THE NORTH ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3972, 29 April 1930, Page 14

THE NORTH ISLAND.

general. Early last week over 500 head of cattle from all parts of Taranaki, passed through Stratford, having been purchased by Mr Alexander M’Millan for consignment tq the Imlay freezing works at Wanganui. The herd was probably one of the largest seen in Stratford.

In order to assist in eliminating the pestilential blowfly, which is one of the northern sheep farmers’ worst enemies, Mr E. A. MTKinlay, stock inspector, has liberated a number of parasites in the Whangarei district. The parasites are supplied by the Cawthron Institute.

The second annual fleece competition promoted by the Wanganui branch of the Farmers’ Union was held recently, the judge being Mr W. Perry,, of Masterton. The winners, of the competition were as follows: —40's. Mr E. Parsons, 65J points; 44’s, Mr W. Kellick, 68 points; 46’s, Mr A. Higgie, 65 points; 48's Mr J. Currie, 57 points; champion fleece, Messrs T. and J. Currie.

An optimistic light on the condition of dairy cattle values is shed by a Waikato agent, who states that he recently sold 10 pedigree Jersey heifers at an average price of £3l 10s. The dams of these heifers have done 4601 b fat. and the prices realised are most gratifying. The pur? chaser is a farmer in the Opotik.i district. and the heifers were bred at Hairini.

In view of the uncertain state of the markets for stock. Poverty Bay farmers are finding it difficult to know what to do for the best. Some are holding off the market as long as they can, and several who usually dispose of their ewes before this time of the season have now turned the rains out with the surplus for disposal with the hope of securing better value for them than when empty. Lack of rain and early frosts have created a stagnation of growth in the pastures in Manawatu and Wairarapa, Feed was scarce, and early frosts affected maize reserves, while in the Manawatu the usual supplies of soft turnips and rape are not available. The milk production there dropped rapidly, but in the Wairarapa milk supplies were reported to be keeping up fairly well, while, the seasonal output should be above that of last year, one of the factories reporting an increase of nearly 20 per cent, over last season's figures.

A little misapprehension has been caused by a remark of a speaker at the Poverty Bay Farmers’ Union meeting during the discussion on the ox warble fly. The remarks of the member referred to indicated that the warble fly larvae had been discovered on a second beast in the district, but the source of the information was traced later, and it was discovered that as far as was known there had been no infestation in Poverty Bay other than on the recently imported bull from the United States, but that some imported cattle in Hawke's Bay were affected.

Farmers are not looking forward to the winter with a great deal of optimism (says the Wanganui Chronicle). The dry weather has had its effect on pastures and the land is caked hard. If the frosts develop in intensity early th> predictions are that the winter will be severe. It is probable, however, that temperatures in May and June will be higher than usual, and the grass will thus get. a chance to come away before the biting days of August and September, the worst months of the year from the farmer's point of view.

Although there have been large withdrawals from the Napier wool sales of

Poverty Bay and coast clips, approximately the same quantities of wool were exported from those districts as last season. In some cases wool has been held on farms and some in store at Gisborne, but apparently most of the usual exports have gone forward, for 28,484 bales were shipped on overseas vessels from Gisborne and Tokomaru Bay for the nine months ended March 31 compared with 29,000 bales for the corresponding period the previous season. The Napier and Wairoa shipments for the same periods were 71,161 bales and 106,976 bales respectively, but the position there was affected by the large quantities held from the Bales this season. The Dominion totals were 425,667 and 548,093 bales respectively.

The butter-fat received by the Rangitaiki Dairy Company, Ltd., for the month of January totalled 550,6201 b, compared with 466,6201 b for the corresponding month of last year, while the quantity of butter manufactured amounted to 296 tons 6cwt, as against 248 tons 19cwt made for January last year. The total value of butter at the factory for the season so far (from July 1 to January 31) is 1476 tons, compared with 1295 tons for the corresponding period of 1929. The payout to suppliers for last month totalled £34.229, compared with £32,804 for January, 1929. So far this season the payout totals £181,027, the pay-out for the corresponding period last season being £156,024. The increase in butter made this season to date over the corresponding period of last season is slightly over 14 per cent. The grades for the four eh nmonts during January were 94, 94, 94, and 93|.

Owners of property within the Wairarapa fireblight area have recently been notified that they are required to cut down before June 30, 1930, all hawthorn growing on their properties. Under the Fireblight Act failure to comply with this requirement renders a property owner liable to a fine of £5 for the first offence and £5O for a subsequent offence. There was considerable discussion on the matter at the annual meeting of the Masterton branch of the Farmers’ Union on Tuesday, at which it was held by some speakers that provision should be made for compensation. It was decided to urge that the operation, of the regulations so far as they required the eradication of hawthorn should be deferred for three months. The resolution, which was carried without dissent, will go to the provincial executive at its next meeting, and also to the interprovincial conference at Wanganui and to the Dominion Conference at Wellington. THREE TESTING SEASONS. Judged by the returns of the Poverty Bay Group Herd Testing Association, the dairying season in the district is having a very successful finish. With more than twice v the number of cows, the March butter-fat average is approximately the same as it was during the very favourable autumn of 1928, and the figures for March of last year are easily surpassed. A review of the three seasons is given in the tables below. The following shows the numbers of cows tested month by month: — 1927-28. 1928-29. 1929-30.

WANGANUI WOOLLEN MILLS. Mr H. Holroyd, the newly-appointed manager of the Wanganui Woollen Mills, arrived in Wanganui several days ago. and has already taken control of the mill- at Arainoho. Mr Holroyd learned the woollen business in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and came to New Zealand nearly 20 years ago, when he was appointed manager of the Napier Woollen Mills, a post he held continuously until coming to Wanganui. "The Wanganui mill is a good one/' eaid Mr Holroyd. “ It is well equipped with up-to-date machinery, and is in a position to turn out materials for the New Zealand market at prices competitive with any other mill. If it couldn’t I wouldn’t have come here. The staff is a good one. The dyer, Mr Brownlie, was for many years at the Oamaru mills, and he is a good colourist. The designer, carder, spinner, and finisher came from the borders of Scotland, while the weaving foreman has spent many years at Kaiapol and Onehunga. The mill now employs about 120 people. We are using all classes of wool from merino down. I have already spent some £5OOO in buying wool in lYn nTin 111 ".’ a JL d W t e & aII be bu^in S about £lO,OOO moi th of Wanganui wool each year, so with the purchase of wool arid the pay-out of wages the woollen mill will mean something to Wanganui and district. Our total wool purchases will be m the region of £20,000 annually, but we shall have to go to the South Island for our merino purchases, of course.” Asked whether the machinery is up-to-date, Mr Holroyd said that it was, and it was also m good order. The plant had been well looked after. Mr Holroyd also remarked that the climatic conditions of .Wanganui are favourable, the humidity pf the atmosphere caused by the presence Pt the river being a decidedly helpful factor to woollen mill operations. MUD AS FERTILISER. Practical results from the use of sea mud as a - fertiliser are claimed by a New Zealand Herald correspondent, who writes from the Thames district in support of a contention that the mud is capable of profitable exploitation. “ Tw'enty years ago,” he says, “ I took up a gumland farm, and during experiments to solve the problem of making a success of farming it I came across a

patch of lovely ryegrass and clovers on a hungry gum flat. I dug a spit out of the patch with a spade I happened to be carrying and found a trace of sea shells and blue mud. On going down to the beach and digging for pipis I found the same mud and shell.

* “ I was so impressed with what I thought must be the cause of the wonderful growth that I carted some half-dried mud to my vegetable garden and orchard. On each, bed of carrots, parsnips, etc., I gave each alternate row a good sprinkling of sandy mud, and in the orchard (a very old and neglected one) I put about :}cwt or more around each tree. The result was astonishing. After the first rain the dressed rows shot ahead of the otners, and vegetables of all sorts were a great success. I cut the old growth out of the fruit trees, and in the following spring they sent out a growth of new wood, and there was one of the heaviest crops of apples, peaches, and nectarines on them that I have seen on trees before or since.

“ I continued using the mud for some two years or more, and happened to mention the wonderful results I was obtaining to one man. He gave me his experiences, which were quite equal to my own. “About five years ago we decided to bring the idea of utilising the mud as a fertiliser before the public, and went as far as writing the Minister of Marine, and received a permit to take the mud at a price per yard. We had the mud analysed in Wellington, and, strange to say, the mud was stated to be of no manurial value but for the lime content.

“ There was an old chemist in the district in the early days, and I showed him the results of the analysis. He took some mud away with him. and some time later told me that when dried for use the commercial value would be about £4 per ton. Judging by my results it certainly would be.

“ Now that there is a prospect of land settlement on our so-called waste lands—i.e., gum and poor lands generally—l am quite satisfied in my own mind if exploited on proper lines, you will find that Nature has supplied the wherewithal to turn our unproductive areas into farms capable of more than holding their own. pound for pound sterling, on the value of fully improved properties. When Mr T. S. Patterson was in Auckland I showed him a paddock topdressed with sea mud only, and he expressed surprise at the growth of grass and clover on land where danthonia 'only had grown previously.”

August — 370 563 September • 919 967 1565 October 1088 1366 1976 November 1137 1587 2297 December 1157 1646 2434 January 999 1658 2455 February 1081 1606 2434 March 1053 1592 2363 Tho following are the monthly averages for the three seasons, the figures quoted being pounds of butter-fat:— J 1927-28. 1928-29. 1929-30. August — 34.73 32.93 September 37.06 38.83 32.16 October 38.01 37.91 36.76 November 35.02 37.77 36.98 December 32.32 35.99 34.35 January 26.40 33.36 30.82 February 26.21 28.26 28.12 March 27.28 23.66 2', 26