AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2499, 5 February 1902, Page 17

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The Department of Agriculture estimates the yields' of cereal crops as follows: — Wheat— l 63,462 acres at 25 bushels per acre 4,086.550 bushels; oats-405,924 acree at 34 bushels per acre, 13.801,416 bushels; barley— 26,sl4 acres at 28 bushels per acre, ,748,392 bushels. Of the 8,620,659 bushels of wheat stated as being on hand on February 28, 1901. 334,918 bushels were used as seed, 3,280,000 bushels were consumed up to October 31, and 2.098,158 bushels were exported, leaving an estimated balance at October 31 of 2,907,553 bushels. The actual quantity returned was 3,152,007 bushels, and the apparent surplus 274,454 bushels. A case of sheep- worrying has again to be jacorded from Fairlia. The other morning a farmer near Fairlie found his flock of ewes and lambs in a etate of commotion, and several valuable animals had been worried. Should the owner or owners of the curs .which indulge in sheep-worrying be discovered, they would most probably have to pay dearly for their carelessness in having doge loose at night. According to the Levin Farmei, New Zealand butter is hardly ever touched in Scotland, as Scotch merchants will not buy through the London market. The OtakiiManukau Dairy Company intend to* test the Scotch market themselves. It does seem strange, remarks the American Dairyman, that dairymen will not test their cows by weighing the milk and butter product of each member of tha herd.- Why will they go on yeai after year working absolutely in the dark, 6imply guessing .■which is the best performer, when with just a little trouble they could absolutely know mot only which were best, but, what is of iar more importance, which are the most unprofitable. While poor farmers are wasting their labour and their scanty means on poor cows for the want of a little trouble in testing them, the wealthy city farmer is Jbusy finding out which are his best and which are his worst. Ambition to make a large record seems more potent to work good in this respect than the most :bject poverty of the plain dairyman. By the steamer Upolu, on Thursday last, Mr J. S. Holmes shipped from Oamaru another lot of 200 rams for Wellington.

Canterbury grain and produce report (Lyttelton Times, Ist inst.) : — So far as the local wheat markets are concerned, there is virtually no change to report. Transactions in town in old wheat have been limited to «mall fcfarcels, which have been taken for the North •Island at quotations. In the A=hburton district, however, some sal^s of very large lines are reported. New wheat is now offering pretty freely, and while some of the samples •are hard enough, others are so soft that they will not bear shipment. Although one or two small sales havw been made at 2s ,7d and 2« 8d at country <=t»iiops. the market •lannot yet bo said to hay* opened. With regard to oats, last season*! are now out of •look, and new sorts are coming on the

market in largo quantities. Many of the samples of short oats are nice and bright and plump', but some of the long sorts are inferior and thin. There is a strong demand for prime Canadians, which, however, are very scarce at present, and sales have been made at 2s on trucks country stations. Buyers for contracts and speculators for the South African market are readily taking any suitable parcels at from Is lOd to Is lid at stations, while long oats are sellingfreely at Is 9£ct at stations. Timaru markets for the week ended Friday last: — The wheat market at Timaru, during the past week, has shown a decidedly firmer tendency, and values have advanced Id per bushel, the quotation now being 3a per bushel, f.0.b., sacks sd, for prime samples. The reason for the advance is problematical, seeing -that the Home markets have exhibited a backward tendency, but it is probably attributable, in part at all events, to the lowness of stocks. The new season's grain is not on the market yet, though several camples are being shown with the object of teatinjj values. Oats are worth Is 9d per bushel, f.0.b., all round; afc country stations, sacks extra, but it is not likely that much business will be done with this cereal till the new crop is to hand. Stocks of chick wheat are now quite exhausted, and milling wheat ia being sold at 2s lid per bushel, as a substitute. We understand (says 'last Friday's Oamaru Mail) that the Government stud horses Danger Signal and Serapion will be sent north by to-morrow's express, and that they will be chipped at Lyttelton for Wellington. It is intended, we believe, to locate them at one of the State farms-,- where they will be wintered. As to where they will be placed for next season nothing is yet known. On Friday last the steamer Mokoia took from Lyttelton 218 cases of poultry and 370 oases of butter, to be transhipped at Melbourne for South Africa.

The following are the gram and produce shipments from Lyttelton for the week ended Friday last: — Coastwise: 2085 sacks wheat, 1136 sacks oate, 11 sacks barley. 668 sacks bran, 1643 Backs and 1189 bags flour, 3 sacks and 120 bags potatoes, 70 sacks sharps. Total shipment for five weeks : 26,775 $acks wheat, 5377 sacks and 1294 bags oats, 763 sacks barley. 1328 sacks bran, 5594 sacks and 6870 bags flour, 24 sacks and 127 bags potatoes, 823 sacks sharps. A farmer in the Inglewood district is of opinion that too little salt is given in animals' food and attributes the splendid appearance of his herd and his horse teams to the beneficial effects of salt as an addition to the ordinary diet. He says : "My horses look better and work better and eat lees hard feed than any of my neighbours' horses. "