LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 20

LOCAL A. AND P. NEWS.

Sbme high-priced stud sheep arrived at Wellington by. iSie Athenic (says the- New Zealand Tunes).- One Shropshire fehearling) ram, which is- consigned 1 to Mr i>torey, of Canterbury,' fpom Mr Thomas Minton, of Mountford, Shrewsbury, won first prize at the Royal Agricultural Society's show at [Lincoln. Three Border Leioesters (shearlings),* one ram and two ewes, are consigned to -Mr Douthw&ite, of Waimate, from Mr David Hume, of Bardwell, North Britain.

Wihle on a visit to Dunedin Mr Jemes Genunel, of Incholme,. inspected a sample of grass sent to out, office from Mr Shand's property on the Taieri, afterwards identified by Mr G. M. Thomson, F.L.S., as Glyceria fluitans. .On his return, home Mr Gemmel found a_ similar grass growing in the damper portions of his farm, -and this he sent on for Identification. Mr G-. M. Thomson, one examining- the sample, report^ ttiat it is Glyceria fluitans, th© sam© species as that which xjame from Mr Shand. Mr T. S. Little,- of Ngapara (says the Oamaru Mail), has just taken delivery from quarantine of a Border Leicester- ram, Leaston Record. The "ram, whion is now a_t Tapui, is in excellent. condition, and is _,tno neost costly of it% breed 'ever imported into New Zealand from Britain. The price was s&w. --■ - ,'j The country round about the Riyersdale, Waimea Plains, and ljsalfour districts (reI ports the Mataura Ensign of December 28) is at present looking remarkably well. Grass is plentiful, the, r oat crops, are -cony- ! ing on fast, and turnips are doing splendidly. Mr Butler, at "The Camp," has dome very nice oats -and wheat. But probably the best crop of" wheat in the district is to be .seen at Mr George Stuart's- old farm, which is now occupied by Mr" "John Nichol. It is a very • heavy crop, is even, 'and should give a splendid yield. Stock is olso in_good condition in the above" dis- , tricls,^-and altogether the country gives" j evidence of being in a very prosperous" state. ' _

The following harvest noEes are taken from the North Otago Times of December 28.— Mr Shand, of Ngapara, has a crop of bats that Is expected to go 80 bushels to \he acre, apd Mr Clark, of Totara, also has a crop of oatswhioh is expected to p*roducp a slightly larger yield. Certainly both crops look as if they would realise these expectations. — It has. been, seldom in the history of this distriot that the turnip crops have looked better than they do this year, whether early sown o r r late sown. The opportune rains have given a capital braird, and on each occasion-, as they have appeared to droop, another rain hae given them aji additional- respite, until now, in. many in* stances, they cover the ground, and ew making rapid progress. It -ftould be hazard* ous t 6. cay that the crop Us «afe" to be # good one, but it would be safe to- say that the turnip drops of the district never looked better.— The late- rains have been of immense value to the wheat and. oaLorops-m the Atramoko anchPapaJcaio districts, both crops showing fully-formed Jbeads, and the farmer anticipates a good average yield. The early-so^n turnips are well forward and covering the ground, while the lafSe/ArS Showing- a. good brain}- There is' a. large area under potatoes of various kinds, ftnd the woj?k In connection with them id veU forward, being nearly all moulded up, and from the strong, fresh, and green appearance, of the shaws they,shoul^ give an excellent return. The orops to be seen on the Steward •gettkmeQ'E are looking well, and grass i« plentiful 09. all the seotions.: Many 01 the. pastoraliste in Notux Otaeo and other districts (says the Oamaxu Mail) received rather ail unpleasant shock when 1 the wool auctions opened at tho beginning [of the ?eason to S&f tfrat, a§ compared \jg%, tbosa H last year, yKces bsd 9&<£osa

imos't materially, 'ancTChey thereore 'decided to hold off in hopes of an improvement. 1 The _ improvement, however, hap not ! materialised, and now holders have decided j to let their clip t go at the ruling rates, I and much- o£ it is being forwarded to the sales at Timaru in the first days of next ' month. . As a, matter of fact our woolgrrowers have -been a little spoilt during the past year or. two, or they would not cavil at the prices which wool has realised .this season. Many of them will remember , the time- when varieties that .now bring 7id to 8d could realise little more than 4d, and better sorts were sold at a proportionate figure. f The Riversdale correspondent of the Southland Times writes:— The weather here of late has, on the whole, been very satisfactory to everybody, more especially - the farmers. Aboutva week ago^some very much-needed showers came, and the crops are now much farther ahead than was expected at tn» Deginning of the season. Grass, \too, is very plentiful this year, and consequently stock are looking- yery_ well.Most of the farmers have their- crops of turnips ip, and those which have not are busy getting them In now. Shearing operations are welt forward. "Otting to tbe-'cie-* cline in the price ,of wool a number of iihose who- have a larate quantity aTe intending- to send their clip -Home, for there is "prevalent a general faith that thei wool market will reooyer. There is^ as yet no 10 per cent, decline on woollen goods,- so the farmers should see that their returns are not pocketed by a combination of middlemen. - Writing on December '27 the Mokoreta correspondent of the-Wyndham Herald reports: — Christmas has -come " and gone again, and ( excepting for the customary plum pudding and cake we "would hardly have known it was here, as most of us (owing to wet weather during the past fortnight putting us behind with the turnipsowing, and making us anxious 'to take ( advantage of the fine days just now) could not afford to take a holiday. The turnips got in before the rain are looking remarkably well, and there is every prospect of a splendid crop this year. The oat crop is beginning- to come "away very well since the moiet weather came on. It was rather too dry after it was sown, and did not come away well at first. Feed is " plentiful, and stock are looking well, althougn" there are complaints that the cows' are not milking- as well as last year, which is curious, as the conditions are more favourable this year. Shearing, which way-retarded during the- past fortnight with the_ wet, -Js now being' vieorously pushed ahead in the /big sheds. Shearing on the- farm will be general till the. 'turnips-are in. Saturday's -Oamaru Mail says: — Farmers in town to-day express "the. opinion that rain is- urgently needed in. all parts of the. distriot, and in no portion more than in the upper reaches of the Waitaki Valley and at the Steward " Settlement. Grain, which a' week -ago wge not. expected ,to"be" ready for .cutting until -the beginning of -February, is -being brought on so ,iapidly that if. the present dryness continues "the binder will be running .in many paddocks "before- the middle -of the present month. The effect ] of this would be a shrivelled grain, and a J much poorer return than had been anticipated. Grass feed has gone 'off, jnelted away, during the past week,, and fields that were green a few days ago now wear a* decidedly brown appearance. Turnips end rape also are suffering, and some of the pastoralists are anticipating trouble in keeping their lambs up to the fat standard. The magnitude of the dairying industry in Southland was demonstrated (writes a correspondent of the Gore Standard) .by 1 a recent visit to the Edendale " Tioneer

Dairy Factory. The '.supply at the main iaotory js at present 850Ogal daily, 11 Ivats "being required to hold- this enormous quantity of milk. The milk weighs approximately 40 tone, and from it 'over four tons of oheesa are manufactured. Eighteen men ar© employed in the factory. v Mechanical agitators are used fpr. stirring the curd durj ing the - process " of cooking. Continuous pressure presses are also largely used, and. this ensures a close "cheese. - The cheese is, shipped every fortnight, 1000, cases being , the average shipment. The supplyis drawn from 118 suppliers, the contributions rang' ing from 400 gal down to -,the modest 301b sent by a township resident.-' A large quantity of milk is received at night, a special staff being kept, to attend to the proper . cooling of the same to a temperature of . not less than 60deg Fahr.'There is a liranch factory at Brydone, containing- three" vats, with a supply of 2000 gal." The whole management of this huge^ concern is under ' the personal supervision of Mr "John Sawers (late Chief Dairy Commissioner)^ whose successes in the show arena are legion. Largely through hifi ability the Pioneer JBrand has achieved a world-wide r xepufcation. The out- > put of the season has been sold to Messrs ' Pearson and Rutter at a price- that will enable the directors to pay a price for butter-fat equal to last season's, which, by the way, constituted a record for, the Do-, minion.