AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2443, 9 January 1901, Page 14

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The harvest will be late all over the district (says the North Otago Times). The early rains and continued cold weather checked vegetation, and until the past fortnight but little progress was made. The crops, however, under the stimulus of the higher temperature, are now assuming a more satisfactory appearance, but it will be well into February before the harvest begins.

The milking record for the Taranaki coast, or, in fact, for New Zealand, has been put up by a Plains settler and his wife, who, without any help except what could be given by a 20-month old infant, milked 79 cows twice daily. It is a fact, and can be vouched for (says the Dairyman) that he delivered on an average 20001b of milk a day at the factory, and not a penny was spent in wages last year.

A Canterbury sheep-buyer now in the Blenheim district has made or arranged for purchases which cover as many as 15,000 cheep. It is intended to. freeze as many of these as possible at the Picton works, and to take the remainder to Canterbury.

Bot flies have become very troublesome in Tiinaru for the last few days. They are later than usual in making their appearance this year. The Mark Lane Express of 12th November, to hand by the last mail, reports that confirmatory news has been received in London that the Argentine wheat crop has been seriously damaged, and estimates place the crop as not likely to be more than two-thirds that of last year — viz., about 8,000,000 quarters against 12,000,000 quarters last season. Whether or not the damage is so extensive as calculated has yet to be seen, but it is evident that Argentina in the coming season will secure a much smaller crop than last season. On the other hand, it is said that the linseed crop will be exceptionally large, and, if so, it will to some extent make up for the damage done to wheat. Of the growing maize it is too early yet to form an opinion, as it is not sufficiently forward to suffer irretrievably, and, therefore, damage might be done, and yet the crop eventually turn out large. New South Wales will have a good wheat harvest this season. The wheat-growers in that colony have, according to the Melbourne Weekly Times, the advantage of a large percentage of virgin soil to operate upon, and this, of course, helps to keep the average up. In the dairying districts the weather of late has been rather dry, and unless more rain comes it i« feared that the milk season will be a short one.

The Textile Mercury says, in its issue of ' November 10, that wool shearing is now at its height in the Argentine Republic. As Te- I gards the prospects of the clip, it is frankly I admitted that they are far from cheerful. In ' addition to the practical destruction of j 10,000,000 sheep by floods and fluke, the per- | sistent rains gave wings to the scab and pre- j vented proper curing, so that here is very great reason to fear that the clip will be inferior to last season's both in quality and quality. Some parcels had already arrived j on the Buenos Ayres market as the last mail left for England, but they had not been sold, buyers, though already on the spot, being ] quite indifferent. The arrivals of sheepskins from the provinces of Buenos Ayres and Entre Rios, the pastoral provinces, were conclusive proof of the mortality, and prices which last year averaged over 1.05d0l for skins, were quoted about 50c. As to the liquidation of the clip, "it will undoubtedly be a tedious business, and experts do not expect anything like activity in "the market till about Januthe amount per annum now being disbursed by the Scottish Agricultural department for agricultural education reaches nearly £4000. In England £7750 is allotted for a similar purpose. The former is relatively more liberal, since it is distributed among three institutions - only, as compared with 12 in England. That more becoming attention is being given to the education of the children in country dis1 tricts in the north, as well as in the south, is clear from the following remark in the Scottish report: "The department do not think it feasible or desirable to make practical instruction in agriculture part of the curriculum of rural schools in general, but they think it possible to give to the studies of the more advanced pupils in many of these schools such a directiofT'as sftMTToster -their interest in rural life, and give them some insight into the scientific principles which underlie the practice of -agraeulture." In order that this suggestion may be the more effectually acted upon, it is advised that facilities be provided for teachers to qualify themselves to instruct the scholars in such subjects. The monthly meeting of the Tuapeka Agricultural Society was held on Thursday last, i Mr James Robertson (president) in the chair. ' The following motion was unanimously carried i— "That a heaxty vote of thanks be ac-

corded Mr Paton and his staff for the courtesy ' and attention, shown to exhibitors bringing stock by train, and that Mr Paton be elected j an honorary member of the society." It i was decided that the society continue to purchase birds' eggs and heads. The secretary reported that close upon 400 entries had been made at the show, and that the cash prizes to be paid out amounted to about £118, distributed amongst 76 exhibitor 0 . Referring to the retirement of Mr John Church from the position of secreiaiy of the North Otago A. and P. Association, the ! Oamaru Mail of the sth inst. pays the follow- ' ing well-deserved tribute of praise to that gentleman for the valuable services he has rendered to the society with which he has been officially connected for nearly three decades : It is an open secret that Mr John Church, the patriarchal secretary of the North Otago A. and P. Society, has intimated to the 2)resident of the society that he will not seek reappointment to his office on the expiry of the present term in May next. The reason for j this resolve is Mr Church's great age, for he i is now on the verge of £0. and has arrived I at a stage in his existence when it would, we ; suppose — though we have not ourselves expe- | rienccd the feeling — he pleasant to live in ' peaceful retirement. One would find it diffi- I cult to realise a. North Otago sliow without j John Church as the central figure ; yet. in i the ordinary course of events, it must be:and no one will deny that the veteran secre- i tary has won his spurs and earned a little ; respite at the close of an active life. He : is recognised eveiy where as the "Daddy" of agricultural societies, as one of the mainstays of our agricultural and pastoral society, and ' a3 the author of a mo^l admirable system of conducting such institutions. However, the best we can hope, under the circumstances, ' is that another will be found to fll the place , which Mr Church has occupied for 29 years with such honour to himself and f>dvant.a°o j to all concerned. We xinderetand that the veteran would be glad to act a.* adviser to ' his successor, and probably the society would ; cordially apree to such an arrangement, which ! | would enable the merging, without any break, i of the old and the new. In any cr^e, it is ' to be hoped that the society will treat so old ( and faithful fv servant with all the generosity of which it is capable. j | On Friday last, says the Christchurch Press, j a deputation from the New Zealand Farmers' ; Co-dperative Association visited Mount Grey, j | the residence of Mr Chas. Emor, to present i ■ him with an illuminated address on behalf of i \ the directors. Mr Perryman made the pre- , sentation, referring to the long services and great interest taken by Mr En«or in the | affairs of the association since its inception, jlt was T>y his energy the association was \ j formed, and he was the first chairman 20 i years ago. Air Ensor thanked his co-directors , for the vers' hand=ome testimonial they had thoughtfully presented to him, which would be valued by his family as an heirloom. He also referred to the difficulties of the early I times of the association, which was now, ' however, in a position to assist its members in every way without their having to go to outside institutions in any way. The following are the shipments of grain and produce from Lyttelton for the week ended Friday, 4th inst. :— For Durban— ll62 j sacks wheat, 3128 sacks oats, 319 sacks barley, 666 sacks bran, 2007 bags flour ; coastwise — 304 sacks w heat, 345 sacks oats, 25 sacks barley. 478 sacks bran, 906 sacks, 13.890 bags, and 260 parcels flour, 290 sacks sharps. Total ] shipments — 1 1 96 Eacks wheat, 3473 sacks oats, 344 sacks barley, 1144 sacks bran, 908 sacks, 15,397 bags, and 260 parcels flour, 290 sacks sharps. The Canterbury Frozen Meat Company recommenced killing at Fairfield on Friday j last, when a draft of 900 lambs was put i through. Their average freezing weight was 431b. From the Timaru Post, sth inst. : — Mr Rupert Parry, of Kingsdown, the well-known breeder of Shropshire sheep, has just sold one - . of the largest consignments of Shropshire j rams to Messrs George King and Co., for a Sydney client, that has ever been sent away j from New Zealand. The rams were all two- ! tooths, bred by Mr Parry. — As evidence of the extent to which wool decreases in weight when shipped away it has only to be menj tioned that a consignment of 34 bales recently I shipped Home lost 1401b in weight ; another lot of 6 bales lost 481b; another of 15 bales lost 811b ; and another lot of 42 bales lost 3411b in weight. Taking the value of the weight lost in the latter ease at 6d per lb, the 34lTb represents a loss of £8 10s od. In each case, presumably, the wool would be scoured. — There has been no change whatever on the local grain and produce markets during the past week, and business in all cereals may be said to be at a standstill. Merchants r and others have been occupied all the week I handling wool ; grain and produce had therefore to take a secondary position. Bait in any case merchants show little inclination to buy j except at a price which growers are not prepared to accept. The new season's crop

be coming to hand very shortly now, but unfortunately there are no indications that it will command any higher prices than those now offering.

The warm weather which been experienced in the Ashburton district, says the Press, hs>s had a maiked matuiing effect on 'the cereal crops, and caused the grass to turn brown on the light lands. There is, however, still an abundance of feed — in fact, it has rarely been known to be so plentiful at this season of the year. Har\est operations have commenced inthe vicinity of Longbeach, where some early-sown oats can be seen in stook. With a continuance of the present fine weather the reapers and binders will be busy at work in all directions at the end of? the week. There are, as usual, a lot of magnificent-looking crops in various parts of the Ashburton County, though in many places they are not so even as in some previous seasons, the unusually frequent and heavy rainfall experienced keeping some of the heavier lands cold, and causing the growth of the straw to be patchy in places where the water lay in pools. Still, taken all through, it has been a remarkably good season, and the prospects of an abundant harvest are at present very encouraging.