OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

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

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET.

CFsoii Oub Own Cohrxspondxnt.'} CHRISTCHURCH, April 21. How great a change has come 'over farming t in New Zealand ie The shown by' comparing the •Hairest. „alk -of the markets now and, say, a dozen years ago. In the old days everybody's interest was centred in the weather, ,the progress of the crops and the harvest, and the course of prices for grain. Now for one farmer who talks grain three or more talk fat lambs. Still, the harvest is an important matter to many, and those farmers who were unfortunate" enough to be visited by one or more of .he he-avy hailstorms, and had theii crops ruined, have lost more thereby than they have gained by the good prices of wool and lamb. Those whose crops escaped damage are assured of remunerative prices, as the production of wheat is very little in excess of colonial requirements, while oats are in active demand for export, and malting barley is said to be insufficient for brewers' needs. As to prices, prime wheat is worth 3s at near stations, average quality 2s lid, and secondary 2s -lOd, chick wheat selling at 2s 7d to 2s Bd. Ga'rton and B grade oats ls*B£d (it is said a shade more has been paid for shipment 'by Essex), Danish Is 7d, Canadian -and dun Is 9d to Is lCd (both very scarce)* Malting barley, fair colour, 3s 6d to 3s 9d te drop of Is from the beginning of the season). Cocksfoot seed, heavy and fairly bright, is "selling at 3£d to 3£d, but the few holders of really bright seed will not take this price; the crop, generally, 'anges from diECoiou-reu 1 to badly; damaged, and is , selling ,with difficulty at 2fd'-to 5id t ' Ryegxass is steady, at 2s > 9d to 3a, 6d f oi fair to- prime farmers', dressed samples. Italian, is. dull '41 'sale M 2s 6d to 'Bs. ''Disease of "potatoes is general, 'and sound parcels are getting dearer; £9 was readily obtained yesterday, and it is said £10 will be- the price , to-day. Buyers ask only for Up-to-Dates. Besides being diseased the crop is yielding badly, two to three tons per acre being a general report. It has been a bad season for onions, and few -are fit to store ; £4- per tor> is the price for parcels fit for shipment coastwise. The long spell of dry weather — a month without rain — has enabled Farm stubbles to be ploughed with Work. despatch, which was needed after the late harvest ; but grass land is too hard to be broken up, and a good day's rain is wanted by most farmers. Rain is also needed for grass and turnips, which are going off so fast to to cause some apprehension regarding winter feed. (Post time. — Heavy rain set in early this morning, and farmers are already wishing for it to clear off.) Country reports ara generally to the effect that there will be a further shrinkage in the wheat avea in the ensuing season, there being a rush into sheep, but probably when spring comes it will be found that cropping will bo of about the amc extent as in bhe past season. There will be some 1 difficulty regarding potatoes ; some growers who have clean crops are already asking £1 per sack foi seed. Threshing' is" well advanced, and taking the whole province the official estimates of yield will he exceeded. Growers of fat lambs and, indeed, sheep farmers all round are in Urt, iuck's way this season." They Stock. got good prices for their wool (though the buyers again" have the best of the bargain), and they are getting about 2s a head more than they expected for their lambs. The fat lamb market is very buoyant, the high value of skins and fat enabling buyers to go on paying 16s to 17s for good lambs, despite the continued bad repoi-ts 'rona London regarding the meat. The "over-all" price is now 5d per lb under 42!b lambs, and at this rate the bare carcase stands in at about 3Ad. Tegs arc 4£d over-all, and if the London market continues as at present these may pay exporters better than lambs. The buyer fc-r Messrs John Cooke and Co., of Melbourne, is the largest operator; in fact, at seme of the sales he buys mo'-e than all the other exporters together. Some of the largest buyers of previous seasons are doing very little this year. A good many ewes have been bcught for export lately, but this week buyers of this class were not active. The supply of wethers has been for come time tco Email to provide many for export, but some good lines this week w*»nt in that direction. Tho freezing works are running at high pressure. Islington averaging 5000 <j. day for weeks past. It is computed tnat some 500,000 lambs and 200,000 cheep will bo shipped this month. Not a word is heard now of the war- of freights • between the Fed<?The Freight ral-Shire-Houldcr line^ and War. the other companies. Some people jumped to the conclusion that produce was going forthwith, to be carried anywhere in the United Kingdom for next to nothing, but no engagements of freight at reduced rates can be heard of. It is said that the Devon, to sail noxt month, lia3 all her s>pace taken. Be that as it may, no quotations of cheap freight have been made here. The regular shipping companies will say nothing—their ships are filling at schedule rates, — and som*

outsiders express the opinion that the F«c.e ral challenge, is a "bluff } " and there -will be no change. . ■ The root crops -on the Kaimahi section (Papanui) are beginning to 4 Agricultural show the different '-'effects Experiments, of the Various manures with _" " - * which they .are grown. The- !. results, as a ' whole* however, -will jiot Jj& \\ good, ay the 'iapd is quite unsuited, 1 for ex-, periments,'^being- uneven' * in- quality "and* so deficient in drainage that a large pari f 1 was water- logged for a long time during, ! the summer. The potatoes are practically a failure from this cause. Yet they show ' marked differences, some having been growing right up to the frosts of m fortnight ago ? • while others had been dri^d down- some, _ I time before that. Disease get in owing to ' . the spraying machine being delayed in transj it-, but it was attacked in time to prevent j its running through the whole crop. Some • . of the manures seem to have the effect of ' j rendering the potatoe? grown wiih them, ( to some extent disease resistant, and this 1 ; should be an important point in the report ; on the experiments. All the turnips, look ■ i well, and should be good orops by the time ' , they have finished growing. The . mangels * 1 j look better than incsfc of -the neighbouring j crops (it is a bad season^for mangels) Very : little interest seems to-, be taken in the j experiments, and there have bean . few , visitors either to the Government section (Kaimahi) or to the plots on farms of mem- ', hers of the Canterbury A. and P Assoctation. Yet the •experiments" should. - be -o£ • I great value, even in showing that many j farmers use too much manure Some of i the \ applications which are being tested j strike one as beinsr far too heavy and costly, but the results 'will tell. A. ..great many . ex* ( periments have been -made with nitro-cul- • tures, but- -there is a remarkable silence'' -re-/, 1 garding -csults N Most of 'the. trials -4iave bper. in gardens, -where, .•'generally, the soil ' •is ,quite-rieb -enough -in r nitrogen -to- grow. anything, . and this may, "account for tho , - absence of reports .of -increased yields A contributor ko the 'Witness described, 9 <ir few. *■ weeks' , ago, his success • J Sproatlngr in sprouting - seed, potatoes Potatoes. before planting. He exposed the seed to light,, but , ihis is not the method ' with which I ' have j been familiar since boyhood, and which 'is j recommended by the Irish Department -o£ ' Agriculture — viz., to store the eeed in shallow boxes, and a few weeks before planting time exclude light and air from them, plant- , ing them when the shoots are 2in or 3in long. The process gives a little trouble, but it pays in both an earlier and a more prolific crop. Peas used to be sprouted in another way— by sowing them on strips of turf in a frame, and moving the strips with the growing peas to a warm part of the garden as soon as frosts were past This ' might pay ijsxt season, when early vegetables will be in demand for the Exhibition visitors. The Canterbury A. and P. Association has practically adopted the The schedule for the Exhibition International show next Novembei Th© Exhibition prizes are to be on ,a fairly Show. handsome scale, but one or two breeds have been, so • far, left out in the cold, although others in which there is no more competition have been apportioned medals. A meeting of representatives of all the agricultural and pastoral associations is ±o be held next week to considei means of working UP' the show. . Much has been made c? the prospect of • exhibits -of -stock from Australia, but ..this is not likely to be realised. The season i — »

there is so different to heTe, and breeders! _ •would not shear -sheep specially for exhibi- ] tion. 'in November unless they were sure oV\ selling them here. They would have to Bend their best if they send at all, and the - reward would not be sufficient without good sales. Neither, I understand, are emjnerii; judges from Australia Iffcely 'to be obtained ' — at anyrate for the sheep' classes. A " thoroughly representative fNew- .Zealand show, is the best we can hope for, and it - should suffice. Of course there will be im"- 1 ported stock, but it will be, in all probability, owned by New Zealand breeders. The Agricultural Department is having quite a" farm laid out in grass plots, apiary, etd. This profitable industry has been carried on to a great extent since Sbeey> shearing, as has been disstealißg. olosed by. the musters for dipping and tupping. In ' Siany cases the losses have run into hun- - dreds, which is no light matter with sheep " at present prices. There is any amount of suspicion, but, so far, no direct evidence, and none of the sheep have been traced. The offer of a reward by the Sheep Owners' -Union holds good, and the £100 would " cheerfully be paid for the conviction of those who are in the trade — for such it -unquestionably is, and well organised, too.