LOCAL AGRICULTURAL SEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2561, 6 May 1903, Page 16

LOCAL AGRICULTURAL SEWS.

As the time for holding the winter show of the "Otago A. and P. Society approaches it is becoming evident that more than usual interest is being taken in the display this i year. The fat stock exhibits, it is expected, will eclipse all previous displays. There is likely to be an unusually keen contest among the counties as to the best display, end four or five entries are expected. Profiting by the experience of last year, the committee representing Waimate County intend making a bold bid for first position, and the competition in the butter and cheese- classes is likely to prove unusually interesting Members of A. and P. societies and farmers' olubs will no doubt enter in large numbers for the prize of £5 5s offered by Mr Murphy (secretary of the late Agricultural Conference) for the best essay on " The benefits conferred by agricultural and pastoral associations on the agricultural and pastoral interests of the colony, and the social and intellectual advantages derived from the periodical gatherings of those most interested in the above r>ursuit3."

Cattie thrive marvellously well on the gras3 lands and herbage of the bo=h in Tahakopa Valley. Mr D. M. Tea (says the Free Press) has recently sold from off his property there- 100 odd head bullocks at £10 each.

Rabbit-trapping is very brisk round Clyde. Some of the trappers are making over £1 a day.

It is reported by the Ratanui correspondent of the Free Press that the dairy factory there will close down at the end of the month.

According to the Clutha Leader, a record prioe was paid for turnips, considering the time of year, on Monday, when a padd<xk at Lnehclutha fetched £10 pe-r acre. Southland is still engaged producing "prime Canterbury" lamb and mutton. Winton recently sent forward a big ;ontiibution.

The threshing-mill tallies lea\e some Gore farmers disappointed with the-ir yield of oats.

Some heads of oats grown at Springhills measured from 16in to 21in in length, and one head had no less than 300 oars.

Some crops still remain uncut at Puerua. In the Waipahi and Wairuna districts some uncut crops are said to be so green that weeks of fine weather are required to ripen them.

It is stated that there was a very keen demand for pigs at Wyndham last week. A line of suckers, for which the owner would have accepted 4s apiece, changed hands at 10s each.

Bad weather — cold, foggy, and drizzling mornings — only permit of very short days being put in at harvesting at Waipahi, where, indeed, :omo >f the fields are still quite green.

Trapping rabbits fci freezing purposes is now in full swing in this district (says the Dumstan Times), and if is no uncommon sight to see several vehicles full of these carcases. One day last; week over 4000 rabbits were brought in by the colleoting carts to the depot afc Clyde. Although the rabbiters «nly receive 4d per pair, it will be readily understood thai they are making "pots" of money — some of them, we are told, averaging over £1 per day-

i The annual meeting of the Invercargill Saleyards Company was held on tho 25th ult. The following report was submitted: — , The directors have pleasure in submitting the usual 6tatement of accounts for the year ending 31st March last, which, they are glad to say, discloses a highly satisfactory state of affairs. The amount received for yard dues is considerably, greater than last : year, and, as the working expenses are much the fame, the directors feel justified in recommending a dividend of 8 per cent. This will absorb £186 B=, and as the balance at credit of profit and loss account (after providing £150 for depreciation) is £213 6s Id, there will still be a balance of £26 18s Id to cany foiward. Messrs J. Stronach, J. A. Mitchell, and W. Henderson were re-elected to the directorate, and Mr James Hunter elected auditor. The Mataura Ensign reports that a comparatively new settler in thi3 district, Mr P. M'Lcod, of Otamita, who holds some 20,000 acres of pastoral land on the Hokonui Ranges, has just completed the erection of one of ithe most effective sheep dips in Southland. The sheep are given a swim of 45ft, the dipping race being sft deep and 23in wide for nearly the full distance. A cross section of the race shows it to taper in wedge 6hape at the bottom, thus affording economy of dip. By a most inI genious arrangement of pens the sheep are brought up to the dip in a steady stream, I enabling four mem to put through 6000 a ' day with ease. ' At the last me-eting of the Clutha County , Council it was decided to discontinue the piaetice of supplying poisoned grain to far- | iners. j The Wyndhim Farmer writes: — With a view to further enhancing the stamina and breed of his flock of sheep on Wyndham station — we recently recorded hia acquisition of 40 Lincoln-merino rams from. Mr T. C. Ellis Benarra, South Australia— Mr D. K. M'Rae ha» purchased from Mr W. Gardiner, of Island Cliff estate, jOama.ru, a draft 1 of 50 stud merino ewes. These dams, we ! understand, are descended fiom a pure j South Australian flock, the strain having been kept intact during the past 48 years. As an indication of the fleece value of these merinos, we may say that Mr Gardiner's clip last year realised 11 Jd a,t Dunedin. This is the same strain of merino as was introduced into the Hook on Redan estate, Wyndham, la«t year by Mr E. H. Smith, the manager. Last week's Tapanui Courier has the following harvest notes: — During the last few days a lot of crop has gone imto stack, and cutting is still proceeding in late localities. — The damage to the oat crop by the late unow storm won not co severe as reported. Iv isolated places some crop is badly down, but in most places the uncut giain is not so difficult to handle as was anticipated. Waikaka: The weather for a long time back has been anything but suitable for the farmers. Harvest, one might say, has hardly begun, and when those with late crops will be through with the season's ■work is a hard thing to say. The oats promise very fair if they can be saved in anyt thing like condition. The majority of farmers tell me that the grain is full and plump, but ripenjng very uneven, whioh may cause a good many green oate to be in tho 1 sample. The small bird pest has done a great amount of damage this year, and tho quantity of grain destroyed must be ex- - C3edincly large. All along fence lines and near plantations the graiai has been taken in a face. Tt will bo a terrible set-back to farmers near towns and waste land in a few years to contend with this r>est. The rabbit pest is as nothing compared to it It soems that Mr Pater^on, the Farmers' Union vet., hai-- completely turned the farmers' heads ;ti Southland regarding ragwort. The plant is now to be hunted and hounded along the line. It is a gieat pity that steps wero not taken years ago to learn something of Jie nature of introduced plants and herbs before they were alfowed to become a source of trouble to settlers throughout the colony. Tiie following is from the Winton Record of the Ist irst. : — A quantity of oaU from both Diptcn and Centre Busii have been sold during the. la^t few days at Is 6d per bushel, which is an advance upon the prices obtained last wpek. — Mr Wi'eon. a South Hillend farmer, is to be congratulated upon havinp «old and delivered the whole of his crop of this season's grain, whilst many of hi 1 ? neighbours are still harvesting.- Mr Richard Butler, of Balfour, who hai just finished his harvesting, had a splondid crop of both oats and wheat, one paddoc<k of oats yielding 107 bushels, and a paddock of 30 acre? of wheat yielding 87 bu'liels to the acre. — Although the tin nip crop in the JL?trict present i very healthy appearance tc the eye, it is feared that they will not stand co much mating aa in recent years, no doubt owing to tho exceptionally late sowing. We notice 9. few craps that weir sown in February have done extra well, these being princ-inally Devon, Greystone, and Lincoln Red Globe. At the committee meetinz of tLe Fdmei-

ston a-iid Waihemo County A. and P. Association on the 26th ult. (says the Palmeretcn Times), during the discussion on the collection of exhibits for the Waihemo Bay at the coming Dimedin winter «ho\v, reference was made to the famous "boss" turnip which formed part of the Waihemo collection at the last show. Several members impressed upon the Collecting Committee the mecetoity for carefully examining and at the same time testing the solidity of all roots offered for exhibition. Mr Souter mentioned that the tubers could be tested by immersing them in water, and by this means any that were hollow could be easily detected. Harvest is in full swing (write 3 the Puerua oorrftipondent of the Free Press), but o^c-ra-tions aro very mixed. Some of the crops are not cut yet, while on «omo farms threshing has started. Still the general result will probably be better than was at first anticipat3d. Mr J. Lamcnd has a very fine paddock of oats, which he anticipates will thresh about 90 bushed to the acre. Grain keeps pouring into Glenavy railway station (reports the correspondent of the North Otago Times), and the department is tuing every mdeavour to Veep pace with the abnormal demand for trucks. Threshing jpeiations are "humming" hereabouts, every minute of the splendid weathe-i being taken advantage of. There have been some good yields of grain this year, amongst those worthy of notice being Mr J. Andrews'** crop on the Beach Block, which "panned out" 102 bushels to the acre. The Clinton correspondent of the Mataura. Ensign writes : —The few fine days we have experienced lately have allowed the farmers to get along with their harvest. Stacks have made theii appearance on all sides, and should the weatheT hold a day or two longei the bulk of the crop will be saved, and in better order than last year, for it will be remembered that just when he 6tuff was fit to lead the weather brolcs and much was destroyed. Although I have said that stacks are appearing on afl sides, that doe^s not mean that harvest is ?iear an end by any means. Many on the higher levels, and, in fact, some on the low lands, have crop still green. Most of the crops aro -tit in the Waipahi and Wairuna districts. A few uncut crops are, however, so green that weeks of good weather will be required to ripen them. Practically nothing lias bee-n led in — an unprecedented state of affairs at the jnd of April. Turnips are pretty fair, md the grass among the atubblo is remarkably good — as well it might be with more than - six mc-aths' growth. — Correspondent Clutha Leader. Fresh arrivals from Australia still continue to give this neighbourhood a sail (writes the Nightcaps correspondent of the Southland Tunes). If every district in the colony ha 3 a similar experience just now there must bo a great number of Australian working men landing on our shores. This season the oiops <n the higher ground about Night>a.ps aro turning out remarkably well, especially where the land has been manured, us, though there has been a great lakifall, the necessary warmth has been retained in the soil Leading-in is still the order of the day in many parts of the dwtrict, large areas being still oovered with stooke. For this work the men receive 9d an hour, or Id le=t? thfia the threshing mill hands. It has been stated (save the Onmaru Mil) ihat the railway workshops are extraordinarily active building some very "chic" :ar-riage-s in which one may lounge the happy hours away in the midst of deftly-wrought and hijjhiv-polUhed fancy woods and luxurious uphokteiy. . . . Whilst we have nothing but piai-e to accord to that portirci of the Railway Department in whioh we in this part of the colony are specially interested, inasmuch as the high pleasure of an unusually busy reason is being met with (i maximum of skill and assiduity, yet are we not entitled to ask why, in this matter-of-fact colony, the luxuries of railway travel should bo provided before the weresearies. It is roilwny trucks that are wanted, and wanted so badly that the-e are demands for them r rom every pa, v t if the colrmy. With an ample supply of tiuc'-cg. the labours of the department and the anxieties of growers and shippers would bo reduced to a minimum We are aware that trucks are often retained by farmers too long to suit the •onvenience of tne fiepartment; but that trouble, which will always, to a certain degree, occur, is, on the pre-ent occ?>?ion. aggravated by the circum.stanoe. that trucks are in sue l : short supply ;hat tho department i 3 forced to be e-xaet-injr. One of the worst .vaults of a shortage of trucks is that stacks of grain may bo ,t siclinfts long enough io be damaged by the weather unless th^y are effectively covered up ; and here, again, it occurs to U3 that there <s a shortage of tarpaulins, and Uiat the Railway Department doos not bold iteeif responsible ro provide as riiiy an are tcquired. But the department should either take tho grain away or protect it from damage. Most certainly it is more imjrortpnl ..hat this hould be done than that tl;e efforts and monty >f the denaj-uneni:

should be devoted to providing extrava-gantly-attractive and^ sumptuous travellingapartments for people simply Jjecause they can afford to indulge in them. "Rvsticus," the contributor of "Farming Notes" to the Bruoe Herald, writes as follows: — A new trouble in connection with tho> dredging industry appears to bo looming in tho near distance, which serves to bring before us again the question of the relative) merits of the agricultural and dredging industries. . . Perhaps lam (writes, a correspondent in a Southland paper) a Little one-sided in i'he way I view this matter, but; ifc certainly seems to me that it is a crying s<hame to ccc aorea of beautifully fertile land, which might be profitably cultivated! for generations yet to come, irretrievably spoiled for tho sake of the few hundred' pounds' worth of gold which can be worn from it by dredging, if, as wo are >ontinually taught by the r.ew school of political economist's, the land 'is merely held in, trust by U3 for future generations, then it is only on the very gravest consideration! indeed that we should allow fertile land _ to be diverted from the purpose for which Providence intended it. But even on lower grounds than that, the spoliation of good! agricultural land by dredging 13 to be deprecated. The revenue derived by the State! from land during the time dredging is being carried on is exoeedingly small oampared! with the continued "ovenuo received, not only by means of rates and taxes, but in many other indirect ways, when the land is used for agricultural purposes. It is' not unlikely that the matter will come before Parliament <luring the coming session, and if it docs it is to be hoped that it will bo" carefully considered and precautions taken to prevent any misuse of agricultural land in this way in the future. The following notes from correapondenta appear in last Friday's Winton Record:— • Heddon Bush : Notwithstanding the broken weather, farmers generally have managed to> get their crop 3 secured in good condition. The yield all round is expected to be quito up to the average of former years. — Oreti Plains : The weather of late has been anything but favourable to the farmer. However, the crop is- fast being stacked, amd in a few days, if the weather holds fair, mojfc of it in this district will be gathered in. Ib is not before time, as the season is very far aidvsuiced. Tho turnip crops, on th.& whole, arc looking well, and en one or two farms extra good crops are to be- seen. — Otautau : Very little crop has yet been harvested, the weather of late having been, bad, altogether unsuitable for farming operations. I am told the crops around here are very good, and should give good resuite. — Otapiri : Like other parts of Southland, we have been favoured with anything but harvesting weather lately. There is practically little crop got in yet in tha district, -and a favourable turn of the meteorological conditions is anxiously looked for. Same of the crops here are exceptionally good, and if safely harvested should produca great yields. — Bay&water: The weather during the past month has been anything; but good for fche farmers, and as a consequence the crops are very backward in th ; a district. A great deal of the crop is certainly out, and some of it stacked; yefc tli» bulk is still in the paddock. rhere ar« some very fine crops of wheat to bo se&m round here, notably Messrs Hanson's ami Prendergn-st's. There are also tome fin» oat oropa, and a week "or two of fine dryingweathei would e&e all the crop in this district in tack. A meeting of the committee of the Palmerston and Waiiiemo County A. and P. Association wa3 held on the 26th nit., Sir A. Fleming (president) in tho chair. The President submitted a rough balanc« pheet to the eommittoa, prepared by • the treasurer, which showed that at the present} time they had a :redit balance of about £25, This time- last year thsiy had £133 in hand, but the refreshment room had cost £80 and £23 had been spent on improvements to the ground, so that their position had really improved during the year.— ln reference to the Dunedin winter show, tho President said that arrangements for the representation of Waihemo at the coming winter show, would require to bo put in hand at once. Some discussion as to the appointment oj a sub-committee to collect exhibits and generally superintend the Waihemo bay then took place, and ifc was intimated that Messrs Gow, J. Ross, and Lluir, who had been associated with the success attained by Waihemo in past years, would not acoepfc office thi3 year. Ultimately Mr Muir con-