AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 21

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

•' Some "humane cattle-killers," small bufe effective weapons imported by th© Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for the .purpose of killing injured! animals, "have arrived in Wellington. It was decided, at a meeting of the society, to place an instrument at the different police stations in th© city. The "killer" ' is loaded with a cartridge and placed on the animal's forehead. A light tap explodes 'the cartridge, which quietly and effectively kills the animal. A company is being floated in Melbourne, for the purpose of manufacturing butter boxes and the like from olarozite, which is & composition made of straw. It is claimed to be more durable than the pine timber ' used for the purpose, is non-absorbent, a non-conductor of ' heat, odourless,- and will stand the roughest usage. Boxes to hold 561b of butter are estimated to cost about Is each. Some good prices were realised at a recent sale of draught stock in Melbourne, Victoria, by Messrs Campbell and Sons. They sold on account of Mr J. E. Walters,' of Glen Luss, Werribee, his recently-im-ported draught stallion Timekeeper to Mr David Archibald, of Kyabram, for the sum of lOOOgs. Timekeeper (24,699, imp.), bay colt, foaled 1905, by Menestral (l*,180), dam Alberta Regina (27,339). Timekeeper was a prize-winner at the Royal Lanes Show, Lancaster, and the Great Torks Show, 1 Middlesborough. Also, .on account ofi Messrs Caffrey and Murphy, Southern Star, bay colt (lately imnorted from New Zealand), foaled 1903, by North Star, dan. .Darling, by Craigievar (imp.), g. dam Biossoni, bred by the late Mr E. B. Ferguson, g.g. dam by Pride of Scotland (imp-), g.g.g. dam by Kettle's Wallace (imp.). The ; purchasers were Messrs 'Hill • Bros., of f Georgetown, South Australia, and the price paid 500gs. The growing of early potatoes for the. British markets haa its headquarters in ' Scotland in the seaboard districts, having" Girvan as its chief centre. The seed is . invariably sprouted in boxes before being- ! committed to the drill. The crop is usually disposed of while growing. - This year prices ranged from £21 to about £32 per acre. . An authority, referring to the feeding ot

dairy cows in winter, says: — "Once the activity of the glands suffers from the effects of an ill-nourished body the injury is reflected in her reduced yield of milk for the season and perhaps [or life." This 16 a big fact in a nutshell. Heavy shipments of draught stock have been recently made to Canada from Scotland. On a recent trip the Parthenia carried 80 head for buyers from Manitoba, British Columbia, and Ontario. Among the stallions was the bay horse Lord Scott, winner of the second prize at the Glasgow ebow. Our Christchurch correspondent reports that good rain fell on Thursday and Friday, which would be most welcome to farmers. It was shown at last Friday's meeting of the Timaru Harbour Board ithat f or the first time in the history of the port Timaru had during the past six months taken second place among the ports of the colony in the export of frozen mutton, lamb, etc., Lyttelton taking first place and Wellington third. It was also stated that the total of imports at Timaru for the past six months, 43,387 tons, constituted a record for the port, and that the revenue for the same period, amounting to £12.359, was £185 in excess of that received during the ' corresponding period last year. For the seven years from 1899 to 1905 the Queensland butter industry shows a toiaryellous increase, the amount exported having risen from 517 tons, valued at £49,449, to 6073 tons, valued at £582,265. This great development began in 1904, and is credited to the instruction given by the travelling dairies promoted by the Agricultural Department. These commenced operations in 1899, at which time there were no factories nor cream separators in Queensland, nor any wholesale manufacture of butter. The first factory 'established was the Lancefield Butter Factory, which commenced operations in 1891. In 1905 (the latest statistics available) there jwere 9132 establishments connected with the industry, and some 14,000 people engaged -in connection with dairying. t The- London Meat. Trade Journal says fchat it is estimated that last year £650,000 tfa round figures was paid to Australian extfwrters for their rabbits, and that upwards [V £90,380 was expended in shipping i freight* to London; whilst the labour and Material for the boxes in which the rabbits Store packed came to dose on £39,000. According U> a. report from the north _ of tfegland («aya Lloyd's News), one. of the f»!t important life-saving discoveries ever ISpwn has bee?» made fcj * De^rebury

chemist. He has found a way of completely destroying the anthrax bacilli without in any way injuring the wool or hides treated. The chemist is Mr Harry Hay, the technical expert in one of the biggest dyeing and woollen cloth firms in Yorkshire. For a- long time past he has been conducting experiments for destroying colouring and foreign matter in woollen rags, to render them more valuable for the heavy woollen trade. He immersed the rags In a weak electrolitie solution, and a current of electricity was passed through it. The result was that cotton or other vegetable fibre was destroyed, leaving only the wool. Mr Hay found that by the same process the wool was effectively sterilised and rendered free from disease, and he his investigations accordingly. New wool of all kinds was impregnated with anthrax germs, and on being subjected to the treatment these were found to be completely destroyed. Skin 3 were also found to bo amenable to the same treatment. What the discovery means to the woollen trade can hardly be estimated. The numbers of wool and skin workers who have fallen victims to anthrax in recent years is enormous. Wool-sorting is scheduled as among the most dangerous trades, and further restrictions on the import of wool in consequence are being considered. Mr Hay's discovery will change all that. In future it will be unnecessary to open out bales of wool or skins arriving from foreign countries be fore dealing "with them. If they are placed in the liquid on importation they will be rendered clean and innocuous in a few minute 3. Mr Hay has patented his process, which has been taken up for commercial purposes by a strong syndicate.