THE NORTH ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 21

THE NORTH ISLAND.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) THE SEASON. There has been a fairlv good fall of rain over the North Island during the past week, and more is required in the interests of pastures. The country Is looking very green just now, and there is a wealth of feed everywhere, but the moisture goes down very little below the surface of the soil, and another long period of drought would, under the circumstances, prove very serious. In the meantime, stock are looking particularlv well,, and the lambs are coming and growing in a manner that affords the greatest satisfaction to flock masters. Dockery will soon be in full swing in the Hawkes Bay and other districts where lambs came early, while in other territory, particularly back country, shepherds are busy attending to the daily arrival of woolly babies. The dairy season promises to be a lucrative one, al ? ■ Production can be maintained, which it will unless we have an abnormal season, the output should give the Dominion a further lift upward. LAST YEAR’S RETURNS. The returns for the last twelve months have now been compiled by the Agricultural Department, and they make interesting reading. Notwithstanding the effects of the prolonged dry spell during the summer months, when the output went down very considerably, there was an increase in the total quantity of butter exported from New Zealand during the twelve months ended July 31, compared w-ith the previous season. The exports of cheese, on the other hand, showed a decrease. The total shipments of dairy produce to all destinations during the season August I, 1927, to July 31, 1928, were 2,862,293 boxes of butter, compared with 2,799,732 boxes during the previous twelve months, an increase of 62,561 boxes. The exports of cheese totalled 1,041,679 crates, compared with 1,075,718 crates during the previous season, a decrease of 34,039 crates. Of the total butter shipped to the United Kingdom during the 1927-28 season, 80 per cent, was consigned and 20 per cent, sold f.o.b. Of the total cheese shipped to the United Kingdom, 55 per cent, was consigned and 45 percent. sold f.o.b. The shipments of dairy produce from the Dominion by vessels sailing finally in July, were:— BUTTER.

' Of - the., butter shipped .to - the. United Kingdom , in July,. 48.09, per -cent, was consigned and 51.91 per ; cent, sold f.o.b; •-.OS;.the cheese, 42.69 per-cent, was .com -.signed and-. 57.31 qier.ceqt, sold f.o.b, . •'The- imports .of butter/ into Great Britain from all sources fpr- the mouth of July, were;— ;

ended July 31 1.752,874 1,691,208 1,822,784 Ju Jk’ 1928I 928 - the re-exports of foiMw lr T m Lnited Kingdom were as German >’. 145 cwt; Belgium, i a B n 7?’->?kn er , C °H!? tries ’ I; soscwt: Nether- ’ , I . 4 ? 9c ) vt; F rance. 3cwt; Irish Free State, 44ocwt. Total, 3625 cwt. SOME COMPARATIVE PRICES. It is interesting to compare prices in -London for the month of July in regard to both butter and cheese. They are as follow: —

The above figures clearly show that for the month ni question the prices this •' ea J Loth products stand very high and there is no doubt that the new conditions 61 ’ 8 UP U ‘ lde1 ’ Vely Pourable o , Y °°L much cannot be smd. Ihe crutching sale at Wellington s J‘“", cd f a T^- 14 dedhne - but nothing to speak of. .t is confidently believed that o-iv/=o+ ?n r aßain see prices that will „ne satisfaction to growers. It is to be nm e i C L SO, 'l® another , Rood season will put the wool men on their feet again. DAYLIGHT SAVING. e„\ a 2’ ons ar , e now endeavouring to ai range for daylight saving, and as lor." as the measure does not interfere with the country there is not likely to be anv opposition. This was clearly demonstrated at a meeting of the Wellington Central Provincial Executive of the Farmers’ Union when the Dominion secretary forwarded a copy of the Summer Time Local Bill, and in a discussion on it the president said that he did not Rill'S tle exeeut ’ ve should oppose the BUI, because as far as the towns were concerned it was beneficial. Mr Hammond considered that the Bill should be supported, as it would be a local affair and towns could do as they decreed This course was finally agreed to. MAIZE MARKET GLOOMY. A well-known Gisborne broker holds rather a gloomy outlook for the Poverty Bay maizegrower for, at least, the present marketing season. At present, he said, loverty Bay growers were unable to sell, practically all of the recent sales being made by the Bay of Plenty holders. Ihere were such large quantities of maize in the Bay of Plenty this year, he declared, that the growers there were anxious to sell, and their quotes were consideiably less than those of the Gisborne growers. It was for this reason that they were getting the business, quite apart from the advantage the railway was now giving the Bay of Plenty growers. This broker said he could hardly understand why the Bay of Plenty growers were selling at lower prices than last season s ratos, for as a result of the railway communication many of the consumers were now able to get their maize cheaper even if the past season's selling rates were adhered to. One line recently was quoted at 4s lid per bushel, f.0.r., Whakatane.

In the past, -added the broker, the Gisborne holders desired to hold for late in the season, and were able to command fairly good prices thereby, but he questioned whether they would be able to do the same this season because the Bay of Plenty stocks were so large, and would satisfy the demands of the market for at least the greater part of the season. Apart from the big supply in the Bav of Plenty and Poverty Bay districts there were also large stocks in Australia, where maize was now quoted as 3s 3d, f.0.b.. s.i., Australian ports. An attempt had been made to find an outlet in England for cornflour manufacture, but colonial grain, he said, was too soft for this purpose, and the attempt failed. RAM LAMBS SENT TO SLAUGHTER. At a .meeting, of Feilding A. and P; Association Committee. Imld during the. week, a letter was received from the Meat Producers’ Board drawing attention to. the number of ram lambs that -are being sent to the freezing works for slaughter; in view of the detrimental effect that this, practice has on the quality of the’ export stock the board hoped that the freezing companies would have no cause for complaint this season. Mr E. P, C. Swainson stated that there had been a steady decline in such stock at the. local freezing ;works, of late years, and on Mr J. G.j Cqbbe (chairman? .of directors jof the. Feilding ■ farmers’’, freezing work's) ’ confirming this statement it was- decided to (merely receive the. letter.-- i .-■•F ■ ;; LAMBING IW PdyERTY BAX? . . : ( Inquiries . 'among station . .holders ini ' Poverty. .Bay dudicatje .that the -lambing will she,? a good, one. , by - early ? . in;: dieations. The percentages in the .province-'

so far are believed to bo quite satisfactory, included among the arrivals being a large number of twins, estimated by some station holders to be as numerous as they were last season, when there were large numbers of twin lambs. What is believed to be a unique occurrence for at least Poverty Bay was the bearing of five lambs to one ewe owned by Mr F Charteris, of Highwood, Te Karaka. The latter, m commenting on the remarkably big family that came to one of his sheep, stated that he had heard of similar occurrences in other parts of the Dominion, but during his 17 years residence in I overty Bay he had not heard of a similar happening in the province. FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE.

- There is a strong feeling among farmers that everything is not being done to keep out foot-and-mouth disease, and, with a view to further impressing upon the Government the necessity of every precaution being taken,,the Hawke’s Bay A and P. Association passed the following resolution: “That the Government be urged that the importation of live stock of substance or plant likely to carry foot-and-mouth infection be prohibited from all countries for a period of two years.” SLEEPING SICKNESS AMONG EWES. Hawke s Bay farmers have been subjected to serious losses amongst ewes, particularly in the southern end of the province, and as farmers were getting alarmed the Dannevirke branch of the I arincrs’ Union called a meeting of farmers. This was very largely attended, and among those present were Dlr W. Barry, M.R.CA .S., > district superintendent of the Department of Agriculture; Wellington: Mr E. Elphick, M.R.C.V.S.i Government veterinary surgeon, Hastings: and Mr Rankin, local stock inspector. They found that they were faced with nothing new, the complaint from which the animals had suffered being described by them as sleeping sickness, due. in all probabilitv to the abundance of feed in the autumn and winter, and the consequent abnormal condition of the animals. (Mr Barry said ether districts were suffering more severely than Southern Hawke’s Bay—it was pretty bad in Feilding and the Manawatu disti lets. j.lie trouble in large rneasurc was due to the particular season experienced —it was a seasonal condition. Last season they had a tremendous amount ot teed, consequently sheep in many districts had become overfed, causin" the sickness among the flocks. He had in his possession a pamphlet published by the Department of Agriculture 20 years ago bearing on this sleeping sickness and attendant mortality, by the late Dr Gilruth. Hie disease was known departmentally as ante-partum paralysis. He quote < fiom.Dr Gilruths pamphlet, describing the rnptonis and post mortem appearances and said that, unless in the earliest stages curative treatment is of no value. On exhibiting the first symptoms a strong dose of Epsom salts may be of some assistance, but when evidence of insensibility has set in, medicines were of little utility, and the attention of the owner was better directed to preventing the recurrence of the disease amongst the remainder of the flock.

Prevention was fortunately, a simple matter. When in-lamb ewes have come through the winter well, especially if they have been fed on dry and artificial tood a careful watch should be kept for the first evidence of the disease. He recommended strongly that such ewes should be kept comparatively bare of feed during tne last month of pregnancy or rather, on such pasture that they require to travel for their food, and thus obtain each day that amount of exercise necessary to their complete health. Should however, this not have been possible, immediately on the appearance of the disease in the flock prompt measures should be taken. He found that the best entire measure was to muster the ewes carefully once a day towards midday, and travel them for a distance of half a mile to a mile to some young succulent pasture, as, for instance, young oats, or even clean, young, spring Permit them to depasture thereon for an hour, and return the flock afterwards to the original paddock. This treatment was at once simple and effective. The exercise produced added stimulus to the muscles and to the liver, which was wanted, and the limited quantity of stimulating food -acts on the alimentary tract, and so relieves that tendency to constipation which was usually present. As to the effect of this preventive treatment, especially the benefit of the exercise combined with the stimulating young feed,- he had received the testimony of many sheep farmers. They had found that on following out this procedure the appearance of further cases immediately ceased, and now they are able to look forward to the lambing season with equanimity.

M-- Barry said that since the issue officers had been keenly investigating the trouble, and emphasised that there was no doubt that the conditions referred to —particularly sleeping, sickness—were brought about by the artificial conditions under which the sheep were kept powadays. When sheep were fed under natural conditions they had to travel long 'distances for their feed; hence there were none of the complaints spoken of, . On top-dressed land ewes got too much condition on, with the: result that they-did not travel sufficiently for their feed, -and did -not get sufficient exercise. He was satisfied that if farmers were to exercise their sheep periodically daily for a few weeks before lambing they would get most beneficial’ results. When he suggested that the sheep should be moved daily he did not mean' that they should be bustled by dogs—what they required was quiet gentle exercise. Preventive treat-ment'-was highly satisfactory, and it would T>e fotmd that exercise and movement would check’’the mortality. He frankly admitted'.that there -.might ■be difficulties in carrying this dutj .but it’was. only ' necessary to take' this precantipft for two or three- : week» because : after lambing the danger was passed. ; Movement and exercise : invtlved ■ a eertaip* amount of trouble; blit it Was Worth 'while,' .and was. in fact, the only known remedy. Mr -‘Barry said Mr Bticharian hail siiggested-- (tending in ' officer •' to investigate

the complaint, but his answer to that was that the department had been investigating the matter for the past 20 years. It was still doing so, and would continue its research work. Mr Elphick stated that all parts of Hawke’s Bay -were experiencing the mortality, and said 90 per cent, of the trouble would not have occurred had farmers carried out proper farming. Mr A. M’Leod: We cannot agree with that. Mr Elphick: In cases where farmers have reported to me their complaint I have been able to demonstrate and save them a lot of trouble. He was convinced that it -was on top-dressed lands where the sleeping sickness had occurred. He was prepared to remain in Dannetirke ■and go out with any farmer who desired his services.

July, July, 1928. 1927. Boxes. Boxes. London 112,503 ■ 138,865 West Coast, U.K. 400 22,544 Vancouver 4,400 900 Panama Honolulu 1,092 2,438 Australia . , ,. 2,000 ■ 15,688 Other Countries 2,138 197 122,533 180,632 ■ CHEESE. July, July, - 1928. 1927. Crates. Crates. London ' .. 46,432 78,988 West Coast, U.K. .. 4,729 17,799 Australia 1,415 ■ Other Countries ... .. . . 109 18 . r 51,275 " 98,220

From 1928. 1927. ■>926. cwt. cwt. cwt. Russia . . . , 71,091 90,770 43,637 Finland . . , . 20,482 26,010 23,444 Sweden . . . . Denmark . . . Netherlands 16,608 15,789 17,352 18,074 202,010 197,914 . 23,925 29,962 25,969 France . . . , 19,817 1,420 7,833 United States . 950 Argentine . . Irish Free State 3,866 96,641 1,876 96,806 34,121 87,941 Australia 70,479 10,908 15,868 New Zealand . . 43,697 91,940 68,530 Canada . . . . 1 400 4,485 Other countries 50,916 43,061 33,730 Totals . . . . 606,197 610,952 561,774 Total imports for 7 months ended July 31 3,922,397 3,669,072 3 ,666,731 The imports of cheese were:— From 1928. cwt. 1927. cwt. 1926. Netherlands . . 15,397 18,524 15,117 Italy ... . United States . Australia . Canada . . , New Zealand . 10,389 498 . 104,101 85,448 12,315 2,549 1,067 58,786 137,612 11,939 1,957 602 173,546 179,167 Other countries 7,395 6,335 5,896 Totals . . . . 223,228 ' 237,188 388,224 Total imports for 7 months

July, 1928. First week . Butter. Cheese. ■ • 17Gs-178s 107s-108s Second week ■ . 178s-182s 110s-112s Third week . . . 182s-186s llls-112s Fourth week .. • . 180s-184s 109s-110s First week . July, 1927. • . 160s-162s 84s-86s Second week . . 15Ss-16Os - 84s-8Gs Third week . Fourth week • . 156s-160s . . 158s-160s 87s-88s 89s-90s