FARM ANIMATION. (Continued from page 9.) DUNEDIN MARKETS. WHOLESALE PRODUCE REPORTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2571, 24 June 1903, Page 16

FARM ANIMATION. (Continued from page 9.)

DUNEDIN MARKETS. WHOLESALE PRODUCE REPORTS.

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS. A correspondent to the Palmer-ton Time says: — "I once purchased what was sup posed to be clover seed from a merchant and after waiting to see my paddock olothe< with a good crop of clover my patience wai rewarded by seeing a magnificent crop o buttercup?. When they came out in flowe: their golden colour quite dazzled nic, bu they killed the grass and spoilt the paddocl for a long time.; and this was importer ecc\l ! I resolved to mow them all down and was quietly chaffed by my neighbour: for starting hay-making too early when ] v. a= endeavouring to destroy them. Even tually I had to get th© paddock re-ploughei and laid down afresh." As showing the diminution in thp numboi of rabbits this year, a Waipahi correspondent informs the Clutha Leader that as fai as lie know 3 there is not a single trapper a,t work in that district 'this season. In former years at least 20 men wore making a Living— and a good one at that — rabbiting during tlis months from February to August. Waipahi is not singular in this re:pect; it is the sams, more or less, throughout the district. Attention is directed to Messrs W. E. Reynolds and Co.'s advertisement cm page 6 of this issu© giving- a list of farmers who purchased Dux ploughs from tho firm durt ing the winter show. ' Mr Walter Miller (formerly of Otago), in1 epeotor of stock in charge of the Napier , sheer- district, whioh extends northwards to the East Cape, has been giving tho Poverty Bay people, through a Gisborno paper, some "pointers" regarding sheep. Ho told them that the South Island sheep weye better treated during winter and were more suitable for freezing, being more directly bred from the m-c-rino than the east coa3t (North Island) flocks. The-y would notice that the sheep purchased for Canterbury in that district were either halfbreds (Lincoln- merino) or fine-woolled sheep of a Leicester strain, and extrem-e prices had been paid for sheep of the latter class. This should suggest to all practical minds, where tho country is suitable for the growth of halfbred sheep, that this cla^s should be kept rather than, as has usually been tho case, to continuously breed amd endeavour to carry Lincoln sheep on country in many instances entirely unsuitable for them. He emphasised th© importance of a ohanpa of grass for hoggots as a means of keeping them in a vigorous and healthy condition. He also \irgcd that care should bo taken in the selection of rams and in culling the breeding flock, so that a robust constitution and consequent lower death-rate would bo ensured. Mr P. Ryan, of Etkbank, St. Andrew's (says the Timaru Herald), has purchased 54English Leicester stud ewes in lamb to rams bred by Messrs H. F Gray'and Jas. Little, of Allandale, both registered flocks. The ewes purchased were brckl T>y Mr Jonathan Brown, Pin= Elill. Rangiora, and were bred from Mr E\cry M'Lean's celebrated Auckland flock, which hae been the foundation of all the really good English -Leicester flocks in CanterburyThe Canterbury Land Board fat at Waimate on Friday last. There were present Messrs Humphries (Commissioner of Crown Land.-). Pnngle, Stevenson, and Allan. Tho board v.as occupied from 10 a.m. to a late hour in the afternoon hearing and cpriEidermg complaints or ouggestions of the (lOvernment leaseholders on the late Waikakahi Estate. About 20 attended, and laid before the board their suggestions and petitions for alteration in tho cropping conditions of lease=, and other allowances alleged to be required by the various circumstances in connection with the quality, situation, and peeuliarityof the re->pecti\e faimfi. The complaints of the applicants will be considered and replied to at an early date, but departure from the conditions of tho lease cannot be made unless under most nere. csitoui cmumstancef. The membois of the board Msit Waikakahi and other Crown lands e^ttiemt-nta in the county before returning to Christchurth. The fvpoil" of frozen meat from Ne<w Z(\i and in May, 1903, according to the Customs entries, comprised tho enormous total of 363,178 c.-uouses, and 8107c\vt legs and pi'.-cei of mutton, 402,607 lamb", and 3?.66Scwt hec-i. Tho quantitir s for May. 1902, were 214,419 rarcscs and 14.3510wt legs nnd pieces of mutton, 287,245 lambs, and 53,399 cutu t licif. A pmate rccoid shows ihat the shipments fiom. January to May, inciu = i,c. ucro 1,367,206 i-he -p and 1,498,182 lamb 11 , as ag'iiiii-t 894,326 hheep and 1,223.738 lambs in the corresponding five mouths of la^t year, an increase of 472,880 sheep and 269,424 lambs. For exposing sheep, infested with lice, for <-ale at tho Tinwald yards on Juno 2, Hugh Kennedy was fined 10s and co c ts at the Ashburton Magistiat-o's Court on Friday la c t. Agriculturists and pas-toralists in M.v borough have had a prosperous year, stn Mr Jo«eph Moore, stock inspector for tlia district, who is at present in Wellington The crops have been abundant, tho stock have done well, and good prices ha\e been realised for all products. The Christchurch Meat Company's works at Pictou have already put through over 100,000 sheep th'a 6cason (about 30,000 more than last season),

! and some thousands more will be dealt with before the works are shut down for the remainder of the winter. "I do know," writes the Stafford correspondent of the Taranaki Herald, "that the farmers of this district, if not of tho colony ge-nc rally, have fpx_some yeara been devotees of a sport called 'farm-swapping.', As il- | Jusrrating and bearing out thp fact, I can 8 instance, a dairy factory, now in its fifth . year, that in that short time has seen twothirds of its original suppliers replaced by ' newcomers. Tho game has been a merry one, so far. thanks to the continual advance s in land. But what will be the end of tho f game — will no one get left?" r The Sydney Mail of June 9 reports: — t "The local market is still gluuui with c wheat. As one holder put it, Tho value 1 of an article may generally be saM to be , what you can get for it,' but in tho case s of wheat, in the present state of the market, [ it is difficult to say what forced sales would - result in. As a matter of fact, the market 1 is not being unduly forced, most holders 'being pretty firm afc pricps just a shade • above cost. Californian and Argentine . wheat may be nominally quoted at about 53 • duty paid, on trucks. Soft Californian ; wheat will later on improve i nvalue, as practically all the grain of this description - that has been ordered has already arrived, f whereas plenty of the darker and stronger Argentine wheat is etill booked to come fori ward. Flour is equally depressed with i wheat. Local brands are quoted at £12, Manitoba £12 to £12 ss, and Washington . at £10 15a to £11 per ton." > From Adelaide, the . South Australian i j Register, of June 10, reports :— "Tho local wheat market lias opened quietly, and on i all handf> complaini3 are rife of dulness. . This condition of affaire must be expected ■ to last until stocks of newly arrived foreign i grain have worked- off somewhat in Eadfern • States. No one is buying wheat in large > quantities, and value depends entirely upon . a variety of circumstances. Flour has small • sale, and is maintained at £12. Local" millera derive considerable " satisfaction from the '.. fact that, notwithstanding the importation . • on a, large eeale, in a year of scarcity of , various brands of American flour, the* South j Australian article is holding its own .quite as well as can bo expected, and better than some thought would have been the case. In proof of this, it is pointed out that quite' as good money, and i nsome cases better, is being obtained for South Austra'ian flour than for imported." I New York mail advicr-s repoTt that early } in May the freezing weather caused some apprehension as to the American wheat crops, but the actual damage so far, as could bo ascertained, was not large. The Cincinnati Price Curre-nfc, of May 7. reviewed the position of the crops as follows: ''During the past week the temperature in the corn and winter wheat be!r ''a? been down to freezing, turning to mHder, But still cool weather. The growing wheat in the Ohio "Valley and parts of Missouri has been further unfavourably affected by the cool, wet weather, giving tho plant a ; yellow, unhealthy appearance, although as ' • yet there is not much evidence of positive ! damagp. The htird freezo of last week ap- I parcntly did little injury to the growing wheat, although damaging to fruit. In Kar^as the wheat prospects havp probably ' slightly improved, by reason of the rains last week in the central and western parts. Taking the winter wheat situation as a whole, the prospects were further lowered moderatly durine the week, but tho general ! condition is still pood. In the spring wheat section, completion of wheat feeding was prevented by the inclement weather the past week. There is still a litt'e needing to be done. While little or no injury to the wheat is expected by thp cold weather, germination has been checked."

•with large outcrops of limestone and big limestone cliffs. Under Mr M'Gill's management this fine block of country should become one of tiie best combined grazing and agricultural farms in Otago. The National Mortgage and Agency Company of New Zealand report the following land sales in Southland: — On account of Mr C. D. Moore: 416 acres of the well-known Bayswater Estate, to Mr Jas. Collie, of OUutxu. On account of the late James Oughton: Section 20, being lots 3 and 4, New Eiver HundTed, containing 511 acres, to Mj W. F. Beck, of Wairio. On account of Mr James Marr : Sections 46, 47, and 49, Hokonui district, 316 acres, to Messrs Forru'son and Sons, Harringtons. On account of Mt John Ferguson, Harringtons : Section 17, uext Cowan's Benmore EsUte, 108 acTCs, to Mr James Marr, Harringtons.. On account of Mr J. C. M'Donald, Wairio: Section 49, Wair.o district, containing '200 acres, to Mr James Low, of Dipton. Also, in conjunction with Messrs J. E. Mills and Son, on account of trustees of the late Mr David JEvaae, Otautau, section 46, block XIV, 148 acres, to Mr B. N. Stewart, Drummond; sections 51 and 52, to Mr John Macforlane, Drummond. All the above farms were sold at satisfactory prices.