AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Reports received by the Agricultural Department show that the potato disease Las been confined to the districts in the immediate vicinity of Auckland. The department admits that spraying has not been in some cases so successful as it could! have wished, but it explains that the unsatisfactory results iv those instances have been owing to the failure of 'farmers to act promptly. Potato-growers whose crops are affected have been recommended to burn the stalks, and many of them are following that course. It is probable that next session the Minister of Agriculture will ask for power to quarantine districts in which the crops have become affected by disease.

The Hon. Sir J. G. Ward was interviewed by a Southland Times representative on Wednesday with reference to the decision of the Cabinet not to proceed with the erection of bone sterilising works at Auckland 1 and' the Bluff, and in the oourse of his remarks pointed out that all manures •which, came to the colony were steamed before they were ready for export from, the exporting country. If the bones were subjected to a thorough steaming in the digestors or sterilisers, and on arrival in New Zealand were again put through the sterilising process, there could be very little doubt that a very large proportion of the value would be destroyed by the second operation. Sir Joseph added that lie was satisfied that any trouble which, had arisen in the colony had not been caused by the properly digested article, but by a proportion of raw bones having been put in with the sterilised portions.

The agents of Mr Nicola Lewenberg, chairman, of the- New Zealand Sugar Beet Company (writes the Whangarei corresponctent of the New Zealand Herald), are trying to arrange for a large quantity of beet being grown in the Whangarei district, not only by the European^farmers but by the Natives. It ifi understood that if the matter can be arranged a very large sugarrefining plant will be erected at Waimahunga, near the Grahamstown where there is plenty of water for the purpose. The pulp is very valuable for food for milch cows, and for .manuring .of crops.

Judging by the present appearance of the earliest cereal crops in the surrounding districts there is every prospect that, with favourable weather, the harvest for 1905 -will be far and away better than that of last s'eaeon throughout this county (says the Ashburton Mail). With the exoeption of a few odd paddocks of early oats in the Seafield, Kyle, and Newlands districts, and in the locality of Dromor© and Chertsey, harvesting operations will not be in full swing till the latter end of January or the beginning- of February. Had warm weather been experienced of late, the harvest would have been much earlier than was the case last year, but, as it is, the cold weather we have had of late has not assisted in hastening the crops to an early maturity. Taken as a whole, the orops are much thicker on thß ground and the growth is more luxuriant than was noted at this period last year, both of which features point to a bountiful harvest return.

A new crime is said to have been created by the Legislature of New Zealand. At a conference of Road Boards held at Ashley, it was stated that it is now illegal to sell grass on roads, to cut it, or allow cattle to eat it. A member of Parliament who was present at the conference said he thought this law had been passed, but owing to the rush at the end of the session he could not say how the law stood until he received a printed copy of the statutes he had helped to> pass.

The blackbird Is becoming a menace to the farmer in the Wairarapa district. It is said that it feeds on the young green rape, and one farmer in the Opaki states that the whole of his rape crop this season has been practically devoured.

The maize and oat orops in the Bay of Plenty district have suffered considerably from a succession of heavy westerly winds and cold weather. Some farmers who had their maize well up have had to resow. The Picton Freezing Works have made an excellent start this season. Already over 3000 sheep and lambs have been put through, as against about 400 for the corresponding period of last year.

An area of 16,000 acres in North Taranaki, close to the Mokau River, is to be thrown open in small dairy farms at the beginning of the year.

The Wellington correspondent of the Lyttelton Times states that it is assumed thet the Government will station sterilising experts at Calcutta and in Australia for the purpose of inspecting bone dust and bone manure intended for importation into New Zealand, and that Mr Laurie,. Government sterilising expert, will be detailed for this duty in the Commonwealth.

A Masterton sheep-farmer has expressed his intention of travelling on a sheep-train over the Rimutaka to Wellington, with the object of observing for himself the effect of the journey on the sheep. He is convinced that the injury caused to sheep in transit is due to shunting.

A sharp frost on Wednesday night did some damage to potatoes, marrows, and other tender vegetation in and around Invercargill. In some places there was a thin coating of ice on the water in the morning. TEe Patea Press understands that Mr E. P. Blake ha 3 sold the season's output from his cheese factory at the highest price given this season in the colony. The cause of a dearth of shearers in th© Gore district is said to be due (says the Ensign) to the action of several station managers refusing to employ Victorians. These men, it is stated, are of a less contented nature than the average New Zealand shearer, and refuse to work on almost

any frivolous pretext, thereby delaying shearing operations considerably and causing dissension among those engaged in the pursuit.

By th© steamer Moncswai, which left Lyttelton on Friday, 270 Shropshire rams are to be shipped for Sydney. Seventy of these are from the flock of Mr C. W. Reid, of Elderslie, and the others from the flocks of Mr J. O. Grigg (Longbeach), Mr Parry (Timaru), and Mr Chamberlain (Irweil). Two hundred of the number are shipped by Messrs Fields and Royds, on account of Mr Arthur Chamberlain, to the order of a New South Wales firm.

The Taranaki Herald says the police are- investigating reports as to the maiming of stock (horses, cattle, sheep, and even poultry) on farms on the Lower Egmont road. It is reported that several instances of maiming have occurred, and a spiritualistic circle who live in the district have been endeavouring to find out the perpetrator through holding converse with spirit land through their favourite medium. There is a good deal of excitement in the district over the occurrences.

The gate receipts at .the Southland show totalled £501, against £409 last year. The attendance is estimated at 13,000.

Bapton Favourite, a shorthorn bull, was sold for 1200 guineas at the dispersal of the herd of Mr Marr, of Upper Mill, Aberdeen.

The Land Purchase Board has given notice of its intention to resume 4000 acres of the late Mr C. R. Bidwill's Tawaha Station, close to the east side of the "Wairarapa Lake. The price has not been agreed upon, and there will probably be a compensation case to determine it.

The Assets Realisation Board has informed the Hon. C. H. Mills that it will offer by auction in February the well-known Awatere property, in Marlborough.

A record machine sheep-shearing was put up at Smith's Olrig Station, H.B. Twenty shearers in eight and three-quarter hours sheared 4229 sheep, T. Gemmell doing 280 in that time.

The Tiniaru Post of the 12th inst. says : Th© end of last week was favoured with perfect shearing weather in the Fairlie district, and a large number of sheep were put through. The beginning- of the week was sho-very, but stations with sheds of large holding capacity were not. stopped for any length of time. Ashwirik has cut out, Clayton i-nd Sherwood are in full swing-, Rollesby starts to.-d,ay, and sheds further back will commence any time between this and New TFear. On the farms immediately round Fairlie shearing is the order of the day. Several were cut out in time for the fiist wool sale, and some good prices were realised. On . well-known estate got lid for fine crossbred ewe wool, while another topped this with ll£d. Wool is in good' condition, bright and clean. It is, however, a little lighter than usual. Shearers are not too plentiful, and one large shed has had to work with two m«r short fcr some time. As soon as the big shed* are cut out the men are either snapped tip by. the farmers or else they go on further back. The iSUverstream wool-scouring works made a start a fortnight ago, and have already put through a good number of bales. Sheep feed is fairly plentiful, and all stock are doing andl looking well.

Mr T. G Lilioo, manager of the Timara Municipal Abattoirs, reported that during the month of November 137 cattle, 1009 sheep andl lambs, 45 pigs, and 12 calves were killed at the (borough abattoirs, and none of these were condemned.

During the past month the following stock * was slaughtered at the Christchurch Abattoir:— 77s cattle, 6598 sheep, 850 lambs, 418 pigs, 245 calves. Carcases were condemned as follows: 14 cattle, 5 sheep, and' one pig-. The wool of the first prize English Leicester ewe hogget at the Courtenay show, bred and exhibited by Mr C. Rudd, Greendale, yielded the handsome return of 11s.

An examination of the- books of the Argentine Meat Preserving Company showed a deficit of £21,000. Henry Mott, the secretary, has been committed" for trial at the Guildhall on the charge- of embezzling £4000 of the company's funds by falsifying the ao counts.

The Australian Meat Tracks Journal of the 6th inst. writes: The South Australian frozen lamb season opened with great suddenness. Up to the end of October only 9560 ora-cases ■of lanab had been sent away, but November commenced with a shipment of 28,592 carcases, and the total to date amounts to 146,480 carcases, and it is estimated that before the- year closes nearly 200,000 carcases will have been shipped from Adelaide. Last year's total was 193,942. Up to date the lamb exports from other Australian States are as follo.vs: — New South Wale«, 80,710 carcases, compared with ] 4.527 carcases last year ; Victoria, 159,583 carcases, compared! with 1D5.122 carcases last year ; and Queensland 1 , 1662 carcases, compared with 4246 carcases during 1903. Therefore, it is not probable that the lamb exports from the Commonwealth will exceed last year's total by very much, in spite of the large shipments made during November. The annual report of the directors of the Gear Meat Company for the year ended November 30 states that, including 1 the amount brought forward, and after making allowance for depreciation and payment of interim dividend' (4 per cent.), there remains a balance of £14,700 17s 2d, which the directors recommend for appropriation as follows: — In payment of a dividend 1 of 4per cent, for the half-year ended! November

30, £3680 ; in payment of a bonus of 2 per cent., £1840; to be carried forward, £9180.

According to th© London Meat Trades Journal some smart butchering work has been done by three killers in Scotland. These men succeeded in dressing three bullocks, in prime condition, in the record time of 17min ll^sec. The competition, which was watched: t>y a largo number of people, commenced at 6.50 and was over before- 7 o'clock, and experts stated that the work was done in th© most approved manner.

Mr W. JL. Skinner, factor for the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, died at his residence, Drumin, Glenlivet, on Saturday, October 22, afte. a brief illness. Mr Skinner succeeded his father in the faotorship of the Upper Banffshire estates of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon fully 30 years ago, andl the responsible- and often difficult duties attaching to that position he has all these years discharged with "a tact, discretion, and fairness which won for him the universal respect of the farming oomniunity with which he was so closely associated. Himself a prominent agriculturist, he was always fully conversant and closely in touch with farming affairs throughout the wide districts with which he was officially connected, and was thus a very -ompetent medium, between landlord and tenant at all times and seasons. He was held in great esteem on the Richmond and Gordon property, and many of the tenants and ethers on these estates will feel that, in the death of Mr Skinner, they have lost a warmhearted and considerate friend. He was never married, and was aged about 62. Dr H. R. Mill, the director of the British Rainfall Organisation, has lately made- a detailed analysis of the records of rainfall obtained! over a long period of years by observers in most parts of the British Isles, and has described the- results in an elaborate paper read before the Institute of Civil Engineers. Taking th© whole of the British Isles, the amount of rain which falls on the average in a year would cover the entire country to a depth] of 39£ in. In England alone the mean annual rainfall is 31^in ; in Wales, 49£ in; in Scotland, 47in; and in Ireland, 42in. An average rainfall under 25in occurs in three places : — (1) A very narrow strip round the Moray Firth, (2) a triangular area about the Thames Estuary, and (3) a large portion of East Central England, south of the Humbsr. The whole centre of England, as well as a strip along the East Coast of Scotland, and a small patch around Dublin, has a rainfall between 25in and 30in. The rest of Scotland and' Ireland receive more than 30in. The parts of England receiving an annual rainfall of 40in or more include the Lake District and parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, the wettest district being around) Seathwaite, Cumberland, where the rainfall exceeds lOOin. The whole of Wales has a rainfall of about 40in, and around Snowdon theamount rises> to IOOm or more. Cornwall and Devon are also wet parts of the country, the centres of heavier rainfall occurring on Exmoor, Bcdmin Moor, and Dartmoor. The excess of rain on our west coast in comparison with the east is due to tha prevalence of south-west winds hill of moisture from the Atlantic.

A purebred Berkshire boar and sow from the Ruddington Hall herd were ilandedi at Lyttelton from London en the 12th inst. for Mr G. E. Rhodes. The animals were sent to quarantine for the customary period. Recent heavy rain has haoi disastrous effects on growing crops in the comparatively heavy land 1 of the Flemington, Willoughby, and Long'beach districts. The effect will be beneficial, if anything, on the lighter land in the _Ashburton County. As the result of the colcii rain many deaths among shorn sheep are reported) from Mount Sorners, Fairfield, and Dromore districts and the "vicinity.

The North British Agriculturist of November 2 writes:— lt is reported that the yearling bull Elvethan Conqueror, which won for Lord Calthorpe- the first prize at the Royal, has been soldi in the Argentine at the record price of £2707. El'vethan Conqueror was sired by the Bapton-bred l bull, Bapton Glory, and' he was bought at the Royal show by Mr Alexander Bruce, Dublin, wiho has apparently found) that purchase a very good speculation. In Glasgow recently Sheriff Scott Monerieff gave an important decision in a case of interest to dealers in butter. An East End dairyman was charged with having sold butter containing 85.27 per cent, ol foreign fat. The prosecution contended that the invoice produced did not constitute a guarantee-. The invoice was headed •'Bp^t Irish Butter." His Lordship gave judgment finding that respondent was entitled' to rely on the invoice as a guarantee. The statute, the sheriff remarked, recognised an invoice as a guarantee, and the invoice referred to bore out that it was

"best Irish butter." Should the decision have been- otherwise, the conditions unclei which Irish cream butter have of late years been marketed would be severely compromised, the guarantee being, in nearly all instances, recorded! at the foot of the iuvoic°. It is passing strange (remarks the Dublin Farmers' Gazette) how desirous some people arc to assist us iv increasing ovir output of "best"' Irish butter. It is indeed an age of philanthropy.

The Imperial Brass Spray Pump: "With Stream and Fine Spray Nozzle. — Made cj j American noted manufacturers. Aie obtainable from NiiiMO and Blaib, Dunedin. Fru«t- J growers and Orchardist» should use thepv. [