AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL

Otago Witness, Issue 2427, 19 September 1900, Page 15

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL

It is understood that the order by the WaiOffice of 5600 tons New Zealand oats, mentioned in Monday's cablegrams, was fulfilled about a fortnight ago. The order came ~by way of Melbourne, and most of the oats were secured in Southland. Many of the setller.s round Cambridge (says the correspondent cf the Auckland Star) are bitterly complaining of having their cattle poisoned by eating the pollard, etc., that is laid for rabbits. One farmer was unfortunate enough to lose four of his best heifers. 1 1 appears he was served with a notice to clear his land of the pest, or the work would be done by the Government at his expense, and to avoid that he went to the inspector and got tho poison, laid it on his paddock, and soon after found the dead heifers. In nearly ever;/ ca?e where cattle and sheen have been destroyed the poison has been laid by the farmers themselves. Items from the Bruce Herald : — Prices of sheep in this district have firmed considerably during the past week. There is good inquiry by dealers for fat stock, and any fit for the freezing market are readily bought up at Lop prices. — Sections of two ewes which died on Sir J. Norrie's farm, as previously reported, were forwarded to the Pathological Labora--tory, Wellington, for examination. Air Gil.rutn, Government Bacteriologist states that ihe specimens combined with the descriptions leave little doubt" that the -malady is the fame as described -by him in the Agricultural Report of 1899, under the heading of "Antepartium Paralysis in Ewes,'"' and in the previous year under "Mortality Among Ewes .Before- Lambing." In ;thc former it is stated "that the symptoms are induced by fatty infiltration of the liver and other oigans, brought on by fatty diet, combined with want of exercise, in ewes bearing twin lambs. "Regarding the prevention cf the trouble, Mr Gilruth states that "treatment, other than of a preventive nature, is of little avail, and the best preventive is a change to fresh stimulating young grass, or even oats, for a few hours daily. This food, combined with the exercise, generally results in a cessation of the mortality." The Gimmerburn correspondent of the Mount Ida Chronicle writes: — The weather is, and has besn for the past two months, all that a reasonable person can desire. The work of the farm is well in hand. Stock of all kinds are doing well. The prospects for plenty of grass, a big lambing, and heavy clip of wool have seldom, if ever, looked better. The report of the meeting of the ilaniptoto A. and P. Association was read here with considerable interest, and the decision to discontinue the winter show is generally considered a vise one. Fiorn a bucolic point of view a show is an advertisement — a place where exhibitors show their product* to pospible buyers. In Nuseby it has been producers showing (in the main) to other like producers, who are not buyers. To all such the show is stale and proiitlesp. Those who have been behind the scenes learn nothing worth learning. The first aad second shows held in Naseby were reckoned great successes, but the settler? weighed them in ihe balance and found the imaginary benefitf — educition, sociality, prize-takings, vanity gratified, advertisement, etc.,- etc., were light weight against the actual less of time, discomfort, and expense. The summer show at Ranfurly will likewise decay if we are merely to show our stock to our friends and neighbours. Every farmer who is capable of using his eyes knows all that is worth knowing 1 about Maniototo stock without going on a set day to Ranfurly. If the shows fail to attract outside visitors who are interested in stock, then it fails in what should be its main purpose. A step in the right direction is trying to get a train at excursion rates. In the way of producing stock that will induce visitors to come to our &hoy, the A. and P. Association deserve much credit for the action, taken two years ago in getting a first-class ' draught horse for the' district. For instance, there is need for ' the service' of a first-class blood horse of sufficient size and stamina for ordinary work. . The ' broken-down racing shells that have run six furlongs with 7?t up are too easily got. Then a supply of firstclass rams might be arranged for, and then we would escape buying the culls of large breeders' stud flocks, a thing not at all' uncommon now. I have seen in Maniototo saleyards rams sold that wpw bred by noted breeders that should be castrated without hesitation, yet pettier.*, at the List moment take them at 2gs and 3gs each. The flaxmills at Te Puke, says the Tauranga Times, are again in full swing, now that finer weather is being experienced. :\ml the output of the dre.-&ed aiticle will soon reach and surpass that of Itu-t .summer. The price still keeps up to the payable point, i Lough hardly up tc the profitable extent al 1 cached 12 months ago. - Warepa notes, from the correspondent of the Clutha Frep Press:— Now that; the trapping season is over tin farmers are laying poison for the rabbits, but it ii simply a matter of form, a-, Ihrvr* are i-carcely any about the district. Thwc ha" not been a "pot", made this sop-soti a( i!io game. I feofcice one of our ianneitf pJQiighing dowix

his turnips, as he cannot get stock to eat them off. It is a pity to see good feed wasted. I hear some talk of one of our fceltlers in the bupli getting o separator this i season, and he intends to buy up milk and ] «end the cream on to Dunedin ; it means, a great deal less work than making butter. . The Wellington correspondent of the Southland Ne\v-> says-, that Mr Hogg, member for Mastertcn, has received a number of letters from farmer.-< in Otugo and Southland, ihankins; him for his endeavours to get the Rabbit Nuisance Act amended. Some of Mi em suggest that the money now expended on inspectors and agents should be given as a bonus for destroying rabbits during summer. Tiiey submit that in many instances farmers and landholdeis are unable to pay for ihe destiiiction of rabbits. They propose that as the nuisance is &upnresped between the faclcies and the bonus system, the amount offered could be increased until ihe pest was either exterminated or rcndeied harmless. On Friday, the 7th ins<\, writer the correspondent of the Clutha Free Pres^, a pr>blie meeting at Tahokopa wa^ addressed by Mr Young, an Owaka storekeeper, who put before the settlers a scheme of his connected j lib their dairying indu^t/y. Twenty-throe persons were present, and Mr Johnsion wos voted to the chair. The Chairman, in his opening remarks, staled ohat as the dairying industry was of tueh vital importance to all, he hoped that The district would be enabled to support tho proposals which Young would T>'it before them. Their efforts | towards carrying on a dairy factory had not i been successful, and he thought that perhaps the difficulty -would be solved in another direction. He then introduced Mr Young to the meeting. Mr Young stated that he first conceived his idea on reading tome notes in the Free Press of how they had repeatedly tried, but unsuccessfully, to erect and carry on a dairy factory of their own. He could see~ that the main difficulty was through the scattered position of the settler*. He thought that his idea would remedy this, to a great extent at least. He was willing to send his cart bi-weekly, and take the freshly-churned butter from the settlers. They were to weigh their butter, and place it in strong, clean calico bags, with their names and weight of butter attached. These bags his man would place in a large clean box, and take to Owaka, where the butter would be salted for export. The settlers would, get a reasonable price for their produce, and his would bo all the risk. He was al^o willing io buy up all farm, produce, such as eggs, pigs, etc., etc., and he expected ihe district would support him by buying their provisions from him. These were his propo»ils. and he would be very pleased to onswer any question'. — in fact, to hove a conversation on the matter. Mr Stewart asked: "How would this butier be classed when you ser.t it away?" Mr Young said it was called "milled butter." Past experience had shown him that without a proper butterworker the- moisture in the butter was often excessive. This caused it to be condemned at the cool stores. By getting a large supply of fresh butter, and putting i-t through his butter-working machine, he would be enabled to turn out a ! good article of even textuie. This- would I be a more marketable commoditj r . and, of course, command a higher price. Mr Scott ] w anted to know what price would be given for the butter, and if Mr Youn? would submit price lists of his goods. To the laltpr query Mr Young said, "Certainly." To the former he was unable to s+ate definitely at present, but he thought about 6jsd per lb for ordinary butter and 7id for separator butter, these prices being subject to the fluctuations of the market. All accoimts to be settled on the second week of every month. He did not \vi«li to bind the residents ro take his goods if they considered the price.-, too high, but he did not t':ink they ■« ould ha^e any fault to find on that score. It va.- resolved that another meeting be called to further consider the matter. There is a prospect of our flaxmill resuming operations again, after being closed for a long time. A.i that is left of the former establishment, however, is a splendid waterwheel and race ; the building and plant have been removed. At the present price of fibre ihe new 6,pec should prove a paying one, as the men vvho intend opening it are both practical and industrious. — which largely tends to success in all undertakings. — Mimihau Valley correspondent of the Wyndham Farmer. A merchant in Sydney Mrrites as follows to a friend in Christchurch, <and his- remarks, says the Press, are worthy -of the attention of onion-growers in Canterbury: — 1 have remarked that the onions arriving from New Zealand are of aad quality, keeping and carrying badly, and selling here as low as Is per bag. As Ibis must mean serious loss to your colony, I thought it well to drop you a line on the matter. You will remember that I was in busmen* 16 years ago, and you were also carrying on your own .business. I sent you 2cwt~of onion seed especially grown from keeping strains, and the result was that for some time after you sent us from Canterbury onions as hard as bullets, wljich were preferred to Victorian almost. Now. 1 have had a deal of experience of a. practical kind both vi ith onions and with the seed, and 1 know from what onions have come here during the I pa 5 L »ix months that your farmers are growingcrops from seed that has been saved from bulbs which were shooting (and theiefore unsaleable), having been planted tor the seed. I now make an offer through your firm to supply you with sc\vt or more of onion seed — brown Spanish, new sot seod, of 1900 harvest, grown by one of tho be-t omongrowcrs in the colony— 0 -no' 1 , that will pioducc onions having hvn m i! i. • t],hv=, which jVill onrry and keep— at 3s per lh> Jt \vouid

pay the Government to buy this seed, as it must mean serious loss to the colony-to have a crop that will not carry to market. From the Chrißtchurch Press: — Captain A. W. Pearse, of Sydney, well known in pasioralist circles in Australia, lately arrived in England with a very high opinion of the present condition and prospects of the Argentine Republic, which he visited on his way home. The pastoral industry there is certainly in some respects more studied than it is in Australia — in the carriage of s^ock by rail, for instance. No stock may be kept in ihe train for more than 30 hours, otherwise they have to be removed, fed, and watered at the railway companies' expense. The consequence is that in the Argentine Republic stock trains take precedence of all others, wherefore Captain Pearse thinks that country i^ 20 yeairs ahead of Australia. The frozen meat industry there is ever more profitable than it is here, de«pile ihe lower average price which Argentine mutton fetches in the London market, for the producers sell their sheep for gold and pay wages and other evpcnsoa in paper money. Wages, however, are not a very heavy item, for the labour is supplied by Italians, Basques, and natives, who woik from daylight till dork for a low fate of pay. Foot and mouth disease is rampant all over the country, but Government, votciir.ary surgeons exercise supervision at each freezing factory, where also an English butcher sees to it- that the meat is killed and dressed to suit English tastes. There seems to be o good oxDening for New Zealand pedigice stock over there, for it is more cheaply obtained from these colonies than from England, and the Argentine estancieros are said to be quite -willing to give up to 1500gs or 2000gs for a god bull. As to Argentine competition with Australia and New Zealand in the European markets, Captain Pearsc holds somewhat gloomy views. Everything is done in the River Plate, he saySj to help the producing interests, and these colonies hitve a lot to learn in 'that respect, especially in the matter of legislation. The proposal to limit the profits of meat companies would probably add conviction to Captain Peartc's views on this subject. At the last meeting of the Southland County- Council it was decided that arrangements be made similar to last season's for receiving heads and eggs, and the destruction of small birds, price not to exceed 2d per dozen. It was also decided that the Government be asked to place a substantial vote on the Estimates as a bonus for an effectual method of destroying small birds — the feecreli, if any, to become the property of the colony, and no money to be paid until the method has been proved to be successful. Our Agricultural and Pastoral Society, under the presidency of Mr M. Heaiiey, says the Cromwell correspondent of the Dunstau Times, is again- moving in the matter of the annual show, and ii, is to be hoped the public generally, and the farmers of the district especially, will rally round and give the society whole-hearted and undivided support The annual horse parade, under the auspices of the Timaru A. and P. Association, will be held on Saturday, September 29. From Saturday's Timaru Herald: — Grain merchants still report business as quiet, with but limited sales and no advance in prices. The lull in the shipping of frozen meat is giving growers a chance to ship Home on own account, and it is likely that full advantage will be taken of the opportunity. At time of writing the s'.s. Karamea is taking in a large cargo of wheat tor Home, and other sreamers and sailing vessels are arranged for. There is a very large quantity in this district awaiting shipment. At a conference on Thursday last between the directors of the Canterbury Saleyards and ihe sjock salesmen, it was unanimously agreed thai the system of selling at present operating al the Addington market was the most suitable, and did not require changing Mr P. M'Drury, sheep-farmer, of Lansdovvne, near Halswell, hac l six of his sheep killed by dogs on Thursday night last. It is stated that several other losses through the same cause have recently occurred in the district. A general meeting look place at Leeston on Fiiday, ihe 14th insi., when Mr Reakes, M.E.C.Y.S., Government veterinarian, gave a very interesting lecture on swine fever, and same diseases of dairy cattle. Mr W. F. M. Buckley presided. Mr Reakes stated that Canterbury had been wonderfully free from swine fever, but there had been severe attack,-* in ihe North Island and at Mataura in ihe South Island. Although the disease is, usually very pronounced, yet it was never safe^to condemn pigs as suffering from swine fever without a .microscopical examination. This examination was rendered very easy by the Agricultural department. A portion of the blood from the suspected animal was taken and sent to Wellington under a sterilised process adopted by the department. If it was proved that the pigs were diseased they were killed, and the owner compensated to the full value for proved diseased animals, and half value for those that proved io be not diseased. When an outbreak occurred the Agricultural department at once quarantined the animals diseased, and slaughtered them. He strongly urged farmers io caiefully watch their pigs, and directly any suspicious symptoms occurred io communicate with the department. Swine tcver was highly contagious. The lecluier described its symptoms. Speaking of the diseases of cattle, he described actinomyco«is. or lumpy jaw. In a local case the dis- ! cased animal was simply starving to death, as it was' unable to masticate its lood. It was' most prevalent in wet swampy land, but was , nlso found in dry country. The Agricultural department, after examining ihe animal and finding- it badly diseased, ordered it to bo \ uillfid, compensating the owner for half its ■\;tluc. Tho department had effected cures judi iodine treatment, bub that was con-

■sidered too troublesome. The lecturer described, tho red v.-ater malady, which affe'eted cows shortly after calving that had been fed on turnips. Several -questions were asked and answered by the lecturer, and a hearty vote of thanks was carried on .the motion of Messrs Lochliencl and Alex. M'Lachlan. The Gear Meat Company, of Wellington, are erecting the" largest land refrigerating plant in the world. The new refrigerator will be capable of freezing 5000 carcases of sheep daily and will keep 100,000 sheep frozen in the storeroom.