WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2689, 27 September 1905, Page 21

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

(From Our Owir Coreesfckdent.) The fine weather we have been enjoying so long has broken at last The with a snap. On WednesWeatiser. day morning we woke up

to find winter returned, and one of the coldest days w-e have had this spring, and since then we have had heavy rains ; but to-day (Friday^, although still raining, the atmosphere is much warmer, and all kinds of vegetation are growing at a great rate — especially weeds As yet there are no floods in the rivers, but all cieeks and watercourses are running full, and the land is very wet, all work on the farm being consequently at a standstill. I have been writing that all grain crops were sown — and thej should have been, considering the long spell of fine weather we have had, — so that I was astonished, while at the sale to-day, to find quite a number of farmers grumbling that the rain had not kept off for another day or two. One would say, "I only had seven acres to sow," and another, "Ten acres to finish; but I could not express much sympathy with them, as most of their exouscs were frivolous. Farmers have really nothing to grumble at this season, as the oldest inhabitant never saw agricultural work so well forward in September as is now the ease. The local papers have had paragraphs this last day or two bewailing the destruction of lambs and shorn sheep by the cold snap and rain, but I can hear of no one who has suffered any loss, lambing being nearly over and the lambs having found their feet, and, being in good condition, are fit to contend against a great deal worse weather than we have had. The number of sheep shorn must be very small —only a few rams and forward wethers, the owners of which would no doubt see that they were got into shelter.

I hear of some marking, having been done, an-d, as was -exi^-ccx-G-tl, the Lamb i^erccntages are ruling high Marking. — up to 100 per cent, and

over. By the way, as pointed out by "Hcpcrc," the system of calculating the. percentage adopted by many n very misleading. The true percentage should be got at by taking tho number of ewes yarded when the lambs are marked ; c o that when I hear of any phenomenally high number being given I want to know how many dry e\ve» have been taken out to go to the butcher.

As I have said, there aro few sheep shorn as yet. Previous to the fat Shearing. lamb trade cominc into vogue, when mo=t farmers had wethers they wanted to get topped up eaily they tiicd to shear as 0.-uly as the weather would allow, and shearing wethers was fairly general by Oc:obcr 1: but now. on some farms v\ others arc nearly an \m- ! known quantity, so that shearing will be considerably laf-cr ur.-io=<; the weather comes out bright and ivaim ngu'n shortly.

The question of rshen to shear depends altogether on locality, the season, and the clasa of sheep kept. To got early fat wethers, early ehcarius is of jjreat advau-

tage, as they will fatten more readily after the fleece has been removed, and by having a month or two's growth of wool they are nob so liable to get bruised when being trucked to the factory. On the other hand, i'l shearing the ewes it is better to let the wool be well risen, as the shearing can be so much better done, and the wool, having more yolk, shows better when put on the market.

Now that shearing is at hand, I wish to again impress upon wool Wool. growers the advantages of

classing their wool and seeing that it is properly packed. I notice that the* New Zealand Woolbuyers' Association are at last taking action to protect themselves. The wonder is that they have suffered so long', as, longer back than I care to remember, the talk amongst wool-men has been the careless, if not fraudulent, manner in which New Zealand growers put their wool on the market. I suppose the high price 'of wool has something to do with the determined stand the buyers are now taking, and it would have been to the best interests of farmers if they had done so years ago ; and now it behoves every seller of wcol to see that he gets a copy of the conditions of sale that govern the wool sales throughout the colony. One of the conditions is: "That, in the event of false packing being discovered, the seller is liable to imprisonment for obtaining money tinder false pretences." Amongst the definitions of false packing, the rolling-up of pieces and locks in the fleece is included. If the buyers were to insist on this clause, I -doubt whether there would be room in the gaols for all who would be brought to book for this practice. These definitions appear to be too drastic ; still, as farmers will not be persuaded to adopt tetter methods of marketing their wool I suppose ii is for the best that they should be compelled to do so.

London cables on Wednesday announcing a. further rise of from 5 to 7£ Wool per cent, in wool was wel-

Prices. come news, as many feared

that the fact of peace having been proclaimed would have had the effect of at least arresting a further advance and some thought there might have been a drop. _ However all's well, and farmers are 100-king forward to having a record clip at record prices.

The public in general, and farmers in particular, have at present Swelled a bad attack of this cornHead, plaint in consequence of the

many honours gained during been proclaimed would have the racehorses have scooped the pool in Sydney ; Hereford cattle breeders of the North Island have again taken the highest honours at the Royal Agricultural Show at Melbourne, Field Marshal having once more secured the championship, while a heifer, bred by Mr Stuokey, took honours in the female section ; a New Zealand cyclist made a record in Australia ; and our football team has won its first match against England. With all this, and seeing that our products— wool. -fat lambs, mutton, and butter — command the best prices in the markets of the world, perhaps it is excusable that we should feel our heads a bit swollen. But" it won't do to sit down and enjoy the pleasurable sensation, and the sooner we apply a cold bandage to the affected part the belter, and be up and doing, using all our energy to improve our products and keep in the van. No body of producers can afford to stand still; infact, we cannot stand still, as unless we arc improving we must be going back. In respect to fat Limbs and butter Australia is coming up very fast, ancT given a cycle free of droughts I should not be surprised to see them boat New Zealand, both in quantity and quality, with those products.

Since last report yardings of sheep have not been so hea-vy, and Markets. there is little alteration in

price. Hoggets make up the majority of the entries, and fair ordinary may be quoted at from 16s to 18s, small lots of culls selling at fi-om 10s upwards. Farmers still persist in bringing in ewes with young lambs at foot ; but I was gUnrl to s.ee at yesterday's sale that buyers stood off, and for the fkst lot offered no otv> would make a bid of any kind. For the other lot, after a deal of persuasion from the auctioneer they were sold at 18s 3d. They had about 100 percent, of lambs, aaid if the owner bad kopt them another week or two till the lambs got stronger he wo'i'd probably have got 25?. It is to be hoped that buyers will continue tho boycott, and decline to touch such stuff, and thus teach such men. through their pockets, thn fir=t principle of humanity. After all, the most effective remedy for most evils is through the pocket. Al Feiklmg sale an extra good lot of Lincoln owe hopqets brought 275. They were bred by Mr E. G. Riddiford. They were wil bred had l>ecn well done for, and were consequently cheap at the money

The demand for cattle Is improving a little

and beef has gone up a I Cuttle. shilling or two per 1001b. Well-bred grown cattle are inquired for, and I have hoard of several snips of store cows and bullocks during th© , week; but there is still plenty of room for further impro\emeni. The report of the 1 failure oi the trial shipment of chilled bc&S

was a, great disappointment to cattltf owners, as after the sample left in Dun- 1 edin turning out so well, everyone expected great thing? out of the shipment. However,no one need despair, as if the beef can be kept on shore for two months the shipping companies will endeavour to take it Home ANTIQUA OVIS.