AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2433, 31 October 1900, Page 5

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Mr H. £. Ruddocti, who went, to South Africa as veterinary captain in the second "Victorian contingent, has written to the Victorian Minister of Agriculture as follows : — " Everyone must see the great future hero for all our surplus meat, butter, jam, flour, oats, hay, etc. I should not be surprised to see a famine in the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal, as farming is at a standstill, and all stock, grain, and produce is fast disappearing." As the result of a recent trip throughout Otago and Southland, a well-known official in the Stock department informs the Bruce Herald' that the lambing this season has. aeen exceedingly good all round. Ho estimates that this year the lambing in Otago and Southland will be at least 7 or 8 per cent, mgher than it was last season. Twenty shearers have been fined at Mores (N.S.W.) for refusing to work on Saturday afternoons. ' A visitor from the Waimate district informs the Ashburton Mail that a private sale of prime sheep from the Totara Valley, near Timaru, was effected on Saturday at thejijgh price of 27s 6d per head. A phenomenal yield in the lambing "at ICaituna is reported by the Pelorus G-uardian. The flock of sheep owned by Mrs Harris has increased 200 per cent., each having delivered twin lamb?. The Wyndham Farmer reports that Mr J. H. S. Angus, a noted New South Wales breeder of Ayrshire cattle, who has been on a "visit to New Zealand, has purchased six Ayrshire heifers from Mr James Gait, of Marairua, the price being £12 each. The animals have been shipped to Sydney. The Forestry 'department and police have made a big seizure of posts cut on run 140b by an unlicensed person (says the Tapanui Courier). The number of poots is said to b© upwards of 3000. A swede turnip has been grown at Copper Hill (N.S.W.) weighing 17^-lb and measuring 13in in depth and 32Jin in circumference. Eight thousand one hundred and sixty-six bales of wool were despatched from Dubbo (N.S.W.) from July 1 to September 30, an increase of 3544 over last year's returns. It would appear as if the supply of fat cattle is becoming very short in the Alexandia district, as witness the fact that Messrs Marslin and Nieper, the local butchers, were obliged last week to proceed to Dunedin for their supplies. — Herald. The Bruce Herald states that on Tuesday a Milton farmer disposed of a line of over 100 owes and lambs at the high pi ice of 27? 6d. This is understood to be the highest figure paid for sheep there for years. At the Wyndham Magistrate's Cot^rt, before Mr M'Carthy, S.M., J. B. Taylor was fined 20s, with 7s costs, for exposing lousy sheep for sale. A pioneer Southlander, who is now resident in the North Island, paid a flying visit to Invercargill recently. This visitor, says the News, was Mr John Chubbin, who, with MiGeorge Gunn, in 1855-56, took up the run on the Mataura Plains afterwards occupied by Mr Robert Stewart and now known as the site and environs of Edendale township. There must be many, even yet, in this part of the colony who remember gratefully the hospitality of the well-assorted partners on the Mataura Plain. It is true that the buildings were not palatial — whares, thatched with cabbage 'tree, are not imposing edifices at the best, but inside there was warmth of welcome and such food as happened to be at hand for all comers, and what was wanted in. delicacy and variety was made up for in i abundance. Messrs Chubbin and Gunn afterwards took up country at the Hokonuis, and Reaby station maintained to the full their reputation as pioneers with a welcome for all. About 1866 they separated, dividing the station into two parts, afterwards known as the Reaby and Wantwood stations. From the Lyttelton Times, 22nd inst. : — In the Canterbury A. and P. Association's premium catalogue about £350 is offered in prizes, and the slioav. on November 15 promises to be very .successful. The committee has made considerable improvements to the t ground for both the accommodation of stock 'and the comfort of visitors. — The Colonial Consignment and Distributing Company has given £5 5s and £3 3s as first and second prizes for a pen of ten crossbred wethers, suitable for export, to be &hown at the show. The weight of the sheep when diessed must not exceed &21b, and they will be sent Home to be judged and their values determined.— Mr tS. I. Fitch, Government pomologist, has just returned from a long visit to Central Otago. He iound the orchards there generally in gopd order, and the prospects for the season aie good, apricots promising to be an exceptionally heavy crop. Small birds, though numerous, have done less injury than usual, the fruitgrowers having made a united attack upon them, by shooting as well as poisoning. Orchards -are being extended, and there will shortly be a large increase in the production of fruit in the district. The local branch of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company, says the Mataura Ensign of the 20th inst., report a large transaction in sheep this week^ having

sold to a northern buyer 4-500 sheep — 3350 hoggets and the balance wethers. The sheep went north by special train. -*.

The North Otago Times reports that a large number of lambfe have died in the district within the past few days. Although Waiareka is credited with the largest mimber, it is possible that other places have lost just as many. The caiise oi death is not known, but Mr Harvey, of Weeton, has submitted a couple of lambs to the Stock department, so as to obtain the opinion of an expert. Is it not possible that the cause of death is lung worm, due to the lambs feeding on old pastures, that may not be over clean? This is the fruitful cause of mortality in sheep, and a removal to cleaner paddocks is the only cure. We may be wrong in our surmise, but some years back, in a season similar to this, there was a larg-e mortality amongst young sheep, and the cause was traced to lung worm.

The sheep famine is making itself felt. The price of. mutton in Invercargill Ras been raised per lb, with the prospect of a further advance.

The expGrt of grain and produce from Lyttelton, for the week ending 19th inst., included the following lines : — 353 sacks wheat, 1123 sacks and 2013 bags flour, 2517 sacks oats, 17 sacks meal, 288 sacks barley, 219 sacks malt, 850 sacks bran, 300 sacks sharps, 230 sacks pollard, 931- sacks chaff, 280 sacks peas, 50 saclrs beans, 84-96 sacks potatoes, 194- sucks seed, 18 sacks carrots, 12 bales and 202 trusses hay. From tlie Christchurch Press, 22nd inst. : — Crop prospects look heavy after the recent forcing rains. Except the paddocks which were drenched with the rain to an undue extent, and those which were flooded from the overflow of drains and rivers, the wheat fields" look well and promising. Brighter weather is now hoped for, to harden the grass and give strength to the crops. — A meeting of farmers was held on Saturday at the office of Air George Hamill, with reference to forming a company to' carry on the pork-curing industry. The feeling amongst those present was that it was necessary, in the interests of the producers, to form an organisation of their own, in order to enable them to get a fair return; the business at present, it was claimed, being practically a monopoly. It was decided to hold another meeting on Saturday next. A large amount of support was promised to the project.

The North British Agriculturist says : — Mr Macdonald, blacksmith, Lenzie, has brought out a patent dibbler for plainting cabbage. The appliance completes what was formerly three operations — dibbling, planting, and closing — in one. In fact, it can plant the cabbage as fast as the boy can hand them to a man, and it leaves them all alike — as straight as a die. The machine is of very simple construction, and can be turned at the cost of a few coppers each.

At the meeting of the Knapdale Road Board, held on the 20th mst., it was resolved to pay 2d per dozen for birds' heads and eggs until December 31.

Notes from the Wyndham Herald : — There is an epidemic of milk fever among cows at Edendale just now. Some farmers have lost two or three, while one here and there dies. As generally happens, so it is now, that in every case it is the best cows of the herds that .succumb. — Some farmers have been fortunate enough to have been hindered in their sowing by the superabundance of bulbs remaining from last season. One farmer tells us that he has turnips enough to last for another fortnight,' and it is problematical whether another farmer (whose grass is coming away rapidly) will utilise his turnips. — Farmers generally are jubilant over the weather. Their chorus is that they were never at the time of year so advanced with their work as they are at present, the season being £0 favourable to outside work. One effect is manifest in the horses, which, being kept so constantly at woik, are rather down in condition. It continues to be good growing weather. Correspondents of the Southland Times: — Riverton : If the miners in this district ar© growling, the farmers are jubilant and crops and stock are flourishing. The lambing has been a very good one, although in a few cases there have been more than the average number of deaths among the ewed, apparently from inflammation.— Dipton : Our dairy factory has been running since the Ist in&t. It is getting over 300 gallons per day at present and the supply is rapidly rising. The outlook for the farmer is particularly bright at present. Most of the stock is in excellent condition and grass is becoming abundant. The lambing season is well advanced and promises to be the most prolific experienced since sheep farming became general amongst the small farmers. Early sown grain is well advanced and looking splendid, and ac to fruit, I have never seen such a show of blossom.

There has been a capital lambing in the back country of the Waitawi-County.-

The revising committee of' the Tokomairiro Farmers' Club met on the 20th inst. , and drew up their programme for the summer show to be held on December 4. A few new classes for sheep, in which it is stipulated that the stock shown must be bred by the exhibitor, have been aclded to the lists. These have been introduced with the object of doing away with those classes of entries which are simply bought up from flockts, either inside or outside of the district, and are not exhibited for the benefit of the farmers or the interests of stock-raising generally, but merely to pocket the prize money. The Tahatika correspondent of the Clutha Leader writes; — The lato wet weather has

given the oats a start; a good lot of paddoel;? are already getting their green coats. Lambing is ail over now, and owing to the late fine weathsr the mortality among the flocks has been small. Since writing my last the dairy factory here has begun work agaiii, cheese being the industry. We trust ii. will be well supported by local x armers, tho usual price being given.

( From the Lyttelton Times, 23rd inst. : —The Shorthorn bull > bought by Mr John Deans, in England, arrived safely last week, and wrc taken to Quail Island for quarantine. Tho sheep bought by Mr Doans arejdue in a fey/ clays. — A horse, which was supposed to be affected with the ''Winton disease," but wbieh. was from a Canterbury district, was sent to Wellington on Saturday for observation and treatment by the chief Government veterinarian. The disease has so far baffled the skill of all the veterinary surgeons who have had to deal with it. — Mr T. W. Bark, biologist of the Department of Agriculture, has arrived in Christchurch to prepare an exhibit for the exhibition. >, The collections of wheat and potatoes grown by the department, and models of fruits prepared as typical illustrations of the different varieties will be shown, and w?U in themselves make an interesting exhibit. — Last week's rain was the heaviest that has fallen on the Peninsula for the past five years, and all the creeks have had a good scouring out. As it was a warm rain, the lambs did not suffer. A good season is now predicted for the factories and the^dairies. As a result of the increased pric3s"of all stock, more than the usual number of calves and foals are seen. The lambing has been very good, and, altogether, the Peninsula is liloaly to have a " prosperous season. — The annual general meet- . ii»g of the Peninsula Saleyards Company wa<? - hftd at the Somerset Hotel, Duvauchelles, Akaroa, on Saturday. There was a small at- • tendance, and Mr E. E. Lelievrs, chairman of directors, f resided. The report and balancesheet showed that there was a credit balance ' of £56 6s 2d. A dividend of 7^ per oeD + . was declared, leaving a balance of £13 10s od to be carried forward. Messrs Robinson ?nd Stewart were re-elected directors. Mr W. Wright was appointed to fill an extraordi&arjvacancy, and Mr M'Kellar was re-elected auditor. ' •

Nothing is yet definitely known as to the rau3e of death of the lambs in the Waiareka, district. One of the sheep submitted to the Stock department was dissected by a veterinary surgeon, but he could discover nothing that gave a clue to the cause of death, an least nothing but a slight inflammation at the base of the brain, which ho was not inclined to accept as leading" to the fatal result. One thing was made apparent : the lambs did not die from lung worm. We (North Otago Times) have heard, however, of a probable cause of the deaths. A sheep-farmer of great experience informs us that the deaths are in all likelihood clue to the dirty state of the udders of the ewes, which in wet weather, i£ the ewes are not dagged, give off a liquid poison. This and the swallowing of pieces of wool from the neighbourhood of the udder will, in his opinion, account for all the deaths that have occurred.

A correspondent writes to the Lyttelton Times traversing the action of the members of the House of Representatives who stonewalled the Crown -Tenants Rebate of Rent Bill: — I wonder if those members of Parliament who set up such a determined stone- ■ wall against the bill introduced by Mr Seddon • to allow Crown tenants a rebate of 10 r er cent, off their rents for prompt payment did s so from any actual experience of the work- " ing of the Lands for Settlement Act? If not, then they ought to hase been very careful before they altered the work of those that have. Mr Seddon's" bill was framed on ihtsexperience of years of administration of tb&Crown lands of this colony, and the fsict, ?s btated by the Premier, that there was £16,003 of rent in arrears shows that some remedy for this was undoubtedly needed. I would like to point out ope of the chief causes ijf such a large sum being in arrear. Under tha present system, it is to a tenant's interest to strain to th& utmost the leniency of the land Doards, ignoring as long as it is safe the repeated printed demand for the rent, and only paying when absolutely forced, because, by so doing he is able to use this money ta s finance for his stock, fra« of interest, instead of getting an advance and paying interest and commission to some auctioneering firm. To remove this- cause, this rebate of 10 per cent, was wisely conceived, as it would extinguish the profit to be made out of thearrears of rent, and, further, by encouragingprompt payment it would lessen the cost of administration, and tend towards the more harmonious working of the Lands for Settlement Act. It will, perhaps, 'be urged that if the land boards w«re stricter in insisting on the prompt payment of rent the necessity for this concession would not arise ; but, in answer to this, land boards would hardly feel that they were carrying out the spirit of the Government's land policy bj going in for wholesale evictions. Also Crown tenants are expected to do what very few private tenants have to — viz., to pay their rent six months in advance, before it has been earned. Now, to come to the concession, that the stonewallers wrung out of the Premier — viz., that the rebate is only to be given at the option of the Commissioner of Crown Lands and the Receiver of Land Revenue. This is hardly the kind of legislation.

If you are troubled with blight on your fruit trees send to Nijijio and Blaik for a til of "Montauk." It is a certain cure^

that I should have expected from these mem"bers. To give any two men absolute power of yea or nay, without appeal, over hundreds of hard-working colonists is totally opposed ito the democratic spirit of the times. Any rebates or concessions should come as rights to be demanded, not as favours to be sued ior. If the Parliamenc of this colony wish to establish "A bold peasantry — their country's pride," they should give them the rights •of free men, and not compel them to plead for favours from any man, or set of men. The success which has attended the export of rabbits from Victoria hos brought forward several claims on the Government by psisons who consider that they are entitled to a reward for having suggeated this method of turning to profitable account what had long been a terrible pesl. The Minister for Agriculture has received recently a number of letters from various individuals, each of ■whom claims to have been the first to suggest the export of rabbits, and to be therefore entitled to a substantial bonus. It is improbable, however, that the Government ■will do anything in thet' matter. It is considered by the Minister that any proposal to males an award would give rise to an almost interminable dispute as to who was really the first to suggest the trade. The French wheat harvest is turning out, a<^ ■was expected, much below those of the past •year?. " A late estimate puts the crop at 302,610,000 bushels, as against 360,381,000 foushels in 1898 and 354,879,000 buthels in 1899. The quality of the grain, also, is not up to that of the two past harvest 3. A most remarkable lot, consisting of a cow and heifer triplets, three and a-half years I >ld, was offered for sale recently in England. The animals were exactly alike in ■jolour, shape of horns, and formation of the Taody, and it was impossible to tell them apart. 'Jhe lot realised £58 ss. Captain H. S. Woods, of the Indian Mefiical Service^ la'ely bagged^ a solitary bi.«on irall on the Impore junglest The measurauaeai of the animal's horns is likely to prove C" record. They tape 6ft 4in round the swsep and 20in at the base. The horns are very symmetrical and sharply pointed, which Is unusual with solitary bulls. In the springtime of each of the past three years, the deaths on farms of considerable numbers oi young lambs without assignable have been reported, and already this "'sason several outbreaks have occurred. The symptoms of the malady, as roughly described 'jy farmers, suggest the prevalence of "joint ill," a disease known for centuries to British jiid Continental sheepfarmers". It was in Cht old country the practice to immediately slaughter the young animal attacked. The subject is dealt with in an article which appears elsewhere in this issue. Fortrose notes, in Wyndham Farmer: —

We have been having fairly good weather , to get along with all farm work, consequently ; most of the farmers are well forward with • their various jobs. We have had very little ; heat, and grass is in consequence a very scarce commodity. Frost has also been very frequent, cheeking growth, blackening potatoes, and killing fiuit. Some of the early oat paddocks are looking remarkably well, notwithstanding. Ihe oat seeding time bet ing over, I should like to hear how some of \ my friends got on with the poisoning of linnets and sparrows. About three months ago Or R. M. M'Callum, member for Waihopai riding, Southland County Council, slated at o, council meeting that he had never hod a satisfactory poisoning. Not so Cr John M'Qusen — he declared he had satisfsotoi-y poisonings. Now, 1 have been poisoning for 15 years, and I will back Cr M'Callum's statement. We all kill birds, and lots of them, but not in proportion to the number of live birds. Another trouble is that lots (of the so-called poison is useless. This season I have sown five bags. — viz., two of last ! season's, whole wheat, prepared by Ashburton Drug Company, which was very effective ; then I . sowed two bags, this season's, prej pared by Brooke (chipped wheat), which was !no good at all ; then one bag of groats, '! which proved no better than the chipped 1 wheat. *Bunny has been getting a change (of late. After the trapper came the pollard, which has had disastrous effect where used, i Brer Rabbit is fairly within bounds at prej sent. The Toi Toi Dairy Factory is in "full ; swing again — that is, in a small way, as most | cows are to calve yet. It will be pretty } near New Year before the flush of milk conies I to hand. At the last meeting of the Masj terfcon A. and P. A&sociation, a I lcttei was received from the Agri- ; cultural department on the examination of ■' stallions in the district by Mr C. J. Beakcs, ! the Government veterinary surgeon. After j discussion is was agreed that the chairman I should deal with the report and issue certi- , ficates to owners whose horses had been found ;to be sound. The society afterwards passed I a resolution thanking the department for its efforts in the interests of horse-breeding. i It is highly satisfactory to all concerned, and altogether creditable to the. district, to find that at the present, time, when phips are experiencing great difficulty in procuring cargo at ports farther north, they can find abundant loading at the Bluff. As an illustration we (Southland Times) have ascertained the principal items of produce that will have been shipped foi London by throe cargo steamers within the last half of this month. The Kumara sailed ladt week — on | the 17th— with 11,159 crates of rabbits and 4750 carcases of mutton. The Waimate, now

loading, takes- 5300 crates of rabbits, 13,500 carcases of mutton and 400 quarters of beef. The Wakanui, due at the wort on Saturday, will clear with 20,000 crates of rabbits, 8000 carcases of mutton and 1100 quarters of beef. In round numbers these three vessels take away from the port 36,500 crates of rabbits, 26,300 carcases of mutton and 1500 quarters of beef.

The Benmore farmers, writes the correspondent of the Southland Times, are grumbling less than usual this spring, the phenomenal wearier permitting farm work to be well forward, and giving a large increase to the lambing percentage, perhaps being the reason. One settler's paddock turned out 140 per cent. ; 110 and 120 per cent. being quite common. The oats are showing a good braird, giving promise of an early crop. Oh !tobe a Crown tenant with a 10 per cent reduction coming off our rents ; a real gift from Mr Secldon to the good boys who pay up promptly. He shall have our vote through all the ages if he only makes these Invercargill companies do the same. Let them look out: these bigcompanies whose clientele of hard-tips are all "the right- colour. "

The rabbit inspectors in the Tapanui district, says the Courier, are serving notices on landowners to destroy rabbit?. We notice that the rodents are coming off the Blue Mountains pretty thick, and it is a gieat pity that this hill country could not be netted off.

After the stock sale at Temuka last week Mr A. J. LeCren, who has held the position of stock agent for the^New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency for some years, was presented with a massive gold chain, with sovereign case attached, by the auctioneers and farmers of the district, with whom he was vory popular. Mr LeCren has bought a farm in the Waimate district, and intends to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits.

The weather last week was very severe in the Ashburton Gorge district, £ayp the Lyttelton Times of the 24 th inst.. the rainfall being the heaviest experienced for some year*. There was also a considerable fall of fiiow, and on one station over 10 per cent, of lambs were lost, some a fortnight old being killed. Already the shearing season has started in the Maryborough Sounds district, and on several stations on the east coast.

Mr W. Evans, chairman of the Timaru Harbour Board, and managing director of the Atlas Milling Company, returned to Timaru on the 22nd inst., from a business visit to South Africa, and was met at the railway station by the mayor, Mr Fraser (acting-chair-man of the Harbour Board), and numerous friends. His reception was most enthusiastic. His Worship invited Mr Evans and a company of business people into the refreshment rooms, and, proposing his health, cordially welcomed Mr Evans back to Timaru, expressing a conviction that his trip to South Africa must have resulted in the gaining of information that would be of benefit to the Atlas Company, to Timaru, and to the colony. In replying, Mr Evans said he had travelled about 17,000 miles, had seen a good deal of South Africa, and he was v.cry glad to be home again. He gave a brief outline of the various places he had visited, and said he had managed to see all tlio people that he was likely to do business with, and succeeded in disposing of his cargo of oats on fairly satisfactory terms. Had he not gone over it was very probable that they would have made a big loss on it. Be thought there was a big future for New Zealand trade. with South Africa, if the business people only put their shoulders to the wheel and tried to get direct communication by monthly steamers for a year or two. Austialians were doing a very large business there, and Americans were trying all they knew to extend their trade there. In an interview with a representative of the Herald Mr Evans furnished an interesting account of his experiences since he left Timaru, of which the following is a summary: — Arriving at Melbourne, he was compelled to take a pas- ; sage by a cargo steamer to avoid a long wait for a, mail boat, and even then had to get some "influence" exerted to secure a passage, so great was the rush for berths at that time. The Gulf of Taranto, the cargo boat he travelled by, encountered very bad weather be- , tween Melbourne and Albany, and some refitting was necessary at the latter port. And &he struck a still worse patch of bad weather after leaving Albany —^o bad that in three days she gained only 90 miles, and lost 45 out of 4-8 psdigreed cows on board, intended to improve the herds of Natal, which were washed c overboard. The captain had his knee smashed, and is even yet in the hospital ; the bosun had several ribs broken, and the crew generally were badly knocked about. At one time it looked as if the steamer and all on board would have to be posted at Lloyd's as missing, and full claims be made on the insurance policies. The captain said that in 23 years' cxperienca he had never seen such weather. However, they survived it, and reached Durban on July 14-. The first impression was made by the enormous quantity of shipping at the place. There were about 30 steamers (many of them trans75orts) lying outside, and some of them had been there for months. Inside the astuary port was another mass of shipping. Durban is a great example of harbour improvement work. In 1894 there was only lift on the bar. Now there is 23ft, and the long line of wharfage was packed with ves?«ls drawing up to 22ft and 23ft. There were four or five millions pounds of oats stacked there, and thousands of tons of chaff and hay. No. it is not correct that the oats were uncovered snd growing green ; but much of the chaff and hay was. There was also an enormous quantity of other stores packed under tarpaulins. I had letters of introduction to the heads of departments, and went to "The Castle," the Government offices, but they could not mafoe a deal with its for my produce, as all such purchases, they said, were mado by the War Office at Home, and so I could do nothing. I stayed a few days, aud then went up to the capital of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. I missed the Premier, as he was just leaving, but he sent his secretary to say that the Colonial Treasurer would see me, and he could not give me any hope of selling to the Government. My busin-ess took me to the flour mills. Two of them are as large, as ours, and are going night and day, doing a splendid business, and getting £14 10s a ton for flour. A good deal of the wheat is locally grown, and a good deal imported. There is a duty of J34 10s per ton on floui in Cape Colony, and 2s per cental (1001b) on all cereals. At Durban (Natal) these are free. — Mr Evans said that he could do no business in oots at Capetown, everything being done in London, and he returned to Durban, where he sold his cargo satisfactorily to a merchant. New Zealand, he feels convinced, could do a large 'trade in produce with South African ports if a direct monthly fetcam service were started. Success depends upon direct and regular trade, and the Government should take the matter in hand and arrange for such a service. All our produce in cereals, butter, and cheese, and frozen mutton ought to sell better than Victorian.

The only thing wanted to secure a good market is a regular steam service. He has brought bock some samples of Cape wheat, and, contrary to the accounts of it we have usually read, he says they are as fine a sample as he ever saw. It is difficult to speak of "South Africa" as a field for European settlement and European agriculture. South Africt is an immense territory, and varies very much in climate and fertility and suitable crops even within a few hundred miles. Natal "is suited for sugar-growing ; over the ranges, in the Orango State, they grow fine crops of wheat, 40 to 50 bushels per acre — so some Dutch members of Parliament whom he met told him. He looked at the country more as a commercial man, and he would &ay that South Africa is the place for a commercial man to make money — but he would not care to live there. — Lyttelton Times.

The Temuka correspondent of the Press states that fine weather is much needed in the Timaru diatriots, as all late farming operations have been checked. A good deal of rape land will have to be prepared again, and in one or two instances, ci-oxds have been so overpowered by weeds that they will have to be ploughed down and potatoes sown. In view of the probability of a proportion of seed potatoes, lately sown, being rotten, there is a belter inquiry, both for seed and table potatoes, and holders who have been indifferent as to whether thsy effected, sales or not now find that they can sell at a price which will justify a little outlay in labour. Dairy cows in the OpunaLe district have been selling as high lately as £]0 per head. "Fheep-farmer" wrii.es as follows to the Christchurch Press: — In your issue of the 18th, under the heading "Weight of Woolpacks," you have a sub-leader in which it would appear that the wool-grower was trying to rob the wool-buyer by working in a heavy woolpack on to him. It says: — "Growers are all aware that the tare allowed to wool-buyer is 111b per bale, no^matter what pack is used." I, for one, am not aware that this is the usual allowance, for I find that I have to allow 151b to the wool-bu3"er, and as the pack -neighs 111b, the wool-buyer get? 4-lb of wool on each bale out of me for nothing ; so that tlie boot is on the other leg, and the wool-grower is the victim, and not the wool-buyei'. As proof of what lam saying, I have before me account sales of 88 bales of wool sold in London, and the.^allowance for tare and draft is 13001b, equal" to 14|lb per bale ; also account sales of 15 bales, sold in the colony, allowance for tare and draft 2081b. equal to 131b 14oz. If the allowance in Melbourne i& only 111b, it is very evident it is not' the same in other places, and why should we got done out of 31b or 41b of wool on each bale is more than I can tell; so that the sooner we can get. supplied with a 151b woolpack the better for the growers. A visitor from, the Waimate district informs the Ashburlon Mail that a private sale of prime sheep from the Totara "Valley, near Timaru, was lately effected at the high price of 27s od per head.

The first shipment of wool from coastal stations arrived at Wellington on th« 23rd inst., the 'Himitangi landing 200 bales from Torawhiti.

Mr Rowan, tHe stock inspector, is actively endeavouring to stomp out tuberculosis in the Taranaki Province. Forty-four beasts gathered in that district have been destroyed under his supervision.

The New Zealand Times says that at a meeting of farmers, held recently at Eltham, to discuss the alternative proposals to erect a bacon-curing station o * a weighbridge, a Mr Drake offered to erect the latter and take all the pigs sent in by an association of farmers. The agreement was subsequently subscribed to by 19 farmers .agreeing to supply 492 pigs.