A. AND P. NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3888, 18 September 1928, Page 24

A. AND P. NEWS.

According to the Winton Record, two expert pig hunters secured over 200 pigs in a fortnight at the head of the Wyndham Valley. They used a couple of dogs and knives. For the year ended June 30, 1928, Australia imported agricultural machinery valued at £691,078. The figures for the three previous years and the principal countries supplying the imported goods are as follows: —

Great Canada. U.S.A. Britain.. Total. 1924- .. 387,205 280,886 109,492 784,024 1925- .. 376,502 262,322 116,323 761,766 1926- .. 361,591 252,050 100,006 722,094 The Mrs Hartland Trust of New York has given a travelling scholarship, worth about £6OO a year, for members of the forestry »ervices of Australia and New Zealand. The chairman of the Empire Forestry Conference (Lord Clinton) desires the •e-operation of members of the

Forests Departments in all States to act with a representative of the conference as an examining board. A method of treating cream to prevent it from souring has been successfully tried in Scotland. The Department of Markets, Canberra, states that the main point is rapid heating under pressure. In the process, the cream, after separation, is quickly raised to a temperature of 235 deg Fahr., and then is cooled down to between 50deg and 60deg. This treatment is claimed to keep cream sweet for six to eight days in warm weather, and up to 10 days in cool weather. It is further claimed that the cream may be kept for six weeks in vacuum churns, and, when exposed in open containers, will again remain sweet for a week. When a communication was read from the A. and P. Association at the monthly meeting of the Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce the other night, inviting the chamber to appoint a representative on the committee, the president (Mr C. L. Thomsen) remarked that it was rather extraordinary that the town candidates nominated for the committee had been turned down and were apparently not - anted by the f-armer members (says the News). “ You don’t - like going in through the back door, and I am with you there,” said Mr Walter Dobson, the secretary.

AH the dairy factories in the Waikouaiti district are now open, and will soon be in full swing. The weather has been very- stormy with high winds. Rain is needed very badly. Goodwood is the only factory here that has sold its output, which has been disposed of till the end of December for 9£d, and Mimi has disposed of a quantity of loaf cheese at the satisfactory price of 10jd. Dr H. H. Allan, of the staff of the Feilding Agricultural High School, who has been appointed systematic botanist to the Plant Research Institute, Pahneston North, under the Department of Scientific Research, is a native of Nelson (says the Mail), being a son of the latv Mr Robert Allan, and a brother of Miss Allan, of Waimea road. He was educated at Nelson College, and later joined the teaching staff of the Waitaki High School. Dr Allan is a naturalist of note, and has -recently published a work entitled Trees and Shrubs: How to Identify Them.” A number of applications for exchange of tenure from small grazing run leases to renewable leases were granted by the Qtago Land Board last week. Under the small grazing run system the lease is foi a term of 21 years, with a contingent right of renewal and adjustment of rent at the termination of each period. Under the renewable lease system the term is 66 years, with perpetual right of renewal, at a rental of 4 per cent, per annum on the capital value of the land. In the matter of renewable leases, the department allows a rebate of 10 per cent, on the rental if paid within 31 days of the due date.

A fairly large area is being put down in partridge peas in North Otago this year. One farmer has sown 30 acres in peas.

A start is to be made this week by Mr R. B. Tennent to establish boys and girls’ agricultural clubs in the Milton district. This class of instruction has been neglected in Otago for a year or two, with the exception of a few isolated endeavours on the part of school teachers and others to interest country children in farm method and practice, but it will be made an important feature of the departmental programme of work in the new season.

At’ a meeting of the North Canterbury branch of the' New Zealand Workers’ Union held at Christchurch on- Sunday, September 9, the following resolution was carried unanimously:—“That we clesire to express our surprise and disgust at the attitude adopted by the New Zealand sheep owners’ representatives towa.ds the New Zealand shearers, shed

hands, and cooks’ representatives at the conference held ip Wellington on August 29 for the purpose of discussing rates and conditions for a new agreement in the pastoral industry; further, as the sheep owners’ delegates at the National Industrial Conference strongly advocated voluntary and at this first opportunity to bring into being their suggested method of settling industrial disputes absolutely refused discussion, we are of the opinion that in all future negotiations there must be some compulsory method adopted whereby finality will be reached, otherwise the peaceful relations now existing in the rural fields throughout the Dominion will be seriously endangered.” “When I was having my first meal on the boat after leaving San Francisco, I asked the steward where the butter came from that I was eating,” said Mr T. S. Cooper, owner of the Linden Grove Jersey stud farm of Pennsylvania, when addressing members of the Jersey Cattle Breeders’ Association in New Plymouth the other night (says an exchange). “The steward replied that it was New Zealand butter and was about nine weeks old. I was agreeably surprised, for it had a wonderful taste, and I thought it must be American butter.”

“ The milk coming to the factory this winter has been so bad that the employees have been using condensed milk,” said a shareholder, at a dairy company meeting in Taranaki (reports an exchange). He was urging strongly that the feeding of swedes to milking cows should be prohibited. A small proportion of the suppliers who used swedes should not be allowed to spoil the whole product, when others refrained from the practice. “ The trouble with the swede flavour is that the longer you keep the butter, the stronger it will get, and if you keep the butter long enough the leaves will grow out of it,” he added. Other flavours disappeared as the product matured, but this was not the case with swedes.