AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL HEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL HEWS.

-' The Chief Commissioner of Lands (Mr D. IJarro'n);- accompanied by Mr John Duncan, left for Chrietchurch on the 17th to attend a •meeting' of the Land Purchase Board. We understand -that -the only-Otago property which will 4>e ' considered by the board is jibe Greenfield estate, and if the price is j , suitable it is probable that the land will be acquired by the Government for settle- j merit. j The first wool sale of the season at Auckland' took place last week. The supply forward was 1200 bales short of the first sale last season, due more to growers shipping direct to London, and in some instances holding back for higher prices, than to any. shortage in the season' s_ clip, which is believed to be quite up to last season. The bulk of the wool was of good quality, and prices showed improvement all round as compared .with last season, the average increase being about lid per lb. Inferior wools were in most demand, but high class •wools' were also well sought^ after, as is ehowri by the' high prices realised, the best for the. day being BJd per lb, a rise of 2Jd as compared with the best price realised at last year's opening sale, and lid better than the top price realised at the opening «ale of 1900. Discoloured inferior wools ranged from 3id to 4d per lb, bright, coarse •wools from 4£d t& 4Jd, medium croesbreds from 4id to s|d, and fine wools from 6d to BJd, numerous sales in the last-named class being effected at from 6id to 7£d , per lb. - ! At the S.-M. Court, Wellington, Michael j JSullivan, .a dairyman, carrying on business i an the city, was fined 40s with 28s cests j •for a breach, of - the -Public- Health Act. It ] Aranspired 1 that defendant's daughter was J found in -November suffering from scarlet j fever on. premises used as a-- dairy. Warn- i ing's "jwere given that milk should, not be •; solcT, from the house while 'the period o£ : infection lasted. Later on the paJient was found working about the premises while the skin was peeling from the body. Further investigation showed that a neightouring family amongst whom the fever developed had been supplied with milk from thia dairy. Another case in a second family was also suspected to have the same origin. The testing of tlie milking quality of herds is a matter which should receive more attention from the dairy farmers of the country than it does at present, says Mr Kinsella, the Dairy Commissioner, in a | recent leaflet. The improvement of every ' herd, which should be the constant aim of 1 the owner, depends upon regularly discarding those animals that are not reaching a certain standard. The owner should aim 4o keep only those cows which return the largest net profit for the year. Tfie royalty for flax-cutting now ruling in the Manawatu district is 4s per ton. TT»e cocksfoot crops on the Peninsula are looking- very promising, and there is abundance of feed everywhere. Two trucks of Ayrshire oattle from the •well-lmown herd of Mr W. Rankin, Waikiwi, left Invercargill consigned to Mr S. Standen, of Palmerston North. This is the second consignment to the same district Svithin the last few months. • A novel and successful experiment in the ♦airing of fodder for xlairy cows has been undertaken by Mr A. R. Waldie, of Lepper■ton, New Plymouth. Thi3 gentleman a year ■tor two back abandoned the duties of a mint"ng engineer and took to dairy farming, and le soon astonished his neighbours by going Sn for" raising acres of cabbage for the purpose of feeding his cows. It appears that , cabbage possesses i extraordinary nutritive j properties, and thai it gives a more profitable yield to the acre than either oats or gput SHi* very jr«* «**Bon vast passed

through .in Taranaki has resulted in the -grass • becoming": flaccid and non-nutritive, but en' the cabbages the effect has been excellent. Therefore, Mr Waldie is now more firmly then ever convinced of the merits of • his somewhat extraordinary departure from the methods of the average dairyman. Mr Thomas O'Connor writes taking exception to our correspondent's remarks concerning his pony Minnie and Mr Broad's pony Gentleman at the Gore chow. We : nave submitted his letter to our correspon- | dent, who states that he was mistaken in i writing that Mr Broad's pony was unable i to compete in a certain class, and therefore that the priza went to Mr O'Connor's pony. He finds that Mr Broad's pony was not entered in the class referred to. Our correspondent adds that he should have referred to Gentleman ac the champion carriage pony, and not, as he did, the champion j pony of New Zealand. Mr O'Connor's pony Minnie was subsequently placed above the pony Gentleman in three classes at Invercargill, and in the report of that show Mr O'Connor will find that ample justice was done to his beautiful animal. The Committee of Management appointed by the conference of vendors, auctioneers, and butchers who are interested in the sales of fat cattle at Addington, and who lately arranged to establish an insurance fund, J from which to pay the losses on any animals condemned, have now got matters in working order. Mr Arthur Sefton has been appointed inspectoi for the fund, and yesterday (says last Thursday's Lyttelton Times) he declined to allow several animals to come under its benefits, the majority of which were cows showing signs of being in calf. Tho President of ther Canterbury A. and P. Association is inviting suggestions from .judges and others who \ were present at the late Metropolitan Show, on any points where they maj think an improvement could be made in future shows. - Some flaxmilers in the Manawatu district are (says the New Zealand Times) paying | a3 high as 22s 6d per ton of green flax as royalty for the right of cutting. As it requires eight tons of green flax to make a ton of fibre, the owners of flax lands must be "making their pile." The Makerua Company, which purchased the extensive flat swamp lands of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, is about to sell a - number of flax farms, so as to enable flaxmillcrs to acquire their own freeholds. The Scottish Farmer of November 1 says that a deputation from the butchera of Glasgow \nd Paisley was received by Mr Hanbury in the Secretary for Scotland's offices, Parliament Square, Edinburgh, on the subject of removing the present restrictions on the Argentine cattle trade. The deputation represented the Glasgow United Fleshers' Society, the Glasgow and District Fleshers' Trade Protection Association, and the Paisley United Fleshers' Society. Mr John Stewart, the president of the Glasgow United Society, said the deputation represented 2000 butchers, who claimed tihat there was no disease in the Argentine Republic at the present time, and who desired to have the restrictions removed. — Mr Hanbury said he believed the Republic was free from disease, and when the Argentine Government had put into , operation regulations to prevent disease " being introduced into their country, be would "open the' ports. — Mr T. J, Irwin said .the" butchers -were of. opinion that the jsattle -were bsanjr. kepi «out. for ■diplomatic "purposes.;— Mt Hanbury; said he believed that ihis Argentine tra3e -was £oing to be more important than it is, but "if he were to open the ports to-morrow, before the Republic had taken proper precautions to prevent disease being introduced into their country, the result would be that, though it would bo easy to open the ports once, it would be extremely difficult ever to have them opened a second time if it were found necessary apain to close them on account of disease. He was bound to take the utmost precautions, as he fully realised that the" trade with the Argentine was going to be very large, botli with tho import and export trade. He wished to. have the relations between the two countries established on a firm footing. Further, he pointed out that this year Argentine imported into this country 25 per cent, more dead meat than ever before. This meat was cheaper, and was the food of the working ilasses, and ha believed it impossible that the Argentine could send over, in addition to the present dead meat supply, any lar£<s number of live animals. — Mr W. D. Newton, Bailie Fields, Milngavie, and Mr James Scarlett, Paisle-v, also sx>oke. — Mr Hanbury. in -a few words, replied, repeating that he would open the ports when the Argentine had taken the proper precautions. The Spriripvale correspondent of the Alexandra H&rald writes on the 16tli inst- : — Messrs Kinn«y Bros., of Tiger HUI, ist week marked an average per centage of 75 lambs, and all were in splendid^ condition. — Mr Scott, }f the Olriej Run, "informs me that his percentage of lambs reached 85, i and the condition of both ewes and lambs is something beyond record. Balfour notea, in last Thursday's Southland Times: — It is almost impossible to get on with farm work this year. It was a j great struggle to get in tho crop, and it is I equally as hard to get in the turnips. The crops at present are awfully back, and it s&amj almost impossible for them to come

to anything this year. Shearing had just got started, but for a week back nothing has b&en done. Rain has fallen nearly every day, as well as during the night, and the ground is soaking. At the Cromwell Magistrate's Court on Thursday, 11th inst., pefore Mr F. J. Burgees, S.M., the Stock Department (per Inspector Taylor) charged David Murley (455 | acres) with a breach of the Rabbit Act. j After evidence had been taken, defendant ' was fined £3, and costs, 7s. — The case against Mr Partridge (400 acres) was- adjourned till the Bth prox. — At the Clyde Magistrate's Court, on Monday, 15t>h inst., , before Mr Burgess, the Stock Department , charged S. Spain . (29,000 acres) with a. | breach of tho Rabbit Act. Defendant was | fined £10 and costs, 7s, and C. Deady (160 acres) was fined £2, and costs 7s. The Australasian Chamber of Commerce in London is inviting suggestions from the New Zealand Chambers in regard to the question of the breeding of remounts for the Imperial army. It appears that there is considerable confusion in the minds of breeders, as to the stamp of horses required, and in order that a standerd should I be fixed for their guidance the Executive , Committee of the Australasian Chamber has communicated with the War Office, asking that this matter should be settled. The epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease which spread through Great Britain and Ireland during the years 1880 to 1884 cost stockowners not less than £2,250,000. No fewer than 336,000 cattle, 370,000 sheep, and 37,000 swine, said Mr Hanbury, were attacked by the disease. It is stated that since bacon-curing was commenced in "Richmond (Nelson) no less than £15,000 has been paid to the settlers for pork.