LOCAL AGRICULTURAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2572, 8 July 1903, Page 8

LOCAL AGRICULT URAL NEWS.

We have heard (rays the Clutlia Leader) that tho lest sale at CHnton was about the liveliest on record. A thousand wethers were adevrtised from the Mount Mistake property, amd no less than 18 buyers from outside districts were present. (One or two of these came from north of Dunedin, but most camo from Tokomairiro. When the biggest lot of wethers — some 800 — reached 15s Bd, the highest bidder tried a little trick whioh Beemed to stop the bidding at onco. He asked the auctioneer if ha would soil 100. and the auctioneer replying in the affirmative, could not get another bid. Of course, all the dealer* thought this fannorloobing chap would on.lv take 100. and they would get the balance, but what was thoir wW he said he would take tho lot. Tin* buyer's little ruse m»y not have been tried with the mtemiion indicated, but it is » fact that shortly after the salo ho was &pp j o&olved by the northern man and r«?old flio sheeD to them at 16s Id. Tho »««st of fchn s*>e<&rJ forward also sold re-xn-vrV.Wy wni!. and. with the exception of otv> lot. «.U went north.

T*-n "Waitaiiuna oorre^ipo-ndent of th«> ■Rnioo Herald writ**:— The harvest of 1803 will be a r»onv>rahl» r>n» with the« f armors i.T> t*us »Vstriot for Hv> 'us* sk^af was takon homo after the shortest day had passed. No

stooks are now visible in any of the fields around Waitahuna, so one may presume that the harvest is past. The last of the grain harvested was not wet, but somewhat "raw," owing to the absence of the sunshine, and the presence of so much moisure. Truly farmers have had an anxious time luring the past five or six weeks. Those farmers who were fortunate enough to get their cropa secured early have got them all tliTeshed. Owing to the lateness of the seaeon the grain is much lighter than in former years. Ba.gs that in former years held as much as four and a-half bushels will scarcely turn tho ecale at four bushels.

The Waikai* correspondent of the Mafcaura Ensign write 6: — 'Most of the selectors who took up sections when the Hyde Home estate was cut up are now busy ploughing and otherwise improving their holdings. It speaks volumes for their pludk and enterprise to persevere uaider such adverso conditions. With oats at Is 6d per bushel one is inclined to wonder how the grain can be harvested, threshed, and carted to Riveredale and leave even the slightest margin of profit. Until the railway is brought within reasonable distance graingrowimg can hardly fee counted orf as profitable. It has been suggested by those who ought to know something about the matter that if a dairy factory or a creamery were established in some central position, ib would mean a source of well-assured income to all who would patronise ft. There is probably no better district in Southland than the Waikaia "Valley for such an industry, and I have been told of at least one firm who would etart such an institution at once, provided that they got anything like a reasonable guarantee of support.

Three lung is about finished (reports tlio Mossburn correspondent of the Southland Times), and the yield per acre is fair on the whole. The grain is a better sample than was expected, and many lines have been sold from here for eeed at an advance on ordinary market rates.

The monthly meeting of the committee of the Gore A. and P. Association was held on the 27th ult., Mr G. Milnes in the chair. A discussion took plaoe in regard to tho railway carriage of lime, and after discussion ib was agreed, on the motion of Messrs Murdoch and Logan, that the member for the district be written to asking him to usa his infiu'Snoe in getting crushed lime carried free on the railways, and that he endeavour to get tho assistance of Messrs Fraser, Thomson, Benn-et, and other district members- to use their influence in tho same direction. — Tho secretary of fche Napier Agricultural Socioty wrote stating tha/t he had been asked by Captain Pearse, of the Pastoralists' Review, to forward a list of principal breeders of sheep, cattle, and horses. The secretary was instructed to comply with the request. — The secretary of the Naroier A. and P. Association wrote stating that the attention oi the Shorthorn Herd Book Committee of the Canterbury A. and P. Association should be drawn to the duplication of names in tho New Zealand Herd Book. His society suggested in future the publication of an annual leaflet with a 'list of ina-m^e registered during tho year. It was decided to endorse the views of the Napier society. — The Secretary of the Department of Agriculture forwarded a copy of the proposed Stud Bill, and asked for an expression of opinion from tho society regarding its ola/ueea. Mr Green thought that the bill was a step in the right direction, and after some conversational discussion he moved — "That this society agree generally with tlie provisions of the bill as amended by the Farmers' Conferemoe." Mr A. Murdoch eaid he waa entirely opposed to fcho bill. Ib was an interference with the liberties of the people. He did not think it would improve the breed of horses. He moved an amendment — "That the society oppose the principle of the bill." The am«ndn*»nt was sot M«onded, and the motion wb put and carried. Under the appropriate title, "A Generous Offer," tile Sfctaura Bnsign of the 27th ult. writes: — lb oowieotaon with tine conrse of ayrtoultural okwsee under the auxpices of the Southland Hi«h School and Education Board* and New Zealand Fawners' Union to be given in Gore by Messrs Hilgendorf and Patewon, a corrwpendent (who desires that his identity should not be disclosed) writes emphasising the great value

of such lectures to the community, and in proof of his desire that ac large an attendance as possible should be secured for the course, he has p'.-aoed £5 at our disposal for the purpose of purchasing membership tickets for pupils attending the publio schools. He desires that two boys each from the Gore and East Gore schools should be given tickets at his expense, and one boy from each of six oourutry schools in the vdohuby of Gore. The only condition attached to his generous offer is tlat- the recipients of tickets should be found by feheir teachers to be worthy of the gift, and likely to profit from the valuable instruction imparted by Messrs Hilgendorf and Paterson. As the time is short in which to make the necessary arrangements we invite the immediate co-operation of school teachers in th"o matter. Our correspondent's generosity in the direction noted may prove the means of inducing others to follow his excelent example, in which case we should be only too hapoy to supervise the most advantageous disposal of similar gifts, even though it be to the extent of only one membership ticket.

The Tapanui Courier understands that shearing machines will be introduced into the district in time for next year's clip. It is a wonder (says the Courier) that these modern clippers have been so long in coming, but our pastoralists are conservative as a rule.

The following notes are from last Friday's Clutha Leader: — The season, so far, has been very favourable for feeding off turnips, and as a result stock are doing well on them. The crop on the whole is very good, and 6ome handsome prices have been paid for good fields. As high as £10 an acre has been obtained, £7 and £8 being quite common. — There has been quite a boom in the cattle and sheep market in this district during the past week or two. In regard to cattle the demand has been principally on the part of the' Taieri and Clutha buyers, but in the case of sheep the Canterbury and North Otago buyers are operating heavily at prices beyond the reach of tho local men. It is pretty safe to say that about 30.000 sheep have been trurked north from districts south of the Taieri, the bulk of which has been done at Milton, where the facilities for trucking are much more convenient than at Balclutha. And in this connection we may say that it is quite a usual thing for sheep bought at Balclutha and Clinton to bo driven on to Milton to be trucked. We are informed that one day this week about 10,000 sheep, a large portion of which were purchased in Balclutha' and Clinton, were trucked north from Milton.

Probably one of the largest consignments of fat sheep that have ever left Palmerston was despatched on Wednesday last (says tho local paper), when 20 trucks, representing about 1100 sheep, were forwarded by the 11 a.m. train. The sheep, consisting of prime wethere, were purchased for the Ohristchurch Meat Company by Mr K. B. Bain, and were consigned to the company's works at Timaru. The bulk of the line came from Messrs M'Kenzie Bro9. (Bushy Park estate), Messr3 T. E Stenhou.^e (Goodwood) and D. M'Leod (Bushy) being the other consignors. We understand that the prices obtained were very satisfactory to the sellers. The Pomahaka Downs correspondent of the Southern Standard writes: — The winter so far has been somewhat mild — a shjjnt touch jf frost and snow, but nothing to complain about, merely seasonable weather. A good amount of patience was exhausted in securing the late crop 3, chiefly owing to a late spring, and farmers were reminded to hold themselves in readiness for no small amount of damaged f^rain. A few wet and heated stacks were discovereidt at threshing time, and oats that are not prime are almost valueless this season. The crops, on the whole, turned out fairly well. A good many empty sacks in some instances, however, were for sale, much to the disappointment of the grower. The prices are not very promising, with a downward tendency, about Is 8d in Dunedin being the average price going. The trunip crop is up to the usual standard. Failure in turnips has been unknown for a number of years, this land being specially adapted for them. This cannot be said with regard to oat growing. The following district new« is from correspondents of the Winton Record: — Drummond: Threshing is now almost completed in this district, bub much of the grain has been held over until the spring. Notwithstanding the bad eeason, the crops almost approach the average of previous years. Everybody is now looking forward to the great event of the year — the Drummond ploughing match, for which there are numerous entries. The match takes place on the 15th inst., and it is expected that the exhibition of teams will be one of the finest witnessed in Southland. — Otautau: It is not so many years ago since the Waicola estate waa put into the market at a very low price, and the whole property could probably then have been bought at 40s per acre. The then Minister of Lands (the late Hon. Sir John M'Kenzie) was urgently requested by two of the leading settlers of Otautau to purchase this estato for cutting up for close settlement. The request, however, was not complied with, and it will be remembered that shortly afterwards the Otahu estate waa purchased. The Waicola Company then went into liquidation, and the property was disposed of in a very ehort time in farms of from 200 to 700 acres at from 35s to 50s per acre. The National Mortgage and Agency Company have recently bold a number of farms on the old Waicola estate at from £6 to £8 10s per acre. This is a splendid evidence of the prosperity of the di s *" p '' v which will no doubt in time be one of the most important agricultural centres in Southland.

A meeting of the Palmerston and Waihemo County A. and P. Association was held on the 27th ult., Mr A- Fleming (president) in the chair. The President said that accounts in connection with the representation of Waihemo at the winter show amounting to £17 13s lid had been presented, but as they were allowed £20 by the Otago Association for fitting up the bay the-e* would be a email surplus after paying all expenses. A vote of thanks was passed to the Missea MTiitchie and Mr Barclay for their assistance in decorating the bay, and it was also resolved that the association pay their expenses to Dunedin. A special vote was accorded Mist Diaok, who at very short notice had provided the fancy butter. — The Agricultural Department forwarded two. copies of a Stud Bill, one of which had been introduced last session acd rejected, and the other wae an amended bill, which it was proposed to introduce during the coming session. Moat of the members present expressed the opinion that the measure was an excellent one, and on the motion of Mr Robertson, seconded by Mr J. Pvoas, the

cfraft bill as amended was approved. — It was ■decided to hold the annual meeting of the association on July 11.