FARM NOTES.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13798, 2 November 1908, Page 8

FARM NOTES.

The sum of £63 per acre was paid by a purchaser for a portion of a wellknown Manaia (Wairarapa) farm recently (says the Age). A few weeks ago another purchaser paid £66 per acre for an adjoining piece eleven acres 111 -extent. On a farm in South Canterbury, a few miles out of Timaru, 166 per cent, of lambs has been otbained from a flock of 1000 ewes. For a flock of this size, says the Press, such a percentage is a record for the district, and some farmers declare that it is a record for New Zealand. "I used to' have a horror of the sheep tax," said a dairy farmer at the Carterton Conference, "and so I sold my. sheep." "Now," he said, "they have taken the tax off sheep and shoved it on to the cows. 1 ' The allusion was made in reference to the registration fee of 5s to be imposed on dairy farmers under the regtilations. Thirty pounds an acre was the cost of clearing some land on farms between Stirling and Kaitangata of stumps and roots, and it is reckoned (says tile Dunedin Star) to be worth while, such is the productivity of the land when used for grazing or turnip-growing. The country is a perfect picture. The grass is splendid, and the cattle are of that sleekness sometimes seen in well-kept cottagers' cows, but seldom noticed in large herds. . With a view to encouraging the breed of cows mosf suitable for the production of milk for cheesemaking the Wairarapa P. and A- Society introduced into this year's catalogue points' prizes for milch" cows. . The first and third cows in the order of merit were Short-horn-Ayrshire cross ; the second, fourth, fifth, a-nd seventh were nearly pure Ayrshire; whilst the sixth on the list was "a Jersey cross. The trial and its results go to show, remarks a correspondent, that it is not profitable to pay for milk for cheesemaking on its butterfat value when the test exceeds four per cent. Up to the present time there has not been devised a simple means of testing the solids or caseine value of milk, and until that is done the present system will have to be continued. A shearing Lincoln ram, purchased by the New Zealand and Australian Land Co., Ltd.; for its Moeraki Lincoln flock, arrived at" Christchurch hy the Karamea on JPriday last. The ram, which is a very handsome' animal, was bred by Messrs E. Dean and Sons, of Dowsby Hall, Lincolnshire, and was exhibited at the Royal Show at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The Mangatoki Dairy Company is now pasteurising its cream and, according to the Eltham Argus, is turning out a very fine>guality of butter. Experts have said that the butter now being turned out very closely resembles the Danish article. The company hopes to rfeceive a better price for its pasteurised butter. A Hawera Star reporter has been assured on reliable authority that there is practically no second-grade dairy produce, being turned out in Taranaki this .season, whereas last season there was very little else. One reason is said to be that farmers are exercising more care of their milk, and another is that the cows are in splendid ' condition owing to the highly favourable winter .experienced and the consequent rich pastures that were available for the spring months. • The milk supply at many of the factories in the Hawera district, has already passed all previous records. The Oamaru Mail states that, quite contrary to expectations, the lambing in the cold country so seriously affected byvthe sriows is turning o'nt much above the' average. It had been thought that the rigors of the past winter would have seriously militated against the lambing. •A Kairanga (Manawatu) dairy farmer quotes as evidence of the good season, the fact that last month's milk cheque was £15 more. than in the same period last year from the same cows. Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle are displacing the shorthorn in several districts in HawkeVßay. The. progeny of the aristocratically-bred shorthorns of the-province are proving too delicate when reared under natural conditions. — Wellington Times. The Department of Agriculture will give demonstrations in transferring I bees at twenty shows this season. A farmer who for some years resided in South Canterbury, but who removed twelve months ago to the North Island, says that though the land is much Cheaper in the north not nearly such good results can be obtained from ■ it, and he intends to sell ont his new holding and return to South Canterbury at the earliest opportunity. Timaru Herald. BUTTER AND CHEESE EXPORT. There is little difference between the quantity of either butter or cheese, shipped by the National Daii;y Association, by the Turakina for London and the corresponding shipment last year. Tho Turakina left with 21,370 boxes of butter and 3272 cases of cheese, while the Arawa in the corresponding month last year tdok 21,208 boxes of butter and 4850 cases cheese. The various ports of shipment of the Turakina 's butter and cheese are as follows:

Neiv Plymouth Auckland Vni&a. AVellmgton Lytfcelton i ... Butter. 6539 0897 3895 4J60 574 Cheese. 371 145 1523 3233 Totals ' 21,370 3272