A NORTH ISLAND TALK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3214, 20 October 1915, Page 13

A NORTH ISLAND TALK.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) PALMERSTON N„ October 14

Entries - for the Hawke’s Bay Show at Hastings on October 20 and 21 are almost up to last rear’s number—l93s, against 200 c. It is said that the departure of young men for the war caused the reduction m tne horse classes, particularly in competitions. The association is fortunate this year in having persuaded the Railway Department to extend its excursion fares not only over tlie lines to Wairara.pa, Wanganui, and Taihape„ but over the iVlanawatn line also. A great attendance seems likely. The figures of (he entries are:

THE FLAX GRUB. For some years past hemp-millers have been troubled by a flax-eating grub, and have been wishing for a remedy. Two ways of escape from the pest are now suggested by the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. W. D. S. MacDonald. Answering a question of Mr W. H. Field, whose electorate includes valuable flax fields, the Minister on Wcdnerday said the only cures ho could suggest were":— (1) To flood the flax fie Vis with the object of drowning the insect in the pupating seasons of April and October, and (2) to search for natural enemies. The Government will consider undertaking such a search if the millers will indicate the extent to which they will boar the cost. FRUIT CROPS. I rather think the continuous wetness of North Auckland during the past few weeks will cause large quantities of fruit to bo stripped by fungus diseases, particularly that known as black spot of the pear. Serna varieties of pears seem able t« cast off the pest and set a ciop despite all adverse conditions ; but other varieties are already stripped bare. Different conditions, however, have prevailed in other parts of the Dominion. There are expectations of a shortage in the North l&'and of late peaches. The weather conditions arc favourable to the strawberry-growing industry near Auckland, though farther south, near Wellington, the prospects are below normal. The apple outlook so far is good. CHEESE AND BUTTER IN REQUEST. Reports from Pahiatua reveal a rather keen inquiry for both butter and cheese, and some good sales have boon arranged. The scarcity of butter at Homo has resulted in some high offers for current outputs. As much as Is 3ld net, f.o.b, has been offered in Pahiatua up to the end of the year. Three cheese companies in the Eketahuna neighbourhood have sold linos of cheese at net on trucks, which pn’ice is believed to be a record. Taranaki has begun exporting. A small lot of butter (2071 boxes) went away by the Rotorua on September 4, and has been followed by bigger lines by the Rimutaka this week. The Taranaki contribution to the Rimutaka’s load comprised 15,159 boxes of butter and 3650 crates of choose, bound for London. This represents more butter and less cheese than at the corresponding- period of last season, due, it is explained, to the improved butter prices inducing dual-plant factories to defer their change to cheese till a later date than usual. Including the Rotorua’s quantity, the Taranaki output for export so far has been 17,230 boxes of butter and 3650 crates of cheese, as against 15,380 boxes of butter and 7102 crates of cheese in last year’s period. The butter is expected to fetch £3 10s per box, or £53,056 10s for the total quunity, and the cheese at least £4 per crate, or £14,000 for the whole lot. Taranaki shipments will now follow fortnightly. THE PIG INDUSTRY. It is claimed by the chairman of the Inglewood Bacon Company (Mr A. Morton) that his is the only co-operative bacon company in New Zealand that has succeeded. Ho made a cheering speech at the seventh annual meeting last Saturday, declaring that the season had been exceedingly satisfactory to suppliers. More pigs had been handled, but the expenses had been increased scarcely at all. The outlook for the future waa very bright. The company had received very largo orders—more than they oould fill,—and he believed all their supplies would he cleared before the season’s end. Ho regretted that though other classes of meat had increased, in some cases by 50 percent., the price of bacon was lower by from jd to 2d per lb than two years ago.

Some very satisfactory orders had come from Australia. Hams used to bo dearer than bacon, but now bacon was gd and Id ! clearer than hams. Owing to the factory i being unable to deal with all the nigs last i year (some being sent to Moturoa Works), i the accommodation had been enlarged at a j cost of £ISOO. Only l.£B per cent, of the : pigs were condemned, as compared with 2.50 per cent, last season. The year's output increased by between 11 and 12 per cent. After assuring suppliers that every bit of the pig was turned into money, except the squeal and the hair, ho said they had received an offer for the hair of £22 10s per ton landed in Sydney. Apparently, however, it would cost them fully £22 10s per ton to dry the hair, and in any case their year’s output would hardly roach a ton. A supplier protested against the enforcement of the “maximum weight ” rule; hut the chairman said the factory had to accept gd and Id less per lb for the weight exceeding the standard fixed. The company handled 283 porker pigs during the season ; but these had to he sold locally, as they had no export license. With the bonus included, the suppliers had received an average of 5.117 d per lb. The average weight was 133.871 b as against 1311 b in the previous year, i RAILAGE OF PIGS. | The recent Farmers’ Union Conference asked the Railway Department to provide special trucks once a week for the carriage of dead pigs on hooks. The General Manager has now replied that this is impracticable for the following reasons:—The traffic in p'gs is intermittent, and the volume is insufficient to warrant the provision of special trucks. Such trucks, with hooks as suggested, would be wasteful in storage, because the hanging carcases could not be loaded beyond one-half of the waggon’s real capacity, and a readjustment of freights would therefore be necessary. Such waggons -would be unsuitable for other traffic, and would thus bo idle for the rest cf the week. LIVE STOCK. 1 The three auctioneering firms operating at ; Hamilton have arranged to sell jointly every | week instead of in turn every three weeks, j This seems to bo the result of an expec- : tation that the Hamilton market is going to be something big in the meat market line. The next intention is to soil fat stock on Wednesdays and store stock on Thursdays. Lamb breeders report good results in Auckland province. aifTod by the warm, moist weather encouraging the food. There is a lot of feed in North Auckland. North Taranaki, Wanganui, Rantitikei, and Waikato just now. An Opotiki grazier, with half bush and half grass, reports 1350 lambs from 1480 ewes, and in the all-grass areas th" percentage often exceeded 100. In Wairarapa the complaints of the continued ] dry weather have been increasing, and one : station-holder reports a loss of 100 head of cattle for want of food.

1915. 191-1, Sheep .. 328 313 Cattle 212 221 Horses .• 401 467 Pigs 23 28 Grain - ami seeds 167 149 Farm and dairy produce 107 116 Poultry 183 196 Dogs 109 103 Native industries 63 94 Needlework 2S3 21: Sundries 104 100 Totals . 1935 2003