AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13520, 15 February 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

Attention h;>» Wn ialt.il m \ i>--t»>rw to the viiliu- of the I'inu> itxgnis for tmilx-i\ It is now '» iK-niiimf for linking c;<>''--< »' ;.,ll kimU for tioorin-. aii.l f'.r vuntnu, i>urin .its connected ninth the m;imifai-tutv ft miiciiinvrv. at price* that ivpre*;nt _»..wl intctvit on the cnpn.at value of tie- mt< t ior. Bc-.mtv hinds np"» »huh tint-*. puvgvow mt*t rapidly. With reference to record «i>"l pw >-

Mr. l>. M. Logan i>o.ntly wrote to •■ Melbourne pi»|ie«C bating that. to tin- hot i.f hit, \A-lkt. the hif;h.i-;t price per lb. ever iwt.t is 5?- 0-i.i. U was bid for m tin (.'..tsman-rfr ■ t W....1 KAiliati-e. Le.n.h.n. it. 1878. for ;■ parte! if scoured " fcu-il-duune" Vit-t.ifiiui ileecc. Uoiiutifully »<>t rtp in b?ue lined bat..-. 'I be "liter dm:; not mention tin- quantity, but add* that ttw line o-iu. bought by a French linn for the manufacture \>f >«>ine social materia! for display at the Park Ivxlnbition then en.

"Th' I.vatlrr" tniviira;' ,t.rr->p«n" J i» m the United States .viy- that tin- large wheat farm* there are giving place to small farm-*, worked with irrigation, lb.American farmer".* formula v —"Soil ix hanr.tinn through exc.toive wheat production demands w>» its remedy rotation, and effective rotation attains its_ full strength with the aid of irrigation." Then- is ipiitt- a boom in macaroni tdur'uml wheat- in the United State*. La*t year about fifty million bushels of this typ- were produced, the Kubana variety g'iving the best neullt. Tbtte- durum wheats rh> best in heavy black soil, and .•■oils rich in htuntfe. The grain of thin Wheat po»se»tb i> large gluten percentage which increases in dry. hot country. From California, through Oregon. Washington, and Idaho, the white wheat*, predominate, but in the largest wheat-growing ana of the world in Dakota and th.- neighbouring State.*, the hard trt gained type* prevail - ti Sun-drying hay f> not curing it at an. To mre hay mi that it will rttain its htgluist feeding value, it should hi t iketi out if the sunlight n>- soon a* pn-.sible. and put into cock* of about ICOlb weight. covered with a hay cap. and made to cur.slowly by its own heat, thus practically curing it* in the shade. Cut at the right time, cocked up a'S soon as fairly well wilted, and thus cured, not tun dried, the huv retains a high degree of nutrition. A Wairarapa "farmer who employed labour to get through h'v> sixty cow* night and nio,niing. fonnil that hi.» milk cart njver fVtnrncrt from the factory before 11 a.m. He accordingly dispensed with the services of his two ;vs«>tants-. aud he and hk wife tackled the job. Ke was fourth at the factory that morning, much to the grievotts astonishment of the assistants, who had attended in hope of witnessing the dire effect uf a breakdown of the new scheme. Thereafter the farmer and his wife stuck to their task: never Marten milking before sirari*;. and the cart was alwavs aunngst the firut at the factory. The- milking machine (hits. t\u English paper Tlie Field) is slowly making its way > into general use- If *t does not become popular entirely on acronnt of confidence hi its utility anl efficiency, it . eeni- likely to receive stimulus from another source. It fc. the old complaint if th*; difficulty of procuring a sufficient number of milkers. For some years back lewt has been heard of this trouble tbau eight or ten years ago: but in some partt> milkers- are again becoming difficult to obtain, and it is believed that tlu> milking machine will have to be introduced as the *nty means of *olving the difficulty. It should tend to relieve thosv whi> "regard the futnre with anxiety to know that they are not deeply pitied by the more venturesome of their number, who have already made the plunge, ln-tFt-ecl sonte of them speak ;is if the labour trouble were- a blnssing in disguise in their own «»«.'. in that it was the means of inducing litem "to try mechanical milkers: and if this is. »> in their own case. they rightly maintain that it may apply tfinally to others. FARMING IX AUSTRALIA. REPORTED EXODUS OF XKW ZEA--I.AXD SETTLERS. A PRACTICAL FARMERS WARX 1 IXO.

It ia reported here (writes the "Houiinion's*VWairarapa correspondent} on very good authority (bat never.il MaMnawatu fanner* have made tip their minilis to quit New Zealand for the lands along ilk- herder line of Queensland ami New South Wales. - Sonte of these residents (so tbreports state! have betu over to Australia spying out the laud. Oth.-rs have already made their purchases, and are now "picking up" to leave the Manawatu. Their reasons for leaving tf»e> Dominion ate. they state, the labour conditions and ihe high prke of land. The aggregate capital ol' those intending emigrants i..> tstima cd to be £20.000.

Th«f correspondent interviewed on tlve question. Mr William ISennett. a Masterton farmer, who has- ju.-t returned from » three months' tour of Victoria. New South Wales, and Qutensland. wher,- he has made a minute inflection of landed property. Mr Bennett is a well-known practical farmer, who has several times travelled over mneh of the lbnninioii. and who know? the southern half of the Noith Island as if it belonged to him. . "."Thcr? i-s, no* doubt."' said Mr Bennett.

" that tiu-re are great t liana i, for good practical farnK-rs in Xew >"outh Wales and Queensland. I except Victoria. Ijl--caus-e I consider that it has even now <|uite enough population, but there i> mme tine cheap land on tik- bordei.> of tins other two States. Still, fanning in these districts i.« not without difficult ie;-. Drought is an almost perennial trouble: and the land lawo may b" diiseribed »« atrocious. They want turning upside down. For example, tli- fJovernmt nts are opening up the country »n th- deferred payment Mrsttm. and the heaviest payment c»nite> tirit. which hi wrong. Tito heaviest payment >hou!d I)e last. A poor fanner liat> uo chance if he Iwt? to |iay down 20 pi- cent, of the purchase money at the comiiniitement. and that, is why I »iiy it i.>» tnst les> for any New Zealand fanner to think of doing well in •Australia miles* he .starts with fullv £IOOO In cash." Mr Bi mi tt further- >f.ted that ho called upon tic Xew Smith Walt." I.andh Di (nrtment. in Sydney, and explained the*- objections to the UnderSecretary, who asked [rint to put hf.s ideas on paper. Mr B-wiett. did i-o. Another glaring irregularity, he .-ays. is the manner in which tin- ttoveriim tit deds with the rabbit businei-s. "The iabbits are in Xew South Wales in counties mi! tiouis."* said Mr I'nitiitt. "and if napping were allowed she ui.rk of extermination would give labour t>> thousands of men. The fJiivermii nt l.amU Department ilnrs nothing to kill the rabbit-, and the whole management L* vmted in labbit btiards which are engineered in the interests nf unscrupulous fatmei.-. who will allow no trapping. Lst it should absorb tie surplus labour and r ai.-e uagts. " Kxcept for comparatively welthy farinetf? and miners. Att.-tralia is .1 very bt.l country liv: in. I saw uciu-n l.deturing in the ti-d, r .. with th-ir .■.!■■ v.- r died up and th;tr arm. sun br>>« i:e I 'o tie shoulder? 'Hey wete winking like men. must b- .onicthiiig weak ; t b.»n; thbnvintss when tbi» s»rt of thing happ 11*. Mr Bennr-r d»M- not think that be will t*ke uy land in Ati-Maiia

A FAT YKAli—l9ol. The last year, says the " Pastoialisl's Review." will W re'mcnibeied for decades to come as one of the fat years in Australian history. It was a year of high prices and great" prosperity during the earlier months, and though there was a partial drought during the" latter part of the year, causing a temporary break, the rains afterwards improved matters. and the year went out leaving a satisfactory taste in the mouth, so to speak. The cause of the great prosperity, which spread like a wave over the Commonwealth, was the almost unprecedentedly high prices of all primary pioducts. coming on top of what on the whole was an extremely good sea-son. Nearly every article produced in Australia touched high-water mark in the markets of the old world, so that in spite of droughts for some mouths, locusts, grasshoppers, caterpillars, and rabbits, the miner, the fanner, and the pastoralist did well. The exports for the Coiiimoweanllh for 1907 reached a value which can only be described as huge. Nothing like- it has pieviously been recorded in our industrial history. "The records were heightened by some "accidental circumstances. In the tirst* place, the wool shipments for 1907 contained a- good deal more than the produce of one year's clip. The season of 1906 was a very late one. and eainpar;:tivelv little of the wool got awry before Christmas, while in 1907 it was an equally early season, and the bulk of the wool has alreiidy been shipped. Then a first-rate wlieat" harvest gave an excess of wheat for shipment of nearly 20 millions of bushels, at a very payable price, and these t-wo factors, in conjunction with the high prices' for all minerals, which permitted the reopening of many closed mines, and aconsequent great increase in production, formed a combination of circumstances leading to a stupendous record year. As the year 1907 was a record one, it can hardly be expected that its successor will be quite so notable. Already circumstances have couspired to bring about a considerable-change. As previously noted, the wool clip for 1907-8 has already been t» a large extent forestalled, and the prices of wool have gone down. Weather conditions are not so good to start with : there lias been a partial failure of the wheat crop I with higher prices as a- com-|K-nsation). there has been a slump in minerals—copper having fallen £45, tin £74. had £6. and spelter £8 a ton, with a fall of-8d per oz in silver within a year and the prodnction will be reduced by the closing down of mines. A LOW T 'DOWN BINDER. AX AUSTRALIAN INVENTION. (Melbourne "Leader.") Ever since the reaper and binder came into general use attempts have been made to simplify its undoubtedly complex mechanism. " Agricultural implement manufacturers have for a long time been bent' on designing o low binder, that is to say, one in which the cut corn was elevatedprior tn conversion into a sheaf—to a minimum height. Tht object of this improvement was twofold. In the first case the lower tlte harvester crop had to be lifted the lighter would be the draught. In the second case lower elevation implied a greater simplicity in working parts. Such efforts, however, cannot be said U> havo been crowned with success. There have been "low" binders of the conventional i> it tern made, but in working tests, and jKirticularly with heavy crops, their performance has left much to be desired. In the conventional form nf binder the motive power for the whole of the com-plic.-iteed mechanism conies from a main driving wheel, over which the whole structure is built. It has been established that to produce the l>esfc results a binder of this pattern requires a. fairly large main wheel. And a large main wheel involves high elevation. 'Consequently the attempts made t<> reduce the size of the "one wheel" binder have failed. It stands- to -the credit of two yonng Australian farmers that they have effectively solved the problem. Breaking away from conventional ideas they conceived the idea of a two-wheel binder, the front wheel 'serving to reduce the strain on the horses and to steer by. the hind wheel to furnish the motive power for the several movements embodied in binder construction. On their farm in Germanton Messrs. Taylor Urns, secretly constructed such a binder, and working" it on their crops found that it fully answered expectations. Since then they have started in the foundry business in \Va«ea. and have built at their works a complete bindpr of the type patented by them. It was built too late for the hay harvest, but has since been worked in straw- with satisfactory results. The writer was recently given an opportunity to inspe'-t this fir-t Australian binder at work. Its chief characteistics arc the two wheels, and the simph'fied mechanism which this desigu permits. iThe 1«p of the elevator does not stand much more than 2 feet above the ground. a« against the 4J feet and 5 feet which obtains in leading one-wheel binders. That the back wheel will thoroughly drive all the hanism was amply demonstrated, and as this is the most imjxirtant feature of the new departure, its ultimate success may be looked upon ;is assured, for once the principle of construction is sound, the carrying of it to a successful issue on a working basis is only a matter of mechanical skill and efficiency. A pair of light horsesappeared to draw the binder with ea.ee. and the boy who drove the machine seemed quite at ease in his work. The Taylor Bros." two-wheeled binder weighs only 7£ cwr. as against -the 14 cwt of the best conventional types, and is constructed almost, entirely of -steel. Tt is estimated it can be placed on the market at about 20 ]>er cent, th;»i -xisti-'T bin-' -r--. Tb- p--teiitecs intend lo still fnrthc- reduce the he"Tlit of the elevation, and thereby effect still further mechanical reforms. Further te-ts of the two-whee'ed binder on a more extended scale will be awaited with in terest. but as the principle of construction is sound the turning- out of a reliable implement should onlv be a matter of detail.

(An illsutr.ition of this machine appeared in the " Leader'' of the 25th January. This, rear view, shows the drive-wheel clean behind the platform, and the driver's seat just over it. and there must be room for liis knees and feet between seat and chain drives of elevator and binder. The elevator appears to he nf the singlce canvas type and flatter than in the common binders. Tlhc hindim; table is also flatter. The seat is the highest part of the machine except the reel and some levers. The front wheel cannot be made out : but the remark in the above description, that it serves " to steer by" must be an error. The pole must be fixed to the binder, and the fore wheel a pivoted one.)