AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

. ' An Auckland telegram states that for fhe» 3 fortnight just ended! tho export of -buttsrr '*' from the Auckland province, "exclusive of? 7r Poverty Bay, totalled 350 tons, valued afe; about -£32,0*8. Of this total- .1088 bexeaT were consigned to West of England% ports^ n 12,169 boxes to London, 705 boxes to Southt. * Africa, and 47 boxes to tha South -■ Sek-'t I t«i«»u. . - - r. . \)

Islands. ' " , i ! The three inspectors recently appointed to* | ■ inspect the- accommodation provided foirM 'shearers' at shearing sheds, in aocordanca \ with the Shearers' Accommodation Acfc,r 5 have practically- completed their rounds of inspection throughout the whole of the> Dominion. They are now engaged finishing , tip in the Otago district. ,

Estimating that each cheep when shorn,, yields 61b of wool, Nind that there are 20. million sheep in the Dominion, the fall- , of 2d a pound in the price of wool entails a lessened income from that/source to New -Zealand of £1,000,000. As showing the decrease in wneat-grow T ing of recent years, Mr Jones told the Conciliation Board at Timaru that whil^, ' in 1898 there were 13 million bushels grownf in the Dominion, there were only 5£ million. . ' bushels last year. At the annual sale of Kent rams at Ashford a record i price of 150 guineas was given for a Kent ram, bought for exports* tionXo New Zealand. Another ram, bought! t for New, Zealand, fetched 130 guineas. A Masterton grain merchant infoims the Wairarapa Age that his district *ill tot > see the high prices ruling* for chntf and 1 oats this season that ruled during tro season just -ended, owing to the abnormal crop prospects in Otago" and ' Southland fo» oats.' Potatoes aeem to be a drug on that market A' Wairarapa trader reports that, he , has ' just bought 200 aacks of potatoes, ' real good Up-to-DaJes, for,, £10— a shilling., a sack. The tubers came from Oamaru. Shearing is '.evidently a very remunerative occupation, while it lasts. On© majK wlio 'has been 'engaged art the" *ork since . October 23 last told a Wairarapa AgeT reporter that in three weeks at one she/he drew over £33, and for about four days ■ work at another he received over »6The first consignment of Hunter Kivett new potatoes reached Sydney on Deoembetf - 17, and sold et £8 per ton. The area planted is very muoh lese Jian usual, wnd crops generally will be very light. A number of paddocks of oats are already cut and in the stook in tho Greenstree| and A.shburton Forks districts, and some o? the yields will be as high as 30 busnels per acre The wheat crops that w«Te sowrii early promise to give a good average re> turn, and several paddocks adjacent to the} Main road will yield over 40 bushels petr acre, judging by their present appearance. • A general meeting of the Oxford A. and; P. Association was held on December 28", Mr J. O'Btalloran in the chair. The datet of the annual show was fixed for April 8; it being fixed slightly earlier ilia year i» the hope of securing propitious weatherj. Correspondence was read from iße _ Prime Minister, in which he promised to visit tn4t district shortly to discuss ihe question-- of - granting land for. show purposes. On ,tho motion of Mr H. T. Cooper and Mr Hi Smith, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the chairman tor the trouble he, had 1 taken and -the keen interest he displayed' Hit r the affairs of ihe association generally. > The New South Wales Department o£' , Agriculture, had a splendid opportunity presented it during the recent drought of " demonstrating to the farmers of the Stata the value at ouch a time of thorough worEy, ing of the soil and good" cultural methodS

generally, and it took full advantage of it. The result was a magnificent lesson, which, if heeded, will put vast sums of money into ;£he pockets of the Australian farmer at jtdmes --when Nature is at war with him. "Crops of wheat were sown in May, and Were cut for hay in Sei tember. One sample ; stood 4ft high. This was at a time when farmers under ordinary conditions could not grow anything. The - system adopted by the department was, early ."ploughing, rotation of crops, and harrowingiromediafrely after 'rain, the chief object being to conserve moisture by keeping a "light dust mulch on the surface. The .ground was ploughed Sin deep. There was little manure put on, but green manuring, Jrape, etc.,, was a feature of the system. ■ Ihe whole of the work was done .with disc ploughs and harrows. The overcoming of drought conditions by this scientific treatment of the, soil was repeated' at the several -experimental farms in the State, and it is v deelar-ed that, judging <- by the interest" Jt&Tmeie generally have taken in them, the 'demonstrations will .have an important Jbearing on future management of crops by ! New South Wales^ farmers. " - - - "We* (Pastoralists' Review,)- have always Tecognised the importance of £he Argen- . tine market for Australian and New Zealand stud stock, and as a result' of our ■^representations the Argentine Government removed the embargo on stud sheep. Therestill remains, however, the embargo on cattle, and with the assistance of Mr Herbert Gibson, of Buenoa Aires, we ha?e persistently urged its removal. The Stockowners' Association of New South Wales and the Pastoralists' Unions of Queensland and South Australia 'have also 'rendered valuable assistance, and it appears that we are now within measurable distance^of success. The Federal authorities recently com- , municated with- the Government of the ', Argentine Republic, urging that the prohibition should be removed. -A reply wag ■received that the , steps would ibe > taken on ; an official, assurance that Australia was l.free from cattle disease. The desired 'Official intimation was- made to the ' Argen■fcine Government, and the decision "of the , Jlepublic is ,now awaited. The matter is , of supreme importance "to the stud stock trade, as the Argentine market is the Taggest in £he world. Australian and JJew Zealand herds are bred from the "rjest strains in the Old World", and, in addition,' they are reared under condi--tions which should well adapt them to the There is absolutely no disease in- Australia to prevent a big trade being established, and if the Federal Government receives a favourable reply studTJreeders should at once set about introducing their stock into South American markets. _ j "1 The Royal Commission, appointed in. | South Australia to consider 1 questions ref Tating- to , the marketing- of produce took ■some evidence" of "the 'highest interest, the , publication of which .might have a material "bearing upgp. the price of butter sent from . ■"that' Stated to anywhere. Several witnesses -were "examined, 'and one, referring to tho <;ream cans, said : " Some of the cans come ' to hand in a filthy " condition, and you in- j /variably find that the quality of a 'man's • cream is in keeping witlv the package.- You ' ' <--<n see by the condition^ of his package ' - yenv en rhe takes a pride and an interest in - *>'= work. I have eeen stuff sent in that «•■ v«i-3 really not fit to be put into the churn. We.^have got almost a zoo *>ut ,of cream j -cans. I have eeen extracted from the cream '-tats and mice, and once a big "-jew lizard, "which fell to pieces when held up by the ;.- tail. It was. over a foot long. . We churned j fhe stuff, and sent it to either Burford's .; or'" the Bunyip Soap Company, and gob TQS per 1b — for the product of course. '• \I have been in the business for only five I- -years, but I have- seen_all .of the creatures mentioned extracted ■ from cans of cream. '- T assure you I have not exaggerated mat- \ ters in the slightest. I -have seen stuff ,- 4mer<s from a River Murray district which Tiad been palpably tampered with — a gal-. I lon of - cream' takon out and a gallon of i river water dipped "in in its place. We "have found reeds and rushes in a can of [ -cream to prove it." ' The fact that in the TJnited States great : <iifnculty is experfenced in obtaining clean ( lucerne seed (says the Melbourne Weekly Tpmes) suggests that there should be an outlet ,for Australian seed in that country. r Seed recently purchased' in OEio at 31s per bushel, when cleaned, was found folia ye cost 52s per bushel. _ The Agricultural Department at Washington and some of the more" wide-awake experiment sta■tiona have been making tests to discover •the defects and values of seed ordinarily found, in the /market. - Some startling I -revelations are ' the result. The Washington investigators, for example, found in lib of so-called lucerne seed on sale 32,420 noxioue' • weed seeds, in- another "23,082, and. in still another 21,848. Of ' -t&e first-named- pound, -less than 59 per -cent, was lucerne; less than ,29 per cent. ~ivas germinable, and 1 among its impurities ■trere 5490 seeds of dodder. One pound of r 4nbther lot "contained only a fraction x>ver -^5 * per cent. <. that would grow, and of a •sbird lot but" slightly over 6 per cent. • • - farmers .are still averse' to tho *factice of -washing- their cheep before iijearing, holding: that co doing reduces the ifeight of the fleece in the removal of the Iregetable matter adhering thereto. Sheep"Jjurmers in the north and in Scotland, too, ijjxe not taking kirdly to dipping, com\nisory under the sheep-dipping orders of

the Board of Agriculture. A curious and rather unfortunate case occurred the other day. A farmer in the north of England ■was fined for having used a dip not approved by the board. The * man took the case to the High Court, and the convection was quashed on the ground that the indictment was wrong. Had the charge beon that the farmer nad failed by a certain data to dip his sheep in an. " ofiiciallyapproved" dip the case would have gone against him. But the law said that the using o f the farmer's dip was notNa punishable offence. ' "The impression, owing to this, has about that in' framing the order establishing officially-approved dips the Board of Agriculture exceeded its powers. ! The total crop of wheat last season in Argentina amounted to 140,380,000 bushels. , The estimated amount required for . seed and local consumption amounted to 53,900,000 bushels, which - left 86,482,000 bushels l for ~ export. The total amount exported' to 12th September was 70,637,000 bushels," leaving' nearly 16,000,000 bushels of the old crop tat that date to be exported. The ' prochie1 tion of- linseed for the same season was' 750,000 tons. The preparations for harvesting the large area, of wheat on Mr Green's landra Estate, near Grenfell, in the Wagga district (N.S.W.), are now being made. To gain some idea of the work to be done to gather in the 20,000 acres, it is estimated that there are at present on the estate and to be employed on the work 700 farm horses,- . whilst the machinery will include 70 binders I and 100 harvesters. The crop is expected ' to go over three bags to* the acre, or a. total of 70,000 bags. Had the season been a good one, the total would have Been some- i thing like 100,000 bags. ' I JJnder date November 8 the London cor- 1 | respondent of the Pastoralists-' Review j writes: — It is well to recognise and state ' definitely in the Review 1 that changes have coins over Smithfield^^and the system under i which .the frozen meait iradfe has 'been worked. The" vast increase of South American exports to Great Britain, years ago marked a radical change, and now we are ! , in the presence of another important factor, which means a considerable ' upsetting to the- frozen meat section of the Great Central Markets. I wrote lately concerning decentralising the trade, and the change now brought about 'I may term a combination of this "and' the- entry into the frozen trade of Messrs Swift, an entry j being followed by other members of the ' ' Yankee meat combination. I write lower down concerning this, but it is well to call attention to it in the most- prominent way possible, as the. revolution^ being gradually brought about likely indicates tremendous changes. The losses to be suffered there- ' from are, and will be for some time, ' mainly felt on this side, but when the octopus of the American. 'Meat Trust has fixed its tentacles tightly over,- the Australasian meat trade, then look out! At one time there was a shibboleth that machine shearing injuriously^ affected the growth of the wool ; but this idea (says the ' Dominion) has been proved to be a mist conception. At lea Station, Wairarapa, ' for instance, the increase of wool cut by, ' the machines at the -first installation was i 50 bales, which paid seven times over for j j the cost of the new machinery. There has j been no perceptible decrease since that time, three years' ago. On the contrary, in tho present season, there has been & bigger clip than in the previous year, and from a fewer" number of sheep. A wellknown shearer, who has been in. a _ number of sheds and is now approaching his 10,000 tally, states that the clips this year are heavier at .all 'the stations, both in tho Wairarapa and ,Manawatu districts. , A weed that is causing the. Stock Department some anxiety in Marlborough (says' the Marlborouigh Express) is the fox-glove. In the Wangamoa there are to be seen acres J of it, .. and it is spreading rapidly. It is j said, too, that sheep will not touch tho plant unless very hungry, and it is known to be poisonous in' nature. In the Pelorus Sound, too, the fox-glove has got a stronghold on one section. Here it is white; at the Wansamoa pink. The history of the j latter is that some years ago a box of j garden seeds was sent out from the Old | Country by the relatives of the owners | of the run, cand the -seed being ten times j the quantity required by the recipient or j the neighbours for flower-garden purposes, -1 some of the varieties were mixed with the grass seed, "with the view of beautifying the hill slopes a little. The result can be seen to-day by any traveller between. Blenheim and Nelson — the "tall pink fox-glove waves its head" to the tune of 10 or 20 acres. It is comforting to know, however, that the fox-«rlove has \been known in Taranaki and elsewhere to die out of its own accord, but only after it has had its fling. ' __ , An Ashburton resident (says the Guardian), who has been on a southern visit,.,, states that -there are splendid crops of both oats and wheat to be seen from Dunedin to a little on the south side of Timaru. At Waikakahi, he says, a number of paddocks of wheat are over sft -in height. > At Oamaru the crops are considered by t the residents to be the best that have been' produced for at least 20 years. From Timaru to Ashburton, and, in fact, as far as Ohristchurch, the farming prospects are not over-bright. _ i Threshing machines are now busily engaged in the Ashburton CJpunty in grass- v seed threshing, and it is understood thst

:he "yields are above expectations, while :he sample is said to be plump and bright. Early oat-threshing will also shortly comnence on the lighter lands, "where the crops lave been cut for some little time. It m iafe to assume, however, that with a coniinuance of the present weather the samp-c >f cereal grain — although better than thai >f last year — will not be up to the stanlard of -an ordinary year. • Root crops ;hroughout tho whole -bounty are suffering nuch owing to insufficient moisture. Concerning j-flie King Island melilot plantj k correspondent of the Melbourne lieadei vrites: "Your farming readers who have icted on. the advice of our Director oi Agriculture to cultivate this plant will- no loubt . be surprised to find in the Decem ier number of the Agricultural Gazette oi tfew South Wales a whole-souled condemlation of it by Mr Maiden, Government 3otanist of that State, on the ground hat it "is identical with ' the well-known njurious weed 'Hexham scent.' Mr Maiden itates that plants grown at Gosford', New kiuth 'Wales, from Eling Island seed proved ;o be Melilotus parviflora, ' and not M. >fficinalis, 'and that specimens from South Australia belonged also to the former pecies. He adds : ' The King Island plant nay do all that is claimed for it there, rat let the King 1 Island people keep it, md not assist in further disseminating a )e_st'in New South Wales.' Amongst the ■e'asons assigned _for its condemnation arc hat jt is a troublesome weed in wheat iropsr~that the seed is difficult to separate rom grain., and consequently 'becomes [roundf with the flour, imparting 1 , a most ►bjectionable taste and smell to it, and, urther, that if the weed l be cut with hay t is distasteful to stock." >-