LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 27

LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

The" prolongation of winter weather, with persistent rain- and absence of sunshine, haa (says the Taieri Advocate) caused \ a considerable shortage of feed for cattle in the Taieri at the present time, and in places where there is' grass, owing to the excee- - e^g- "amount of water in it, cattle are not nmying. Farmers who were wont to purphase cattle for fattening find their operations restricted to a serious extent, owing to the want of feed, and it is estimated hy a gentleman,, in a position to know that there- is fully one-third less cattle in the Taieri at the present time than there has been at this period of the year for the past eight or 10 yeare. The only cattle on the j plain doing well are those on turnips. Those j on the uplands along the East Taieri, such' | as at Hopehill, and at Maungatua, are j satisfactory. The grass along the tableland at East Taieri, having more sunshine, < contains more sustenance, while shelter is j obtainable for the beasts in the gullies. On the plain, however, there is an entire want of 'feed, and the recent hailstorm has cut the. grass entirely ■ away in some ''places. - Mr^J.' A. Duthie, 'of* Milton,., who .recently returned from -a. trip to the Old Country, . informed the Bruce-Herald . that while at , Home,- he •' met an . ex-Australian of some years' experience, who" would not .use a double-furro.w plough, stating as his reason that he 'had "plenty of. horses on the farm to enable the work to be done by the > single-furrow. The same farmer had also , discarded the reaper and binder in favour Of the back delivery, considering the latter machine cheaper and infinitely more preferable. Mr Duthie said that, in his opinion, the farmers at Home were in as good a position as those in New Zealand, and if they adopted modern methods they would l>e on a fair way to making their fortunes, owing to the very high prices obtained for stock and produce. The untoward weather this season is telling on the profits of the dairy farmer, who finds that his butter fat test is the lowest in his experience. The pasturage has no substance in it, and the cattle might almost as well try to exist on water as on most of the grass that has come away under the stimulus of the daily showers and 1 wintry •weather. The result is that butter fat iest at the factory shows a very marked depredation. The condition of affairs is therefore bad for the supplier and for the company. — North Otago Times. TraTfllers in - all parts of Southland report (says the Southland News) an extraordinary growth of koradi sticks and prolific ' 4>loorn on cabbage trees. An old resident connected with .the flax industry states that ■, ie has never seen in Southland such crops of the former, many "being- already in pod. This exceptional growth is regarded by the Natives as an infallible sign of a wet sum- , me'r, and experience so far supports this •Seduction most completely. j The grain crops have come away marvel- J Soiisly during the past fortnight (says the Tapanui Courier), and although late appearjftnoes point to an average crop, the area of ©rain in this district is the smallest for ■aany. years. What constitutes a record sale for hogftefa? in the Winton district has just been ISftde by an exchange of good hoggets for

|£l apiece. An experienced farmer states that, as 'far as Southland is concerned, he . never before heard of this class of sheep realising such a high price. The Winton Record learns from several Bottlers in that district that they have already sold their season's wool clip privately at lOd. -„ Foi* the half-year ended September 30, the Maniototo County Council expended £17 12s 5d on the destruction of small birds. Many practical farmers are beginning to realise that it is a mistake to attempt to work "a large area of land. They have (says the Southla-nd Times) not 'only com© to this conclusion,. but they are trying to place their views before their neighbours.- It is no uncommon thing now to hear a farmer state that it is his belief that it is more profitable to work 200 acres well than to attempt to work 1000 -acres. This is a good sign, and as farmers generally this we -shall, see a.' gradual adoption of better methods of 'farming. "Writing on the 12th inst. the Wangaloa pqrrespondent of the" ,Glufcha. Leader reports. The^sta.te'" of tlie .weather' is -very trying, for - those wb/o'.'are- busy sheep-shearing. -"Very ' few have finished shearing here yet. Every- j thing as ' far as farming is concerned is ] very far 'back here compared with what it j is up north.- When in the North Otago -district recently, I was shown some beautiful j field jof "ytfieat pretty well shot ; the oats were j looking 1 well?- yet" the farmers yip there were grumbling about the lateness of the season. I' told them they had very little to grumble about ; they had good crops and abundance of grass, and, as far as lateness was concerned, it was nothing compared with the j district I came from. The spring has proved to be a,/ very backward one, arid likewise , the summer so far. We have had very little j sunshine, but plenty of cold rain and north--east winds, which kills everything in the shape of vegetation. What we want is more -sunshine to put some, heat into _the ground to give the crops a start. There is not so much ground under crop this 1 season in comparison with that of previous seasons. The farmers are sowing more i down in grass, intending to keep more sheep and do less grain growing, as the farmer, .after paying all expenses in connection with grain growing, finds out at the end of the i season that his share is nil, it amounts to j this — that the cost - of its production has I increased _ and its market value has dimin- ' isbed. What is at the bottom of all the j <evil is this-, the increase on its cost of pro- j | duotion has been greatly "brought about ! principally by too much wretched legisla- , tive interference with the industrial economy i of the colony. <* } The Hyde correspondent of tKe> Mount Ida- Chronicle writes: — The late rain has been particularly welcome to farmers, 'as the - drought was 'becoming serious, both grass and crops barely holding their own, while the work of preparing land for turnips was doubly severe, and " in some cases was I impossible.. Grass is plentiful « and looking ['well,; but crops" are very, backward, k -m:any ! having not yet covered the ground. Turnip j sowing is now the chief work, and a large \area is being put in, both in raised drill and broadcast. Among the early-sown crops the_ "fly" has 'been busy, and resowin^'has i been found necessary. Raised drilling seems to be becoming more popular every year, and this is no doubt due to the improved applij ances for drilling and sowing the se^d I whereby a lot of labour is saved and the i expense and trouble of thinning reduced to a minimum. The x marking of lambs and reckoning of percentages is now past, and on the whole, the increase has been very good, ranging from 116 to 95 per cent, in paddocks, and on the hill from 80 to 94 per cent. Shearing is now starting, several small flocks being already "cut out" and I many are just starting. Stock are looking 1 remarkably well, and th© wool is in good condition, although somewhat light. In the store sheep line no sales have yet been made, but a buyer from North Otago was in this district the other day, inquiring for two and four-tooths off the shears, but I do- not know /if any business resulted. Matters' in connection with our long delayed creamery have at last resolved themselves into definite shape — to wit, the shape of the building, and early in the New Year 1 this new industry will be started among us. i Writing on the 12th inst., the Kurow corespondent of the Oamaru Mail contributes the following items : — For the past fortnight "or so there has been a good deal lof broken weather. Showers which were invaluable to tilie various crops have fallen J intermittently^ and while proving valuable j in one direction, they have somewhat re- j tarded shearing operations. Shearing is in ' full swing, but I hear 'that some of the ' stations round about are working short ' handed. Sheep this season are shearing vory J well, and that together with the good price's ' ruling for wool and lambs, will make th© i present year a Tgpj.p2Xsm qg« liuLjiaaloja-

lists. It is fortunate that this is so, for the disastrous year of '03 must have proved a heavy handicap to many of them. All the cereal crops are promising, wheat being in the ear, while grass is very plentiful. Turnips in drills are looking very well so far, and if a few showers can be depended on from time to time there is every prospect of it being a prosperous year for the agriculturist also. The local creamery is going ahead, anc^, I understand that the present supply of milk is in excess of what has been previously supplied. A case in which John Muir, of Fortification, near Fortrose, sued Henry Hands for £2, damage done to his sheep through defendant ' going through his property with a dog, came before Mr W. S. Riddell, S.M., at Invercargill on Thursday last. Plantiff stated that injury was done to his ewes- through .being disturbed. The Magistrate imposed 'a penalty of £1, with costs £2 33. — Mr Stout appeared for plaintiff, and Mr W. Macalister for defendant.

At "Addington saleyards last week there were sold for Mr S. Wilson, Papakaio, 70 wool- wethers _-at ,23s -6d and -59 woolly merino at 15s' 6d to 17s lOd.

During,Npvernber 126cwt of butter, valued at £576, and 717 bushels of oats, valued at £57, wore passed through the customs at Oamaru.

The Te Tua Dairy Factory is putting through 1200 gal of milk per 'day. Three hands are employed. The very;" heavy downpour of rain which was experienced in town yesterday (says Saturday's Oamaru Mail) was even heavier in many parts of the country. At Tokarahi a tropical electrical storm prevailed, the rairr pelting down for several minutes in torrents. The storm, which was confined to a narrow strip, continued along the line, falling in sheets. The district right up to Livingstone looks particularly well, rho?& high levels benefiting by the very wet season. On the south line, however, a week of 'good hot weather would prove much more acceptable to farmers.