NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 6

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

4. few weekff ago- a^letter about this grass, by Mr Harrison, of New Paspalnni South Wales, appeared in dilatntnitt; chs Witness, accompanied by a statement that he had forwarded a quantity of seed to the edito.. for distribution to farmers and others who cared to apply for a portion. The editor informs me that he has had numerous applications for the seed— over 200, indeed — and I trust that all who obtained it wilt give it a fair trial, and in due course make known tho result. I have been led to refer to paspalum again through receiving froir»the editor of the Witness a copy of a paper published in the districts on the North Coast of N.S.W., where the soil and the climate appear to be ec suitable to this grass that it gives most excellent results. The paper mentioned contains a letter from; Mr Harrison, in which he refers in the most enthusiastic terms to the good qualities of Paepalum dilatatum. He sent in to the office of the local paper a few sheaves of ths grass, which the editor in a footi.ole says measured nearly 10ft in length! Mr Harrison -mentions having sent some seed to all the civilised countries in the world-, and his reason fors so doing 13 that; the excellence of tho grass may become* widely known and appreciated, to the» end that a good market for the seed may ber opened up for those districts in New South Wales where it is flourishing to such aa extent that the stock cannot keep it down. He says much of the seed is going to waste, which ho thinks is a great pity, seeing what a great ble.s6ing it would prove to the stock owners and dairy iarmers in other

countries adapted to its successful growth. •It is reported that, there .arc 30,000 cows beiiigvniilked in -the North '.Coast districts in- the '•vicinity of" the Tweed and "Richmond' ..Rivers/, jmd:' that,' owing to-"the .splendid ■^"pasture, .afforded "by paspalum, more than _ double ..thaVnirmber Vcpiiid .easily »be .jnain-tairied.-"The""creameries there total an' annual. jgaymenfc- of--' £900,000 • for" milk, the ' .. cows' "j&Jng- Ghostly, oi.thk Ayrshire-shart- . horn'erbs3/ I should not omit to mention that, according- to, Mr-.Harrison^s ' letter, the paspalum/ which %rew to a height .of 10ft was: taken from land which had been . neither -cultivated nor manured. While noting/ that Tio says that he has sent seed to Various provinces in the Argentine, I cafihot,'.help remarking that I always understood - -paspalum is- -a native of that part of America^ and, if so. surely its presence would -ere now "have been known and appreciated.) Lucerne is there grown in vast areas for grazing and fattening. 1 If it is the case, as SjEr Harrison says, -that pasptdum - resist* • froste, €ood6. and drought, and smothers noxious" growth of any kind, ■we- should -much appreciate it here, because thai cannot* be tiuly said of the grasses that we have.

A Home paper says lihat breeders of purebred ■shorthorns are having A shorthorn good times, and that there jHoom im ie quite a boom in the red, - 'BriUln. -white, and roan cattle. At tho Perth shorthorn show »nd'sale«, 4n the middle of February., there was quite a scramble for bulls, and threefigure prices were the Tule. In fact, it is s*id"'thai the sale was the most remarkable which has /taken, plaoo in the memory of breeders v, r ho are well up in years. Six luonths^ago it Tvas -predicted that a boom ' ■ '"was' 'coming, one-" indication of which was k tho '^rfnjznelylieen demand "by . buyers lor . tht'v'Argentjne, "but -the '-excitement which ••^prevailed -at, ' the ' Perth; «ale-^eclipsed - the, -mosT; saaguine.-ftopps of ' r< shof thorn h,reeder3. ■ ,aiid'*ths"Ye3ul£irHr -'prices, "were "higher than • thdSe, .which, "wh^n shiprthorn - iirsjf .became v fashiohable-soine i 4 -years ago. " At sßerth 'show /-Bulls' -were ""sold ' in tsne • *fternbDD f \. the,-top '.-price '-'being ' 1500gs, -and tbeJbverajse^or-.flie" vhole, lot £84:' '"Many" of the jbulls -were quite but all aye taid to be' very (superior. As showing the keenness' of the competition, it is stated that Lord Lovat's yearling bull was started a*, 400gs, and was run up 'to 15C0gs, and Lord Lovat'« eight bulls realised an averago" of 470gs. It 4s to be hoped that this boom will prove aB senseless and fleeting- as the "ootato boom of a year or so ago, one ■result of which is that th» potatoes which realised such enormous prices then are not held in very high estimatiou now. 1 _ j A week or two ago I dealt with some inquiries about farming in The f'Sew Chnm" this colony, made by a in Canada. Norfolk farmer, who said that he heard a (treat deal ' about the inducements to emigrate to Canada, but scarcely anything at all about New Zealand' as a field for emigration. There is do doubt that when farmers and • others leave the Did Country for Canada or.j any of the Australasian colonies they always expect too much, and are generally disappointed with the reality, because distant scenes always have a verdant tint, and. the imagination tends to lead - people i» iexpect too .much.^ Canada. JiE6 agents working in all parts of "the United Kingdom,, and I believe these agents get a honus of JBs^per head <for all they can induce, -^y- emigrate io Canada. Tjfeat being «o. ,tit "is only reasonable to supnose that ■these agents paint. the country and its prosjpects in the" roos^t glowing colours, and the result- "is • pretty 6urc to cause disappoint--luent- through tho -contrast Jretwcen expectation and realisation. . A free grant of I land, is available- to nil who can Day a few Ticu.rfds for the title, but the- land now open fe>r settlement lies away back in the Northwest many miles from a railway. " The climate there is very 6evore in the winter, and the new chums have- to live a hard and rough life for many yea'-s. If they have plenty of pluck and perseverance, they wili succeed in time in becoming the owners of nice farms and snug- homesteads, "but only after many years of hardship and struggling with adverse circumstances. Here a man- with a small capital can enter into a leasehold farm as a "tenant of the State. ■with every prospect of making a com fortable home ,ior his family in a short time. He is not shut off in the .wilderness scores of miles from schools and churches and other amenities -of civilisation ; he is surrounded by other. farmers, and can get liia produce to market .at little expense. I am referring more particularly to the South , Island in making these remarks, for it cannot be truly said tTiat all the settlers ( in the bush districts of the north have every facility for getting their produce to market. But every year sees matters improving in this l-espect, and at the worst a- bush settler in the north of this colony as iaTsa much better position, socially and financially, than a settler in the far-away districts-of 2*Jortli-west Canada. AGRICOLA. '

The Nelson troopers' .jnemorial, which is i to be erected in Queen's Gardens, will be • • unveiled" on* May -24, probably by the ! Attorney-general (Hon. A. Pitt). Th'i-'special Gakdxit Fkethisxb made np hv Uijoio Ain> Blai» Trill be found to give excellent results when -aseS ior Flowers ana Vegetables; also for Pot Plants, in and out of greenhouse. It is put up in 71b bagi, at Is o<i *ach. Ask your itarekeeper for it»