AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3019, 24 January 1912, Page 19

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Farmers are becoming apprehensive as to the harvest (says our Oamaru correspondent) owing to the continued broken weather. Dry warm weather is greatly needed to bring the crops to fruition, but on Saturday night and Sunday heavy rain and some hail fell, and the crops became heavily weighed with moisture. Monday was a fine. day, with a good drying wind, but last night more rain fell. Unioss settled weather is experienced (ho promise of an exceptionally good harvest will bo considerably discounted. The unsettled weather is also checking the fattening of lambs, and the number available for freezing is disappointing.

Favour'.d by fine weather (-'‘ays our Cromwell correspondent) a number of sheds in the district have finished shearing, and many excellent clips have been recorded. Heavy loads of wool have gone through to market during the past few weeks, but a good deal has yet to follow. Also there are some excellent cro»*-> in the valley, and with abundance of fee-d pastor a lists and farmers are having a very successful year. Experiments are being made by the Victorian Government with the woolly-butt timber for butter boxes. The wood is white, and apparently free from resin or gum. It is, however, very heavy. There has been a good demand this year for Wairarapa-brcd Lincoln rams, and the Lincoln, is said to bo again coming into strong favour in some parts of the Dominion.

A Mastcrton farmer, unable to secure men for harvesting on week-days, has adopted a novel method of employing- hands from surrounding farms and doing his harvesting on Sundays

A fine shearing performance has just been put up at Mr M. Morrison’s shed, where eight men in five minutes under the 10 hours shore 1792 big sheep. The highest tally, 270, was put up by Isaac Robin.— Ohakune Times

Mr T. F. Wilton, of To Rang.itunion, Masterton. is a “ringer” among shearers. He has occupied the shearing hoard every for the last 41 years, and on Saturday week put. through 205 off the blade. This is a performance which would put many a younger man in the shade. Mr Wilton’s family are also experts at shearing. One of his eons recently made a tally of 267 in a day, with the machines.

Fanners engaged in haymaking are endeavouring to got over the scarcity of labour by working on the co-operative system. No fewer than 16 farmers were engaged in one field at Kapuni a few days ao-o getting in a crop of hay. It is a case of neighbours helping one another. A breeder from the north of Auckland has been in the Oamaru district during the past few days, and inspected a number of the loading Clydesdale studs with a view to making purchases. It is reported that several select mares and fillies have changed hands.

Since December 9 last 53,170 small birds’ eggs have been purchased at the Waitaki County offices by the clerk. For these a sum of close on £4O was paid to the boys who collected them. A considerable number of the dairy and other farmers of Waverley are at present engaged in making ensilage (says the Pa tea Press). This is in consequence of the unsettled weather, which has made hay-mak-in"- a riskv proposition.

It ,is anticipated that there will bo a largo attendance of buyers from all parts of the Dominion, and also from Australia, at the clearing sale of Mr J. F. Reid’s sheep and Clydesdale horses. The sale is to l>o held at Burnside, near Oamaru, on Tuesday, February 27. The number of the Romney Marsh flock tr> bo offered is 1340; the number of the Border Leicester flock is 670, and of Lincoln 221. They comprise Special stud rams, flock rams, stud ewes,

and owe lambs, and form part of the well-' known Elderslio flocks. The 14 Clydesdale mares to bo offered are all high-class animals. Some dozen colts and fillies will bo submitted at the same time. The joint auctioneers are Messrs Pyne and CV>., Guinness and Lo Cren, Ltd., and Wright, Stephenson, and Co.

The North Otago Times states that the Hessian fly is reported to have made its appearance amongst the Kauroo Hill crops, but its depredations are not, so far, serious. The attacks of the grub can bo traced by the broken and withered grain stalks. A Southland farmer informed the News that the turnip fly is worse than usual in the Southland district this season, and its ravages are the more harmful because of I the slow growth of the turnips. ! In the last 20 years the land in Great Britain devoted ho farming has dwindled, says the Board of Agriculture, toy more than half a million acres, while the land under the plough has declined by 10 per cent. The acreage o I wheat has declined by nearly one-fifth, and the total area under crops has decreased by one-tenth. The big farms over 300 acres have decreased by 1795 in 25 years, and now represent oidy about three per cent, of the whole.