INTERCOLONIAL AGRICULTURAL AND PASTERAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 9

INTERCOLONIAL AGRICULTURAL AN D PASTERAL NEWS.

(Pastoralists' Review for May.) NEW SOUTH WALES. Sydney, May 10. It is not possible that any letter I can write would bring home to readers the frightful condition that New South Wales is at present in. The human mind is inadequate to grasp the enormity of animal suffering which starvation is causing, and which is every day increasing. At the wid of ls.st year there were 41,000,000 sheep in this State. The losses of this year cannot yet be guessed with the faintest pretence to accuracy, but we know that ever since the last statistics were taken the whole State, with the exception of the merest coastal fringe, has been in a deplorable condition, and from nearly all parts reports com© in of constantly increasing mortality of stock. Tho lambintr is lost, and it has intensified the effect of the drought on many thousands of ewes. The wool on the remaining sheep

is of the shortest growth, and it is d\ sty and full of dirt to the very skins of tb-a Animals The price 3 that mo6t of it will bring must be very small. The majority of the young sheep of last year's lambing and the year before are stunted in growth and deteriorated) in value. In many cases the flocks are staggering about without strength enough to walk far without lying down. The effect of a sudden cold rain upon these sheep would be shocking. It is not possible for those out back to get their stock to the railways. If they could get their sheep to train thpy could not get country to send them to ; and if there was land available, the stock are so weak that many of them would get down in the trucks and die. In the Western and much of the Central Divisions it is the exception to be able to cart artificial feed away from the railway station, because there is no water along the roads for teams. Besides, feed is everywhere going to a prohibitory price, and it is next to impossible to get it at that. Even where it can be obtained the sheep are ceasing to thrive on dry feed, and pastoralists are not always able to get molasses to mix with it. A few farmers who have lucerne hay in the New England district are holding for £10 per ton. Those who have scrub are felling it for the sheep, and trees are being lopped everywhere. Reports come in of farmers falling back on stringy bark and box trees to try to keep stock alive a little longer. In many places the drought has temporarily exterminated the rabbits. Some people are boiling prickly pear for stock, and it is found to keep them alive ; but not enough stuff can be thus hand treated to provide for a very large flock. A case lately occurred in the country not very far back which strikingly illustrates tho present weakness of stock. A drover was twu veiling with a few hundred cattle, and a storm came on at night. In the morning 70 head of the cattle were dead. And these cattle did not look in any worse condition than thousands of others.

A steady upward tendency is the dominant feature of the wool market.

The stock market is in a wholly disorganised „ condition. Homebush is the only place where sheep and cattk ;an be sold, and great numbers are crowded down. It is next to impossible for buyers to obtain really prime wethers, and on the Bth inst. a few lots of heavy crossbred went to 60s and 355, while one Shropshire cross brought £2. A considerable number went over £1, and bullocks were sold up to £18 ss. Freezing companies are unable to operate under these conditions, for meat bought at famine prices cannot be sold on the world's markets at a profit.

The produce market has also been disturbed by abnormal conditions. Prices quoted are not general, for some of , the far back flockownera could not get hay if they paid £15 per ton. The prices are lowest, of course, at places that are connected directly by rail with the sources of supply. A great lot of fodder has been consumed about Deniliquin, and quantities pass through Corowa. Were it not for Victorian supplies, many Southern Riverina places would have had great difficulty to obtain feed.

Oaten hay in Sydney is quoted at £5 10s, straw at £3 10s, lucerne £6 15s to £7. Wheat is 4s 4d per bushel, and oats 3s 3d, Even where road transit is possible, it is abnormally expensive; and the foregoing quotations do not illustrate the difficulties owners experience in feeding their stock. Station properties are at present a drug on the market.

Mr Crick, the Minister of Lands, has lately been touring in the Western country, and has consequently been brought into direct contact with the worst parts of the drought-stricken land. Judging from statements made to deputations and at meetings, the Minister is in favour of the Government rendering all the assistance it can to the landholders.

Much ill-feeling exists in this State in consequence of the duty on imported fodder. The suspension of the duty while the drought lasts is one of the few ways in which the Federal State Government could render direct assistance to suffering pastoralists. It has been mooted that lucerne hay is going to be sent here from Argentina, and several cargoes of maize have already been ordered. It is calculated that the South Americans can land the lucerne here, pay the cost of transit and duty, and make clear profit of» everything over £4 per ton that they receive for it. Lucerne and maize are the best of fodder, for they do not produce the binding effect on stock which usually follows long continuance of a diet of dry stuff. It is feared in some quarters that the authorities here may prohibit Argentina lucerne from being landed, on account of a ■oossibility of introducing disease among stock. The labour difficulty has rendered the struggle against the drought more severe. There is at present an abnormal demand for men in the country, and, in an emergency such as the present, employers are prepared to give more than tho ordinary amount of wages rather than not have tho work done. There arc dead sheep to be skinned, trees to be lopped, fodder to bo carted, cheep to be driven to water, and a quantity of unusual but urgent station work to be got through ; and pastoralists are having difficulty in getting good men to do it. Out of the 20 principal articles of the State's exports, a falling-off is noticeable in 13 for the first four months of the year. la butter, beef, hides, preserved meats, horns, and bone 3 the falling-off is very marked. One of the seven articles which show an increase of export is gold coin, and tho export of gold coin denotes a retrogressive movement. VICTORIA. Melbourne, May 13. The rain reported in our last issue was followed by an exceptionally dry time for the season of the year, and, although Gippsland and other moist districts are still looking veil, the arid north- west country, the north-east, and even the Western District hay« lost all the benefit produced by tho rain. Stock are in low condition everywhere, and the supply of sheep and cattle fit for the butcher during the winter will be very Short. Farming operations are retarded by the prolonged dry weather, and next year's crop must be seriously affected by the present unfavourable weather conditions. Many agriculturists will have to resow their crops, particularly in the north and north-west. Late-sown crops under present climatic conditions can only result badly in most cases. The amount of pressed hay sent north for Bheep-feeding has been enormous, one Riverina station alone consuming £1000 worth per week. Good hay is probably the best feed, though all kinds of grain are used. Good hay ifl digestible.

and theft is little ir no waste in feeding it to stock. With ctkfF a great deal is blown away, sheep take up dirt whilst eating it, and ix great deal of inferior straw is mixed with the hay the chaff is cut from, so that unless cut at home it is verj unreliable feed. The prospects for the frozen meat trade are very gloomy. At present it looks as if the supply of fat lambs available in the spring for shipment to England will be veiy small, and there cannot be any extensive shipment of fat sheep. Very few store sheep are changing hands, and there cannot be any important movement in store stock until we get a heavy and general rain. QUEENSLAND. Brisbane, May 11. ilie rush to the local stock markets advised in my last is now subsiding to a great extent, and prices are slightly hardening, beef now selling at 22s 6d per 1001b. A .very successful wheat sale was held here yesterday, piices ranging from 4s 2d to 4s 6d per bushel. The appreciation in the value of this produce is enormous, when it is remembered that many of the largest growers quitted their stocks early in the season at 2s 4d and 2s 6d. Selectors ati Dear to be taking full advantage of the latitude allowed by the Minister of Lands in re payment of rente. At the end of March the amount of rent due was, roughly, £235,000, of which £113,000 has been paid. The Goomburra estate, situated on the Toowoomba-Warwick line, about 36 miles from the former centre, and which was repurchased under the provisions of the Agricultural Lands. Purchase Act, has been cut up into small areas and opened for selection. The result has been a great success, the V/hole of the land being almost immediately applied for. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. Perth, April 30. With the exception of a few odd points, no winter , rains have fallen yet, and the position of the eastern and south-western agricultural districts begins to assume v serious aspect. At the time of writing, however, there are indications of a break in the weather. Since the splendid rainfall in January and February the north-west and upper Murchison districts have been' visited" with- a most disastrous plague of. grasshoppers. These pests have in some places swept the country clean of feed ; indeed, they have been so bad on somo stations that tho squatters report that their runs are worse off than before the rainfall. The London March sales show very good results for West Australian growers, marked increases in prices being noted all round. As the bulk of the local clip was disposed of at these sales, the "squatters should be well pleased. Stock continue to bring high prices. This, together with good results from the wool sales, makes the pastoralist better off than he has been for years. Tenders are in for the supply of wire netting, fencing wire, - and standards, material for the rabbit-proof fence, • and it is to bo hoped that no time will be lost by the Government with "the erection of 'the fence. .Fortunately there are. no fresh reports to chronicle, as to encroachments by this enemy of the pastoralist. • • ' TASMANIA.. : ' ' Launeeston, May 12. A very dry month has been experienced. Most happily, $he present month . promises well, a good fall of rain having been precipitated . over the greater portion • of the Stats. Should frost keep off a little longer the prospects of good feed this winter will be enhanced. The extraordinary prevalence of the fly has been one of the features of the present autumn. Constant and unwearying attention has been rendered necessary by the operations of this peot, which has been particularly active amongst stud sheep, not excepting the rams. The mildness of the

season has oeen generally advanced as thfc reason for the invasion. Another annoyance has caused some trouble to pastoralists, especially in the north and midland portions of the State. I allude to the attentions of the English starling, which is rapidly becoming acclimatised, and promises to be almost as big » nuisance as the übiquitous sparrow. These birds have a habit of alighting on a sheep's back and leaving their droppings on the wool, which, to say the least of.it, does not tend to improve the quality of the fleece. Perhaps some of your ornithological dealers may be able to account for this peculiar vagary of the bird. The mcri&o sheep-breeders are busy preparing for the annual show of the Midland Agricultural Association, to bo held at. Campbell Town on June 11, and a very successful show is anticipated. The single-" judge system, will be adopted, and the judge is allowed to transfer a sheep from theetrong to the fine-woolled section, and vice versa. One judge will adjudicate on tho rams and one on the ewes ; consequently, any ram or ewe transferred from ono division of wool to another will be again, handled by the same judge. _ and the possibility of a sheep being bandied about from one division to another, as might be the case with different judges acting, it - done away with.