AGRICULTURAL ASD PASTORAL NEW.

Otago Witness, Issue 2471, 24 July 1901, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL ASD PASTORAL NEW.

Our cables last week notified the fining of a firm in England for increasing the weight of butter. Mr H. W. Lucy, writing in the Sydney Herald, says : "An ingenious German chemist has • invented a process whereby water can be impressed into the butter tub, with the result of considerably adding to the weight of its contents without altering their appearance. Not only is foreign butter thus treated imported in tens, and sold at full price to the unsuspecting consumer, but machines that will crable the local dealer appreciably to add to tbe weight of his butter are imported, and fnd a ready market. Assuming that the v/ater is clean, there is no damaging effect en. public health. But, obviously, if the head cf a household -wants to buy water, he or she pan obtain it at a much less price per avoirdupois pound than is demanded for butter. The difficulty is that the Statute Book does not contain any standard for pure butter that would meet this ingenious fraud, the earliest product oi the twentieth century." With the low prices ruling for grain and especially for wheat, the news that a further reduction in freight by direct steamer to London will (says the Christchurch Press) be satisfactory to farmers. For boats load--ing; at Lyttelton and Timaru up to the jaiddle of August, the four large companies trading to New Zealand — the New Zealand Shipping Company, the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, and the Tyser and Shire lines — hav-e agreed to reduce the freight to 20s per ton for wheat and 25s per ton foT oats, with 10 per cent, primage. The reason for this further reduction is the shortage in the shipments of frozen mutton and scarcity of general cargo. The companies were therefore compelled to xnake a further reduction in freight in order to obtain a sufficient quantity of grain to fill their vessels. The rate for wheat is said to be the lowest ever charged by steamer from New Zealand to London, and is really below what will pay the companies. It ie expected that after the middle of next month more cargo will be available, and for the present, therefore, space will not be booked at the new rates beyond that date. The Government Dairy School ior the North Island will be held at Stratford Factory from the Ist to the 17th August. Thie olaes is- for butter-making only. The cheeseinaking classes will be held in the South Island in September. It is also intended to bold a short course in cheese-making in the North Island - before the opening of the season. The classes are limited to factory managers and first assistants only. A peculiar case is set down for hearing at the Gore S.M. Court on Monday next (says the Standard). The plaintiff claims £150 or the return of certain cattle. It is alleged that the defendant, finding the plaintiff's cattle in his crop, took charge of them and impounded them in an adjoining paddock, but next morning the cattle were missing, »nd, it is stated, have not been seen since. The plaintiff has therefore put in a claim as above. Lambing on several f^rms has commenced an the Wairarapa district. A large line of potatoes was sold at Balclutha, this week at £6 per ton. j The prices of cattle in the Adelaide market were very high on July 9. Four prime bullocks were sold for £105 10s, an average of £26 7s 6d each. What may probably be considered among the earliest lambs *of the season are now to be seen on Mr T. Roughan's farm, iWaitahuna West. I A number of young lambs are now to be Been on Mr J. Head's farm at Milburn (says the Bruce Herald). Mr Heads annually breed? from his flocks a large number of early lambs. The twentieth annual meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Faimers' Co-operative Association of Canterbury, was Jield in Christchurch on Saturday, 13th inst. Mr F. D. S. Neave, chairman of directors, presided. The report and balance sheet of T.he directors on th& year's transactions are as follows: — The unusually low price 3of wheat and barley have, this year, been doubly felt, owing to the unprecedented •U'op in the price of. wool, which v now*

| especially in the case of the coarser wools, lower than we can ever remember. The i effect of these low pric* has been to considerably reduce the volume of commissions earned in wool and gram. The high prevailing prices of a'ieep, howe\ei, have- in a great measure compensated farmers for the low price of their other pioduets; and the demands of the War Office for oats for South Africa have prevented that cereal from falling to the low level it would otherwise have touched. At last annual meeting an is.-ue of 2000 ehaies, £2 per share called up. at a premium of Bs, was authorised, and ail hough applications- were recehed for 3026 shares only 2100 shates were allotted. Your directors recommend s> further issue of 3000 shares, £1 per share called up, at a premium of 5s per share, at an early date. The balance sheet shows that the net profits for the year amount to £14-,169 17s 9d, to which has to be added the sum of £3988 16s Bd, brought forward from la«t year, making a total of £18.158 14s 5d to be dealt with. The directors propose to allocate this amount as follows : — 'To pay a dividend of 6 per cent, and a bonus of 3£ per cent, on the paid called-up capital ; t© payment of a bonus of 3£ per cent, to shareholders on ti'.eir purchases of merchandise during the year ; and a bonus at the same rate on salaries and wages earned ; and to refund 20 per cent, to shareholders on net commiv fiione paid on produce sales. To carry £1000 to reserve fund, to write 10 per cent, off machinery, and office furniture and warehouse fittings accounts, and the balance to be carried forward to nest year's account. All bonuses not Maimed before May 31, 1902, are considered forfeited. In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet the chairman dealt at great length, with matters of interest connected with the welfare of the association, including the financial position, the association's operations, the question of railway freights, horses for cavalry purposes, proposed South African agency, the present outlook, and the labour question. On the motion for the adoption of the report and balance sheet being put to the meeting, Mr A. M'Lachlan took exception to the method proposed with re- • gard to the issue of new fchares, and moved as an amendment— "That the proposed new issue of shares be issued -on the same baris as formerly, and that preference be given to new shareholders." Fifty -two shareholders vcted for th*> amendment, and the chairman declared it carried. A poll was demanded, which was appointed to take place on Saturday next. The report and balance sheet, with the exception of the clause postponed, were agreed to, and the allocation men- - ticued in it were passed for payment. Mr and Mrs Porter, who have resided at Otiake for the last 20 years, were tendered a "social" by the settlers of the district on leaving for Tokarahi. The chairman (Mr Park) said Mr Porter had been for several years their representative in the county council, and had performed his duties faithfully. On behalf of the subscribers h>": presented Air and Mrs Porter with a , l'gndsome timepiece, as a small token of es- j teem and also as a remembrance of the friends they were leaving behind in Otiake. Mr Porter suitably acknowledged the gift. i The Clutha Free Press of the 16th inst. says-: — Local stock agent? have been buying • sheep in this district very freely of late on behalf of Canterbury dealers, and it is estimated that close on 14,000 have been trained north within the past two weeks. | pnd will later on probably be converted into ' "Prime Canterbury." On Friday a line of AfjOO odd cwm was pure'-ased from Messrs Begg Bros., Hillend station, through Dalgtty and Co. and the Loan and Mercantile Company, for a Timaru buyer. With the rising market, however, small "holders of j sheep are inclined to "sit tight,'' and await , developments. i At a rec?nt meeting of the New Zeaknd , Farmers' Union in Feilding, Mr Glass, the j organising secretary, said that a> a result of the farmers combining and making their wants known, the Minister for Land? l>^d agreed to allow settlers in the back blocks j to occupy their selections for the first three • year 3 free of rent ;" also that the Government nad promised to submit advance copies of | bills affeetinsr the farming tonranuuty to tl c ' rarious branches of the union for consideration befort they were pat through the House. This would result in the farmers' J interests being safeguarded, an"i showed I'iat the union was being felt. j Mr J. R. Scott, of the National Dairy , Association of New Zealand, delivered a i lecture at St. Andrew last week «n dairying, fiom a farmers' point ot view. The lecture was giveu at the request of the provisional directors of the proposed dairy factory in Timaru, and Mr R. H. Bowie, representing the Timaru Company, was pre- . sent. Mr D. Stowell occupied the chair, and there was a very fair attendance. In the course of his address Mr Scott gave some hints how to run a company, which are well worthy of consideration: — Dairy farming should be an affair wholly for farmers them- | selves. Investors should have no part in ) it, as farmers needed ail that was to be got out of it, and there generally came a time when there were profits to be divided. ' He was well aware that they could not start without capital, and he would suggest to the directors ot the Timaru company that at the annual balance time a dividend should be fixed for the shareholders, and then the profits over and above that should be divided anionest the milk suppliers. Thai came

I very near making it a co-operative concern, i anil would prevent any clashing of interests*. | — Before the meeting dispersed prospectuses of the South Canterbury Dairy Company were handed round. A good many shares were taken up in the room, and a fair number of cows were promised. The Timaru Post says that the recent rains had done an incalculable amount of good in the country, and farmers are now busily engaged preparing their grounds for propping. The land was before very dry and in places almost unploughable, but the recent rain penetrated it to a depth of fuily six inches. The Lhingstone correspondent of the Oamaru Mail writes on the 16th inst. : — We are having jne of the best winters ever known here. We have had several nights' hard frost, but only for a night or two at a time, no rain, and very little stormy weather, so stock have not suffered yet. Grass paddocks are very bare, but all the farmers have straw stacks, which are a good help, and back on the rough country the tussocks have protected the r eed, co fhat stock ha\e fared very well »o far. The Tokarahi creamery bids fair to have a verylarge supply of milk this coining spring. ' All who sent wilk before intend to increase their supply, while a number of others intend to start. Cows and all kinds of cattle | are dearer than they have hem for ma % iy i yeara. A meeting of the committee <f Ine Timaru IA. and P. Association was held on the 1 13 th inst. ; Mr G. N. Orbell (president) in the chair. — The manager of the Canterbury Farmers' Co-operative Association wiote, stating that the sum of 10 guineas had been donated towards the prize fund, to be allotted, if possible, to the farmers' produce section. — The secretary cf the Canterbury A. and. P. Association wrote ;hat ihe dale of their show would be probably November 7 and 8. — According to a resolution arrived at by the conference of delagites during the Dunedin Winter show, the Timaru fixture will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, November 13 and 14. — Two i.ew lac.r.bus were elected. The general meeting of shareholders of the Studholme Saleyards Company a* the Junction was well attended. The report showed a highly satisfactory £tate of finance. A 10 per cent, dividend on all shares was voted. The balance to credit for the year ended June 30, 1901, was over £104. The president, secretaiy, and directors were re-elected unanimously. Mr G. V. Cochrane was elected auditor. A bonus was voted to the secretary, and a vote of thanks to the directors. A Kurow correspondent writes to the Oamaru Mail: — Messrs Orr and Hille, J.P.s, last week gave their decision in a case heard by them some time previously. It was a civil action of White v. Parker, and is of some importance to owners of travelling entires. An action was brought by plaintiff, who travelled an entire, to recover £3 5s (for service. Only one call and one service was given, and for this defendant declined to pay, as being insufficient. The justices held that had there been an agreement for a single service, they would have been bound by it ; but in the ah&ence of such specific agreement they must be guided by custom, which was that more than one service should be given in the season.if required. They therefore non-suited the plaintiff. The Hon. T. Y. Duncan has introduced a "bill which makes it compulsory on an auctioneer to aame the vendor of land ir live stock of any kind when offering the same for pale, and also the last bidder at such sale, whether -th« land or live stock is sold or not. The owner shall have one bid, but only when the auctioneer announces that he reserves this right, but when the bid is made the auctioneer must announce it as the bid of the 'owner. Mr J. A. Kinsella, dairy commissioner, announces that the Government Dairy School for the North Island will be held at the Stratford Factory from August 1 to August 17. This class is for butter -making only ; cheese classes will be held in the South Island in September. It is also intended to hold a short course in cheesemaking in the North Island before the opening of the season. The classes are limited to factory managers and first assistants only. The eighth annual meeting of the North Canterbury Saleyards Company was- held at Rangiora on the 16th inst. Twelve members were present, Mr R. W. Chapman, chairman of directors, in the chair. The balance sheet showed a balance of £474 7s oct in assets and liabilities. The chairman pointed out the company had increased its ban koverdraft by £33 since last year. The fact of the yards having been let on lease was expected to assist the company, and 123 shares taken would reduce the overdraft £81. The retiring directors and auditor, Mr Ralph, were re-elected, Mr R. W. Chapman wa« re-elected chairman oi directors The annual ploughing match under the auspices of the Fortrose Ploughing Association took place on Wednesday, 17th intt., in a paddock kindly lent by the M'Kenzie fpmily (Green Bushes.). The day was fine, and there was a satisfactory turnout of ploushs, five competing in class A and four in cla«s B. The paddock was a fair average one, although not ideal perhaps in evenness of surface. Kxperts said that the :ondition of the soil was not the best, being somewhat fricble. In the words of one of the judges, "the frost had taken the say

out of the ground." ■ -The whole- of theploughs used were Reid. and Gsay and (withtwo exceptions) Gardiner, mounts. M/Kay's had Trapski's fittings. The judges were Messrs J. A. Mitchell and D.- M'Farlane. In elas-: A, Charles Christie was first and champion, John M'Kay 2, Hugh Smith 3, Thomas Docherty 4, Peter • Milne 5. In class B Sydney Kidd was first, C. Brand 2, Charles M'Kinnon 3, Andrew Parker 4. The usual dinner was held in the evening, and piovpd a great success. Ploughing is well advanced throughout the \\ estern district, Southland. Tbe Goodwood creamery, says the Palmerston Times, has hod a very successful pati season, and it. now receiving, we understand, between 800 and 900 gallons of milk daily, while during the flush season of milk the daily average has been between 1600 and 1700 gallons, from which a weekly payment of bometning like £25 to £30 has been made. At Hie present time the contributors draw from £16 to £20. The^e facts sjreak volumes for the benefits such an industry confers on those following dairying pursuits, which after al] is much more profitable than that of grain growing, ilthough to a moderate extent supplies of cereals (for straw) and root crops for winter feed must be provided. Yet it is evident that the dairy factories and creameries will in the end, from their more }3rofitable returns, to a great extent reduce the cropping areas — that is, unless the price of wheat and oats improves to such an extent as to open up much more remuneratn c results than at present exist. Referring to the desirability of farmers ' possessing a knowledge of the ailments to which their live stock is liable, so that they may be enabled to apply intelligently the proper remedies, "Rusticiife" writes as follows in the Bruce Herald: — Useful work would be done were the Agricultural department to cause a stock book to be compiled giving a description in popular language of the diseases to which live stock in this colony are particularly liable, together with ■ the most useful known remedies-. There ' have, no doubt, been mauy biich books ali ready published; but they are mostly Engi lish and American works, and, while they deal in detail with many diseases quite unknown to stock owners here, they say very little, or perhaps nothing at all, with regard to the di&eases most common in the colony. The department has in its chief veterinarian. Mr Gilruth, a gentleman thoroughly qualified in every way to compile such a work. ... If I remember rightly i this very matter was brought under the notice of Mr Duncan, Minister for Agriculture, | last cession ; but he rather pooh-poohed the idea en the ground that such books often did more harm than good, which assertion was, of course, the veriest nonsense. Perhaps if a little pressure were brought to bear upon the Minister in the matter he might be made to take a more reasonable view of 1 it and be weiouaded to undertake a work I which would confer a very considerable 1 benefit on many country settlers throughout the colon}'. A second meeting of settlers interested in i the establishment of a dairy factory in the | Tuturau district was held on the 171 ' i inst. ! Mr James Gait (Marairua) presided, and ! there was a good attendance. "Mr James Sawers (dairy instructor), Mr James M'Lauchlan (secretary of several dairy factories), and Mr Hugh M'Call (chairman Seaward Down* Dairy Factory) were present by invitation Messis Sawers and M'Lauchlan spoke at length, imparting a i quantity of valuable information, and Atr t M'Call also spoke well to the point, instancing the great benefit* that had accrued to the Seaward Downs settlers Irom co- i operative dairying. After deliberation, MiJames Gait was deputed, in conjunction with Mr M'Lauchlan, to take the necessary steps foi furthering the interests of a co-opera-tive cheese factory, and to report as soon as> possible to another meeting. The pros- j pects of placing the movement on a secure | i footing are likely to be realised at an early ' date, especially as the settlers are backing up the project in a practical manner. Fairlie notes, from the Timaru Post: — The season is advancing, and the slays seem to be lengthening somewhat, and farmers are congratulating themselves that they are get1 ting over the winter so well. The sun i« i getting more power every day. and snow will be less and less likely to lie as each i week passes. Shetp and stock of all sorts are wintering well, and the fine open weather is helping out the feed wonderfully. Ploughing has, of course, been stopped for some time on account of the frost, and will 1 not be resumed for a further uenod unless i a decided change takes place. With the i present frosts fallow land ought to sweeten \ and work down well in the spring. Poisonj ing is going on all over the district, and the iabbi« inspector reports that a large quantity of pollard poison ie being used this year. I A well-attended meetiug of milk suppliers ' was held at Mataura LOand last week to consider the best means of utilising the whey 1 from the factory during the forthcoming season. Considerable discussion ensued, but after the matter was well threshed out, a ir'otion by Mr M'Caughan, seconded by MiHeath— that the whey be utilised in the same manner as during the past reason (by suppliers feeding their own pigs at the factoiy according to their milk supply)— was I carried by a large majority. ' Some figures are published in the Victoria Bxess showing the profits earned by butter

• factories, which multiply so fast in thafc ■ State. One happy butter factory, it seems, has actually returned profit at the rate of 19 per cent., which is reckoned poor, and the average profits of a cluster of butter factories — specially chosen, of course — is 85 per cent. In reply to a correspondent, who contends that because certain companies in the past hove been unsuccessful in Timaru, therefore it would be unwise to establish a dairy factory in South Canterbury, the Timaru Heiald remarks: — The dairy industry is being rapidly developed in various parts of the colony, and is giving highly satisfactory results. It has literally been the making of Taranaki; and if, in reply to that, we are told that the conditions are different in this island, we would point to what is being done furthei south, and to the fact that the -Oamaru company arc so pleased with the prospects of the industry that they are trying to capture South Canterbuiy and tc extend Iheir operations far to the north of Timaru. If it would p?y the Oamaru people to tap this market, surely it would pay $outh Canterbury people to establish the industry nearer home. In connection with the late cases of fraudulent meat sales in England, a "London Buyer" writes to one of the London papers : "This action was brought by Mr Cameron, the New Zealand Government's* representative here, under the mistaken idea that the New Zealand farmer suffers an injustice in. having Australian meat sold as New Zealand. Before, however, the New Zealand Government start advertising the splendid quality of Australian meat in this way, I think they might first see to their own affairs at home. Thousands of sheep are forwarded to Canterbury yearly from other parts of New Zealand (in order to be shipped from there to London) because the salesmen in the Cantra] Market will pay the colonial a little niore for Canterbury mutton than h. ' would for mutton from Otago or Southland, little dreaming that he is buyingr the one thing and getting' the other. The fraud on this side deceives no one; on the other side it is intentional." Last Thflrsday's Waimate Times says: — We hear that sheepowuers along the foot of the Waimate hills have been greatly troubled with dogs among their sheep. Two were noticed about 6 o'clock the other morning among the hoggets in a turnip paddock on the Centrewood estate, and all hands went in pursuit, some on foot and others- on horseback. After about an hour's hard chasm;* 'Mv "W. Hayes succeeded in shooting the dogs near the river bed. The dogs, we understand, have done considerable damage among the sheep, and then dporedatirms are likely to be of a somewhat co»tly character to their owners. As Ministers choose to come down this session with a proposal to establish a line of steamers* for the conveyance of produce to foreign markets, it is probable t'^at it will receive support from ail parties in the House. Several members, representing the farming industry in Parliament, have expressed themselves in favour of such a step. Mr Flatman. who is a member for a farming district, suggested that a line of steamers should be established, and quoted an instance in which oats had be*>n sold at the rate 'of Is 9d per bushel, while the farmers had received only Is 3d. The extra 6d. he said, had gone to the middleman. Majoi Steward stated that the farim»v» wer" about to lose the London market for wheat, since the Argentine farmers vpvo a hi" to send wheat to London and sell it at Is 7d per bushel.— New Zealand Times.