AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13596, 16 May 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

The agricultural etacses being *'"»- ducted throughout Victoria, by the Department of Agriculture of the State are saki to constitute the most suecesisful scheme of rural education in Australasia. The classes are arranged by an officer of the Department with the assistance of local committees, and the experts of the Department conduct the work of instruction. Some idea of the way in which the scheme is being appreciated by the farming community may be gamed from the fact that a lecture "on unsoumlißto in horses, delivered in connection with the Warrnambool class, was attended by no less than 150 farmers*.

At the conference of dairy managers at tjydney last week a novel and interesting ! type of butter-box was* displayed. -*t p'resenU the exhibitor explained, boxes were made of New Zealand pine. This was being exhausted, aud rising in price. A \4ctonan syndicate had now came forward to place on the market a t>uitabte substitute made from straw. The specimen produced was composed of barley straw. In its manufacture a mixture of kaolin and straw was used. It cotrtd be produced and isold for la. At present 3,000,000 boxes wen- Used in Austraba annually, costing £200.000. The new box would save the v.....ty industry £'4O."OQO a year. The matettal for manufacturing the box could be grown in the same paddock that supported me cow. Straw was now practically a waste product, but eotttci thus acquire a commercial value up to £2 a ton. The new typw was in every respect equal to the old. It weighed about 10|lb., was damp-proof, and odourless- A company with » capital of £50,000 in £1 shares was being formed to develope the industry. >lr Eidd, the Tarana - patentee of a milking machine now beyond the experimental stage, it* coouaen* that he will be able next season to supply the most economical and satisfactory mechanical milking plant yet placed on the market. Steps are to be" taken to float the business into a strong company, in order that the machine may be manufactured in the most effective and reliable manner.

There is some diversity of opinion on the nredietion that there is going to be » slump m the price of land, writes a resident of tthe WTairarapa. Amongst btnainet).? people and land agent*. as far north as Napkr. H is unreservedly stated that farm lands have long been ;it » fictitious value, principally owing to the high price of wool, and that now thai there has been a fall in the market price of that commodity there must be a torresponding decrease in land values. The full in the price- of wool at present mean* practically 2* 6d per tUece. On twosheep country this mean:* 5s |>er acre interest, which represents capital to the extent of £5. 1c therefore means that there should be a fall in ordinary sheep land values »t £5 an acre. The farmers laugh at this deduction. They state that in a few cases in New Zealand did land reach such a price that it was not interest bearing, and --at "now there is no reason for them to lower their land values, simply on account of a fall in the price of" wool, which in all probability will be only of a temporary nature.

SOUTH CANTEEBI'RY NOTES. A South Canterbury sheep farmer writing in. the Australian ""Pastoraliats' Review" last month-says; Id many ways the successive drought* of the last two summers have been similar in their intensity, though not so in their results. ibis seasons dry weather dtd not really get in till early in November. when the country was clothed with a most prolific growth after the spring rahto. »nil tfc wa» this surplus of rough feed at th-.' start that enabled stuck to hold tbeii condition so well right through the summer, whereas the 1306-7 drought practically began at the commencement of the spring, the previous winter being exceptionally <lry, and there never was any feed in the country to hel» stock through even an ordinary summer. This explains why no stock were sacrificed during i«.*s drought-, though the heat was even more trying and the scarcity of water greater than in the previous season. Another subsidiary factor in the situation was the smaller number of sheep we were carrying, owing to the depletion of octr flocks ha the previous drought* and the exceptionally heavy export of meat that took place, coupled, as- it was, with the less of large numbers of our best sheep, including young ewes, through being tent away to the North Island and Souuitund. The decrease probably totalled some 200,000, though the sheep return.-* »>nty show 104,000 decrease tor Asbbnrton ur.ti 46,000 decrease- for ..»wu Canterbuiy. The land now being in good order, a vast area is going quickly into cultivation, of which a very targe proportion will be devoted to forage crops for feed us- a partial substitute for the lo«s of the turnip crop's which suffered so severely. not only in the earlier stages, but later on through the aphis blight and the grub of the diamond-back moth that wrought such destruction last season, and it is more than probable, after last year's experience that ample feed will be provided to carry and iatten stock well into the winter, provided ths weather is again favourable. One very noticeable feature in this season's bushiest ha.v been the extraordinary number of buyers present in South Canterbury, the resu. oeing that the old order of business, viz.. selling by weigut, has given way to a great extent to selling fats at the public sateyards on their feet, as farmers soon found out owing to this excessive competition they could obtain better value on the open market, where buyers continually over-reached even their own limits. In tho meant tine auctioneers- and ealeyard companies welcome the change. Prices n»;» i;on»«- 3s per bead on store sheep directly the drought broke rtp. and although an enormous number of sheep have been on the market lately—the number of clearing sales this* month constituting a record—the demand stilt keeps firm, especially for voting ewes and forwaru lambs. the- latter selling freely aft 12s to 18s. good 2-tooth ewes being worth about ids to 20s. forward wethers 14s to 14s 6<f. fat wethers 1T» to 17» 6d. Buyers of wethers- stttt hope for an improvement in the London price for mutton later on, with a po>t>tbiiity of the hoof and pt'ft value also rising in the future, for winch prospective rise a large quantity i> being held back in our xtorvi.

Judging from tbV n timber of ram* being ottered this season, it- is quite evident that fut» time? has cow for some of the smalt bceeders to give it up. um th» pritvs now current, cannot possibly pay. being about half of what they were a few years back. The tack of tfuality a rut breeding in a. very Farge proportion of rW pre»«-nt-day runiM proves beyond a. dotibc that the action Litely taken by the Sbeepbreeders' Association to im-itittitt- ;u »y.>r,etn < t° inspection of the recognised breeds, ami a comparative, though not. absolute, safeguard to the public provided a tilted standard of ipmtity i» rigidly adhered ro. A targe- number of property s have bn changing hands of kite. and a.- tiu> time c£r;*w» near when tbf* 25 per cent, mcreaex* in the property tax comes into force or. ;*lt holding* fxeeeding a. vatin- of £40,000 (unimproved). ;» disposition on tie; ■part of these few large landowner* to dispose of their overptt'H is atreadv manifest.

Again tht* shadow of a, eorosack in a reduced form has reached ns ;>fter an interval of some two year*, when the I 5» verament's first order was gazetted that the railways after a certain date wotiht tefnse- to carry any grain sacks weighing over 200Ibs. Thi- regulation is tr» mini: into force on Ist February. 1909. .Jtaking from the opposition of the A. and P. .Associations. one> might suppose that ttd* regulation had never been heard of before, and it is somewhat fortunatt that

tht* Chamber.-* of Commerce and other representatives of industries intereoted at a conference held at Oamaru accepted the inevitable with a good grace, instead of aggressively displaying •>. total disregard of the men most vitally interested who cam their living by handling heavy product-, for whose benefit the reduction has b-eu made--certainly not before it was needed, if the ethics of humanity stand for anything. The solution of the various difficulties presented iu till- change miggested at the conference was a general purpose sack of 46iu. x 24^'n.; piobably 25iu. would have been »«-.i.er.

"FAIS.MIXC" : A Tlt.U'i-CO.MKDY. Scene: Farmer Hayseed's homestea<l, anywhere in New /.euiaud. A few horses, cows, pigs, etc., sprinkled ou the stage. Fanner ilavseed is discovered looking longingly towards, the (Queensland). Enter" Sir Joseph Ward (I'ihiie Minister) with the white llower of a blameless life tn his buttonhole. He advances towards Fanner Hayseed, and slaps him gaily on the shoulder. Sir .Jritieph : llv ! Ho '. farmer ! DreamHavsetd (sadly) : Aye, dreaming. Sir* d. : An* it were* a pleasant dream. I'll be bound—eh. farmer?" H. (with a mournful wave of the hand westward): I was dreamiu' of over there.

Sir J. (mistaking hi> meaning* : Heaven is it? Oh. theie's time enough for that. fanner. We can't let men like you. who've made this country what it is, leave us in the prime of life, you know. Why, man, if it weren't for the man on the land, where would we be? Bankrupt, sir! H. ; I dumio. but they all seem to be gotn*. There's Higginson. he left last week; ait there'.* Smith, he left a month back: an* they tell me as Robinson's thinkin' o* set tin* out. Sir J.: Dear me! How sad! Why, what's carrying them off like this? To h* sure, Robinsou b> an old man and he ain't last much longer, but- Smith and Higgititton—two of the best farmets in the country! Well, it would be a bad day if they left no sons behind to carry on the farm.

H.: The sons i.s goin'. too —that's tthe pitv of it. Sir J- (excitedly): The son.-'. Surely not! Fever. I suppose. 1 must semi the health ofh'ver up at once! 11. (slowly, and wi... emphasis): It •hm't want "no health of liter, sir. It's you as can cure itSir J. fmystified) : 1, fanner? H.: Aye." sir. l»"s not- the fever; it's what we fariii'is rail slow starvation. It's the land as wants lookin' after. They iwed t<> call this God's Own Conntiy. an" so it was one lime, but it's the devil's own now. They iiM-d to have straw- to make their bricks with, but devil a bit of straw is there to be seen nowadays. Sir J. (still pu/>:ietl>: Land? Straw? I don't understand. f Enter Mr Kidston. Premier of Queensland, at ' the psychological moment). Mr Kidston: Perhaps I can explain. Sir Joseph. Sir J. (surprised): Mr Kidston! Mr K.: At your service. You will excuse me, I hope, if I speak somewhat plainly. The fact of the matter, sir, is that you ate unable to see further than vour nose! Sir J. (indignantly): Sir: How dare vou '.

Mr K :Ci!m yourself, my dear sir. and listen to me. Here is thL- lovely country, while you talk of the wealth that tomes from "the land, you allow that land to lw locked itp and lit' idle. Not only that, but where there b laud .to be had the price i> so exorbitant that no ordinary can afford to buy it -and if he*does buy it, when he tan get better land in Australia for a quarter the price. lie*!» a foul. Your policy has been such that it- has created fictitious land values, preposterous values, sir. and only wealthy svndicafvs cau purchase the good land. If the farmer will not buy from the syndicates he must either starve on the bad land or go to a country where he can make ;r. comfortable living and put something by for a rainy day. It has even been whispered that there have been men in your Government who have been member's of these syndicates. The heaven that these farmers and their sons have gone to, and the Heaven that Fanner Havseed here is casting glances at, is well-known to those who r.s© their eyes. None so blind a s those who will not see, sir! lam surprised you have not heard of what we are doing "to induce good men to settle in our country, and that you make no effort to keep* your fanneis in your own country. When you can't Keep "titie men yon have got you will hardly succeed in getting others. Permit me -o say. -sir. that your policy astounds me! It" is comical, sir, comical! —(Auchland " Herald.">

THE GRADES OF WOOL

52's TO 80V:

The J*|>e« i.il correspondent of " The Dominion" at Bradford bit-nines educative in .Ti recent letter, in which he gave an answer t«» lite iju'iy. What is meant when one trprnks »>f ou's wool or 40"s wool?" The reply in brief is that it menu* that the 6Q"s wool ran h\- spun into v 6O hanks of thread 560 yards each: 40V wool into 40 wanks of that length, weighing just one pound. The Bradford man say:-:—When a buyer goes to the. London sah« with the object of purchasing wool he first of all asks the question: " What class of wool do I require, and what purpose shall it lie put to when it enters my mill at home? if I want wool for the manufacture of worsted coatings of a nice soft quality, or raw nvaterial for the production of ladies' dress goods known a:< * rashmeres.' then I should pass by every bale of crossbred wool that h' grown in New Zealand or tlic River I'lnte. and confine myself to merinos capable of spinning no le?»s than 53.840 yards to every pound weight of clean material." This may- seem a big length to .spin out of one pound weight of any material, but it can be accomplished with the greatest! ease if the fibre is fine anough. *ne principle of spinning is ytich that a mait can spin down .1 wool to a thicker count of yarn when it is impossible to spin -,• a wool or produce a .•smaller yam than what the wool will spin to. It hi this fat: that has brought about wool to be known as of 60"s quality, 50's quality. 40's. 32's. ; uul even 28"s. ;is the ca>t» may be. and a piiettcal man iiv-ed to. and eonservant in. handling wool can tell in a moment how far it wiH spin. or. to be more precise, whafc quality it- is. In the »»ld days. ivh-'-n combing was done by the hand ami spinning done on the "jenny." turned ami worked by the hand, crossbred wools were only used on account of the length, and the longer the i>t;»p!e the better and more valuable was the wool. It was this fact that, made the Knglish Lincoln breed of sheep so valuable, and when other shorter stapled Down wools wen- on the market. Lincolns and Leicester* " bowled * everything e!s« out. At tiiat time fineness was not such an important iharactctistic as length of >t;»ptr. and it is only witihin the lastthirty to forty yea it* that machinery has hst:oim> |>ertVrted" and ab;e to manipulate tine wools that these have assumed such an important position as they have done. Sixty or seventy years ago the question aisked was: How- long is the wool? and not: How tine is it'.' Today, it is just nversid. and quality or fineness ranks as the fitejr consideration in wool buying. Men to-'t.ty are not very greatly troubled about the length of the staple in merinos, even thousands of bale;- every year now being combed of six months' grown wool. tff majority of Cap ■ mctino >h-ep men shearing twiee a year, and all that topii af.er> do i> to provide a few more hal.is that are long r in -staph to art :>s "through.-." and th-n the lot go-s through thr rr.mhrng machine, and what i- known as a, "weft" top is p;odiit —d. At. i he same time ;» good " w.iip" woo!. i»y, 2jin. to Sin. long, is greatly pre-

fetred by all users for topmaking purposes. What will it spin? is the question which every wool buyer asks an ho sallies forth on Jiis errand* of wool buying. Wools are designated merinos if they will spin out to 60 hanks, each measuring 560 yards, to the pound—or, in other woidr>, one pound ot merino wool of ou s quality will spin out to 33,600 yards. No wool is called merino unless ib will .spin out to this length, 60's quality being the lowest recognised standard in -the trade, while anything above 60't>—say 64's, 70Y> 80's, and upwards—all come under the name of merinos. In judging merino wool the broad general principle to work upon in [ascertaining the count is to know howfar it will,spin, and according to this depends everything as to what quality and position it fills. Certain well-known sii]KM-fine Australian merino* grow a quality of wool that is spoken of and grown as 80* c—this meaning that a pound of clean wool from these Hocks will spin out to 80 hanks of 560 yards each, that is 44.800 yards or over 25 miles to every pound in weight. The wool trade to-day makes two divisions of the raw material, merinos and cross-breds. The Australian climate especially seems to favour the merino, while New Zealand is undoubtedly the home of the crce-sbred. Crossbreds is the general term used in the wool trade of Yorkshire to denote all -wools that range below 58's quality, and anything between 58's and 60's is epoken of as '* bare 60's" or as "low 60s" but -when a wool will spin no more than 58's count it comes under the category of crossbreds. This is rather a vague term, and so the trade cuts up this broad expression, and speaks of crossbreds' as fine medium, and coarse crossbred wools. Fine refers to wools of from 50's to 56*s quality, medium signifying 44's to 50's, and coatse from 32's to 44's.