AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

In Hie Rothsrham district in tho Amuri the caterpillars arc proving a plague to the grain and grass crop 3. In some instances long strips of file country have been visited. The grul>s have appeared in myriads, and have taken some chains of front, o\ 3r which they denude the grain crop of the ear 3 by eating through the reck of the grain. Tho gra<;» crops are bsing treated in like maniier. Hundreds of small birds have attacked the grub?, but they made no perceptible diminution in the ranks of the caterpillars' army. Before the advent of the small birds on the Canteibury Plains it was not an uncommon sight to see paddocks overrun with caterpillar*, or the tuss-ook and grass alive with gra^hoppers, but the invasion at Rotheiham is quite a new experience in recent years. Jn regard to a statement that rust has appealed in giain ciojdh, the Ashburton Mail frays that it seems that crops on soils that have been treated with superphosphates resist the pss-t over a period of several years. This experiment has been tried with giaiifying results in several parts of Australia, where rust in crops \vas formerly so great that it was impossible to gain anything like payable crops from the land, even of first-class quality. Many vrov, e*s of potatoes in the Clinton distiict have been complaining that their crops aio very poor, and in some cases almost a complete failure. One authority on potato-grow ing has taken the tioubie to

investigate the matter, with the result that he has discovered that wherever cut seed was planted the crops have turned out more or less a failure, even although the " cut sets " were exposed to the sun, and in some cases " limed " before being planted. Especially ie the failure noticeable (sajs the Clutha Leader) where the cut seed was planted in that ground, and the reason assigned for the trouble is the fact that the season has been too wet to suit; cut potatoes, ac on ths same land the " whole seed " planted shows promise of a good, average yield. Some of the finest oat crops to be seen in this district are on the Moroa Plain,says the Wairarapa Daily News. One field measures over 6ft high all over, and the average yield of over 200 acres on one farm is estimated at -upwards of 50 bushels per acre. How long will a cow continue in milk without a calf? Mr M. Langhurst, of Pambula. New South Wales, is possessed of ashorthorn milker which calved just about 10 years ago, and is still in milk, giving 2£ quarts per day. ' A resident of the Western District of Southland of 35 years' standing, states (says the Western Star) that he has never seen the crops look so uniformly gcod as they do at the present time. A considerable area, of land under oats, be estimates, will yield over 80 bushels per acre. v The Auckland Agricultural and Pastoral Association decided on ths Bth to borrow £5000 on debentures at 5 per oent. for the purpooe of purchasing a site for an agricultural hall and the erection of the same. The principal object of the proposal is to enable the association to hold winter shows. It is believed Victoria will have a surplus for export this season of 'a little ovej? 14,500,000 bushels of wheat. The yield is estimated at 23,091.000 buehels. Last year's crop amounted to 12,100,780 bushels, or aw average of 6.55 bushels per acre. Onlyi orjce has thi3 season's average been exceeded, and that was in 1804, the year year following the great drought, when the record of 14.49 bushels per acre was established. A curious Italian system of preparing: food for cattle and shesp was recorded byProfessor Symonds, of Cambridge, over 120 years ago. * Leaves of various kinds were* much used, green and dried, for fodder, and the "Veronese improved upon the* leaf diet as follows:— The husbandman sink a very broad, de?p pit, and fill half of it with! leaves. Then they throw over them; •bunches of unripe grapes, about 2ft thick, aftor which they put a layer of leaves of the same thickness, and then another layer of grapes alternately, -till the pit is quite full, when they carefully protect it from the air. This not only prevents the leaves from heating, but impregnates them with a kind of spirit, which produces extraordinary effects, for ths homed cattle eat them with a greediness that can hardly be conceived, aud the sheep are as eager to devour them as when they are first turned into clover in England. It is alleged by farmers and others in the Wellington district that there is a. corner in pigs. While bacon is selling at about Is per lb at the stores, only 3£d! per lb is paid to the producer for animals of first quality, with the promise of a, further fall in' price. There is some talk of starting a co-operative curing factory in Waituna. district. * Great hopes are entertained in South! Australia that a profitable trade will bo opened up in the export of beef. Tho initial shipment of 800 quarters was made, in the last week in December, from Port Adelaide. The cattle were purchased int the Adelaide market and slaughtered under the supervision of a Government expert. It is hoped that when the abattoirs are established it will bs possible to chill the sides prior to cutting into quarters, ac this is the mest approved method. The beef is being sent by the- Suffolk to Liverpool and London. . The necessity for having artificial manures analysrd is shown in a letter by, Dr Voelcker, consulting chemist to- the) Royal Agricultural Society of England* .published in the Home papers. He analysed* a sample sent to him of kainit, guaranteed? to contain 11 per cent, of potash, equal to 20.35 per cent, sulphate of potash. He found it to contain 11.37 per cent, of potash, but reported: — "This is not kainit. but some other form of potash salts, anol ons that contains a considerable amounfc of carbonates, which makes its us-e along! with salts of ammonia- (e.g., sulphate of ammonia) impossible, as loss of ammonia, would result." As the purcliaser had intended to use it along with sulphate 08 ammonia, the warning given was> very necessary. It transpired in the further) correspondence that the material was prepared by a y company having works in the" neighbourhood of London, who accepted all responsibility, and stated that they had! manufactured this for years past, and haxi sold it as kainit. In a circular of the> company the material is described as L-ainit, * without any indication of its origin. "On making a very complete analysis of the salt, I found it to differ very materially from the natural sah; kainit, and mainly in the respects {ha* the potash wee present, not as sulphate, but as carbonate, and that the nature and proportions of the sodium and magnesium salts were very different to those which occur in the genuine salt." The* matter was referred to the Board of Trade, but instead of prosecuting- the firm, a warning- was £fiven, and an undertaking: received that the term kainifc would not in future be applied to the- article. The< name of the manufacturers is not given-. It would be interesting to know whefhei* any of the^e materials ever came to Newf Zealand. A well-known Scottish farmer, Mr Johnf Speir, of Newton, whose name is not altogether unfamiliar- in New Zealand, 'has hadi r-onf erred upon him by Kiner Haakon, of Norway, the ' honour of a Knight of thei first class of the Royal Norwegian Order" of St. Olav. as a recognition of the kindf and valued assistance given to Norwegian! farmers who have studied agriculture inf Scotland. At a mseting- held a.t Chriatchureh lasfi week it was resolved that an association, to bo known as the Canterbury! Grain, Se-ed and Produce Association,

should be formed, having for its objcci the improvement of the trade generally. A committee was appointed to draw up a report and submit it to a meeting to be held this week. A total of 15,600 boxes of butter was shipped by the Corinna at Auckland on Saturday for trantshipment to the Rimufcaka, leaving Wellington on January 14. The Morayshire has just taken 684- tons for -West of England ports, so that shipments from Auckland for ih«. fortnight total 16,28* boxes, or 407 tons, valued at £42,000. - The South Canterbury correspondent of tie Christohurc*h Press writes: — Summing up, it may be said that fully four-fifths of the crops, both of wheat and oats, look particularly well. Thera is a certain amount of rust and smut, and just at present the weather is not ideal for ripening, but given a. brief spell of clear, bright weather, crops would com© on rapidly. As to an average yield, wheat may give 33 bushels atrpd oats 60 bushels per acre. The Methven correspondent of the Christchurch Press writes: — As an instance of the extraordinarily favourable- season for all crops, I may mention that I gaw today a paddock of 10C acres of Rosebery oats belonging to Mr D. Wilson, Methven, and part of the original Springfield Estate. The crop stands 6ft high, and is well headed, and will thresh out at least 90 to 100 bushels per acre. On the same farm a small paddock of 25 acres is sown with rape, and the crop is sft high at present, and is probably a crop that could not be beaten in this district, and psrhaps not in Canterbury. These splendid crops are to h& seen within one mile and ahalf of Methven township, and go to prove that, given a favourable season, the land in the Methven district cannot be easily surpassed. The Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, in its preliminary statement showing 1 " the estimated total produce and yield per acre of the potato and root crops in Great Britain in 1908, with comparisons for 1907, and tba average yield per acre for the 10 yeais 1898-1907, gives figures showing that the total estimated weight of the* irops in 1908 is 8,987,161 tons, against 8,936,922 tons in the previous year. The acreage under cultivation in the later period is 427,772, againet 450,04-1 in. tlse «arlier- aaj the average yield 1 per acre is 21.01 tons, against 19.86, an.l the average of 19.28 in the 10 years. The estimated yield of potatoes gives 2,719,539 tons for England, against 2,097,814 tora last year; 151,700 tons for Wales, against 115,203 tons; and 1,048,559 tons for Scotland, against 764,468 tons in 1907. lowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and other States have recently passed new breeding laws requiring all stallions to be licensed that stand for public service. The most recent addition to Government supervision of -horse-breeding i 3 the State of Xew Jersey, wbosa agricultural comini=sicner.3 are authorised 1 to purchase full-blood) draught ard coach stallions and offer their services free to breaders who own good mares. Any stallior whose sire or dam is not a registered animal will be prohibited under heavy penalty from being u«ed as a breeder. The State supervision is destined to eliminate from the horse-breed-ing industry all mongrel stallions, and to encourage the use of full-blood siree.