LAMBS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 7

LAMBS.

Arrivals consist of 68,216 carcases from New Zealand, 90,330 carcases from Australia, and 7636 carcases from the River Plate. A spell of unusually vaim weather for this time of the ' year has had a beneficial effect upon the consumptive demand for lambs; more especially at the present level of quotations. Even the increased rate of sale, however^ is not' stifncient to cope -with accumulated stocks, and in the meantime 'no improyement can be reported in -prices of Australian lambs ; while, in the case of new season's .New Zealand lambs, some reduction has taken place from , last prices. The supply of second quality i Australian lambs is disproportionately large, and, as most consignees seem anxious to rea- '■ ]ise that description, the low rates accepted militate against any advance in the price of • best brands Selected lambs realise 4d to | 4Jd per lb ; ordinary quality are quoted at ' 32d per lb, and secondary carcases at 3£d 10 3£d per ]b. There are still a few old season's New Zealand lambs on offer, hut they are difficult to sell even at 3|d to 4Jd per lb. The , later arrivals of new season's New Zealand i lambs have not all been of the same standard of quality as those previously received, and a nunibsr of carcases coming forward , under secondary brands are of ..really inferioi quality. Importers have .consequently found it impossible to niaintair prices at the level of those obtained for the earlier shipments, more especially in view or the large premium demanded for these lambs a? compared with c]ioicest Australians. Best new season's New Zealand lambs realise from 5Jd to 5Jd par lb; ethers from 4id to s|d. The few Uiver Plate lambs now arriving are being marketed ?n the provinces, and, having regard to their quality and the position of the market generally, the current prices of 3jd to 3|d are comparative'y good osfis. The Hon. J. K. Dow, formerly Minister nl Agriculture in Victoria, was over here lately, and I had ' the pleasure of meeting him, and he writes me the following l very interesting letter on the Californian thistle, hid attention having been called to the subject by the attached paragraph in a New Zealand ' paper." I am not adopting Mr Bow's suggestion re approaching the Government /on the subject, but give the readers of these notes the benefit of it, as \ I believe Mr Dow 'would Avish, though he ' i<s a Scotsman. I may just add that Mr j Dow brought sheep to this country early I in the sixties, and took them out to Mr M'Gregor's run at Silverstream, landing them at Port Chalmers, and driving them over the hills. He also stayed a few weeke in Invercargill with relatives named Fergusson. Mr Dow was much plea3eJ with our dairy produce legislation, and spent a morning at the Bluff with ths Government grades, who wero grading- the cheese, aid took careful notes, and was much pleased. He is still in the Legiela-ture of Victoria, »nd will, 1 believe, strongly advocate grading and improved produce export legislation in that State : — Dear Drover. — Home all right after a de- j lisjhtful trip. The enclosed extract from tl>e New Zealand Mail, March 14, 1906, is somewhat surprising to me, as we have discovered an infallible remedy here: — " Forteen months ago- the Government invited persons to compete for the bonus offered for the best and most economical means of eradicating the Californian thistle. A piece of land in North Otago was e>et aside for the purpose, and commissioners were appointed to -watolvand report upon the experiments. These tontttiisstonershave now "forwarded their, report to the secretary of the Department Vf Agriculture, in which they state that the 'competitors were I unable ,to eradicate the thf=tle, and they do no deem if advisa-H-2 to" recommend payment, in whole or in parl, lo any one of them." In many cases the' main roots were destroyed, but the branch' roots never b=t thir vitality. What ha<s become of 'Lixall." 'Wcedbane.' "and all thp> other infallible eradicaforsV"' When in office some of .our most valuable , potato lands near Ballaxat were being ruin-ed by this thistle, variously called the Californian. and the Canadian. A Canadian that I appointed principal of one of | our agricultural college', solved the pro- > blem and saved many hundreds of acres of | rich volcanic- soil valued at from £40 to £50 ' an acre. We paid him a handuome premium. He has lately pae?ed away to the great majority. Remc-dy.— Above all, refrain from digging up. The least disturbance of the roots cau&es it to still further grow. Each rcot underneath seii^- out an independent, hon- { zontal shoot, and theso in turn vertical sl.oots, so that Hs growth is never ending. The way to kill it is by depriving it of air. We simply used a broad-shared skim plough to shavethc heads of the plant^ off. Begin by cutting it down close to the surface, then skim plough the tope off level v;ith tho ground. Then as often as *he heads 'how above the ground shave them off again until th&y die. The cause of the- death seems to be asphyxiation. Just like a drowning j man, every timo he gets* his head above , water pushing him down again. This, I assure you, has been our successful solution of the problem, and there is no question at all about its effectiveness. About four skim ploughings extending over about sis wee'v6 have been successful with _ us, but in your fertile rainy climate it might want one or two more; you can, howeve?, depend upon the correctness of the principle.—Yours faithfully, J. K. Dow.

At the Eltham mart on Saturday week a horse, saddle, and bridle were sold for tl>A yn-n^ oi lla.