SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3292, 18 April 1917, Page 9

SOUTHLAND AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

Perfect weather prevailed during the week, and good progress has been Tlic "Weather made with, outdoor work. and A good deal of progress has the Farm. been made with potatodigging and ploughing. The latter operation is being hurried on as far as it is possible under existing conditions, consistent with the scarcity of labour. Most of the ploughing being done at present is preparatory to grain-sowing. The two principal cereals—oats and wheat—aro receiving a good deal of attention; but tho difficulty in procuring seed, especially wheat, is becoming somewhat pronounced. Should the weather continue favourable for another week or 10 days tho area sown in these crops will-be considerable, and much in excess of any previous autumn in the history of the province. It. must not be assumed, however, that the area sown in grain will be in excess of any previous season, the explanation of this b'ung that farmers have to a large extent abandoned this class of husbandry and do not feel disposed to revert to it, but it is only of recent years, comparatively speaking, that the autumn sowing of grain was adopted by Southland farmers. The question of wheat-growing is an absorbing topic of conversation among farmers at present, and the general opinion is that the farmers of the province would be ill-advised wero they to adopt any big scheme of_ wheatgroAving It is argued that both in their own and in the higher interests of the nation they would be taking big risks in doing so, as they would be directly challenging tho forces of Nature. W can grow grass, turnips, and oats to perfection, and, in turn, convert these into exportable foods. A failure in the production of these has never been recorded, but in connection with the production of wheat it only requires ldeg of frost on one night when the grain is in the milky stage to reduce what would have developed into a prime milling sample into shrivelled grain, which at best would be only moderate fowl feed. In this connection, too, it has to be remembered that the best of the wheat-growing land in Southland is the rich river flats, and it is here that tho risks from frosts are the greatest. Let tho farmers of this province bo prevailed upon to grow oats, and encouraged if need be, and restrict the growing of wheat to the parts of tho Dominion which have been proved to be so eminently adapted for it. It is now generally recognised that sheep are niuch too valuable to The Teeth of bo discarded when they have tho Sheep. attained what 'is commonly known as full-mouthed. As a matter of fact sheep are just about double tho price they were, say, from five to seven years ago. At one tunc when a ewe had got her eight teeth it was considered that she was past her best, and the following year saw the cull mark put on her. That was during what was known as tho boiling-down days, when sheep of this class were bought at from 6d per head upwards and put through the digester. The introduction of refrigeration altered all this, and now sound-mouthed ewes are worth between 30s to £2 pe* head. A lino of cull Belmont owes, truaranteed soundmouthed, wero sold at Otautau on Friday for 37s per head —an unheard-of price for this class of sheep. It therefore behoves farmers to stick to a good breeding ewe as long as she is capable of rearing a lamb. A point not perhaps generally known in respect to some breeds of sheep is that their teeth are slightly softer than those of others. Tho teeth are not actually soft,

but the- little difference has this effect, that they wear at the tops rather more nuicklj and do not get so excessively long in ol< age; therefore they do not wrench loos< so soon. Long teeth are a weak point is • sheep, because of the greater leveraga given, which often results in their loosening and ultimately falling out. As ewel are so often discarded because of broken teeth when otherwise they would be re« tained, this question of the quality o/ sheep's teeth may fittingly' receive attention, It was at one time a common practice to buy station ewes (culls) with the object oJ taking ono crop of lambs from them and then disposing of them. That practice, needless to say, no longer exists. Young j ewes are very expensive, and the flocks ol the Dominion would bo increased numeri- : caJly if jpeater attention were paid to the teeth. Even in the older cases, when tha front teeth are too broken for gnawing, the back teeth may be sound; therefore i{ soft or cut food is given during the wintef months the ewe may still be able to carrj and rear a lamb; and a lamb means monej j these days. j At the last meeting of the Southland County Council a letter was j Miscellaneous, read frorn the chairman of the National Efficiency Board, asking for a special report from tha council's engineer dealing with any matters that may be within his knowledgewhich would tend to increased efficiency in the district under the council's control, both at the present time and in the future. Tha report should deal with how far works ol maintenance, etc., could be reduced or postponed, so as to release men for service t whether new works could be postponed till the conclusion of the war, or carried t< such a stage of completion as to warrani suspension. The letter also advised tlw tabulation of schemes for desirable works and the preparation of designs and estimates for same, so that on the conclusion of the war there may be readiness foi execution works of a desirable charactej which would absorb surplus labour, botfc skilled and unskilled, should that be found to exist and require employment. AfteS some discussion the following motion fronj Cr Fleming was carried: " That the board be informed that the council has reduced its new works already and intends to keep down expenditure as much as possible in order to reserve our resources to give employment after the war."—At the same meeting the Invercargill Town Clerk asked the council to use its best endeavours to limit the speed of motor cars and motor cycles on the main arterial roads leading into the city. Cr Norman said that something should bo done in the matter. He had witnessed several narrow escapes frorn mishaps, and sooner or later there woul<j bo a serious accident. Cr Fleming saitf that the motor traffic was not regulated lithe Invercargill streets, where there wera. plenty of police and inspectors, so ho failed to see how it could be regulated on country roads where there were no police and no inspectors. He had seen cars travelling through the main streets of Invercargill at 40 miles an hour. Or White said that excessive speed was indulged in all over tha country roads, and,in his opinion something should be done to cope with the nuisance, After some discussion a small committee was appointed to confer with the Borough • Council in the matter. —A small section ol those interested in dairy matters are endeavouring to. arrange a preliminary meeting of Southland delegates to the annual meeting of the South Island Dairy Association, which is to be held in Invercargill on May 50. The fact that one of the prima movers, who is paid secretary of more than one factory, is urging the appointment of a resident agent in Invercaigill probably explains a good deal. —At a meeting of the directors of the Tisbury Co-operative Dairy Factory Company on Friday evening it \vaa decided to forward the following remits foi tho annual meeting of the South Island Dairy Association: —"(a) That the South Island Dairy Association set up a special committee to consider taking the steps necessary to secure future supplies of timber foi the manufacture of cheese and butter boxes; (b) that the South Island Dairy Association set up a special committee to confer with the cheese-buyers regarding drafting a sala note for cheese that will be more acceptable to both seller and buyer than the pre* sent one in use in the South Island, and ! will also provide for better and cheaper insurance conditions; and (c) that tha South Island Dairy Association appoint a resident agent in Invercargill to look after the interests of the dairying companies in Southland and tho shipping and general interests of the association, thus relieving the secretary of a lar~e amount of travelling, the association expense, and meeting the wishes of the Southland dairy factories and the Bluff Harbour Boai-d."—At the Gore Ram Fair on Friday tho highest price obtained was 19gs each for four one-shear Romneys vended by Mr W. G. Ladbrook, of Charlton. —At Friday's meeting of the Southland Chamber of Commerce it was decided to send tho following telegram to the Minister of Agriculture :—_" Understand farmers here are now ' inquiring for r ~A wheat promised by you. What arrangements havo you made re supplies, varieties, and prices? Sutr.gest that local flourmillera bo the distributors. Immediate action necessary."