AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2714, 21 March 1906, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

The Agricultural Department has had allotted to it 12,000 ft of floor space at the Exhibition and a special court will be put in hand by the commissioners as speedily as possible. Attached to this will be a half-acre plot, which will be at once prepared to accommodate a working apiary, with honey house, etc., complete, presided over by Mr Hopkins, the Government bee expert, v.ho will give demonstrations of bee management. This honey hou=e will be bolted together in sections, and will be afterwards installed at the Government station at Weraroa. There will also be a '' grass garden," similar to those at Momohaki and Weraroa experimental stations. Each kind of grass and forag-e plant will have a small plot gnen over to it, with a board attached ghing common and scien- j tine names and the principal uses of tho plant. About March or April it is intended to call a conference of colonial fruitgrowers, and in this connection a colonial fruit show will be held. "Very heavy crops are reported from the district between Wanganui and Feilding. de^i'ite the latcre-s of the season, and har-le-Aing is in full swing John Schischka. thp Auckland merchant, | was fined £2, with costs, by Mr Dyer, S.M., ' on th-e 13th. for breaches of the Fertilisers Act in failing- to supply particulars of manure to the purchaser and filling sacks | with a manure materially differing from j that described in the regi&tercc l brand on the packages. | A resident in the Maryborough Sounds j district stat&s that the catty* grass is most effectively chokinc out the fern, and that, ] in consequence, the sheep-carrying rapacity of the land is largely increasing. Tli« introduction of the oil launch, of which tfoero are now a large number, has developed the Sounds in a marked degree. The Otaki-Manakdii Dairy Company, in (lie Xorth Wand, during the five months Gilded February 28 last had a total output

of 243,6901b of butter. The company^ is nUC.^ on co-operative principles, and a dividend of 10 per cent, was paid to shareholders last year. The grain crops of Taranaki are now being harvested, but so far the yields ar« not up to the average standard of former seasons. The straw, too, is of inferior quality, being" dull and stunted. Not much rust is reported, but in some crops caterpillars have played considerable havoc. A Wanga-nui farmer was fined £5 and costs by Mr Stanford, S.M., at the Magistrate's Court, on Friday, for failing to clear his land of noxious weeds. It is said that a settler in the vicinity of 33.1 md R-irer, Maryborough cleared £3000 from his crops this season. Writing under the heading "Blackberry versus Butter," in the Taranaki Herald, Mr H. J. Blanchett blames the minah bird for the alarming increase of blackberries. These birds, which nourish in the blackberry bushes, make their periodical visits in flocks to the ploughed land adjacent, and transfer the seed, which in due course conies up. Mr Blanchett states that it is costing Taran>ki £5000 per annum to cut its blackberries, and he asks, would it not be better to arrange for the destruction, of these seed carriers? This would at least confine the blackberry to its ability to spread- from its own roots, when cutting would do some good. Excellent crops of oats, perhaps the best ever grown there, are reported in tlie South Canterbury district. Wheat crops, though good, have been better. A consignment of English Leicester she-ep, comprising 200 ew-es and five rams, was shipped from Lyttelton for Sydney on Friday. The committee of the Timaru A. and P. Association met on the 10th inst. Mr D Grant, jun., presided. The nomination of Mr R. Irving as vice-president by Messrs D. E. Watson and P. Davidson was read. The Secretary reported that 37 nominations had been received for the election of the committee of 24, and the ballot papers were all posted on Thursday forenoon. A few were returned before noon of that day, and on the other hand some members said they had not received theirs up io Saturday morning. — Messrs E. H. Burn, Fairlie, and W. J. Lewis, Crieklewood, resigned their membership, and the resignations were accepted. In reference to some other casc6 it was said that replies had been sent that -esignations cculd nob be accepted until arrears of subscription are paid. — The committee received from a. special eub-cdmmittee a list of South Canterbury men qualified to aci as judges at agricultural shows for various classes of stock. The list was compiled in response to a request from the Christchurch association, who undertook to collect similar lists from adjacent districts. A few names were added to those recommended by the subcommittee, and lists were formally adapted. At the last meeting of the Waimea, County Council several councillors stated that the small birds were now more destructive than they had ever been .in the "Kelson district, and the- necessity for combined action being taken to abate the nuisance was the keynote of a discussion on the subject. One councillor said that he, knew of several instances where oon.siderable damage had been done to the hops by the birds, and Cr Gill stated that a farmer in his district had lost about 20 bushels of pears through their depredations. Cr Rollett said that in his district fWhangapeka) the birds were becoming a nuisance where a few years ago they were comparatively little trouble. Cr Everett said that it was useless for the County Council to take steps to destroy the small birds while no action was taken by other authorities. At the present time the city was a brooding ground for thfee pests. Ifc was decided that proper representations should bo made for a conference as provided by the Birds Nuisance Act, 1902, which compels every local authority to take effective action for the destruction of al! injurious birds within its district. The Ashburton Borough Council l>as decided to accept the terms offered by the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company for falauehteriiiGr stock for human consumption at the Fairfield Works, the agreement to hole! for Gevon years. Regarding the beef export outlook, the Australian Meat Trades Journal of the 6lh Hist, says • —The coming season for the beef export trade is not at all premising. The. price of cattle keeps above export values, and local demand apparently is almost sufficient to deal with any surplus. The cable informs us to-day that the price of Australian beef in London is 2£d per 1b frr hinds, and that yrice is weak. From this, cattle owners must see that the meat exporters cannot give anything like tire price they are asking. So long as the cattle owners can., get their price for local consumption, well and good, but it must ever be remembered that to enable the meat works to give a good price they must be well supplied with cattle. Nothing is wors9 for them than to get irregular supplies. The whole cost of working is increased at once. Full and regular supplies to the works at a yrice regulated by London w'll pay the owners much better in the long run. The magnificent rains aIL over Queensland will now help them to get over their drought losses, the 6tock routes will all be open, and cattle will be able to travel. It is therefore to be hoped that the meat works will be encouraged. In a couple of years Queensland wi,M haya plenty of beef for export, and then will come the tug of war between our breeders and the South American breeders. At present the latter have it all their own The committee of the Canterbury A. and P. Association met on Wednesday last, Mr W. Recce (president) in the chair. A letter was received from the Executive Ccmmission-prs of the Exhibition, stating that they had tho authority of the Government for the offer of £1000 for the international show to be held in connection with the Exhibition. — Sectional committees were appointed for the> year. — A recommendation was received from the general meeting that breeders of stock in Canterbury should be circularised, inviting them to "make donations towards increasing the prize list of the international show. On' the motion of Mr Archer, seconded by Mr Henderson, the proposal was referred tot the Horse, Sheep, Cattle, and Pig Committees. — On a further recommendation thai! a prLse slicuH be offeisd for the county scoring most points in, farm, produce and

The special Gabskv Fertiliser made tip by Nimmo aitd BlaJB will be found to give excellent results when used for Flowers and Vegetables; also for Pot Plants, in and out of greenhouse. It is put up in 71b bags, at 18 «S eaoh. Ask jour storekeeper fox iU

stock at the international «hovr, Mr Overtori, said that there was a. lot of feeling against the proposal in the North Island. Exhibitors from the north would send stock, but could not een3 produce, and would be debarred from competing. They would fes "glad of a county prize for stock. Mr Murphy «aid fthat only Ellesmere and AshbuEton. would have a chance of sending produce, and an exhibit from only two counties would be poor xt an international show. On ih« motion of Mr Overtoil, BeeoTrded by ~s&r Murphy, it "was decided that a prize should be offered for the county scoring most points in live stock. — A recommendation that facilities should be provided for the selling of stud rams at the ram fair was referred to the Sheep Committee, Mt Overton suggesting that the committee should be asked to do something. Mr Peryman said that the owners of stock entered at the Ram Fair •hat? complained of the green feed provided. The bundles -were small and full of weeds. The matter was referred to the Sheep Com-anitt-ee. — Eighteen new members were elected. A butcher and dealer of LTanelly, South "Wales, was at th« Guildhall on Thursday, January 18, fined dGSO and costs for sending the diseased carcase of a pig to the London Central Meat Market, which was intended to be sold for human consumption. Mr Victory, the assistant city solicitor, incidentally observed that the pork was not goad enough for Welshmen, but it was common knowledge, or rather supposition, that anything -was good enough foi Londoners. The carcase weighed 2491b, Lut the 'frame was sufficient to have carried 4001b. It was bought at the rate of 3d a pound. Tie medical evidence showed that_ the meat .was tuberculous, in a disgusting state, and absolutely dangerous for human consumption. in -tbe description of Sandy Again, which appeared xuider the illustrations in the Witness iof March 7. the colt's dam is described as "Young Fair instead of Younp Pan. Sandy Again is a, two-year-old, not thr««.