WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 20

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Frost ami sunshine— enjoyable weather—prevailed until Monday. Since Tim then we have had nice Weather. spring showers, culminating with a heavy downpour for the last 24- hours. Ac I write to-day (Thursday) there is every probability of the rain continuing, as the wind is easterly and •the barometer is very low — 29.6. We may therefore expect floods. So far. the cold is not severe enough to kill lamb;. Those who have .early lambing have had good times. The nfixt^four weeks 1 .however, is the time when the majority of our lambs are due. and it is to be hopod the present storm will soon blow over. Should it not. it will have a disastrous effect. A3 yet I have heard no complaints as to mortality among the ewes, or any appearance of that insidious disease, extrusion of the vagina. Personally, I am not satisfied that we have found out the cause of the trouble. At indefinite periods it. appears as an epidemic under wholly different conditions. For more years than I sometimes care to look back over I have found that on the same land and with ewes bred on the station for generations, this trouble of extrusion of the vagina would appear when lca=t expected, the reason generally ascribed being, if a bad season, poverty, while if a good season it was ascribed to the ewes being too fat. I would like to see some of the younger generation tabe intelligent notes for a few year?, and endeavour to locate the cause. m th-e- I.eafi-et for Farmers, No. 61, Mr Gilruth, in dealing with, this disease, says : — °" Thi* disease (ante-

partum extrusion of- vasina) ie associated with £hat previously described {anie-parfum paralysis), which, shortly stated, is caused l>y / bhe e^ves being too fat." In confirmation of this contention he quotes from Mr Wilkie's report, after examining oases on the West Coast of .the North Island and in the Wairarapa. Mr Wdlkie reported: — "In no case did I find ewes dying on poor pastures or on those which were well6tocked but in every ease some change in the feeding for the better had taken place within a month." With respect to paralysis, the predisposing cause may be said to be altogether due to the ewes having been 'kept too well and being loaded with fat when near to lambing. Rut when applied to extrusion of the vagina I have my doubts. I call to mind the year 1877, when we had a bad 1 drought in Australia, and when, it will be readily understood, our ewes did not carry much fat — in fact, they were walking skeletons, many of them dying from poverty. With sheep in that state shepherds complained of cases of what was there termed " comingf out of the bearing." Some 15 or 16 years ago the manager of a very hilly piece of country on the East Coast of the North Island told me he had had a lot of trouble end loss that season through the same cause. Personally, I did not see the ewes, but it can be safely said that <the country was not -condoieiv© - to putting on fat. This manager and myself at the time swapped experiences in trying to find a cause for this trouble, and the conclusion w« arrived at was that while fat was more predisposing *or conducive than poverty, leanness did not mean absolute immunity, and that there was stiH something we wanted tp learn regarding this disease. Although not a fell disease extrusion of the vagina periodically takes its toll, so that any light that can be cast on the subject will be vahwible. That is one reason for drawing the attention of young farmers to the question. The prize list of the Manawatu and West Coast Metropolitan AgriThe Uanawa'n cultural Show and IndusA. and lP. trial Exhibition, Palmereton Association. North, is now fe^re me. Twenty-three years ago few, if any of us, imagined that Palmerston show would ever hje justified in adopting such a high-sounding title, or that the prize list would necessitate the printing of a pamphlet of 77 pages, -in which are a numbe-r of photos of thei grounds. Altogether there are 707 classes, in most of which three prizes are given. There have been in some classes additions made to the amount of prize money,- more especially in the competitions. There are 53 classes open to pupils attending technical, high, district high, and public schools and colleges, the subjects being most comprehensive. Throughout the Wajngaiuii Education Board's district muoh interest is now taken in furthering the cause of the practical education of ,lhe children, so that no function is complete, even in the most out-of-the-way place, without something being given to the school ehildr-sn. The prospects for the forthcoming show, to be held on ■ the 4th, srh. and 6th November, have received an additional fillip by €he fact that wo have now 3irecfc communication with Auclcland by rail. This should entice northern breeders to compare their stock with those from other parts of the North Island. The annual horse parade will takeplaos on " Saturday, September 26. This function has not in the past been encouraged by farmery as much as it deserves. In choosing a sire of any kind it is of great help to get a number together to enable comparison^ to hs made. Therefore, all hopse-breedei-s should, in their own interests, attend the horse parades. The usual monthly meeting of the Geneva! Committee was held on Tuesday, when •some 25 members were in attendance. The chief business was the appointing of senior ctewards for the different sections for the spring show. It was decided to make ap- . plication to the General Manager of Ra'lways to provide excursion fares for the spring show on. the north trunk line. Tht Shearers' Accommodation Bill was condpinned by the committee, and the following motion, proposed by Mr Jacobs, was carried unanimously: "That this association strongly protests against the Shearer Accommodation Bill, which is quite tuicalleo 1 for, and which, if carried, will inflict grave hardships and quite unnecessary oxpanditure on owners of small flocks in having to provide building winch are only needed for a few days in the year, and that this association also respectfully protest against bills of this character, which seriously affect the agricultural and pastoral industries, being referred" to the Labour Bills Committee to take evidence and report upon; and, further, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Prim© Minister and the Minister for Labour, and that Mr W. T. Wood, M.P., be asked, as vice-pro- , si dent of the association, to oppose the bill jin Parliament." Mr Jacobs, in speaking )o the motion, said he thought at first the bill was intended as a joke, brut he had com© to the conclusion that it was\intended to bo taken seriously. It simply meant that i-m-ployers would have to find a five-roonwd house for their shearers, at an expense cf over £200, for a few weeks each year. They would require to find a sleeping room for the shearers, a sleeping room for the cook, a bath room, and a kitchen. Although the bill wil) affect only a email proportion of farmers in this district, the shearing beinf done by local men, who go in gangs of four to six and return to their homes at night, that is no reason why small farmeis should not protest on "behalf of the back country men, who have to find accommodation for from five to 10 men for a. week or two at th© furthest, there being now few properties carrying 10,000 sheep or over. Besides there has never been any demand from the shearers, except in one or two exceptional cases where the owners do not provide even decent protection from wind and weather. At the same time no shearer I have met would think of being provided v.-ith a bathroom. In fact, a bath room in a back country whare is an exception, and if ' a number )f th© sheep-farmers' dwellinghouee3 were placed at th© disposal of the shearers they would fail to satisfy the demands of the bili. Now that the dairy season is again comj mencing the same old arguIloinr- rnents are being brought ; Separating, forward as to the advisability of factories accepting home-separated cream. Experts keep reiterating that home-separating is adverse to the welfare of the industry. Against thi<s vre loa-Te i:n tlio 3kXarfca/wa.tu fc-wo t>utte-r factories that accept home-separated cream. Tke Cheltenham Factory, that has been

such a-suceessful competitor with its buttes at the shows during the past two seasons^ takefc in cream in considerable quantity^ The owners of the Makino Factory (the '"Defiance'- brand) are now .advertising . that they are prepared to .buy iqme-sepa? rated cream, either delivered -at" any- of their creameries or at , any railway station, or siding. Seeing that two such' successful butter-makers are not afraid of destroying their reputations by accepting the cream, a instead of the whole milk, there cannot be. so much danger in the system, as experts would make us believe. Looking at the subject disinterestedly it seems that, given good management, there is little danger in, accepting cream so long as the directors; - give the factory manager full power to reject tainted or inferior stuff and thai; the. manager is ambitious to make a name; for himself as a butter-maker. Given a , careful supplier, there is .no Treason -why his cream should not be in as good ordefl as if separated at' ihe factory. When, a ton or more of milk has to be hauled cix or more miles- over bad roads; the upkeep of a team of horses and wages ot the driver make' a big. hole in the mont-h^s; cheque. Besides the difference in the" ex-> ' pense betweer delivering . milk and cream, there is the" great 'advantage of always? having sweet niiik for -the calves. By home-separating- -the - salves • can be^ fea direct irom the cow, iihat is if the J quantity will warrant separating night, and morning. But in any case' the skimmed niilk can be always, kept sweet, 'whereas jolting milk^ over rough roads in hoi weather does' not make for good milkT From reading I learn that home-separating is .the 'common prac* tice in the States. Of couiee they do n<ft cater much for foreign, markets with their '- butter. Still we may- take it thet the , Yankee demands good stuff, for his own. consumption. Apart from ttie- utility or. otherwise of home-separating when the suppliers are within reasonable distance o| a tactory, we have a large number of Strug* gling settlers on small holdings in the bush, - districts of the North Island' 'that 'have no roads except 'bridle tracks ;' "therefore everything they consume and what they produce has to ber packed. A case in point.: Some lo years ago a Mend took up a section of 200 acres in the Waimarinc district which was loaded with 7s kd' per acre for roading. He manfully tumejl • to and felled and, grassed the whole eec«" tion, doing the most of the work himself, going out to. help* to provide the necessary tea, sugar, and flour, and for meat depending on* what wild pigs or cattle he could shoot. At first he stocked 'tho land with sheep, but found that they would, hardly pay the Tent,- let. alone support himself .and . family, co perforce had to .trydairying. Seeing that packing out the milk would never pay, "he got a separator, thereby lessening the expense of packing. . . He kept on milking under those conditions for a number of years v always hoping that the Government would' fulfil their part . • of the contract and -provide him with; a road fit for vehicular traffic. As yet no road has reached his section. Now that . the railway is' completed and a new county - • has been formed no doubt -the settlers will ■" borrow the money to make the roade that>, the Government ha.ye , already . been • paid! - for making. This is no exceptional case, ■ there being hundreds, . perhaps thousands, " in the same predicament. Many of these had to adopt the .same 'system to eke out - , a living. It seems, therefore, that for an- ' other decade or two there will be a large jjquantity of cream" produced by home-sepa-wra&inig. It may be argued- that if the 'creaming can be as well done' on the farm as at the factory why not make the butter ' at home also? Certainly we have some ■ dairymaids that do make butter far «upe« ■ rior to any factory— H?hat ie, to my taste. But the majority of settlers or their wives never .have seen butter made. Besides, like many other things pertaining to the farm, education alone will not always make an expert in butter-making. It is somewhat of an intuitive gift, the possession of which cannot be explained. Anyone " with ordinory intelligence can soon learn to run a separator, and the care and conditioning of the milk and cream are readily understood." Leaving out the few that can make good ■butter, for which they can command a ready sale, the ordinary settler is well advised to market his milk in the shape of cream to some factory. By so doing the work is largely curtailed, and he has not ( the worry he -would have by making buttec of inferior quality, j ANTIQUA OVIS. "