NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2358, 4 May 1899, Page 5

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Sheep are considered very stupid animals, but we farmers oftentimes are Cause and very like sheep, rushing Bffect. through a gap in a hedge one after the other without any better reason than a desire to follow one another. When any kind of stock or produce i* in demand we rush into the production thereof, and create an over-supply, which, of course brings the price down with a run. The result is, we all proceed to neglect that branch, and it in consequence becomes scarce and dear, and 'then all hands go in for it again, with the usual result, and so the seeeaw of prices goes on from zero to boiling point, and back to zero again. This sort of thing is most noticeable in connection with certain kinds of stock and produce which are ruled chiefly by local demand, such as pigs, potatoes, oats, fruit, etc. It is true also of the staple products of the civilised world, such as wheat, wool, and frozen meat. In the latter case the changes are longeron coming about, but the rule is none the less true. For example, the London price of wheat - is the lodestone of the world's production of that commodity, and when the price there is high it acts as a powerful magnet, and draws streams of wheat from all parts of the world, and the soil is taxed to keep up»the Bupply in order to reap the profit. In the course of a year or two the glut affects the price, »nd immediately the lodestone loses much of its power to attract, production decreases, the fcoil is devoted to other purposes, until the jupply falls off sufficiently to increase the re*iand, dud the same over-Droduction occurs

again. "Wheat is now a glut in the market, I sheep are dear, grass -seed is" cheap-^therefore j wheat production will .be neglected with us, 1 land will be sown with grass, and everybody i will endeavour to keep more sheep. The price of wheat here last year was much higher than London prices warranted, but that was owing to special local cureuinstanees. The drought caused such poor yields that the idea became prevalent that our prodution would not suffice for our own requirements. "When it began to be thought that the supply would equal the demand the price fell very quickly, but in the meantime a much larger area than usual was sown, and that fact, together with the exceptionally prolifio*"season,' has caiised a surplus production of many .millions, which must go to London, or be stored locally to await further and more favourable developments. Pi?;s are scarce just now, and those who have some to spare don't know how to tick enough for them. But wait a bit; we are all getting a few brood sows, and very soon weaners will be looking for buyers at half-a-crown each instead of six times that . amount as at present. With potatoes, too, j it is either a feast or a famine with us, and 1 suppose it will ever be the same. Now, J what iii the moral of all this moralising? Is j it that the wise and prudent farmers shouiu < do the reverse of what all others are doing ; and cram wheat into every available acre while ; il is at 2s a bushel in the hope that next, ] autumn will find the present price doubled? No, I do not think that is the right thing lo do. A good farmer should have a system, but not such systems as gamblers pin their j faith upon, ond which so often land their j owners in the lowest depths of disappoint- j ment. The best system for farmers to follow . is a good and reliable system of mixed farm- : ing and rotation of crops. 1 Make every acre Jjroduce as much as possible of the proper , rop in its regular turh, and take the mar- j kets as they come. The cutest farmer in ; creation cannot make his production jump j with the markets and land the top price every ; tune, but by having a variety of crops of; good quality ho is pretty sure of hitting a . fccoc! market with some one or more, and ! by so doing the soil is not over-taxed at any . time, and neither is the farmer harassed in. ' his mind as to what he shall grow if ho ad- t lieres to his system of rotation. Any other , kind of farming is pure speculation, and farmers cannot afford to speculate more than is •imperatively necessary. "We cannot always command Euccef-.", but we can, at least, deserve it, and the surest way to do that is to produce the best quality of every product of '•he farm. When demand is weak and prices bad, inferior samples are unsaleable, but the superior grades gain the highest available f.gure, ami that is a great advantage. Every farmer knows that there are four things necessary to secure good results from the Foil — ; l.omely, good drainage, clean land, good cul- i tivatio'n, and good seed. If he knowingly • neglects one or more of these he cannot claim j that he deserves success. I I suppose there will be some wheat sown this autumn in spite of the fact j Wheat that our last crop is at present ' Sowing. pra^lically un?aleable in tho 1 colony. The sooner wheat is ' sown the better, for the winter varieties recuire to be well started before spring wheat is sown, or il has no chance to tiller out and mature within the allotted time. I like to see the hardy wheats well covering the ground-, before the severe weather checks the growth. If the seed gets an early start in the autumn, there is snfiibient warmth in the soil to carry ,' 51 on for some time, and even if growth almost ceases during tho worst of the wjntor, the plant is strong and vigorous, and ready for making rapid progress at the approach of spring. Some farmers think that a change of seed is very imjDortant, but I have never , observed any difference in the appearance and J yield of a crop grown from seed which has . come from another locality. There is pro1 bably some advantage in getting new seed 1 now and then, and there cannot be any diE- ' 1 advantage. The chief thing is to sow sound and plump geed, in a good seed bed, and as early as possible after the middle of April. Early sowing requires less seed, and as a rule the land is in better condition for harrowing and drilling than it is later ov, when frost gets into the soil. About libush orl^bush of good seed is sufficient per acre if drilled in at this time. Wheat land should not be worked to a smooth surface after autumn sowing. The lumpier the surface the better for sheltering the young plants in winter, and the lumps can be harrowed and rolled in the spring, and serve for moulding up the plants. It is scarcely necessary to remind wheat-growers of the importance of pickling the seed wheat before sowing with a solution of bluestono (sulphate of copper). Sulphate of iron is sometimes sold as bluestone, but it is quite . useless for the purpose. This latter substance is of a greenish hue, and anybody familiar with the appearance of bluestone could not fail to detect the spurious substance. t _ ■ It is not only in this colony that the farmers feel the crushing nature of ' Railway Freights the taxation imposed upon on their special industry by the Grain. railways. Some recent correspondence in the Argus shows' that the Victorian farmers feel the tax very keenly with the prevailing low price of wheat. The freights amount to 12s 4d per ton for the carriage of wheat in six ton lots for 150 miles, or 19s 6d per ton for smaller lots. Coal is carried at 6s 3d for the same distance, and recognising that the agricultural industry is quite as important to the

community as the coal mining trade, the farmers contend, with apparently good reason, that grain should be carried as cheaply >,as ! coal. . One correspondent supplies some figures in. support of his contention, and these are instructive. He says the value of the ton of i wheat as it stands in the field is £3 12s. From that have to be deducted 3s for binder .' twine, 3s 9d for bags, and 10s foi threshintr. i These payments reduce the value of the wheat i to the farmer to £2 15s 3d. Then he had to ' pay 4s 6d psr bushel for his seed, as wheat was very deal last year, which adds 9s more to the cost of production. Add 6s more' for manure, and see how the result comes out. The profit at the farm on a ton of wheat, reckoned on present prices, is £2 0s 3d. But no account has been taken of the cost of ploughing, harrowing, drilling, rolling, and reaping. As this costs about 12s pei acre, . the clear profit to the fanner is about £1 8s per acre, and _o? this the Government demand the' greater part, if the farmer sends his wheat to market from the inland districts. The Victorian wheat yield is estimated at 20,000,000 bushels, half of which will be available for export. One correspondent of the Argus'suggests that bad the farmers^ entered into a compact to grow only half the quantity they could have forced prices up to 5s per bushel — thus doubling their profits at half the outlay. Then there would have been no great hardship in payirg the exorbitant railway freights. But at prer-cnt prices the producer derives little ov no gain from the bountiful harvest, any profit there is going to those who handle the grain, including the lailways. This freight problem on Government railways i<3 an important one, which inquires to be approached with care. There are necessarily two diverse view-points — that of the farmer, ■ who flunks he should receive some little assist-. ] ance from the Stated and that of the taxpayer, > who wants to see", the railways at least self- i supporting. It has always been recognised I as a. duty of the Government to provide -ay- j terial roads to promote settlement, and these j are never . ■self-supporting. While railways j can hardly be as free as the Toads, stiil it is not essential to the existence of State-owned railways that they should be wholly selfsupporting. This our Government recognise j in the matter of the carriage of lime. They j justly anticipate that the loss on the free I railage of lime will be recouped by the increased amount of farm produce sent by rail. Following up the same principle, if grain J were carried at about cost tho back freights | io the farms would represent a perceptible iii- ' crease; and if he got his grain carried cheaply the farmer would not so much mind paj'irsg fair freight on goods, etc., used upon the farm. But, of course, any reduction i>i grain ! freights has to be made with care, as it would J not do to lessen the burden on the farmers ! at the expense of the general taxpayer. j The Department of Agriculture has published a pamphlet on Cheese and "Cheese v.nd Butter FacButter Fnrtories. iorips," prepared by Mr J. A. JRuddick, dairy commissioner for the colony, and in which is embodied the mutter in • a previous! pamphlet on l> Co-operative Dairying," by Dlr G. W. Sorensen. The factory system, Mr Ituddick says, of manufacturing butler and cheese is being generally adopted in most countries where the business of dairying is carried on to any extent. " Briefly, the benefits to be derived from co-operative dairying (as opposed to private dairying) are : (1) A more uniform product of liighei average quality ; (2) saving of labour by concentration and the use of power machinery, and the relief of members of the household from the onerous duties of cheese or butter making ; (3) saving of capital in the construction of one factory as against the cost of plant foi ' each farmer ; (4)the value of the spirit of emulation which is engendered by the suppliers coming into • closer contact and being able to compare notes as to the relative returns from their dairies." Mr Ruddick believes that the future will see a very considerable expansion of the factory system in New Zealand, and offers a woid of warning. It is to be hoped, he says, that the dairy farmers of New Zealand will not make the mistake which has been made in other countries by encouraging too many small factories. If the principle of the factory system is correct, he contends the larger the factory is, within reasonable limits, the greater is the gain thereby. The co-operative principle requires that the whole of the capital should be provided by the milk suppliers. Mr Soiensen pointed out that pa"t experience had demonstrated that where outfide capital was introduced, friction was occasioned. Useful details are given concerning the erection of dairy factories, the amount of capital required, and appliances, which should be valuable to those intending to embark upon dairying enterprise. The section of the pamphlet dealing with butter factories will prove most valuable; and the details should be carefully studied. There are two types of butter factories, Mr Ituddick says, both of which have their advocates. In one the floor 3 of the separating, cream, and ctnirning roomß are at different levels, so that the cream may flow by gravitation from one stage of the process to another. In the other type _ the floor is level, and the same result is partially accomplished by elevating the cream vat so that the contents may flow into the churn. The floors may be either of wood or concrete, with the exception of the freezing chamber, where wood should be used. Concrete is too good a conductor of heat or cold, and is therefore not suitable for a freezing room. Interesting details are given as to the internal fittimj of butter factories. Above everything

the strictest attention-must be paid to ventila- • tion. Some wholesome advice is also -given j with regard to the selection of a boiler and engine, separators, cream vats, refrigerating machines, churns, butter-workers, etc. Recently large consignments of sheep gathered j from the four quarters of Canterbury Southland and Otago hare 1 Mutton. passed through Dunedin by ' : . rail to Christchurch, to be slaughtered and frozen for export as " prime Canterbury " mutton. It is estimated that close upon half a million sheep have crossed the Waitaki during the past summer from Otago and Southland to swell the volume of prime Canterbury for export. But the demand for Canterbury mutton cannot be filled in the South Island. Consequently large ship- ■ ments are being brought from the North . Island to keep the fiction alive. I am told, and I believe on pretty good authority, that the British consumer shows his marked preference for Canterbury mutton in the full belief that it is home-grown, and not foreign meat. To the bulk of the masses in London and other large English cities New Zealand is supposed to be some remote barbarous land where the people eat one another, and where in consequence there is no need for mutton. Canterbury they know is an English county noted for agriculture, and it never occurs tn them that the large quantities of Cantevnu-v muttcm offered for sale could not be produced in" an area a hundred times as large. The longer the fiction is kept up the better for us, as it seems probable that England can absorb all the Canterbury mutton that we can supply . I have always held the opinion that if- a '" prime New Zealand "' brand were vped it v/ould be better for all concerned ; but jf t.lie i Canterbury flction r is -the reason,.why the de- - rnand keeps up, ifieWit seems almost :v pity' 1 to disillusionise -the people who are sq easi'y i pleased. Meanwhile. Ll\e railways and the ; shipping companies are deriving some benefit j from the freights, arid the Canterbury .'roe?.- ! ing .companies -,aye. doing a" big trade. • ■ : The idea is gaining ground hi this colony that starlings are becoming j Are Starliiigs addicted to grain eating, and | Mischievous Z that in the course of time they will become as mischievous as sparrows. The same notion has be- ! come prevalent in England, and there are far- ! mers who aver that the starling is changing i its habits and neglecting insect food lor grain | when it is procurable. Others, again, defend Ihe bird from such pcrnaations, and will noi ' admit that starlings do any harm at all to , the fanners. A few years ago a practical j test was made upon this matter by instruci tion of the Highland and Agricultural^(society. The contents of the crops of 190 stari lings were carefully examined during the j year birds being shot for the pur- ! pose in each month of the year. At ; the end of the test the examiner reported '. that he had come to the conclusion that thvee- '• fourths of the food of starlings is insects, grubs, etc., and about one-fifth grain, the balance being made up of miscellaneous food — fruit, j seeds, etc. The report stated that "Tho impression which one gets from careful and clo?e , examination of the contents of any large batch 1 of starlings is that, though all kinds of insects nro found in their stomachs, there is no doubt that the injurious species are more frequently ! found than the useful kinds." That may very easily be the case, seeing that nine-tenths of i all insects are injurious to mankind. The I final conclusion of the report is " that the I starling is a bird lo be fostered rather than ' destroyed." Nevertheless I am disposed to ! think that/ we can have too much of a good _' thing — even of starlings. They appear to me "i to be increafcing at such a rate that the supply j of insect food will not suffice for their re- ■ quirementp, and the birds will perforce. have I io turn their attention then to fruit and ■ grain. AGRICOLA.