8s 3d ; cost of keep, £10. In 1897 her yield of milk was 9074 gallons, value £38 Ha lOd ; cost of keep, £19. In 1898, when she was 16 years ola, she yielded 543£, gallons of milk, value £26 14a 4d; cost of keep, £131 25. The difference in the cost of keep was due to high*? or lower feeding and the priceu of fodder. The" fluctuations in the yield of milk -were] due to the times of calving, the account being taken from Ist January to 31st December in each year. Her average profit for the .-five years was £14 11s lOd per annum, truly a remarkably profitable animal. < According to the Preis, between March fi and Match 31 the animals condemned by the Government Veterinary Inspector, Mr J. .R.

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