NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3276, 27 December 1916, Page 8

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

The taking over of the wool clip in New Zealand and the running of the scheme on a smooth basis will be no light achievement. So far at least matters are satisfactory. The Government valuers in Dunedin are steadily at work at the various wool stores, and making fair headway. It is more than likely tnat a proportion of the wools in each of the various stores will bo valued and eliminated from further consideration, and stacked or delivered, except in the case of a dispute os to values, rather than Government valuers going through one store on a face. This will conserve justice all round. As soon as dates as to future valuations have been arranged they will bo published and growers advised. Several' mootings have been held of wool-growers’ representatives in conference with the brokers and valuers, and as a result the scheme is working smoothly. The northern provinces have expressed general satisfaction in regard to values, and the supervising valuer here has had the benefit of having been one at the Napier, Wellington, and Christchurch valuations. Valuers, it may bo mentioned, exercise their discretion in valuing a clip in as far as they may exceed or go below the schedule of prices already published should they consider that a clip warrants it. Growers will be notified promptly as to price on completion of the valuations at any centre, and appeals must be lodged within 48 hours, and the dispute will bo adjudicated upon by the arbitrator who_ has boon selected by the Growers’ Committee and brokers in conference, and approved by the Government. Similar committees, by the way (which have, it appears, 'certain functions in regard to the important interest of growers in the deal with the Government), have been set up at various wool centres, and presumably will meet any small expense incurred by, as was suggested in the north, a tax of a penny or so per bale of wool received in stores. The local mills have the option of selecting any wools they require at the prices the valuators decide upon, the selection being made, of course, -without any knowledge of what values the valuators have put upon selected lots.

Wool Notes.

Considerable surprise is being manifested at the demand made at the conference of wheat-growers in Christchurch as to the suggested terms on which the Government should take over the wheat yield of the Dominion during the war and for one season after the war. Six shillings and threepence per bushel at railway stations was deemed a fair thing for prime milling quality. The price appears a solid one to bo given under a guarantee. It is “some price.’ Reference to the published reports of market conditions _in Christchurch showed that the average prices paid to farmers for wheat, on trucks at country stations, for a succession of years, was as follows: ' „ , , , Per bushel. e. d. 1910 - •• •• 8 1911 33 1012 36 1913 - 37 1914 (to outbreak of war) .. 3 8 Certainly these old prices, except where the returns ' were big, may* not have paid directly, ns land under a rotation is sown in wheat or other cereal _ in the natural course, the farmer trusting to luck to a great extent to make something out of the crop, or, it may bo, he ia prepared to bo out of pocket on this line, pinning his hopes on other products taken off the farm to pay his way. There_ is, too, a certain amount of sentiment_ in growing wheat, and it is to this trait in a farmer s make-up ihat one must appeal to failing a fair price, if sufficient wheat ia to be grown in the Dominion. Tenpence for a /fib loaf as the result of flour at £l7 a- ton and wheat at 6s 3d a bushel spells trouble all round. The best solution lies in the realisation of the fact that land-owners have their obligations to the State just as

Wheat Notes.

any other section of the community. Town people must assist and go slow in their judgments, while holding themselves ready to provide their unskilled labour at harvest time. It is no use railing at a man who holds wheat land and can do bettor out of dairy produce or meat, as nothing on earth will turn him except a willingness to help out tho people's necessities for a cheap loaf. All labour should be organised by local bodies, who should see to it that enough is kept in the country to further production. The present position has arisen largely through a belief in our grain statistics, as growers concluded there was a surplus. Last year some 329,000 acres were sown, and this year over 100,000 acres less, the position being accentuated by labour difficulties. The Dominion re« quires about six and a-half million bushel* per year. Word has just come to hand from London that the Government intends to guarantee a fixed price for home-grown wheat in 1916-17, and serves to emphasis© the reed of our country at least growing enough wheat for our own consumption.

In the eyes of the Board of Health, tho terms “ deemed to bo adulterated ” and “ adulterated ” (says “Bendleby,” in. the Australasian) arc quite different from one another when applied to milk, but carry the same penalty. If* dairy farmer sells milk straight from the cow, but which docs not contain the fixed standard of 3.5 per cent, of butter-fat, he is not guilty of adulteration like the dishonest tradesman who waters the milk, but is guilty of selling milk deemed to be adulterated, and will be fined just as heavily. Could anything be more absurd? In England it has been decided by court of law that if it can bo proved that the milk is as it loft the cow no adulteration can be alleged, though the standard [3 per cent, there.— Ag. Ed.l may not bo reached. ' strange part is that the Victorian Act is enforced mainly for the protection of - infant life, and the average fat percentage in human milk is only 5.3 per cent, (less by some authorities), and still milk-pur-veyors have been heavily fined for selling milk containing 3.4 per cent, of butter-fat. It is well known that the morning’s milk always tests lower than the evening’s milk, though of greater quantity, which is due to the unequal periods between milkings. Is the milk-purveyor or farmer to keep back the morning milk, and mix the two milks? How will this affect the milk supply in the summer time? Again, the milk-purveyor is fined, and the farmer who supplies him goes scot free. Is tnc former to hold back the milk for a day until samples have boon tested ?_ The present Act and its administration simply bristle with injustice. To act fairly, as well as sampling milk on the carts, the cans at the station should bo tested, and before a conviction can be obtained the herd should be tested to see if there is any discrepancy.

Official Stupidity.

References have boon made _at different times to contagious abortion and the need of taking precautions against the disease by disinfecting the genital organs and surrounding parts of the cow and bull, also the now-born calf. The New York State’s Veterinary College has issued a circular on the subject, in which Professor W. H. Williams says that there is no cure for abortion, and that all _ the socalled remedies are useless. His treatment is to start with the newly-born calf This will guard it from the bacilli of various diseases. Professor Williams advises giving the cow a. "thorough, washing with warm water and soap a fortnight before calving, and rinsing off the lather with a 2 per cent, solution of carbolic acid; then keeping the cow in a clean, disinfected stall, and washing the back parts daily with disinfectant, and ii rig a ting the vagina. When the calf is born, it should be rubbed dry, and the navel-cord disinfected bv pushing a glass filled with a 1 in 1000 solution of corrosive sublimate against the navel region, keeping it there for 15 minutes. Next the navel-cord is dusted repeatedly with a powder composed of equal parts alum and boric acid until dry. The calf should be kept in a clean stali for two or three months, and fed only with the milk of a healthy cow which has calved naturally, expelled her afterbirth quickly, and has no discharge from the uterus. This course is only likely to be followed in a pure herd, but in a modified form can be recommended for anv dairy farm where calves arc reared. White scours, joint-ill, as well as abortion, rfl then feppear. AGETCOLA. AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL N E WS. The Live (Stock Journal, in an article on the export of Aberdeen Angus cattle, states that the breed is growing in favour in New Zealand. Part of the consignment to New Zealand last year consisted of a couple of bulls, costing together £650, “an indication of the stamp of cattle which that dominion is taking.” ~ For some seasons (says the v\ yndham Herald) the grass grub has not been to much in evidence in Southland. Itng season hovf-cver, must be favourable to their development, for at present in the mature beetle stage the insects arc on tins wing fairly numerously. Farmers will not welcome the prospect of a recurrence of t.ho PS While a mob of sheep were passing through Mataura on Friday, 15th inst. (says the Ensign), one of the animals, seeing his reflection, dived through a plate glass window of an empty shop belonging to Mr it. D Yule, Invercargill. The window will cost about £3O to replace. An appellant wlio owns a. sliecp iaini of 400 acres told the Military Serivcc Board at Masterton that in one particular year he took 3000 rabbits off his property. The North Canterbury Farmers’ Cooperative Freezing Company, Kaiapoi, commenced operations on the 18th, several hundred sheep being slaughtered. This is the first work of the company (states the Lyttelton Times). . According to the Wairarapa Times, & Mount Brace settler, who has just completed shearing, lost 20 hoggets last week. Blood-poisoning was suspected, but it waa found that the sheep had been eating the young shoots of tutu. A most interesting feature of a gathering for the presentation to students of diplomas from the Auckland Kindergarten Association was the success of Miss E. Martin. who, although afflicted with blind ness, has qualified for a diploma with distinction. Shearing on the low country farms haa been pretty well completed, and is now in full swing on the Lack country station* (says the Camara Mail). Fine weather ha*

Care of the Calf.

been experienced, and the work has been carried on steadily and without any friction or loss of time. One gratifying general experience is that the sheep are coming out of the wool in capital condition, showing no signs of having suffered because of the drought bhrough which they passed. The stores at Fort Ahuriri are packed with wool, and many of the hands are working long overtime. Even on Sundays there id now activity at the port. _ , As evidencing the hue patriotic spirit displayed by Natives in the war, Kaingha s gang, comprising a number of Natives working in the Wailingford district decided that no bonus should be accepted for sheep shorn whose ovners are serving tnc Empire. Captain A. S. Wilder s sheep were consequently put through at the rate of 20s per 100.—Napier Telegraph. Labour for harvesting is offering freely in Christchurch at present, more applications for employment being received than the labour bureau can place. The grass harvest has commended in the Hawarden district, while in the Omihi Valley farmers are busy cutting oats. There are plenty ot machine shearers offering, but blade shearers are very scarce (says the Sun). The Marlborough Farmers' Union _ recently discussed the question of organising the services of the boys and girls attending the secondary schools for harvest work. It was stated that the indications were that there would be a sufficient supply of lads from the secondary schools in the district.