AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 9306, 20 November 1901, Page 4

AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

♦ NOTES FROM THIS DISTRICT. Iu the annual report of the Department of Agriculture, just issued, Inspector Campbell Thomson, under date April, 1901, makes the following remarks : — "This has been the wettest year 1 have witnessed in the North Island in 26 years' experience; not that the rainfall has been so very great, but it has been continuous. In consequence of so much moist weather, the growth of grass has been phenomenal ; there is abundance of feed all over the country. Sheep. — Considering the wet season we have had, the sheep in this district are looking remarkably well, and in fine condition, but, with the exception of the hoggets, the wet and the rank feed is beginning to tell upon them, and, although there have not been many deaths as yet, still 1 fear they will suffer before the winter is over. Dipping has been attended to, and the flocks generally are pretty free from lice and ticks. The continued wet weather has hindered dipping to some extent. The lambing this year is below the average in almost all the flocks. A number of the ewes missed, an.l the bad weather in August and September killed many young lambs. The flocks in Cook and Waiapu Counties, according to the hist returns, numbered 1,176,192. I do not anticipate a large increase this year on account of the short lambing, and the number of sheep frozen and boiled down. The clip was about the overage in weight, and in good condition, considering the season. Sheep are in great demand for new country, and prices consequently high. Cattle. — Number in this subdivision, about 38,000. In consequence of the quantities of fine feed, there is a good supply of beef, for which there is a good demand at the freezing works, and also for local consumption. Dairy cattle are much sought after, and are fetching good prices from £6 to £10. The cattle in this subdivision are healthy ; very few cases of disease have been detected. There have been a few deaths from milkfever, but not many. Horses. — The approximate number is about 8500, about # 1500 of which are draught stock; they are in good demand, and when fit for work fetch from £20 to £40 ; the remainder are carriage horses-, racehorses, and hacks. Amongst the last-mentioned are a great many Maori weeds. A number of these last year were bought for boiling down, and it would be well if they were all made use of in the same way, as they are destroying feed which would keep useful stock. The demand for remounts for South Africa has had the effect of raising the price of strong hacks, which are now worth from £10 to £30. I have not heard of any disease amongst horses this year. There have been a few deaths, supposed to be caused by the bot-grub, but it was too late when I heard of them to make an examination. Swine. — The approximate number of pigs is about 5000 ; a great many of these belong to the Maoris. There is no large bacon-curing establishment in the district, but several of the farmers go in for it on a small scale. Now that there are butter factories at work, I hope to see an increase in pork production. I have not heard of any disease amongst the pigs in this subdivision. Rabbits.— There are none in Cook or Waiapu Counties. Dairies. — All the dairies supplying Gisborne and the suburbs with milk have been tested, and were all, with one exception, satisfactory. The fault- found with that one was the want of a proper supply of water for the cows. The owner was warned, and has attended to itAgriculture. — The methods of agriculture in this district are much! the same as. over most of New Zealand — the doublefurrow plough, discs, and harrows. For the maize crop the ground is ploughed, disked, and well harrowed down, the grain is then sown by a maize-drill,, the rows being about 3ft 4in apart, and kept clean with a horse-hoe until the plants are big enough to look after themselves. When ripe, it is hand-picked and husked in the field, the cobs are then carted to the maize crib to dry for some months — until they are ready for shelling. Crops. — The farmers have had a bad time this wet season, and have had great difficulty iu saving oops. A good deal of the oats and barley were spoilt by the continuous rain. Maize, which is now the principal crop here, is -.backward, <tad I fear a great deal of it will not ripen. There is a very small area in white crop. Linseed has been tried, for the first time, to some extent this year, and would have done remarkably well but. fob- the wetseason, but I fear most of it will be lost. ' There are a few fields of mangolds looking fell, but pumpkins have to a great extent taken the place of root crops in this district, and I fear that this year there will be a poor return from them, as there has been no hot weather to bring them on. The pumpkin is splendid feed both for sheep and cattle, and especially good for dairy cows, giving a fine yield of rich milk ■without any bad flavor. Ryegrass-seed : A great deal of the crop was- lost by the wet weather, but what has been saved is fairly good. The yield will be from 12 to 20 bushels to the acre. Fodder: A great deal of the hay was damaged by the wet. Green oats and Cape barley are* grown for milkingcows, and for the most part carted out and fed to them in the fields. Ido not know of any ensilage in the district. The potato crop nas been a good deal damaged by the continual rain, and, I fear,"»will yield a poor return. Pests. — Caterpillars did some damage to the grass-seed and linseed crops, but the latter recovered and came on again. There have been very few crickets this year; the wet weather does not agree with them. In the gardens a small green caterpillar has done much damage to cabbage and cauliflower plants, in many cases destroying them completely. The codlin moth continues to do much damage in the orchards. Noxious Weeds. — The most prevalent is the sweetbriar; it is more or less over the whole district. There are a few patches of Canadian thistle, which we hope to get stamped out soon ; also Bathurst burr and a few patches of blackberry. Of gorse, giant burdock, and hakea there are none. There is some ragwort on Government land near Tiniroto, and that is being attended to. Small Birds. — The sparrows are one of the greatest pests the farmers who grow white crops have to contend with, and they are here in thousands. No steps seem to be taken to destroy or keep them under. Bee-farms. — There is one farm where the owner gives up his whole time to the bees.. For several years he was much troubled and sustained considerable loss from foul brood, but has got over that now. Several others have fee-farms in connection with other work, and appear to do well with them. There is a good local consumption of honey, and 12,6501b have been exported during the year ended March 31. Settlement is increasing fast, and on the whole this subdivision is in a very prosperous condition.