OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET

Otago Witness, Issue 2528, 27 August 1902, Page 16

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET

(Pboh Otnt Ottm CoKKW3FOK»mrT.) OHRISTCHURCH, August 23. We have had a wonderfully fine winter, and spring is with us a fortnight The earlier than usual, and three Season. weeks earlier than last year.

| The willows are green, the fruit bushes opening their leaves, almonds in bloom, and spring flowers in almost their full beauty. As a more prosaic fact, the grass i 3 making a good growth, and earlysown orops are making satisfactory progre*>F. The wonder is tiiat there has not been a complaint of want of rain on the plains — north of Kaikoura rain is eaid to be needed. The winter sowing has never been done under more favourable conditions, which means much when the area in cereals is large, as is the case this year, both wheat and oats showing an increase on last year's <irea. There was a little hindrance to work by sharp frosts, but far less than usual. The fine weather has been favourable for htock, and the fat sheep and cattle winch Lave come to market this month remind one of the old days of prime six and eight tooth sheep and three and four year old cattle. The fortunate vendors met a boom market, thanks to tho Sydney demand, which ran chiefly on sheep over freezing weight and on heavy beef, and these have fetched more pe,r lb than prime freezers, while butchers have had to pay famine prices. This week pork has shared in the boom, good fat piga fetching sid to 6d, said to be on Sydney account. There is not much chance of supplying African orders for pork while such prices rule here. Lightweight sheep, below freezing quality, especially ewes, are aotually lower in price, but the good feed prospects and tho rise in lamb in London have caused an advance in lambing ewes, fewer of which than usual at this season are being forced upon the market by shortage of feed, though the farms are as a rule pretty fully stocked. The only unsatisfactory point is that ordinary crojßsbred wool will not look up, though halfbred and merino is selling well. If all goes on well there will be an early dairying season, amd the cows should come on well after such a favourable winter.

The- series of Saturday lectures to farmers, which was interrupted by Lectures the Coronation and racing to Farmers. liolidays, was resumed today, when Mr T. W. Kirk, F.L.S., Government biologist, gave an addross on "Weeds and Grasses" to a small audience. It is strange that at many country places » larger audience, Q»» be aqt

than at Christchurcji. Mr Kirk is a facile speaker, and his lecture, particularly that; part which was illustrated by lantern slides', received great attention. Amusingly enough, both he and Mr Murphy wero caught napping by a question as to the comparative nutritive qualities of twitch and the twitch referred to being the "Poa prateisis, which forms a part of almost all the mixtures sown on the light plains land, and is highly esteemed as sheoj) food. This "Kentucky blue-grass" was supplied as permanent pasture grass for some of the iands near the hill-foots in the early days, and where the land is swampy has developed into a tall-growing grass whicl* has taken entire possession, except, perhaps, for -Yorkshire fog. Both twitch and fog were very much in evidence last summer, and of course neither is any good when once if gets ahead of the stock. Burning; would seem to lie the only means of eradication, grubbing being incapable of coping with such masses as axe now establiehea. The condition of much good land through neglect is most deplorable, and though the Noxious Weeds Act will hit many farniers hard, there are few who do not consider it a beneficial measure, which should bo striotly enforced. Mr Hyde had the best audience of the serie3, three weeks ago, for his address on "Poultrykeeping," which was the most practical ho Las yet delivered to my knowledge. Great interest is taken in poultry, botfi in towra and in country, and there is no reason; why it should not be a much more important industry thtin it is, even without an export -trade. With butcher meat at present prices, there should be a better demand for poultry, but a good pair of fowls or ducks can scarcely be obtained in the regular way of business, except at an exorbitant price, and this drives housewives to the butcher.

Lectures at Lincoln College will be resumed next week, after the winter Lincoln vacation. Everything is goCollege, ing on quietly at the in-

stitution, which can be taken as satisfactory. Yet everybody wants to tell the direotor how to conduct the college and farm, notwf Mr Lowrie's very plain inlimntion regarding such ndvic?. Tho course of instruction ia probably the most advanced in the world, and the determination of the governors and^ director to terminate the- residence of any stud-ent who cannot or will not avail himself of its benefit* will no doubt lead to a> larger proportion of good men being turned! out in future, though there have been goodi students under every regime. The Minister of Agriculture wants to lay hands on the college, which would be the worst thftig that could happen to it, as th© idea of running a veterinary college in connection with it is the most impracticable. In recent newspaper correspondence it was showra that the veterinary teaching at the college is superior to that required for the B.Sc. in Agri. degree at Edinburgh, and young farmers surely need no more than that. On tho other hand no institution in Ne« Zealand has teachers, equipment, or facilities for the veterinary surgeon's full course of study. The Lincoln College veterinary course would be of great advantage to men desirous of appointment as inspectors under the Scook Department, but the lectures being only tv.-ice a week makes it impracticable to constitute the college a regular place of instruction for stock inspectors, while, would-be veterinary surgeons must for longto come go Home to study.

The shipment of potatoog to South Africa by the Deparfcmcait of CornTrade nith merce will bo much larger Sonth Africa, than the 500 ton 6 onginally mentioned, and . will do much towards making the Norfolk a full ship. She will take a full cargo of frozen meat, but poultry and other produce, the potatoes excepted, wjll not be of large bulk. It is evident that if cargo is forthcoming, steamers will be found to take it, without Government subsidy, and the failure of the Blue Star line to come- up to th© scratch is the best thing that could have happened. [Our correspondent apparently fails to grasp the importance of regular sailing dates, which can only b« attained by a Government subsidy. Intermittent shipments like that of the Norfolk are not caloulafed to improve our position in tho South Afrioan, market. — Ed.] Some of our cattle breeders should send a few young bulls and heifers across; they would be satisfied with far lower prices than are curre-nt in the Argentine for well-bred stock, and their animals are quite as good. It is lamentable to see shorthorns of tho highest breeding going tc the butoher as steers because £15 or co cannot be depended upon for yearling bulls; and withi heifer 3 the case is not much better.

August 25. Rain set in la=t night, and it appears aa though the long bpell ofi P.S. fine weather had at last;

broken. A day or two of rain «rould do no harm, but most farmers would like fair weather, as lambing is getting utetty general.