THE NORTH ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3957, 14 January 1930, Page 16

THE NORTH ISLAND.

GENERAL. AA’ool is much lighter this year than it was last, a AA’anganui farmer stated the other day. He knew of one farm which, from the same number of sheep as shorn last year, had a total of 20 bales fewer than in 1928. A party of Wairoa Natives, under the leadership of Turi Carroll, is leaving Gisborne for Rotorua to take up land under the group occupation and development system authorised last session. Tho party will take up a block of pumice land and work it as a group, being paid a sustenance allowance in the early stages of occupation. The effects of the unsettled weathef which has prevailed since the beginning of November have been detrimental in some respects to agriculture and fruitgrowing (says the Waikato Times), but the resulting luxuriance of the pastures throughout the Auckland province is hav»

ing a beneficial influence on the output of dairy produce. Last season close on £12,000,000 worth of dairy produce was sent away from the Waikato and Thames districts. This year it has been officially stated that production is already up Ijy 8 per cent., and given good dairying weather, it is confidently anticipated that last season's figures will be surpassed. Tn the 1928-29 season all previous records were beaten by 10 per cent.

Last killing season was not a particularly good one for fat lambs, and not much in the way of improvement is predicted for the present season (says a yv anganui paper). The reason assigned • Ult i , a l ar £ e number of farmers kept their old ewes for breeding purposes, with the result that the lambs are not so vigorous and do not thrive so well in the early stages, the mothers not having sufficient milk for them.

To train passengers Ratana's broad areaa pf wheat and oat crops at the present time look particularly promising. Cropping a lot ofi the same area two years in succession may mean a lighter yield, but at the same time the results should still be particularly good. Great credit is due to the Maoris who undertook clearing a large area of gorse, and they can snow many pakehas points in cultivation. Immediately fronting the pa is also a big area of potatoes. 4i lb £- D<? c e mber butterfat average for the Wairoa County Herd Testing Association is announced as 34.951 b for 158 cows (says the Waikato Times), The highest herd was that of Mr 11. V. Watts whose 29 cows averaged 46.891 b of fat' while bhaw Brothers’ herd produced the second highest average. The lowest herd averaged 25.601 b of fat. The highest cow produced 821 b of fat during the this animal being owned by the i?v'i i "bile the lowest cow produced only 61b SICKNESS IN COWS. . ? r t ‘f J \ B - > A<l \‘iV s > Fo,d toad, Waihi, in f* letter to the Wanganui Chronicle savsi JJ 1 a n S "' er to .\ our Paragraph of Deceir’rp “:. 1 e sickness of cows in Soii’Jj Taranaki, such as high steppin”- sta<r”-er-ing. and staring after calving. l7 as - m d T ( e ", er tl,an Bix - a “ d v ’.. l * 1 a I< , a !■' 1 have had one in a tei.s bad condition. This cow was in gieat condition when she calved. On the ninth day after calving I had to steer her into the yard. Jat once treated her. then within four or five hours she was out feeding, apparently all right. Two Hays afterwards she had a second attack. 1 also treated her the same wav as *•’?'Tc, S . oi T days afte ’ this. she had a iiisli attack, but much worse; in fact she got down and could not get up. I Tain treated her as before, and within "five hours she got up, had a good drink, and went on feeding, and has not looked back since. Jhe cow is now filling the bucket, ami putting on condition. Cows were similar last year, and I have not lost one cow under the treatment—as follows: — 7°‘ ,z , ot K R® oni salt ?< half a cupful of f Repeat the same drench at t.icn attack, no matter how many attacks 1 also wash the cow out with each illness, uiKi always rug the cow. NOXIOUS WEEDS. The fields division of the Department rt Agriculture recently obtained from overseas small consignments of sodium chlorate and calcium chlorate with a view to gathering first-hand knowledge of the effectiveness of these chemicals as controL hints of noxious weeds. The material in question was received only a short time ago, but quite a comprehensive series of hand rinU ' ntS haS alrcadv bcen P”t ’ll Sodium chlorate and calcium chlorate are, tor a commencement, being tried ovt mainly on ragwort, Californian thistle goats rue, and blackberry. The results to date of the applications already made are distinctly promising, and the questions of at what strength and what time ot application the spray solutions give best results is being now worked out. Ihe chemicals mentioned bein” nonpoisonous to stock certainly promise well, lu ? r< T nt ant ’C’Pations are the fields division feels sure an end is ir sight to many of the weed problems confronting the farmer at the present day. At present commercial supplies are not available in New Zealand, but if the results of the present experiments turn out satisfactorily arrangements for full supplies will be made before next season.