AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

On making inquiries from various pro- i duce dealers in Auckland on Thursday a j New Zealand Herald representative was informed that owing to blight the total failure of the local potato crop is expected, and that so far as the probability of Auckland supplying other centres is concerned, it is more than likely that the local supply will be insufficient for local requirements. Almost all the growers in the north are affected, and the disease has now spread to the Great Barrier, which remained free from the ravages of the post last year. The growers at first thought that the disease was in the seed, and the opinion of experts confirmed that opinion, but the general conclusion now is that the disease is in the atmosphere, as crops which are miles away, and which have not been planted from infected seed, are afflicted with the blight. This is the case with the growers at the Great Barrier, for they have not got seed from outside. Regarding the statement that some farmers have found the spraying of potatoes with the Bordeaux mixture ineffective against the blight, the Biological Division is satisfied, from evidence received from different parts of New Zealand, that the mixture, if properly applied, is efficacious. Many instances of this have been mentioned during the last few months. One grower in a Wairarapa town who used the mixture last season was in the fortunate position of being the only man in (he neighbourhood who saved his crop. Similar stories come from the north. Only a few days ago a grower in the Aucklaml Pro-

' vince, who kept his potatoes sound by throe sprayings with the Bordeaux mixture, wrote to the division expressing his satisfaction v. ith this method, and stating that he had an American four-row potato sprayer on the water. It will generally be found that when spraying fails it has been done in a slovenlj, unintelligent; manner. Miss Broen, who was recently appointed a dairy instructor under the Agricultural Department, re to bo stationed m the Taranalri district, With, headquarters at Now Plymouth. The lambing average in the Pahiatua district has been satisfactory. Mr J Jones, of Cracrcft, intends sowing about 70 acres in what is known as t'vou1 sand-headed kail," as an experiment. The kail in question (says the Ashburton Mail) grows to a height of fully 3ft, and Ihrovb i out young shoots right throughout tno winter. , •, • The Ashburton Guardian states that it is understood the Government has purchased a Clydesdale colt from Mr J. C. N. Gn<?g, of Longbeach. . From all accounts the mortality amongst? lambs in the Temuka district owing to tho recent weather has not been as great as was I anticipated, but apparently crops have I suffered severely. A noticeable feature on many of tho small farms in the F eliding district this season 1 is that large plots arc being devoted to onion cultivation. Some of these early ciops present an exceptionally good strike. Reports continue to come to hand regaidin°- the loss of lambs throughout the county difring the last week's ram. Some large graziers have lost upwards of 300 lambs around Springfield and Highbank, while others ,again~ having small flocks have, lost proportionately. It is estimated that the loss this season is in excess of that suffered 1 during last year's storm, which was aocom- ' panied by snow.— Ashburton Mail. I Tho potato crop at Onehunga threatens ' to become almost a total failure this season. Although spraying seems to have ' worked fairly satisfactorily in a few in- ' stances, ir the majority of cases it has ! failed. Several of the large growers have 1 indulged m considerable spraying on up-to- | date methods, but have not been able to I cope with the scourge. ! Mr G. P. Donnelly, of Hawke's Bay, is about to forward 1000 sheep and 200 head of cattle to Durban. The consignment will leave Wellington on October 12, under the supervision of Mr Ximrod Shaw and a staff of assistants. The annual meeting of the Geraldine SaLeyards Company was presided over by W. P. Studholme, chairman of directors. The balance sheet showed a credit balance of £56. It was resolved not to declare a dividend, bub to pay £20 off the mortgage. During the year 36,619 sheep, 97 cattle. 40 horses, and "31 pigs had passed through the yards. Owing to Mr Studholme leaving the district. Mr. W. Sluers was' elected • chairman of the aew directorate. ' Mr Mundell, a well-known stock ownci of South Cantebury, interviewed by_ a representative of the Timaru Herald, stated that some years ago\ he advertised that he would inspect horses at Geraldine with the object of purchasing at remunerative prices animals thst were up to the mark. They had to bs free from disease or imperfections, and have good movement. About 40 horses were submitted, and only 14 or 15 were taken, the prices ranging up to £32. All the rest showed signs of disease, or else if they were otherwise suitable, they were bad movers. Mr Mundell added that the dealer for whom he was acting on that occasion was very particular in his choice of animals, and left New Zealand with only a small shipment, but when he got to India, he found that he was not such ' a good judge of horseflesh as re thought he was, about half of his consignment being rejected by the army authorities. The remainder had to be sold for what they would fetoh in the open market. ' He has since taken up land in Queensland, ! where he breeds horses for India, and is ! doing very well out of it. The annual horse parade under the auspices of the Ashburton Agricultural and Pastoral Association was held on Saturday, 23rd ult- Owing to the recent heavy rams the ground was in a very sloppy condition, but neither this nor the showery weather prevented a really good attendance of farmers from all parts of the district. The programme showed a total entry of 19 horses, including- 5 thoroughbreds, 2 hackneys, i 7 roadsters and carriage horses, and 36 draughts, and of these 43 paraded, tho largest number yet seen together on the Ashburton parade ground. Of the thoroughbreds Finland attracted much fa■vourabla comment. He was brought on the ground in_ the very pink <j£ condition, and was' ""universally admired. Fcrmosan was also looking uncommonly well, and Warrington showed that he has been well looked after during the winter. The two imported English hackneys brought out by Mr J. Withell attracted considerable attention. Roadsters were a, quality-looking, 'serviceable lot. The draught horses and draught colts made- a. very fine display, and taken as a lot they, would be hard to beat in any district, either in New Zealand or Australia. They were well brought otit, and were a credit to their owners and the district generally. All the Peninsula dairy factories haveagain started operations, the majority with improved prospects of good supr>li&s. . Ifc is reported (says the Lj'ttelton Times) tlijt som© factories have arranged for the sale of their output at a satisfactory price. Mr John Holmes, who is now on a business tour through. Australia and Tasmania, lias lost no opportunity, states the -Now Zealand Times, *of talking to the public through the press regarding the prosperous condition of New Zealand's trade and the advantages accruing from the Governmc-.ifc grading sj-stem as applied to our pioduco. A number of leading newspapers have " interviewed" him at length. For exampte the Hobe.ri Mercury of the 12th ult. published over a column talk with him, in which he strongly advocated the appointment of Australasian commercial agents in England airl elsewhere. In the course of his present tour Mr Holmes has met and convened with Mr R. J. Jeffray, the British Board of Trade Commissioner, and Mr J. M'Conechy, representative of the Manchester Ship Canal Company. In regard to the London lamb marked (says the Timaru Horakl), Mr T. G. Lilieo thinks that the overgrown lambs, or '"starved two-tooths," as he calls them, •nhich have been Home during the last two or ihrre years are spoiling both the nun ton and the lamb trade. The farmer's

tendency to keep Iris lambs till they reach up- to 501b in ' weight started about three years ago, when' the freezing companies and other dealers, owing to competition among- themselves, 'star fce'd "buying by the pound, '-and giving as much 'per lb for the big lamb as for .the "small one. Naturally a' farmer -would not send his lambs in early when. ■> by keeping them foi 1 ' a few months, especially if 'feed, [were plentiful, he - could get so' much .more for -them. Five or six years -ago, the dealers, used to . buy the lambs on their 'feet, and gave the preference in price to-^he legitimate lamb; but -since the system of buying by the lb has come into vogue, the tendency has inevitably been to. keep the amimals until they are neither lambs nor sheep. A 501b lamb, -Mr Lilico says, is .inferior eating to genuine .mutton, because it is probably either bred for. size, and so does not' com© to maturity early, -or else through defective mothering or some other cause it has failed to fatten. The- New Zealand Times states that the I>epartmenfc of Agriculture's flock" of Angora goats did very badly last winter, and very few kids were reared. ' The continuous wet weather was, no doubt,, says tfce Secretary lor Agriculture, responsible for the poor results. The' bulk of the nannies have been- transferred to Waerenga, where *a' block of 'land covered .with silvei' wattle and Danthonia has be&n*fenced in for' ■them. The |:floek . of common nannies on JVlotorua Island has, however, done remarkably, well. " The demand for male ' goats is far in excess of the supply.' The -following if 'items of interest are- taken from ,tbe Pastoralists' Review' :^-The latest -invention to exterminate rabbits is- to first catch a rabbit, then fix. a collar something likfc a | Queen - Klizacefch ruffle round Jus 'neck: . This 'Collar as full of an .attractive 'poison. To^ this . collar,~a wire ,about .18in'^ long- is "fixed 'with a hook .at the end., 'This rabbit -runs to 'bis burrow, when the hook is supposed to .catch .the earth. ,Amd" burst -the' ,-collar. , That jrabbit is then, supposed, •"with, othere, jto eat .that .poison..- This is "icing. shown round Sydney at -the present time, .and "the investor- is , angry , because Jie .is" not 'taken seriously. — A case ofmucli interest to pastoralists. who use^ traction degines -was recently heard at Wangaratta, "Victoria. < - The- evidence*- showed that a traction-engine broke through two culverts and. a bridge, and" the Oxley Shire Council sought -to^ refccvei "£l2 4s 6d, being one-third-of the cost of repairs. Judge Moles■worlh 'found that the- culverts and bridge ■were" old and rotten, .and 1 did not meet the- present requirements-jgf traffic, and that they "were never-^constructed to carry such., a -weight as a traction engine, which "was not an excessive weight within -the meaning of the Local Government Act. "C Defendants . had done ,of an unusual 1 or extraordinary ~ kind. Judgment was -given. againit the Oxley Sihire, with .^osts.— lt is ifco\be^hc-ped that .uhe Australian • and New . Zealand ' , Commissioners have i>.otea..|Mie*statement in our report of the>Canadian bull showvthat 'the - Canadian , sacific~ Railway, forwards cattle for show »nd r dispesal.*at a merely nominal - charge from even. A ltt9o *miles away. Our "reporter states that buyers itfr-'Vicfofia, British - Columbia, for example, may"- pifrohase an animal and have- it transported ■ 700 - miles for' 2dol. 7 This, rate "'"K/ppKSsifo- twry -part of Tihe -terrifoses ofc .Alberta"' and -Saskatchewan, as well as. British PolumKa^— The Government .'of ; New 1 South Wales -recently trieS an; experiment.^ They sent gangs of unemployed into ifie country »to oatch rabhits. .One gang, was 'sent to Sunnedah, and Mr W. A. 'Benin good-naturedly agreed to ;take all ,their rabbits, give' them advances,, and their' stores -bill. These men wouldn't" work) .and gradually cleared out,. selling their outfits and sticking 1 to the money.- :The-'New South Wales Government is now going for Mr Bsnn to pay 'the- cost of the tents,, etc. Mr Be>nn next secured a gang of men from Victoria. These men paid their own steamboat and railway fares, and are now earning nearly £4- per week- per, man, and say they never did better. The only difficulty is to 'get men to do the, carting from the rabbiters jfco the meat" works. Any who still venture to doubt that , "there is nothing new under the sun" must surely be converted by the striking illustration of the adage which comes to us from America. That in the land par excellence of novelty and the latest thing a reversion should v have been made- to the ancient method of payment in kind, instead of by the almighty dollar, is passing strange. Yet the thing is simplicity itself. The scheme consists in the leasing of stock to farmers, a share of the produce "bjing paid over as rental. In Massachusetts a company has been formed to apply this method to sheep-farming, and bids fair to have a great success. So, too, with swine and poultry. Nor are the promoters the only Dnes who gain. No doubt the farmer's profits would be larger could he buy his own stock. But he cannot; afford the outlay, or thinks he cannot, and by this means he is ensured a fair return w'thout risk. And everything points to the prospect that the languishing agricultural industries will receive a much-needed lift. — St. James's Gazette. Th© results of the third of the surprise butter competitions conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction for Ireland (says the Field of August 12) have been issued, a»d show t v at -—onorst; tae i eaH ji n g creameries there is a

very level standard of excellence. The judges recommended prizes to fourteen of the 103 competitors. So close were these that while 367 points out of a possible of 4-00 carried off first prize, live were bracketed equal for tenth place with 360 points each. While the first had just under 92 per cent, of the possible, it required 'SO per cent, to come within the prize list. The points were distributed, 240 for flavour," 100 for texture, 20 for colour, and 40 for finish and packiag. Curiously enoughs only "the first prize sample failed to secure full marks for colour, while few marks were lost for packing and finish. The texture was the least satisfactory feature, for only four of the 14- made 90 per cent, or over of the passible for this, while for the most important point of flavour only three failed to reach 90 per cent, or over.- The lowest was under 87 per cent., but this was perfect in colour and finish, and with 92 marks was best in texture, but the loss of so many marks tor flavour put it down to equal tenth. Mr Garfield, the commissioner appointed by Congress to inquire into the beef industry of the United- States, has sent in his report, a- volume of over 300 pages. He states that out of a total of 12,500,000 cattle slaughtered in 1903, six packing companies, known as "The Big Six," killed 5,321,697, or about 45 per cent. II is admitted, however, that they slaughtered nearly 98 per cent, of the cattle killed in the eight leading packing centres — Chicago, Kansas City, South Oraahav East Sit. Lotus, South St. Joseph, Fort Worth, Sioux City, and South. St. Paul, while they also controlled a very large percentage of the beef trade of many large cities,- particularly in the Bast. In •New" they furnished about 75 per .cent.,-*-iri Boston over 85 per cent., and in Philadelphia about 60 per cent. -Instead of "making enormous profits, as commonly supposedi Mr Garfield declares that their ave>rage .profit for-* three years was only about 2 per cent, on the jotal sales, including the products of sheep and pigs, as well as those of cattle". The report has 'been condemned by the' Kansas legislature in a resolution denouncing the Baef Trust in very strong language, and asking for anoiiher Ijation.--3"- A recent report on the trade of Denmark by Captain Boyle-, H.B.M.'s consul at Copenhagen, furnishes some interesting derails of the aid afforded by the State to agricultural and dairy enterprises in that country. Towards the expenses of the woi'k of the economic testing laboratory of the Royal Danish Agricultural School an annual grant of £5556 is made. this institution the butter from the dairies and the bacon from the slaughterhouses are tested, and the experiments on tlsj feeding of cattle and swine on the various trial farms in the country are supervised. These State grants amount to- a sum of about £11,000, and the expenditure- is said to be amply repaid 1 by the advantage*? accruing: to Danish agriculture in the production of butter, bacon, and eggs, of standard excellence. State grants, however, are not limited to .these object4i alone. Over £15,000 i^-fgiven In prizes tor stock at the ■"annual shows, nearly as large a sum to the different breeding societies, while for other purposes ia connection with the encouragement of the breeding and keeping of- stock '£13,330 is annually assigned. A gri-cultural;-experts and judges at shows and their travelling expenses last year received £4400.'- Copses, in agriculture' were given, to cotters at a cost of £2100, and prizes for the cultivation of cotters' farms and expenses in connection therewith absorbed £5000 more. All these subventions, it is stated, have played a useful part in bringing about the marked improvement which has taken, place during the last decade in the quality of stock in the country. Since 90 per cent, of the total exports of Denmark are^agricultural produce, this betokens an important advance. Nearly two million hundredweight of - butter left the country last year, and only- r a very small portion of this was Finnish or Siberian. The value of the eggs was £1,378,000; a falling off of £133,000, due, it is said, to the tot weather, which spoilt a large quantity. The bacon expert is scarcely Jess important than the butter, its value being as much' as £4,460,000, and the number of pigs thus killed for exportation exceeding 1,700,000. Ovor-prcduefcion, however, threatens to reduce prices considerably before long. At a meeting of a number of fanners of the Ashburton district and representatives of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, Mr A. E. Cooper, who has resigned the managership of the Fairfield works, was presented with a gold watch and chain, and with a gold chain bracelet for Mrs Cooper. Mr J. O. N. Grigg made the presentation. The annual horse parade, was held at Geraldine on Wednesday last after the usual live stock sale, when there was a good attendance of farmers and hor^a breeders. Mr J. Mundell acted as marshal, and the show was held near the salcyarcU. Eight Clydesdales, three thoroughbreds, one carriage slallion, and' one pony were paraded. Sheep farmers attending Addington Yards last week had varied experiences to relate of the effects of last week's rain upon the lambing flecks. Some had suffered no losses, most had lost a small number of lambs, and a few, principally owners of snoall flocks, had lost heavily of both ewes and lambs. The total loss is small, and all reports agree that this season's lambing so far is one of the most prolific, with the

smallest proportion of deaths, that has been known for many yesrs. The annual Amuri cattle sale at the Culverden yards on Thursday la«t, was well attended by buyers from Christchurch and elsewhere. The entry was 184- head of fat stock a«d 171 stores, as compared with 100 fat and 250 stores last year. Tha Leslie Hills drafts, always the feature of this sale, were of better quality than lastyear's, which is saying a good deal. The top price for steers at the previous sale was £13 2s 6d, and on Thursday £14 10s. A specially prime lot of 33 Hereford steers, to the breeding of ,vhicb Mr Rutherford has lately been turning his attention, sold at £11 29 6d to £14- 10s each. Other steers ranged from £10 10s to £14- 10s, and Heifers £8 15s to £11 2s 6d. The number of Leslie Hills steers sold was 103, and the average -price £11 18s 6d; the number of heifers 53, and the average price £9 8s 6d. Last year the steers averaged £11 13;. 6d, and the heifers £9 2s 6d. , There was not a strong demand for stores, and tl(e prices were under owners' expectations. The Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association has accepted an offei from Messrs Elworthy Bros., of Pareora, Timaru. to give eight guineas (first prize £5 5s a'ld second £3 3s) for hunters at the metropolitan show, any weight, which have not won a prize on any showground in hunters' classes up To the" date of entry. " Very early for new potatoes !'' is a remark often heard in front of vegetable vendors' premises in Wellington during the past day or two (says the New Zealand Times). But the bags of white-skinned potatoes exhibited in the stores are a very long way from being New Zealand "new" potatoes, though it is alleged »-that some unscrupulous dealers are palming them off as such. They are, as a matter of fact, the famous Burbank potato, all the way from California, imported on account of the marked shortage of local supplies (caused by the- Irish blight) and the consequent tall prices. The potatoes closely resemble the potato known as the ' ' kidney." It will be found, however, that tj © skin is somewhat tough,, though, thin, and will not scrape off easily, as from the colonial potato, but has to be peeled. ' The overseer of the Levin Experimental Farm, in his report for the past year, states that the season has been a remarkable one for feed, nearly all the stock hav-' ing wintered well. Improvements in the shape of fencing, stumping, and clearing the ground arc "being effected as quickly as possible. Live hedges and timber belts have been planted at various parts of the farm. A commodious and up-to-date cowshed, strong drafting and concrete cowyards, and' separator house aje now almost ia a state of completion. .. StaUiorE paddocks enclosed with strong iron rails and close-boarded fences,, high enough to prevent the horses looking 1 over, have beeJt added to the stables. ~ Other work, suchas draining, metalhqg, etc., is being proceeded with as occasion permits. At the end of March, the live stock consisted of 43 horses, 46tf head of cattle, 90 sheep, and 75 pigs. . -