DRUMMOND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 38

DRUMMOND.

(lr-tol:°r 25. — After tha v-erj fine winter we ha\3 enjoypd. and' tlip -prirg being fan'y faxcurable for fanning or.o.ijt'oni and so excellent for ldmUii.-^, with a use in tJie of la:nb ant' mutton, faimei-. are feeling a little 11101 c buojn.ni, an 1 ihinjs are lo^kn g up L r «n"ra"ly. The J;-'-avy e^tuincc-t'al galo- we hav> been =üb-i<?c-icd to for the last fe.v v.osk*. nior? or If, li.>\o been fo!!ow-~il by a b.O'ivj downroar fi ow the south-^ast on tlie 22n<l in-r , which will jrive I'Oi'i giam and srra- -> .1 fi;-»h .^tait, and h" helpful for woikirj; th? uii-nip .arroun-cf. which wr.s gcitiiij ha,rl <--, toi3. makiaa it difficult to pii.ujfi „> c) br-jk -down into a iiiio Cr.ouj'i tilth ie- ■ sine '-L'tlin 1 ? cron-. L.\iri)iiig — Tl'j lambi:"? as b"--"i th" bc-t I lra\ ■ c\rr -"vn in f-'outliland «o far jiiv recollection gc-os ;u 1 wliat 1 ha\-> 1 i r \ e\;->en<mc3 of. We hear of -o*ll3 \ei.\ h :r .'h f! - f "ma ge 1 , but t'o=" ar fipquTnly he* r-'Lnhlc, u;!l r -; f-n 0 know- on wiut. ba-is th"y are tak-op For exumple. -on 2 calcul.'t-" tlieir percental s \>y leaiirn^ out cws having no lambs or tho e o which ldt thr-i:- la-nlj-j, ar.cl can in thi> way easily obtain ICO per cent or over. Thee who mcluc! > all tho pn?> put to th° rani and divide ihe p umber of laml^ tail-ed, multiplied by 100 and divided by the number of e«ci thus given, get the correct pe>r- ! oenwge for the reason. I know several

cases in which it has been correctly taken ' obtaiindn.g nearly 120 per cent., and some ', over it ; but when. I hear of away over ; 150 per cer.it. I begin to "ha« ma doots. v | Homo people early in the season think thay j are going ro have a heavy lambing when ' they find a considerable number of twins, i and get grievously disappointed at tailing. | j Sometimes unfavourable * weather after- j j wards may have something to do with it, | but generally the fact is overlooked that the greatest number of twins come early, j i However, we have had an excellent lamb- i ! ing, for which I trust everyone is sincerely i thankful. The Meat Trade.—lf tfiie rise in values of mutter* and lamb in Lrondon is attribut- j 1 able to the law of supply and demand, 1 then th,3 farmers of New Zealand have abundant causa- for self-igra-tulation, as we can always produce the quantity, and that, j increasingly, in thi3 way giving us an, ad- , vantage over those countries subjected to , periodical droughts. While we do not aetuallv live by and prosper through the inisfortu:n._--s of others causing a scareitv for them, when we- have always ■enou-gii and to spaie. we are pleased all the saime whon we think there is. no da.n>zer of us being I put into dreadful straits through lack of | I anything-. At tho same time we havo 1 every reason to be pleased with our capa- I bilities, for, give us free markets for our ' produce, we can year after y-ear unfailingly find tho wherewith to supply thorn. • j I Our Products. — Agriculturists in this part ! of the South Islaaid are beginning to , iicali-3 that dairy produce and muttcm i may be our most stable products, ivith i ' wool fluctuating and unreliable. ' Taken year aiten- j'-ear, or taking a succession of years, and by striking- an average , it w iil be found that thos.3 who depend ' upon cropping carr.ot mak« it pay. Even +.ho=e in this locality who takg a crop of 1 linseed or a crop of ry-3gra«s lnry n ake a ' ! ri?e soma years, but if frcsfc int<3i - vcn<-c, ;.r.u j Bifteir all the expenses are taken account ' of. air.d that have to b3 incurred before ( it is aijain put into pormancirt pasture, it is generally found that seven yeajs of ! fatn^s-s are eaten up with seven year* j ka!in.^"«s. That is the clrearr and the in- | 1 <-«rpretation thereof oocurrinig in the ex- j perienca of those farmers who strain a ! rt>in* to take too much out of their farms in too short a space of time. j 1 Wool. — If I were desirous of being credited with the gift of prophecy, I would 1 predict good, if not big, prices for the n>2xt »vool sales, on the prospect of imj proved trade continuing amdi increasing in the large industrial oounitries. Anyone ppcliictin'g fuch smooth thing,s as tho ab-olute certainty that wool will continue to ;'mprove until after, say. ths second wool sa.la in Inveax;aa"gill (when all the wool for the . \ season should be in and disposed of), and that no unfavourable cablegrams will corns to hand just immediately prec^dinig, would establish s reputation that would never , bs shaken. Fa.te may clscree otherwise! Who knows? I Dairy lnq.— The dairying industry, when, I just geltirg on to its feet and moving ] j forward on its own rrorit. has for the I time being got a bit of a check through a , few largo buyers combining, I am told, to j keep prices low. Soino cf them did not ' come out as they expected through purchasing too freely, ewvJ' som^ of them from a , speculative tendency. Th? industi-y .has not I in any way got a set back, but in cur con- ; oeifc we may ha\3 ju^t be^n -in-übbc'l a, 1 I little. It may uUimatelv have a. good effort | ; The rapc.'-ts coiicerning the reputation of > I Now Zealand choose in ,he Home markets 1 1 and its continued improvem.^rit are suffi- | I cient to encourage the factories fo K>m- ! bine, as the people of Denmark <'o. aiul place the ch-'-o-e cir the market on \t~> own aocennt. The sooner t! r\s i? done the Letter, and particularly with South Island consi g run-eats.