AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 7

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

' "The- other day we bought land at £7 per acre," said the Premier at Shannon, "that was originally sold for ICfe an acre, and was subsequently bought from the small settlers by a company at about 25s per acre. The total sum paid for the/ Cheviot Estate was £63,000, and the Government some years afterwards paid £273,000 for it. Today it is worth over half a million."

The Hawke's Bay province is in a very prosperous condition at the present time. Farmers generally have had an excellent season. Food for stock is plentiful, whilst the harvest has been a very satisfactory one. Rain, however, would be welcome, as there has been a fairly long spell of cir weather.

A number of cattle have died in the Minyip district (Vie.) recently, and a, post mortem examination of one of the animals revealed traces of phosphorus poisoning. Portions of carcases of rabbits were found in the rumen. The owners had been laying phosphorised preparations for rabbits.

The Dairy Commissioner (Mr J. A. Kinsella) intends this year, if possible, to get the .report for his division of the Department of Agriculture published earlier than usual, so that the recommendations and suggestions for the new season may get into the hands of the farmers before the season commences.

" I am satisfied that sheep farming- is r.ot an exact science." — The Chief Justice in the Flstxbourne eas^.

Messrs W. G. Aleorn and G. Gordon. Church of Christ evangelists at Gore and Mataura respectively, purpose leaving the colony shortly for America to study for the ministry in a Texan university. The s.s. Wanaka brought about 25C0 sheep to Lyttelton from Napier on Saturday night, making a total of about 5600 landed during the week. On Sunday morning about 1100 sheep from Nelson were landed out of the s.s Alexander.

Mr Rowley, who has been promoting interest in the pipe-clay deposits at Kakahu, has procured several tons of clay and taken them to the Temuka brick kilns. It is expected that the manufacture of articles for which the clay is suitable will commence shortly.

The Auckland Star understands that close on 1500 sacks of this season's southern wheat have been rejected by the northern mills as being unfit for milling, though it was shipped from, the south as. prime milling. An estimate of the stock in Queensland on January 1 gives an increase of 183,793 cattle and 2,800,884 sheep during the year.

The Queensland wheat crop is officially estimated at 2,149,663 bushels, being an average of 14.24 bushels to the acre. The Kaponga (Taranaki) Dairy Factory will pay out £2600 for March, a stun which, according to the Mail, is far ahead of last year's cheques. Mr T. Croft, Ashley, has a. yield of 60 bushels of wheat per acre and 90 bushels of oats, which is one of the best crops from the Ashley district.

A Waipawa resident who drew a section in the Lindsay ballot has since been offered (and has refused) £400 for a transfer of it. A Kaikora man, in like manner, refused an offer of £250 for his section.

A Lincoln sheep brought into Taihape the other day had been running wild for the past three years. It was estimated that the sheep was carrying about 401b of wool.

The sheep was in splendid condition, notwithstanding this great growth of wool The 56 selectors who will take up their residence on the Lindsay » y eftlement, recently thrown opetn by the " Government, will make a total of 420 selectors (apart from their wives and families) who have been placed on the land in the Hawke'a Bay and Poverty Bay districts by the Government under "The Land for Settlements Consolidated Act. 1900." These are distributed over the following acquired properties: — Raureka, 19; Elsthbrpe, 45; Waimarie, 18 ; Poupare, 9 ; Tomoana, 13 ; Mahcra, 33; Willows 22; Hatuma, 62; Manga-o-toro, 2b ; j*.umeroa, 14 ; Forest Gate, 23; Argyll, 60; Wigan, 16; Lindsay, 56. In the North Canterbury district (says the Press) some of the potato crops, in spite of the fact that the hauhns have withered off prematurely, will give good yields. The same remarks apply to &outh Canterbury. Mr H. Jillet, of Ohau, intends going in extensively for fruit culture. He has this season placed an order for over £300 worth of fruit trees. Included in the order was a line of 1000 Japanese plums. When completed the orchard will extend over 50 acres of first-class land. A giant sunflower was on view at Gore recently. This horticultural monster, which was grown by Mr Gavin Dickson, of Orama, is 9ft 3in in height, and the bloom 19in in diameter.

Ths Taieri and Peninsula Company's payment for milk for the month of March was £20,868. being at the rate of 9Jd per 1b for butter fat. For next month (says the North Otago Times) the rate will be raised to 9kl per lb, if not more. The directors have been advised by their South African agent that their brand is being very freely pirated by unscrupulous persons in that country, and at a meeting- of directors held Jast week it was resolved, to forward to the agent a. power of attorney, and authority to take the necessary legal proceedings for the protection of the company's interests.

The annual meeting cf the Ashburton A. and P. Association was held on the 15th inst. It was reported that the life members numbered 42 and the. ordinary members over 500. It was decided "to consider the advisability of the country districts, with a view to increasing the membership. A comparison of the rrore important >terns of tht> balance sheet with those of 1903 shows a decrease of £74 3s 6d in receipts for entry fees and space, for which, the absence- of implements was responsible, and a decrea-e of £28 19s 9d in gate money, caused by the unfavourable weather. The following officers were elected: — President, Mr James Small; vice-president, Mr R. B. Coward ; treasurer, Mr J. Tucker ; auditor, Mr W. Pickles ; and a representative district committee.

On the 12th inst. (says the Xew Zealand Herald) Messrs Jackson, Aspinall. and Stevens, three members of the Southern Flour-millers' Association, waited upon the board of directors of the Northern Roller Milling Company, with a view to fixing the selling prices for flour on the Auckland n-arket. Their efforts to arrive at an understanding were, however, unavailing, the beard refusing to entertain the proposals put forward, or to move from the entirely irdependent position hitherto maintained. Vhen the Auckland millers declined, in the first instance, to join the southern combine the a«ociation sought to force, their hands by putting large quantities of southern flour on the Auckland market at considerably reduced rates on those charged in the pouth and at Wellington ; but this did not have the desired effect, and the Northern Roller retaliated by invading the Wei. lington market, thus entering into competition with the combine in its own strong hold. It '"s this step, no <3oubt, that has caused the association to once more send delegates to Auckland, in the hope cf ananging for a uniform price for flour on the local market.

The Premier stated at Levin that two years ago, when he warned the farmers against exporting- too many sheep, they a-'ked, "What did he know about sheep?"' They went on their way, and the result was tl-at the colony had now three million fewer sh«ep than it had four years ago. Making allowance for thn price of sheep and wool, this meant that the colony had lost about two million pounds sterling-. ''Good and aii as dairying is," said Mr S-eddon, '"no money could have been in■*e«ted to give the same returns as if that two million had been employed in sheep."' The Yorkshire Post understands that, as a result of the action of the butchers in reference to the live-weight dispute at New York, the farmers intend to solve the boycott by opening a direct meat supply store on a large =eale in the city. A committee with this object in view has been formed, and already a substantial capital is promised for the enterprise. The movement has the sympathy and support of many of the leading land owners in the district, and the necessary steps towards organising the scheme are being taken.

Aii interesting story is told of the late Barl of Southed. The famous breeder of cattle was justly proud of his picturesque Highlanders, and probably the last note that he wrote was one to his manager, asking him to arrange for a parade of the principal animals in front of Kinnaird Castle, as he wi s hed to see them once- again before he should go hence. The request of the dying nobleman was duly attended to, and his lordship was carried on a couch to the

window where he could see the animals that he loved so well paraded before him. Manure should be considered as one of (he crops, and its quality should be maintained more than the quantity, as bulk may add nothing to its value. In many respects the manure crop is the most important of all, for the reason that, to a considerable extent the yields ot the other crops arc more or less dependent upon the manure, so th^t, in securing a large quantity of manure, the farmer is aiding very materially in increasing the yield of the oihers. Profitable farming must be on -i foundation, and the best foundation is n~anure, for ifc not only influences the yield, but tli3 quality of the products of ih-o farm. A* tha better quality of products enhances the price, the aim should always be to excel in quality. The faijt of many whj accumulate a large manure heap is that they rely too ir-uch on th r quantity. Tbo more concentrated the plant food, ihe lower tha cost of spreading hi proportion to ihe lenonts derived; heii'-e quality should bo maintained Ly not ailowiiig lo=-! from rains or by oveihcatl'v,' of ths heap. — American Fertilise 1 -.

The Timara Post of the l£th in*t. states that weasels ap jear to be multiplying in parts of the South Canterbury district. Yesterday afternoon, two gentlemen strolling along the railway line near Scarborough saw three of these animals, one of which wai killed by a dog It. would also appear that rabbits ore coming 1 nearer to\\n, as two Pareora youths yesterday arrived home from Cannington- Flat with '24- of them in their bag. which they ha-d shot in two or throe hours. The boys said that had they liked to work their bag would have held double the number, so plentiful were the bunnies.

A committee meeting of the Ellesmere A and P. Association was held on the 18' h irtsr ;1 Mr W. Watson (president) in the chair. The subject of anthrax was discussed at length, and it was decided to give other associations every assistance to prohibit the importation of bones. It was resolved to" send delegates to the agricultural conference to be held in Wellington during the session of Parliament.

A line of 3750 shorn fat lambs was recently purchased by Messrs "VV. B. Clarkson and Sons from Mr H. Acton-Adams, of Tipapa. They were a very fine draft, and it is believed that this is the largest number taken from a grazier this season in one lot. Over half of the lambs were fattened on grass, and the balance on rape and turnips. The lambs have been sent to Islington to be frozen. — Christchurch Press.

The decision of the Board of Agriculture nos to adopt compulsory dipping (says the Mark Lane Express of March 6) is being very much criticised by leading sheep bleeders from nearly every part of the country. It is generally felt that the decision is one much to be regretted, and opinion is freely expressed that the Govern, ment lias lo^t a great opporutnity to rid the country once and for all of a disease that is unquestionably causing great loss of trade in _ stud rams. It must also be further pointed out that so long as the disease continues to exist the loss and trouble in connection with the ordinary sheep transactions afc Home will continue. Our colonial brothers in Australia lauqji at our weakness in this matter. Out there the question was thoroughly tackle -1, but here at Home, in a well-enclosed country, with every facility at hand for complete isolation, the same half-hearted system is still to be pursued, notwithstanding the finding cf that comroittfo of experts which were practically ii animous in favour of compul c ory dipping-.