AGRICULTURE IN THE WELLINGTON DISTRICT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2527, 20 August 1902, Page 8

AGRICULTURE IN THE WELLINGTON DISTRICT.

(Faou Oub Own Correspondent.) ! The p&.st month has been exceptionally fine, We had a few nights of The very hard frost, but I eonWeather, eider that is an advantage, as the climate all along the eoart is too humid. We never get enough heat in summer to kill the vermin in t&S • 6hape of worms in ejieep, and I have always noticed that the drier the summer tlie less los« in hoggets. As for -frosts, we never get them hard enough to kill anything. At evil events, it does not appear to interfere with the grass grub, of which there are patches all along the coast, although it does not seem to increase much. As to a cure for destroying them, by^ehance I happened to notice a new way — at least to me, — and from appearance at present an effectual one. In a 40-acre paddock in which there were "a good many patches of lE grub3" a lot of pigs l>a-d got in where they were not intended to get ; but the pig bag that failing which some of us humans have of getting wherethey are not wanted. However, the pig proved himself in the right place m this case, as he went straight for the patches affected with grubs and turned the soil over ; and then to see him pick out the grub was an eye-opener to me, as I could J not find a grub after tlfe pigs were done. There were about 12 pigs, and they appeared all intent on catching grubs and did not interfere with other parts of the paddock, which waa in good grass, so they were left to do their good work. That waa a month ago. I havo not seen the paddock since, but I believe the pig» cleaned the grubs all up. If all pigs are alike -this w a cheap cure, more especially in bush country, where you cannot do anything in the way of cultivation. To come back to the weather, however: it is more like September than July and August. Wattles j have been in bloom for some weeks, and plums ore bursting into bud ; so that we are having a very early spring, and farmers ought to be getting on with the putting-in of crops. They should not lose on hour now, as in all probability we shall have a lot of wet shortly; but it is to be hoped we do not get any cold, rough weather for tiie next month, as lambing is now on, and i the weather will cause a, lot of anxiety to the sheep man. There is a little grass growing, but not what one would expect, considering the weather we have had ; but I tlunlc everyone has too many .mouths to eat it, so we cannot expect any wealth of ! feed. Grain of all kinds holds its own, and is 1 well held. Although these Markets. notes are headed "WplHpitton," they mostly refer to Manawstu, Rangitikei, and Wanganui ; co j prices I give are on board trucks in these districts. Oats can bo bought at 3s, but ' thero are not many telling, as the merchants are trying' to get them at 2s lOd. I did hear of one lot being sold at 2s 6d, but there must have been somctlring wrong with ' either the oats or the .seller. Wheat I hear little about; in fact, I think there is very little held by the farmers. Good eheof chaff is inquired for and is none too plentiful, but holders are asking £5 per ton, though I have not heard of sa'es at that price, and I do not know that it is altogether wise cf the farmer to hold out in face of the spring weather we are having. Of course there is a good deal of the totalisator in the holding of feed stuff at this season of the year, aa it is very hard to get at the quantity held by the farmers, unk£a one n.ade a busines3 to canvass the different districts; and the corn-dealer makes it his business to know, so that he has the advantage of the average sfarmer in that respect. Potatoes we do not hear mucU about, but I don't think they are worth more than £3 on" trucks, although auction salesmen quote more. The stock market has been very erraiio thia last month. Three weeks ago sheep went up with a jump at least la 6d per head, while last week they fell at least la. We had a new experience at last week's sales, in that a large number of these 6hee'p were bought to go over the rango to the East Coast, towards Masterton ; and the woek before a. lot of ewes in lamb went to Canterbury. Fat sheep, of course, are holding their own at about last mouth's quotations. There have been a. few shipped to Sydney on owners' account, but I doubt whether they gained much on local prices after all oxpenses were paid.

There has been some agitation with the object of endeavouring to Co-operaliro force the hands of tlie freezanrl Other ing companies to give higher Companies. prices for fat stock. It was

the East Coast men who started the project, and a d«putation came over here and he'd meetings in Palme-rston North and Feilding, and delegates wore appointed from both meeting to a general meeting in Woodville. They had two or tl.r«(».day9 of it, and, so far as I can hear, a, committee waa appointed to devise wmo scheme either to form a new company to freeze on owners' account or go into the bußiness as buyers as a co-operative concern or otherwise. I doubb whether they will get much support on this side, as the fsrjpcrs hero have, I think, got a surfeiij of forming companies the benefits of which :irp very hard to see, ami tho shares of whiclu, in the majority of cay, are valueless or a drag through their havin;; to pay calls. In fact, all the companies that have been formed with the intention of helping the farmer — and there have been many — have either drifted into liquidation or into tho hands of the moneyed man in the shapo of the mortgagee; and I think a l&rpre nuniixr t>f the farmers ara of tho c ame miud aa a f«Mitlr-man I heard cypress himself in tho Fiicrp- yards tbp other day — that if his taking s-Vre-s in anything was to cave the island fiom sinking into tho c ci he would rot do fo This expression of opinion rnav j>pp"ar rather extravagant, but I fear it is shared mori > or less by :v large numl.gr in the cl r tiict Hoivcs T am aiVaid anything ;n; n the frhfino of a frMv.'ng corrpany would rcccivo little local support; and jo far a? my jut T^ mc-nt goes. I fti!>not see tl'o i:e<xl for n>oro fr.rtcries. as the accormior'ation at present provided i? quite < qiwil to any t'< n,-i>i'l ti.it is at all likely to ensue for seme timo to eonio. a- v, c nrn ; t o\\y <ta d< •create of tho f.ii stock fupnly in face cf thr> largo p.vtenfc r{ country }>• hi% ttkon up with rows, an'l there is over/ !i' 'lihoo.J c f a lar^e ir.ere.i^o in the butt' r fv.p;»!y thU coming 'ill's uonkl )v» f-ir mrr^ lait;c4y iii'-i-evMl ;f it were not fcr t! n 'liftl' ul'y V f cf<n:ri T-tfT -tf ■■iiit'ib'n lan'l ;>t a rrv >i';<b'o vrc 1 A „-- thing of a da.ry r^rtu, iu< .-.• <. cetm^y

leasehold, is quickly snapped up, even at the high prices ruling. There is no doubt that butter has been the salvation of the Coast, as, with the low rates ruling for wool, land would be at a very low price indeed it it were not for dairy produce. However, let us be thankful for the butter industry, for the future of which I have very high hopes, in spite of all we hear of the way other countries %re going to out us out. My contention is that, with the grand climate we enjoy, if New Zealandera cannot hold their Own against aDy other country they hardly deserve the name of men, considering the disadvantages that others labour under in the shape of lony winters, when they have to stall-feed their cattle for sve months of the year; or take the oaoe of Australia, where they have a periodical drought, or rather a permanent one, as there has been for the last few years. Shows have been the feature of the month, and they had very successful Poultrf. exhibitions at both Palmer-

sfcon North and Feilding, with largre entries and record attendances. The conclusion nxuet be come to thai poul-try-raising has come to stay, and, with the high prices offering, there ought to be money in it. The prioe offering, 6d per 1b live ■weight, is very tempting, as ordinary fatted birds ought to average 51b, which means 2s 6d per head, and if _it only lasts it ought to be a great help to the small settler or moderate-sized farmer. Where anyone can grow all the food on his own holding. I am certain there must bo money in poultry., and more especially if the business is run in connection with a dairy farm, as tho dairyman has to be at home to attend to his cows, and can generally spare a little time to the poultry yard. The agricultural man should also be able to earn a few shillings a week from eggs if we would only pay a little attention to the hens, arid tliis would mean a lot in keeping down the store bills. But the average farmer has previously voted the fowls a nuisance, a3 they run at large, and get in the garden, if there is one. I am sorry to fay v;e see a good many farmers without a garden, however. The fowls, also, not being provided with any house of their own, take pcs3ossion of the cart and implement ehetl, and in ninny cases you will see a valuable machine /that has cost £40 or £50 covered with filth ao thick that you have to take spade to clean it before you can start it to work. However, with a better demand for eggs and poultry, I hope to sco even thofc careless men take an interest in the industry, an-d by providing a little shelter and giving the birds a wee bit of attention, they might easily add considerably to their income. From appearances at present the demand looks as if it were going to .be a permanent one.

So, taking everything into consideration, the farmer has every appearanc* Summing of a> good season ahead of up. him in the way of satisfac-

Tory prices for his produce, and the result is that land is going up in price, and small farms are hard to jjefc, oven at the enhanced prices a.«ked. A few have changed hands during the last month, at good prices. Dairy cows are hard to get, and although thero have been some verylarge sales, still tho price keeps up, £9 to £10 being a oonimou prioe in the saleyarrl, and I know of dairy farms being sold this week at £20 10s per acre, the buye*"taking the cows at £9, all costs. This i» a fairly typical case of how farms and cows are soiling. The union is going on in a very quiet way, but there is to be a meeting - Farmers' of the Palmerston North Union. branch on Saturday, when the election campaign is to bo discussed. I hope there will be a good attendance, and tha.fc a- brond view of things will be ta.ken, and little local matters put , to one side. I was sorry to see lately that at one or two meetings the building of .a post office or some local road ap- ] pearod to take the most prominenb place in, ( the programme. Discuss ihosa matters by ; all mcana, but at the present time let tho coming election take the first pl*co, and let us decide to return, men to Parliament who are farmers, or will take -an intelligent . interest in the farmer's wants. ANTIQUA OYIS.