' AGRICULTURAL ASSD PASTOBAL [■ NETfS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2848, 14 October 1908, Page 6

' AGRICULTURAL ASSD PASTOBAL [■ NETfS.

s The manifest advantages* to be" derived" '■ from joining the Farmers' ~?Union dq^ not always receive the recognition they deeerve from thoss most directly interested.- At a»- '. mesting held on thb 7th af'Sil^rfeidd tt>~ , deal with matters relative ■to Taifcri drairir age classifications, the Chairman. (3lr 'W. r Kirkla.id), at the olese of -the ifc^etinp,. i gave a \vo\d in season to the 40 farmers present, advising them, that, a social wouldshortly be held in connection with the uuion. and urging non-members present to enrol, and to do all in their power tcv * increasa the strength of the union. The Auckland Executive of the Farmers* Union lire forwarded a circular letter to • all branches of the union in the province, bringing under notice the advantages to farmers of .co-operation in trade matters. A strong committee has been formed to collect information acd propound a scheme to enable members of the union to enter into trade on the co-operative system, and this committee will report in extensobefore the Provincial Conference next year; The executive, in electing the committee, expressed the hope thai it would give earnest and careful attention to the subject, and do all in its power to further the idea. # The shipment of butter by the s.s. lonic from Auckland to London totalled 2297 boxes. The Victoria took 340 boxes for South Africa, and the Hauroto x 2ll boxes for the South Sea Islands, while there were"- just on 300 D boxes ' in store to-day for export. The total output of tb? Auckland factories during the past fortnight for export was thus 5848 boxes, or 146 tons. Roughly speaking,^ the expost output for thk| fortnight is worth over £14,000. On present indications the *«&6on promises to be a record one for the quantity of butter for export from. Auckland. These who aj*e growers of red clover will be pleased to see the largely increased number of humble bees that are buzzing about (says the North Otago Times). Those who have taten notice of the circumstances }say the bees arc more numerous than Jor many years past. Mr W. J. "Black, Totaa-a Valley has a> ewe that has had 16 lambs in five seasons, and all but two were successfully reared. The series were 2, 2, 5, 2, 5. The ewe is now about 10 years old, being a full- - mouthed sheep when bought at the Level* clearing sale nearly five years ago. Another Ma-naia farmer (says the Taranaki Herald) has expressed his satisfaction with the advantages of races over milkingeheds. He has over 200 cows, and haa put / up a 6ft-wide race, of the hatf-moon shape. ' Ho has proved its efficiency and intends erecting races for other sheds. A well-known Marlborough farmer has found a way of coping with the Californian thistle. Two years ago he bad a paddock of 1? acres covers*' in' thistles, which, ho rsowed clown m lucerne. A Palmeratort resident visiting the farm within the list few weeks was surprised to find that the lucine had entirely killed out the thistle, and not a ?ign of "it was to be seen. Tho Akavca Mail states that if the CaJifornian thistle spreads the far-famed Peninsula cocksfoot industry will be doomed, au no outsider will buy the seed with the Cal foruian th ; ~tle in it. It adds that there ii little ol the pest on the Peninsula, as yet. Lut it urges that prevention is better than cure. Tho feeling in America (says a Home paper) is that the business of American packers in England has received a- Wowr from which it will take years to recover. • This is particularly true of the refrigerated meat trada. The New York Time*, refoiving- to t li ls. 'says: — "The Americans find ibrmje-lve, at present confronted by dangerou* competition from South American packers, who, owing tc the cheaper priod of tern and consequently of cheaper cattle, are iible to ship moat to England cheaper than can be done from l.he United Stakes. The higher price of* com and the moneystringency in the State? during the pas? year are largely responsible for tho conditions prevailing now. Owing to these orcumstances the farmers did not feel justified in feeding their cattle, and the higher pricey at which meat is now sold is due to the limited supply." Barbed wire cuts among horses of all eorts. from foals upwards, are ever disfiguring. Th3y can at times prove extremely clang<?rou3, as, for instance, when a cut about the coronet or pastern more or \'j~i in contact with tho earth picks up a lockjaw or teta-nus germ. In any case barb-wirs cuts are not only much too freqr.3ntly to be met with on farms, but the injuries caused by these are far too often neglected. An old hand at curing cuts and woutrds of this sort recommends fisrmers to procure a box of corrosive ' su,b« * liniata (bichloride of mercury) tablets. Put one tablet in a quart of soft water, And it dissolves readily for immediate use. Clip the hair close around the edges of tie wound, «nd remove. *Ny dirt. Take a. piece -of muslin a-nd saturate it with the solution and place it on the' wound. Covers this with cotton- also clipped in the solution. The idea of this is that the muslin will not stick to the wound, like other ma*

More Planet, Jr., agricultural and garden: implements are in use in the world than any other three makes put together.— Nimm# and Blaxr.