Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 2436, 21 November 1900, Page 4

FARM AND STATION.

prize will-thus be ballotted for between these two gentlemen. The machine is valued at dBI3 10s. " A returned Victorian relates what he saw during a recent visit to Argentina. The breaking-out of the foot-and-mouth disease has absolutely stopped the live cattle export trade ,\vith Great Britain, but has given a great impetus to the frozen meat business, both in cattle and sheep. The settlers, he states to tht" Leader, are simply coining money under the existing paper currency, which permits of their selling their produce for gold and paying all wages and rates in paper money. The labour is Italians, Basques, and natives. They work from dawn until dusk for comparatively low wages. All they receive in the way of food is meat and mate — a native tea — and that, in the opinion of our visitor, is the main reapon why the South Americans are able to undersell Australia in the British market. Me pubmits an interesting hint to Australian stock breeders. "All first-claFs stock from Australia," he remarks, "will fetch high prices in the Argentine. Fifteen hundred guineas is nothing for the South American estansieros to give for a good bull. They can get pedifree stock cheapei from Australia than from Ingland, and there is no doubt that if we in 'Australia could get a regular line of steamers round the world, via the Cape, there would be a very large number of buyers from the Plate in Australia. "What we want is a regular connection between Buenos Ayres and Capetown to complete the circle." . The enormous appetite of a champion cow {writes the American Agriculturist) is shown by the amount of food eaten daily during a teat of the Holstein cow, Rosa Bonheur sth, which died recently. She held the world's record foi milk production of 106.751b in one day, and 726.251b in one week. She ate daily 1141b silage. 121b corn meal, Sib oatmeal, 3lb bran, 91b oil meal, and 271b roots, or a total of 1741b, of which 52.431b was dry Xnatter. She weighed 17501b. Consul Nelson writes from Bergen, May 30, 3 900 : — Cheese of pasteurised milk has until lately been considered almost impossible, to produce, and dairymen have been at a loss how to use the churn milk, which has been sold as feed for pigs or thrown away. A ,4iort time ago a chemist at Stockholm — Dr 3Trans Elander — succeeded in effecting a preparation which solved the above-mentioned difficulties. Owing to this discovery, which 'has been named "caseol," palatable and nourishing cheese, free of tubercular bacilli, can now be made from pasteurised sbirn milk. This preparation has, moreover, the excellent quality .of rendering cheese more digestible, Several dairies in London have made experiments with caseol, with the samo favourable result. Mr A. R. Ross, the agent of the British South African Chartered Company, wlio lia3

been for 12 weeks in Australia purchasingcattle for export to Rhodesia, states that his mission was to procure good, serviceable ■breeding stock, and he has succeeded very well, although the work had occupied him longer than he had anticipated at the outset. As the result of his visit he has now 1000 head of cattle on board the steamer City of Lincoln, destined for Beira, whence they will be railed into Rhodesia. Of the number 600 are shorthorns and 200 each Devons and Herefords, and, with the exception of 22 bulls and a few calves, all are young heifers. A few head were bought in Victoria and trucked to Newcastle, but the bulk of them were raised in New South Wales, chiefly in the country between Singleton and Moree, which, of all Australia that he saw, most, in Mr Ross's opinion, resembles Rhodesia. .On the whole, he expresses himself as very wtTi pleased with the consignment. In the matter of transport, Mr Ross seems to have been very well suited by Mr John Cook, of Melbourne, with his recent purchase, the City of Lincoln, 3182 tons gross. Since the outbreak of the Boer war the vessel has been employed in conveying mules from Buenos Ayres. The Canterbury Frozen Meat eompaiiy exhibited samples of their manures, wool, preserved meats, etc. There was a very creditable display of implements, besides other exhibits of interest to farmers. From Friday's Oamaru Mail : Mr A. Murdoch, of Riversdale, and foimerly of The Tables, who is on a visit to Oamaru as one of the judges at tho show, informs us that he spent a fortnight between Dunedin and Christchurch, and never remembers, during his long experience, seeing the country looking so well. He particularly mentions Canterbury, where the season has been very favourable for agriculture. He aleo says that, though the same amount of rain has not been experienced in Southland as in the north, the country is looking splendid, the winter and spring" having been the finest recorded for many years. A crop of wheat in the Cbldstream district (Canterbury) is said to be already in ear, and tho owner expects to have it cut and threshed before Christmas. Under the Slaughtering and Inspection Act of last session, which, comes into operation on April 1, 1901, all abattoir inspectors, now employed by local authorities, will come under the control of the Government, the object, no doubt, being to prevent the exercise of local influences. The inspectors will have all the powers and functions of inspectors under the "Stock Act, 1893." The Chief Inspector of Stock of West Australia is of opinion that the only effective method of preventing rabbits from spreading westward is the erection of a rabbit-proof fence from the south, coast well ahead of the

advancing rodents, right through to the north coast, a distance of 1000 miles. This would pass through Crown lands for almost the wbole distance, and the expense would fall on the Government. Mr E. W. Bell, F.C.S., writes to the Field pointing out that basic slag, although of poor quality, is not necessarily impure. Since the amount of phosphoric acid (oi phosphate of lime) in basic slag is dependent upon the quantity of phosphorus present id the iron ore, and this varies in different districts, and also to a lssser extent upon the process of manufacture of the steel, it is clear that there must of necessity be considerable variation in the manurial value of the genuine by-product. The use of the inferioi quality article is not disadvised, but, on the contrary, it is contended that if only the higher grades were to be employed, the reqirirements of farmers could not possibly be fully met. The phosphate of lime content in basic slag varies from 22 to 26 per cent, up to 38 to 45 per cent., and the former may be effectually and economically used if the purchaser effects his contiacts on a proper basis and takes care that the quality guaranteed is supplied.