WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2667, 26 April 1905, Page 21

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

{Fkom Our Own Correspondent.) We iiav-e had a good deal of rain this last week, but the weather The has been mild, and there YTeatlier. is a little more growth.

Still, it is very changeable, and it was nearly a frost yesterday morning. Heavy rain is reported from Wanganui, and the river has risen a few feet, which will enable Irafne to be. resumed, for which the settlers in the Waimarina will be thankful ; but it is to be hoped that there lms- not been too much rain, as in that case the roads will be impassable. It is hard to say what sore of weather would suit Pipiriki : something like what they get on the Lower Darling in Australia might do, as there sometimes, they may have had no rain for 12 months within a radius of 500 miles, yet the rhcr will be running bank high, «o that they have a highway available when other conditions are at theii worst.

I do not thirik there is anything very «.„ , startling in stuck matter*,

only that cattle have made a- move upwards, and at la?t week's =al-es. there was an advance of from 5 to 10 per cent. The advance wa-s mostly in young cattle and fat cows. Some seem to think

that beef will be scarce when winter sets in. but I hardly think so, a.? a great deal of the cattle-fattening country was r.ot affected by the drought, and there must be plenty of beef in sight for home consumption, and the Londor market does not give much encouragement to export. flowevei', it is unwise to prophesy unless you know, and it i« a hard job to form any estimate when the commodity is distributed iv a closely-settled district like this.

The entries for the winter -show to he

heldi at Palmerston North The Manawatu have come in very well as

A. and P. regards butter and chee?e, Winter Shoir. there being 77 entries cf

buttex and "54 of cheese, wl ioh forms another record. lam nearly tired of reading or writing the woitl "record." We appear to be living in an age of records- but seeing that this is a good one-, and in the intpre&t of t^o of the chief of our export*, and considering the pessimism expressed by many at the Inauguration of a winter show at Palmerston, it is a wonderful record. In ISO 3 there were only 22 entries of butter and 20 of cheese, making a total of 44- of dairy products, while to-day the magnificent entry of 131 in dairy products is anrounccd. It will bo well worth going- to see such an exhibit as that alon-e, and dairyme-i especially will have a chance of comparing tbo work of the- different fac tories over a great part of New Zealand, and the educational value should be immense to experts, such a= factory managers, and to director*, or would-be directors, of dairy companies. The disappointing part is the paucity of entries

in tho grain and root section^. This i q roth'ng new. however, at any of our =ho«» in the north, where these sections ne\or fill as they should do. We cannot expect to have «uch a =hew as Dunedin in that respect, as agriculture is only in its infancy, and very small at that, on his Coast ; but although we grow nothing 1 of that kind for export, still, farmers ought to make a better show than they do, and before next s-cason comes round I hope to s-ee the association Taking steps to have agricultural products better represented. As one means of augmenting entries, I would suggest offering special prizes for samples of grain that the exhibitors have for sale in bulk, as although we export nothing tl -ere are many who would like a change of seed if they could find any better than their own ; ar.d if prizes, ware ottered lt.r the host sample — =ay. a bag. the exhibitor to hav-e so many bags for sale at a price at a certain percentage above the ruling price of the day. — I think growers would take advantage of the chance of the advtitisement and enter freely, as whether the exhibitor gob a prize or not his &tuff would be on view, and buyers, if ih-ey could not get the first-prize lot, might- be glad of one of the other lots that had been p.v"?cd by the judges. Such a competition, if once ma- igurated, should bring entries f^-m all oier the colony, and make the ?ho\v in grain more than n. metropolitan one in name only. The present system of •showing a bushel of grain or potatoes or other agricultural product which is generally double dres-sed, and sometimes more than that even — namely, hand-picked, — gives would-be buyers very little idea of what the bulk of a grower's crop is, and there is no

warranting! if he did! buy seed from -tho exhibitor that he would get anything like the sample exhibited. The uncertainty of piocuring better seeds stops many from trying to improve on their products. I have known of many instances of farmers sending away for a change in seed potatoes, both to the South Island and to Hau'ke's Bay, and being thoroughly disappointed with them when they came to hand. With grain we have a better chance of getting a change, as the merchants import a gcod deal every year ; but if prizes were given individual growers could send samples, stating the quantity they" ha^e for sale: but the condition of entry is one for the as=osiatiou to work out.

While on show matters I may mention that at a general meeting of the committee last Saturday the amended prize list as biought up by the sub-committee was adopted. lam glad to see that they have decided that all she-ep -entered for exhibition must be entered in one or other of the New Zealand Flock Eooks — of course, excepting fat exhibits; and that tho Cattle Committer has followed suit, and all cattle must be in a Herd Book. This question has been discussed for years, and the outcome of these regulations was the onlj- onopossible if the show is to continue to bo metropolitan. The sheep sections were amendec by striking out some, that did not fill last yo.T and adding others. As a result of the change in breeding since the ad\cnt of the- fat lamb trade one- of the new seciions is a prize for «horn ram hog-gets in the Border Leicester, Southdown, Shropshire, and Hampshire Down classes They have increased tho prizemoney :n the sheep clashes by £28 and in the cattle by £44. The doggy men ought to be pleased, as the increase in that division is £66. There ar<* other minor alterations, but the result of the deliberations of the Management Committee shows that it will endeavour to make Palmerston North show, if not the leading, at lea^fc one ot the leading shows of the colony.

I bare to record the death of two of the lar«est farmers on the Obituary. Rangitikei. Mr James Howard, of We«toe, died after undergoing' an operation. I saw him in the -aleyards only about a month ago, so his death came as a surprise 10 nn,= t people. He had been on the RanguJkci over 20 years, having bought the AVestoe Eatate- froni the late Sir W. Fox, who built a good house and did a great deal of tree-planting, so that it is a prominent landmark to travellers by rail after they -pass the Rangitikei going north. On the estate, which amounts to about 2COO ai «?. Mr Howard used to devote a great deal of attention to growing grain and hay, and this last season he had 500 acres in grain, which, I think, is the largest area held by one person on tho Coast. He was of a retiring disposition, and never took any prominent part in public matters, except thov pertained to the farming interest, when in his quiet way he tried to do his bc^t. He will be missed by tho older race of settlers from the saleyards and wheiever farmer ra do congregate. — The other d- axh that comes horns to m© is that of Mr Win. MacGroeor, of Rangiwima. Deceased only bought his ■estate last year, so he wa« not much known, but the few that had made his acquaintance regret hi* sudd-en removal by drath. He wa^ a vory old: *£-ttW in the Oamaru di-tuut. whop tbo AVitr ess circulates extoii^iv^lv. AXTTQT'A OTI^.

Intimation has been received from (he Railway Department to the effect that tho daily mail service between Duncdm anrl Queon^town will be continued till the end of May.