AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL

Otago Witness, Issue 2527, 20 August 1902, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL

The mild, spring-like weather prevailing for the past fortnight has induced a rapid growth in the countiy districts round Palmerston and Waikouaiti, though it has been somewhat checked by the keen frosts of the last few mignts. A number of wattle trees are to be seen in full bloom and willows breaking into leaf

A general meeting of the Ellesmere branch vvps held on the sth in°t., when about ,2o members wre present. Mr William M'Millaii (president) occupied the chair. The annual balance sheet and statement of accounts was submitted, and, on the motion of the chairman, adopted as read. The finances of the union as on March 31, 1902, showed a credit balance of £7 17f. The annual report stated that the membership as at the end of the financial year stood at about 160. but at the present date only about 101 had renew*. d their membership. The Chairman, as one of the delegates attending the Colonial Confercn-ce, held in Wellington recently, gave a resume of the proceedings of that confereice, and was accorded a vote of thank-) for 111-5 report.

Say"! the Sydney Telegraph:- — Turnips aro cn'ering from New Zealand to feed local starring stock at 12s 6d per ton, but they cannot he used, owing to a prohibitive duty cf £2 5s per ton.

At the opening of the Hawcra show the lotal Muyor (Mr Robbing) quoted *=ome in teretting figures illustrating tho growth of the poultry industry in Canada. In 1897, he said, tho value of the industry was £57,000. in 1890 it had grown to £200,700, in 1839 £140,142. m 1900 £211.181, and 111 1901 it was expected to reach a quarter of a million sterling.

In a letter home Mr A. Lindsay. =on cf Mr J. Lindsay, of Oamaru, writes that he is managing the London bu=inc-f« of Me c srs Crew, Widgery, and Co., of Bristol., and acide : "We do a largo New Zoa'find trad", ciid I am glad to say that your butt<*r and chppse find a ready sale here, and the quality is improving year by year."' The Lyltelton Times says that the Avon road Board, at 1U meeting on Tuesday, received a Iftter from the Department of Ajn-iculture stating that tli» department was about to undertake po.-oning exptrimenti with small birds in aviane*. The results would be made a-.a:lab!o to tho t e interested in due course.

At Whangarri (Auckland) puVic pound the other day 17 I-oiv",, winch had belonged to the Maoris, sold for 11- 6d each, and one brought no more than <•".

The Agricultural Depjilnunt ha^ purchased the New Zealand rigaU of the iudcliblo brand for meat, patented by Messrs T. H Brown and J. E. Staples, both of Wellington.

The Wellington firm which was a few days ago instructed to buy £10.000 worth of fowls for Londo 1 lia>. now leceived an order for 100 ton« 1 : ('-"e^-etl talk' vs for the London Christmas market.

There are said to be eight or nine Australian bujerb operating 111 various parts of the North Island, purchasing both sheew and cattle.

The season for sales of dairy cows is (writes the Wyndham Farmer) now on. At Woodlands 011 V> ednesday, b?&t fetched £6 12 3 6d to £8. At Wyndham ye=terday they went as high as £8, £9, and up to £9 5s for a nice-looking Hereford of milking strain.

Mr H. K. Baron, proprietor of the Mokoreta Dairy Factory, Southland, v, ho lias ]u-t returned from a trip to the North Inland, infoims an exchange that he was struck with the almo=t total absence of artificial winter feed there Ho saw very few turnips, and no other fodder of the k-nd

The cliaiimin of the National Dairy Association said the other day that a s!unm in the butter mirkct would be a good thins for Taranaki, mice it would fmco farmers there to pay more attention to the breed and comhtion of tV'ir cows, matters which arc totallj- neglected at present.

Mr Alex. Bell, of Menzies Ferry, last spring (says tho Wyndham Farmer) fov.-c-d five bushels of a new variety of oat, the

1* "Tartar King," that he had. imported from -.cotland. Last week ho threshed out the yield, which gave 4-3 bags — equal to- 86 bushels to the acre. The seed wa3 \sovvn on medium land, which previously had borne very poor crops, but in this instance it had been heavily limed Mr Beil says that the straw is strong end heavy, and stands up to rough weather well. New Zealand meat is gradually wearing down the prejudice that exists in some quarters against it. A lady writer in a London paper this week says: "The violent prejudice caused by the fixed idea in many housewives' minds that there is so little nourishment in foreign meat, especially in New Zealand mutton has, i feel convinced, mainly arisen owing to th» simple fact t'lat so few people know how to cook frozen meat properly, so as to make the flesh tender and retain the nourishment. How often the average cook thrusts the leg of frozen mutton into a very hot oven, and remarks sententiously, when it emerges aa hard as nai's and as tough as a board, that you can expect nothing else , from ' them frozen joints.' " But why New ] Zealand mutton, admittedly the beat of j "foreign" meat, should be singled out for j being " especially " lacking in nourishment it is hard to conceive. In 1861 only 1,393,000 acres of land were under cultivation in Australia. To-day there are- fully 11 million acres under crops. The Wellington Acclimatisation Society have decided to recommend the Government to, as far as practicable, use toxa for rabbit poisoning, as it is much less destructive to ground game than poisoned grain. The effect of the- judgment recently delivered by Mr Justice Denniston in the gorsp case of Bremner v. Dunn, is (says the Press) that if any owner of any land permits any. gorse or other noxious plant to grow on the read fronting his land, he must clear it off at his own expense on receiving notice from the local authority, whether tuch growth has spread from hi* own land or not. At tho^ request of tho Avaianiwa branch of tho Now Zealand Farmers' Union, Mr A. 31. Paterson, Government veterinary, gave a lecture on "Disease on tho Farm,"' there being a good attendance of members aii'l friends. In his opening remarks the lecture laid emphasis on the necessity for proper drainage .uid liming of land, both being conducive to the rearing of healthy plants and animals. He albo gave an interesting account of how, after many years of experimenting, the theory of disease germs has now become an established fact in tho scientific world. Sanitation was also touched upon, and somo other diseases whose origin aro not attributed to a germ. Tho lecturer having invited questions, a number were asVed and Siitihfactorily answered. On the motion of Mr HowelU, a beat ty vote of thanks wa3 accorded Mr Patrrson. Mr A. Pctrie, of Puenia (says the Clutha Free Press), who recently leased his farm, and who was presented by his neighbours with a purse of sovereigns in recognition of Ins valued services in the district in reeard to stock, aiid also a-, a manifestation of their esteem and good withes towards him, purposes going to trie North Island for a tune for the benefit of his health, being a great sufferer from rheumatism. Mr and Mrs Pctrie rto amongst the oldest wMer>> :n the- district, and have been incst obliging neighbours. At a meeting of the South Canterbuiy Dairy Company's Works Committee the teud&r of Mr W. Coehrane- for the erection of a creamery at Pleasant Point wa<? accepted. Tho erection of the building will be commenced as soon as possible, and it is anticipated that the company will start working in October. Farmers in the StiiJholme district (-ay? th"- Timaru Pet) are taking every advantage of the present fine weather. The land has diied up. and is in good order for the seed. A considerable portion of tho wheat eown earlier in the =ea=on shows patchy, still not as bad as ono would expect, and that v hich escaped tho King water is now making rapid progrebs. Twims aro very hu.-y, and there is no doubt that fnrn'ers Jut-end to sow as much as possible- in -wheat, while the area under outs will br> lajgf* 4 than for sometime past. The seed has a waim hed for this time of year, and should make rapid growth. The creamery is «- till prcgrescing, and settlers loo\ up in it as a blessing to the district. The grapg is now beginning to e-how signs of spri'iiring, and should be plentiful in a few w eek«. Messrs Woodmg Bro=. and Thomas Bl«tir were charged at tie Geral 'hip Mngivrati-'b Court on the 12th mit wit'i bavine exposed sheep 'pfected with lie© in the CJeraldire paleyards on July 23. The deffndantj pit ade<l guilty, aid were eac'i fined 20" and co^ts 7-. The information* were laid by Mr D Mrnie, inspector of stock. The inadequacy of die provi-ion for the trucking of stock at th*» Bulr-lutha railway station was exemplified on Tuesday (say* last Friday's Leader). There were 'even different vendors sending ay. ay nine true!- 8 of fclieep, fine a truck of cattle, and ono of pig-, while 16 trucks of 'hecp came in from th« .-Mil 1 ! for Messrs Bprs Bro= Tl'ere i<s only one receiving pen in connection with the bliropvards. and as a consequence the different lots of sheep had to be shepherded on the river bank till their turn name for trucking. There is the danger of the river on one sido and the railway Tossing — with trains passing and rejpassiajj — and the

wheeled traffic to the goods shed on the other. The no<*e of men and dogs could, be hoard far and near. Of course Tuesday was a mo-# than usually busy day, but in any case the provision is far from adequate. At the Magistrate's Court, Waimate, on Thursday last, Major Keddell, S.M., said that a case which had been dismissed in this court five or six months ago was appealed against by the plaintiff, the result being that tho judge of the Supreme Court quashed the dismissal, and the case would be again adjudicated upon at Waimate on the 28th inst. The case was that of the Waimate County Council's engineer v. H. Dunn, for failure of defendant to comply with plaintiff Council's order to clear gorse and other obstructive vegetation from the roadside on which the defendant's land fronted. The result of the appeal had been variously and incorrectly commented on by the press, as if the judge's decision would be an easement to farmers where gorse and other road obstructions were caused by growth from other sources than the land fronting the road where such gorse was growing. H.M. Consul at Stockholm reports that the total amount of butter exported from Swede-n during 1901 was 18,775 tons,, a decrease cf about 2 per cent, compared with the previous year. The total amount of butter tent to the United Kingdom showed a considerable falling off, whereas the expert via Denmark -ia reported to have moreasod, especially as regards well-known brands.. According to a report issued by the Butter - testing Association, the quality of butter produced by tho dairies connected with the society, all of which eend in their butter for examination, showed improvement compared with that of 1900. This is, however, not the caso if the average quality of all tho butter that was produced in 1901 be compared with that of the previous year. The inferiority is said to be due to the very dry weather, which caused a number of dairies to suffer from want of sufficient supplies of ice and water. Notes frnm tho Auftra-lian Meat Trades Journal, sth inst. : — The effects of Argentina competition are already being fait in New Zealand', especially in regard to the frozen meat export to South Africa. New Zealand has delayed too long in establishing a diiect lino of steamers for that important trade, and now can only hope to hold a second position to Argentina in the South African market. The colony has lost a golden oppoitunily by delaying so long 111 this important matter. — Mr W. E. Abbott, president of tho Pastoralists' Union of New South Wales, recently stated that he finds, after care Ail investigation, that it takes about 5,000,000 sheep to supply the annual requirements of tho New South Wales consumers, and that, should the drought continue, there will be no Miecp available. Mr Abbott is also of the opinion that there is little hop© of New Zealand taking up the running, aa the total export of that colony only amounts to 3,000,000 sheep per annum, so that, even if the entire export were diverted to the New South "\Valeq markets, there would still be 2,000,000 short for local requirements. — The hifrh prico ruling in the Sydney meat market is creating a largo demand in New Zealand for prime heavy sheep. Considerable consignments from that colony are now being sold at Hointbn«h. The Whangape, expected to arrive shorLly, has her capaeiiy taxed to the utmost, and carries 6000 sh^ep. Whether this consignment ib bought f.0.b.. or ia shipped only as a spi dilation, we arc not informed, but it justifies us in expecting further lurtre consignments from New Zealand iPr'-ight is 4s per head, and, as there is no duty, a regular sheep tiade may exist for seme timo between Hychvey and Yew Zealand if tho present high prices are maintpined.

Tho latest crop bulletin i<-?upd by the Manitoba Department of Agriculture gives returns secured to 11th June. Tiie-e, which are from a!! parts of the province, show that the germination of seed wheat has been perfect, and that prospects for an abundant crop are exceptionally good. The grafs crop 13 equally promising, and pabturc-a are in a favourable condition. The Hon. R. B. Koblin, Premier of Manitoba, now in Great Britain, states that, from private advices received since his arrival m London, there is every prospect -that thin season's 1 arvest will that of last year, which till then was the best in the history of Canada. The offic"! Journal of the Cape Department of Agriculture states that there can be no doubt that the opportunity to get po->->e=nion of ea'tle of first-cla-is b^eed would be **asf«?rly «»eizptl by many <-toekhieeders in Cape Colony. "Throughout .South Africa." the Journal "there are numerous wellto do fanner* who. if the c'lancc wore piven them to inspect high-priced animal* of eood prdigiee, landed at Cape Town, Port El.zabeth, or Ea--t London, would willingly take tl.e trip and pay tho pi ice. For the enterpiirincr breeder oversea there is a good thing to be done in thi<-- way, if he will venture, gr.i lually at first if he clioofe- s. to approach <;Mr marlasU with his samples. To him we would offer excu-e-> for any timidity shown hy our farmer? in reference to sending orders ?'ir'ia.d 'on --per ,' for they have been so be~e* by di^a^-s and 'political' troubles that 'Wad t etn beetje' seems to have becoir.n a kind of industrial creed for the nonce. Still, wo think they will yield .readily to temptation if presented in the way Buaraested."'