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

Preserve your orders for Flowering Bulbs until you see Niuuo akd Blaiu's Price List of New Zealand-grown Bulbs, issued in February, and forwarded cost iree to intending purchasore;

Charlton, M.R.C.V.S., at Islington, num- j fcered : Cattle, 11 ; sheep, 55. Two of the ' cattle were exceptionally fine animals, csti- i mated to weigh over lOcwt, but were affected ! internally with acute tubercle. Tuberculosis j was not met with in sheep, though repeated ' microscopical examinations were made in search for the bacillus. This confirms the opinion previously expressed by the inspector as to the rarity of tuberculosis in sheep. j In a letter to the Queenslander Mr Robert j Archer draws attention to an important mat- j ter connected with ticks. Inoculation insures ! cattle against tick fever, but it does not pre- , vent the ticks infesting the cattle in such numbers as to cause serious debilitation, or . even death, from what has been aptly termed j "tick poverty.' Mr Archer thinks, and i rightly, that something more than inoculation j is needed if the cattle are to be protected from all ill effects of tick infestment. Ac- ' cordingly he advocates dipping at intervals of six or eight weeks, in order to keep the etock clear of ticks. , Letters aud papers by the last mail, writes the Sydney Mail, reveal rather an anomalous state of affairs in the frozen meat industry. ' Ou one side we are told of the wonderful progress made aud the equal hold to Australian Argentine meat already has on the Sritish public. On tht other hand, the Review of the Rivei Plate pub- ' lished the report of a meeting held , by the directors ot the Argentine Meat Preserving Company to consider the results of the business done to the end of 1897. It was a "tale of woe" the secre- \ tary had to unfold, for it meant a loss of | £11,608 on' the- business done. A continuance , of the troubles in Cuba, hatl paralysed their ', business in that direction, the other losses ■were not told, with the exception of the .shipments to Brazil, which were far from profitable. The last year's output of wool showed ; an inciease of 50,000 bales, whilst there were [ also increases in the export of frozen meat j to the tune of 520,000 carcases, live wethers i 60,000, and steers 37,000 head. The Argen- ■ lino Southern Land Company has also had \ reverses in last year's transactions. It owns 1,619,063 acres of freehold land, which is , reckoned as being mostly suitable for agriculture «und grazing, but it is only lightly *, stocked with 23,879 sheep and 1795 horses and ] mules. The Sar.sinena Meat Establishment 1 is one oL the first that wbb established, and . it is one of, if not, the most important in , the republic. Last year it shipped over ( 1,000,000 wethers. Its slaughter house has over an acre of floor tpace, and each freezing '. chamber will hold 60,000 carcases at one time. ', It must be an immense establishment, as it ( is eaid' that more than 4,000,000 dollars of , gold (equal to £800,000) have been spent on the improvements and the land. There is j not much improvement on the manner settlera ] are protected. A spasmodic successful attempt j was made to put down stock-stealing, and it . was thought that a salutary lesson had been taught, but stealing hae again broken out, . «nd the authorities have relapsed into their former lethargic state. Mr A. Busck, Government Produce Grader, writes to the Auckland Herald pointing out the mistake which a great number of dairy farmers are committing with the packing of butter, viz., by packing in kegs instead of boxes. ' ! Of the system being adopted in Victoria of teaching' school children to discriminate be- , tween useful birds aud bird pest? the Austra- . lasian Fays: — Boys and girls in our public schools 'have been taught that it is wicked . to kill those birds which have a deadly appetite for insects. Pictures of such birds, beautifully coloured, adorr the school walls 5 that the children may be familiar with them, J but it has been found that something more . will have to be done if the farmers' feathered , allies are to be preserved from extermination. 1 While the boys obey the law as to the birds ' they recognise no restriction as U the eggs, \ because they do not know one egg from 1 another. Such, at least, is the excuse offered. In futurt on the walls of the public schools . will also hang representations of the eggs of j insectiferous birds, each egg being an exact ; counterpart in size and colour of the natural \ article. A suitable design has been sxibmitted by a local artist, and has been approved of by Mr French, the Government entomologist, who thinks that the ides is a most serviceable one. The only excuse which the juvenile nest-robbers of the future will have to urge is that they are colour blind. A curious instance of how the advances to settlers system is working has just been brought under the notice of the Hawera Star. A farmer bought a piece of land several months ago for £11 an acre.' Applying to the Advances to Settlers department for a loan, a valuation took place, and this Bet the land down as worth £14. The settler has now bsen informed that for the future he will be taxed on £14 per acre. All round him are similar properties valued at £11 and £12 per acre. Are they .to. remain assessed at that rate, or is there to be a revaluation of them : if so, where is the revaluation to end? Is the -whole district to be gone over again? Mr Tayloi White, of Hawke's Bay, recently imported two Angora goata, which are valuable for their hair, from which many fine fabrics are manufactured. He had previously made a similar experiment with some success, and now desires to improve the Ttrain of blood. For the present the two animals just imported are in quarantine at Wellington, in " the usual course of the law. Mr J. A. Kinsella, of Canada, has been engaged by the Agricultural department as assistant dairy *" commissioner. He will hjkv« charge oi the North Island Dairy

School, ani will act as instructor of creameries. In two months the Union Company alone J have transported -12,000 sheep from Wellington to Lyttelton," besides those taken ' by the Huddart-Parker line. Yesterday , 2050 / went down. The export of pigs is also large, 1559 having been sent to Canterbury in two months. ;