FARM AND STATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2391, 28 December 1899, Page 14

FARM AND STATION.

(Continued from page 7.) AGiUCULTUSAL AND PASTORAL MEWS. Mr Wilson Hall, Riversdale, has a fine crop of wheat, which is already full shot. 'i'hs Waimea Plains crops, on the whole, aro making good progress, and give promisd of an abundant harvest. A rich and clean wheat harvest is reported from "Vietoiia, the yield being a record one. An English exchange dated September 30 reports the pale of the third draft (neirly 37cwt) of Cheddar cheese made in Juno last at the Cheese School carried on by the Bath and West and Southern Counties' .Society for the Somerset County Council. The price realised was 70s per cwt of 1121b, and 4316 gal of milk made 4434-lb of green cheese. The cheese, which on average were 11 weeks old, weighed when sold 4 1411b, the shrinkage in drying being 71b 6oz per cwt. We have had many changes of weather in Heriot and the surrounding districts, especially during the last few weeks, when v/e had much rain, even to a flood. Although I have not heard of any great losses in oui distriet,ths constant broken weather has very lauch hindered the sowing and preparing of turnip land. Farmers are now sowing drill turnips, which is general throughout the district. Sheep shearing is now general, but i? much hindered by the wet weather. The clip is very patisfactory, i am told, the staple being birong and sound. Grass is rery plentiful on all the farms, and tho slock leek very well, to judge from the appearance of a large percentage of fat lambs. — Correspondent Gore Standard. To test the re'ative merits of laige, email, and medium-.' izcJ potatoes a-> seed, an inlererling experiment has boen in progress for scmo years at tho Canadian Agricultural College, near Uuerph, in Ontario. In the cairying out of this experiment a number of plots were first sown with " sets" of different size-s: large, medium-sized, and small. The potatoes obtained from lhe.-e plots v»ero then planted separately' the following year, and this ccurs was continued for four years — '95 to '93. In the result it was found that, without exception, the largest potatoes always* produced the laigest yield of tubera. More than this, it v.aj found that as tho size of the seed diminished, the resulting yield decreased at a eoi lvspor.cting rate. Isot alone waa the field of potatoes from the large-aized sols greater tlian from tlis other plots ; but tho percentage of marketable tubers was also considerably greater. Last year, for instance, it wr.s round tl.at while 75 per cent, of the crop obtained from the large-sized tubers was marketable, only 67 per cent, of tho crop obtained from tho .'.mallsized f oeds was lit for market. "Handsome is an handsome- does," may be a very excellent and a very correct princip'o as regards the transmission by purebred sleek of their own good points to tiieir progeny ; but the resultE of the milking trials and tho butter terts brought off in connection with the London dairy show, do not go to show that the theory admits of very effective application in regard to live milk yield of dairy cows. In s almost e - . cry instance, sayd an exchange, cows which had headed their chutes when the ani- j nialrf wcra judged by appearance were com- j plotely eclipsed in the milking tsots by ani- - inals which had failed to obtain any recognition at the hands of tho judges. There wore a few exceptions to this, bui in the great majoiity of cases tho animals which did best at the pail were so lacking in what aro known ai show points that they were passed over unnoticed by tho judge?. The moral of all this ih, not that the show points of ordinary dairy ; cows are gravely in need of levelling up, but J that t!\o dairy qualities of show stock are tadly in need of material improvement. | The largest pumping plant in the world is on tho irrigating plant near Gueydon, on Bayou Queue, near its confluence with the : Mermentau, in South-western Louisiana. Its capacity is greater than that of the Croton waterworks which supply water to tlio great I city of New York. The capacity of the plant j if 250,000 gal per minute, and is sufficient to irrigate 20,000 acres of lice fields. Rico farm- j ing in tl'e coast piairieß between the Trinity River, in Texas, and Vermilion Bayou, in Lnuibiana, is assuming large proportions, and it is the most profitable single crop fanning ', known. The reason for this is the heavy yields and high price per barrel of the product. This land, which will yield easily £8 per acre in rice, will only produce at bebfc 30 ' bushels of maize or half a, hale of cotton per j acre. It is the water that makes the rice. j Wo (Irish Farmers' Gazette) are very pleased , to learn that steps are being taken tow arete having Ireland's '"only breed" of sheep— the ' massive Rosconimon — fittingly represented at the great International Exhibition which is to j be held next year in Paris. The famous mul- I ton-makers which find a home in the western : county from which they take their name have of late years been showing up to much advantage, «'»nd their performances, in the showjard and elsewhere, have been such as to entitle their admirers to claim for them the *J(ttMUi&tt>:°piinQut r^^yition wherever th^ey

chof.so to send them. Only two years ago the Roseommons carried off the Champion Cup at ; the Dublin show iv competition with two of ' U.o -leading British lcng-woolled breed?, Lin- ■ coiiis and Bcrder Leicester*. It is to 1>& bcped that the effort which is being made to get a oluss set apart for them at Paris will meet with success. The executive of the Roscommon Shoep Breeders' Association are deserving of every credit for the great energy; and enterprise which are being displayed by them in working up the interests of the breecb' Shearing is completed on most of the stis tions around Waiau, and the results are very satisfactory. The clips generally are well grown, clean, and bright. Reports from the back country speak of the merino wools as well-grown, and of exceptionally good quality.' The lambing season throughout the district has also been very successful. Stock, however, is short, and owners are disinclined tb sell. The recent rain will greatly benefit tlja lole-sown turnip and rape crops. Owing to the rains that fell early in November, feed everywhere is looking well, and the pastoral out-look is the best for very many seasons. — ■ Lyttelton Times. Though Ireland has long enjoyed the reputation of being " the hotbed " of the potato blight, it is not the only part of the kingdom in which the disease .exists. The blight has been making its presence very extensively felt on the other side of the channel during the past few years, and it has this season manifested itself to a serious extent over such widely separated districts as Cambridge, Cornwall, Durham; Lancaster, Leicester, Lincoln, and AVcstmoroland. Tha' disease has also established itself over wideareas in Scotland, and reports ar to its baneful effects have been received from Aberdeen, Argyle, Dnnfrie?, Fifeshira, and Wigtown.— Irish Farmers' Gazette. Tho rain lias dono an incalculable amount of good to tho grain, rape, and turnip crops in tho northern district, and it will also prevent lha grass from going off so rapidly during the summer heat. The rape and turnip crops at Cheviot will benefit more than those on tho plain 3, as the rain was heavier there. j Several paddocks of rape promise well and i should now be much above the average. The f grain crops are lighter than usual, but the rain will check immature ripening. On tho Onihi Flat, on tho Glonmark estate, the settler.* who mado a start last year have some splendid crops of wheat, oats, and barley, quito as good as may be seen on tho heavier j Plains land. They are very forward, and a, ■ paddock of barley will be fit to cut in a day . or two. — Preas. I Theve have been substantial increases in the j exports of nearly all descriptions of stock j from Ireland to Great Britain since the be- | ginning of the year. The only exception has ] been in the cape of cattle, of which tho numI bor exported between January 1 and Sept teniber 30 fell about 3600 short of the figures 1 for tho corresponding period of 1593. The 1 total number of cattle exported during the , nine months in question amounted to 478,989, i as against 4-82.683 last year. Of horses the ! number exported tlm year has been 32,107. (as against 3ut year's 30,136. Both sheep and , pigs have been exported in largely increased ' numbers. Of the former no fewer than ' 735,000 were exported between January and September, as against 678,000 during the corresponding period of 1893, while of" pigs the number shipped amounted to 4-30,259, as against last year's 374,137. ( Tho Waikaka Valley correspondent of the Goro Standard writes: — The weather has been, bad for some time, and is still unsettled. Farmers are busy sowing their turnips, but until the lact few days the ground has been too wel for working. The greater pari of the turnips is sown in raided drills, and the drill- ! ing and sowing machines aro at \vork on. , nearly every farm. Part of the turnips are powii, but most of tho farmers still have a, small area, unsown. The shearers are busy at work at pr?eent, and those that have a large flock of sheep have cause to rejoice at the high prices obtained • for wool ,this season. Tho racenl flood did a great deal of good by destroying a largo number of rabbits, but the rushes and other refuse left on the ground has an effect in the opposite direction. A noticeable fpet in connection with this flood is that it has left the grass much dirtier than oii former occasions. The grass is very sandy, and a heavy phowcr of rain would do a great amount of good by cleaning it. i British farmers, saya a writer in a Home paper, are not always sufficiently appreciative of how well off they aro in comparison with. , some of their brother agriculturists abroad. A 30-hu3hel wheat crop is counted a rather moderate one in these, countries; lagt year , the average for Great Britain was 35 bushals j per acre, r.nd this year it is estimated to bo about 2 luuhels Ic3-!. Even at this reduced | figure, however, it boars favourable compaviFon with the returns for ,Kew South Wales; where the yield last year averagad only a fraction over 7 bushels ! This e:;c-jptionally , poor crop was the result of one of the characteristic, droughts to which the Australian coloni""i ars so notoriously subect. Ihe eroin in and around liiveratiale, says a. | correspondent of the Gore oiandard, am look- | ing exceedingly well, and give promise of being wcl! up to the average. Feed is also j. very plentiful, and all slock appear to "be j thriving well. All farm work appears to be ■ in a forward slate, though a few of tli9 farmers have turnips yet to sow. A lot of them are alto busy shearing, though I hare not noticed much wool coming into the railway station yet. The days for breeding stock which require two or tlnee yearn to ccme to maturity are steadily and purely passing away. Early maj turity is tho watchword on -all sides at the j present time, and shoep and pig ' breeders, as v. ell a.s cattle breeders, are leaving no ttone I unturned in their efforts to produce mutton and pork at from one-third to one-half tho time taken by their forefathers. " Baby " 1 mutton, like baby beef, is everywhere taking the place of the famoup fat-laden joint which found so much favour less than a .generation i ago, and existing indication point to a still ; further development in this direction in the near future. — Farmers' Gazette. j Tho West Oxford correspondent of the Christchurch Press writes : —After ten days ( of north-west winds, the proipect was a , gloomy one, but since the south-west showers • which commenced on Friday .night, and con- , tinued until near Monday morning, a very I marked change has taken place for the better jin the fanning and pastoral outlook. Given, I anything like a favourable season, the apj proaching harvest of both crops and f^c I meats, lambs in particular, phould bq above . the average. Mount Oxford is again snowcapped, and the dry south-west wind is bitterly* ' cold. Farmers aro about through with their; . shearing, and the stations are just commene- : ing. Reports from all hands are very cheer- • ing, both as to weight and quality of fleece.- • Shearers are not too plentiful, and labourers in all lines are fully employed. ' According to the Farmers' Gazette, Ireland was very creditably represented at the great annual exhibition of dairy produce held in the Agricultural Hall, London, under the auspicea of the B_ntiGli Dairy Farmers' Assopiatipjft

Irish experts, it is tiue, were conspicuous by their absence in tho various classes set apart for live stock at the show, but in the Dairy Produce section, Irish creameries and factories \»ore very distinctly to the fore, and they had .a virtual monopoly of the prizes in heveral of the classes. Taken in their entirety, the Irish exhibits were of a remarkably fine quality, and their great uniformity in the maltar of body and flavour earned the general approval of the experts present. These djipiiiys are a grand advertisement for the dairy industry of the country, and the executive of the Irish Dairy Association, by whom tlu-y have been so successfully organised, have e\ cry reaeon to feel proud of the outcome of thei>* labours.

A well-known American authority holds •that the manure made by pigs ifi worth quite as much for fertilising purposes upon the farm as the cost of food given to the animals which produce it. The country north of the Waitaki, like that to the south, is looking exceedingly well — better than it lias done for many years. Feed "is everywhere abundant, and the one complaint is that sheep cannot be obtained to eat it down. The grain crops are in grand condition, and are well forward, being generally in ea» and filling out well. With a spell of fine warm weather, minus high winds-, the harvest should be a remarkably good one — even more fruitful than that of last year. It is Teported that oats are being grown much more extensively in Canterbury this year than usual, the prospect of a good demand in South Africa dn consequence of the war, with' payable prices, having encouraged many to sow considerable areas in this cereal. The area under .wheat is also large, but there is a big decrease in the extent under potatoes. The crops on the Waikakahi estate vary a good deal, but for the most part they are looking well, and the settlers, given favourable weather up to harvest, should have a successful season. — Press.

France enjoys the distinction of having one of the most comprehensive systems of State aided agriculture in the world. The country which owns the gay City of Paris for its capital has four central agricultural college:*, eight intermediate schools or normal schools, and about 80 special agricultural schools, known as "schools of the lower grade." In addition to all these, instruction in agriculture is a compulpory subject in all the French primary echools. Denmark iB ako well provided for in the matter of agricultural education, as it has four great experimental stations and about 70 schools of agriculture. Belgium, too, is well looked after in this respect, as, in addition to five agricultural colleges, it has several experimental stations and about a score of district agricultural schools.

Harvest has already started on the plains. A paddock of oats belonging to Mr Hugh Brosnahan is to be eesn in the stook. — Timaru Herald.

The weather at Clinton, writes a correspondent of the-,Clutha Leader, is not at all suitable for shearing, which is now in full swing throughout this district. I hear that shearers ore very scarce this year ; several of the large eheds having to work short-handed.

The Irish Farmers' Gazette says that English and Scottish bred bulls are not having it all their own way in the Argentine, where the animals bought in Great Britain during the past season have recently been selling at such remarkable prices. The several bulls Bent out from Ireland have also done well, and to one of them belongs the distinction of having made not only the top price of the season in South America, but one of the best prices paid for a shorthorn for a considerable time. The bull in question, Farrier by name, was iired by the Earl of Caledon, at Caledon, in the County Tyrone, and was got by the famous Sign of Riches. He was calved in 1896, and .was sold at the exhibition held at Palermo at the remarkable price of 15,700d01, equal to .£1234- in English currency. Some other good prices were also obtained for animals shown at the same exhibition. One of these. Count Beauty, bred by Mr W. Duthie, made £760, and another, Pride of Fame, realised £597. Another bull of Lord Caledon's breeding, Irish Bard, was subsequently sold at over £200. The prospects of this season's potato crop are favourably commented on by a correspondent in the North Otago Times: — "Aa far as lny crop is concerned, potatoes will apparently be a3 cheap this season as last, for I have just dug up a haulm with 45 potatoes on it. Other chaws give 30 and 40, and the whole crop will average 25 marketable potatoes to each shaw. Who dare say in regard to this district that •"the potato is cooked "t" Turnip-sowing is in full swing at" Waikoikoi, the larger area being sown in broadcast drills, with manure. Both oats and grass are .looking. remarkably well, and the former gives •promise of being a heavy crop generally. Shearing continues to bo carried on as weather permits. — Southern Standard. Remarkable prices were obtained at the 4oint 6ale of shorthorn bull calves bred by Mr W. Duthio and Mr W. S. ilarr, iv Aberdeen-

shire, in the middle of October. Three of the Collynie lot realised 305gs (the Duke of Northumberland), 300gs {Mr P. L. Mills), and 300gs (Mr Garforth), and the 20 head made the splendid average of £123 18s. Mr Marr offered 16, which met a very even sale, several making over 200gs, and brought the excellent average of £116 18s lOd. Such extraordinary' prices should have a stimulating effect upon shorthorn breeding in general.