AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13602, 23 May 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

Dbeus»ing* with the agricultural writer of 'ttfw* ■"■X.Z;/rimes'*, theother day the North .Island verso* the South Island hitabr . a large operator on the, fat lanib j market remarked -that", it was 'alt a matter 01, country. . tliven good, sweei. country j tui gpod » lamb a» desired could be got with the Southdown ram on.the better class"of North" Island crossbred ewes, -in the Sooth, he said, where the country w»sr suitable, the best lanib wan got, from the hatfbved ewe with the Down ram. NeW Zealand!, he continued, would never have one sheep. Districts must have a breed suitable to the local environment. Sottw- growers did not do ao well as they migjit, because they were working with i* "weed unsuitable to their country; they considered they had the right -sheep. wheWas they "had never tried another. _ The Canadians have gone in. for agricultural education by means of farmers* duties. As far beck as 1893 a law was* enacted authorising the formation of farmclubs and the payment of a grant to suek associations. Many of the clubs have aeWral rmteting* every year to hear lecture* and -discussions on agricultural subjects-- • They bold no exhibitions, but have organised taany competitions respecting, standing "crops, diietiy to encourage the production of green fodder, roots, and? the lute of fertilisers. The> work of tlie cfvbts combined with the' reading of their journal by many thousands of farmery, has led to a wide diffusion of the theories and facts upon which are baaed agricultural improvements. The agricultural production, and chiefly the production of milk, has? largely increased; the. farmers; pay more attention to the maintenance and increase of the fertility of the soil.- and there is generally as a result of the. dubs -a most satisfactory improvement in the methods of cultivation. At a meeting of the North Canterbury .Executive of the Farmere' Union the chairman said that Mr J. T. Wright, of Dunsandet/ had asked him to bring up the question of railway freights. Mr Wright had sent 200 eacka of wheat to Lyttelton. and had them weighed on the railway scales. The merchant to whom he serti. the wheat got it weighed on the Harbour - !* Board's scales-, -which gave the total weight as 2cwt. 2ijr. heavier than the weight given by the railways. It was* thought desirable to bring the matter before" the railway authorities for the purpose of • ascertaining if they contd give ;vuy; explanation of the discrepancy !»«■- tween the .two weights. The merchant bstf paid on the railway weight. He (thd Chairman)' understood that- the Harbour Board tared ati trucks as- they went back,! whilot the railways tared them once io-'three- months. A member stated that there had been great drscrepanei*.* in the thr'eshin'g machine- weights this He "had sold some oats, the titot three bags of. which, on being weighed, showed a-difference of half a bushel as compared with machine weights-. ft> was decided to\ bring the facts connected with Mr Wright,'* case -under the notice of the railway »uthorities. 'Som* very significant evidence of the wheat growing capacity of the Canadian West aa compared with that of the neighbouring regions-of the United States baa just been issued by the Province of Saskatuhewan. According to the authorities of that province, the average yield per acre in the last ' rive rears has been: 1908. 22.57 basheb: 1905, 19.44 bushel*; 190tf. 17.51 bushels; 1905, 25.03 bushels; and 1906. 21.4 bushels. The averages in Kansas during the same j>eriod ranged only from WA bushels in 1902 to 15.1 bushets in 1906; in Minnesota, from 10.9 bushels in 1906 to 15.9 in 1902; in North Dakota, from 11.8 bushels- in 1904 to 15.9 in 1902; in South Dakota, from 9.6 bushels in 1904 to 15.8 in 1905; in Nebraska. from 15.6 bushel* in 1904 to |22 in 1906; ;ind in lowa, from 11.6 in 1904 to 15.7 in 1906. For the whole of the United States the averages were■:—l9o2, 14.5 bushels; 1905. 12.9 bushels; 1904, 12.5 .bushels; 1905, 14.5 bushels; and 1906. "15.5 bushels. Even in 1907, in spite of the bad season, Saskatchewan's average comes up to' 15.17 bushels per acre. If we • put together the comparative infertility and the high price of land in the Western States, it is not surprising that thousands of American farmers are emigrating to the British side of the frontkr. The Immipation Commissioner at Winnipeg reports that in the first ten months of last venr 46,000 Americana arrived, against 4*5,000 in the whole of 1906. In addition to the 46,000, who definitely came in to settle, as many as 50.C00 lank-seekers came in to see -the country with a viewto settlement.

NEW ZEALAND "SLIPES." Writing for tlw "M\wtor»list* Review." Mr. A. B. Rollings, of Bradford, has a gwod word for the skin wools from New Zealand Freezing Works. He says: It is really surprising to what Extent the.teadtt in sheepskin* and *kin wool has grown daring the past dozen year?, woolbiryers being called npon in London particularly taw lilt' annually very large quantities, of "sKpeSi" both front New Zenland and the- Rker Hate. We very few felbnoDgered sfipes from Australia. these, wools'generally being offered in the scoured state; but the trade in slipes on ac«ottnt of the freezing companies of Newr.Zeaknd and the-Argentine has grown to eonsidecable dimension*. I have really been delighted when I have seen these . feUawngered parcels pui up in such nice condition, and the managers iu charge of the freezing establishments in Lite two countries mentioned undoubtedly know then* job. I unhesitatingly say that N'ew Zealand stipes cannot be beaten. Skin wools are very largely nsed both in the woollen and worsted trader of this country .and tin* Continent, topmakers especially " blending" them with fleece for the purpose generally of cheapening the top. They no doubt are- a very useful commodity. b«t are not like good fleece wool, for plenty of buyer* never touch them. Stilt, it would never do to throw overboard th« wools coming from these slaughtered sheep, and after properly sorting and scouring, they can be used tor one purpose or-another. Hete in England the word "stipes"* is never used when shaking- of wool taken from butchered sheep, the term "skin wool" al«ays- being emplayed. .It is certain that these wools are no* so -carefully put upon the market as are colonial and River Plate- stipes. Dnring the past ten years cansid+Table improvement has taken place, at all Xew Zealand freezing works'. Iwjth in the- hand-ling-of the skins and the- wool, and I-do not know any establishment bat what is turning out slipes> in good saleable condition. Of coarse, some works seem to sort their wools mote carefully, and condition is; lighter and smarter round Wellington. Canterbury, and Otago districts hi New Zealand than at other works which could be named. Bat all alike are turning out very creditable- wools. Xatnralry. titers if never that soft, kind handle about idipe wools that we see about greasy deseftp. tions. and in this respect we have a drawback connected with fettrnongered wool. The Irnie and sulphide of sodium which is now largely used seems to get into the tery celts of th+> material, and makers of "unshrinkable" flannels* and such fabrics have made- use- of this fact, for they km»w tltat lime-treated wool never shrinks, and felts like ordinary greasy fleece.

farmim; of the fltliu:. (By A Touting*" in the Auckland Herald.'*) The future growth «>f the modern (."ify is- always being spoken of. speculated npon, but what ot* the future of the Farm, the effect of the modern l.'ity ttjwui the development of country life? " For tt stands to reason—doesn't it coun-

try life in slowly moulded. inl«» something different to what it ha* hern, by the gradual gat luring into the cities* of the bulk of the population of tlie civilised world.

In the old time, the country district was largely self sustaining uud fcdf contained. Every- village had iU. smitby and it* wheelwright, it* liootHsaker ami it* milkr. its tailor and its baker, its brewer and il.« cooikt. Country towns, a few mite* apart, grew from village rank by virtue of their market-place, to which buyer* and seller* Hocked on market-day ; and in them apjieared shops and. such industries as tanning, weaving, metal-work ing. according, to the character of the district. The great towns —comparatively great —were the ports or the capitals,- the gates of foreign trade or the seats of pa-lace* ami law-courts. Everything w:«* limited by transit difficulties. For before the macadamised road and the railway k «-o*t more to haul a ton .a. mile than it k\>»>* now to haul a ton from one ■Side of a country to another —counting cost by the only true standard, that of labours earning power.

Connhv life .was not. an isolated life: in the old davs, "when eveiy rood, of earth maintained" its man." There were isolated holdings, of course, but the vast majoritv lav near one of the village that dotted the- country as closely :»s plum* d»A a prosi>erous pudding. i»e countrv parson and the country wjuuv. the countrv lawvtr and the country doctor, the veomai. farmer and the tenant farmer, the village craftsmen and the farm labourers'each and all nibbed shoulder* rfailv with men of fcheir own class. It was" ontv when machinery came in, and when science was applied t«> industiy and when transit-difficulties- were conquered that the City as we know it arose. And with the gradual rise of the City the old pleasant, sociable, easy-going neighbourly, self-satisb'ed life of the country became sick unto death.

For what is there for count ry towns to grow, upon nowadays? The repairer of iron, wood, or leather; the shoer of horses, the cobbler of boots, the mender of broken shaft!- and axles, the patcher-up of broken-down motor-cars, he is wantea. of course,-close Vt hand. The general store is wanted in ,tJie country,, and the school, the church, and the post and telegraph office; . and there mrnst be somebody l« sell bread and meat, though it isn't necessary upon railway lines lha: there should be anybody to bake or to slaughter. Bui, allowing for all this and for plumbers and tailors and dressmakers and such-like specialists in ihe country towns, it is nbrioiti that upon all the main lines of human requirement the great cities control the future. Factory boots and factory clothing and factory furniture and factory vehicles and factory sweeties and factory dresses and factory hats and factory windows and factory horse-shoes and factory parts for factory machines—what room do they i leave for country industries. You cat in Auckland farm-houses today, ou farms that raise pigs, factorycured hams sent by rail from Auckland City, just as on Canterbury wheat-farms you eat bread made with factory flour ground in Christchureh, and just as on a sheep-station you may see factory cloth that came by way of Bradford from wool grown on the place. Wlterein, you have a bird's-eye view of the proct;«> that J.-* going on, an epitome «>f the economical development of City and Country. For the time is coming, and already is upon us, when nothing whatever will lie done outbid? the City, which can be done inside tlt« City, •when mankind will regard the Country as nothing more than the source of its taw fowl and raw materials, and will carry on all secondary industrial operation* where they can be most economically carried on, which is in great industrial centres. As machinery develop, and is applied to agriculture, a less and less proportion of any civilised population will necessarily live in the Country. When Auckland Province contains a million people, half of them may live in Auckland City; but when the province contains two millions, two-thirds of them may be in Auckland City. Even..the cobbling of boots may be done, through the post, at a City factory. Even the family washing may be done, monthly, in great electric laundries to which careful Country housewives send a special railway rates extracted from some tottering Government by the women's vote. And therein we have a hint of the bright lining to the seemingly dark cloud that overshadows Country prospects, in the fact that sooner or later great inducements will have to be given to the agriculturists to keep them on the land. At present, the hold of the Country upon the agriculturist h through that" .landhunger which knaw» .«r» steadily at the heart of many mcii. For once" l*> have land meant to have open to one ~11 ihe .possibilities of human life, while to the landless meant to be a waif upon the earth, a vagrant who sought by the w'avstde f»r a inval. Whereas, ib is to the city-dweller, 'who never sees sheep grow or rows milked or shei'p shorn, thai ttvtlEsattoii is opening wide the gates of opportunity. In tin.*'cities art**" church's with trainul choirs and thousand-pound preachers, theatre:.* for Julius Knight* and opera house;* for the Melhas and . concert halls for the Butts, racecourses for the great steeplechasers and libraries for stndentas, and warm swimming-baths for wintrv nights, gigantic stores to tempt shoppers and asphalted streets to prevent the muddying of dresseb; and parks to show to townsfolk an idealised 'countryside. Everything that human de-sire can long for will be some day in the cities, with high wages for everybody and no dull times—for when times get dull the paternal Government may tun paper nomey from its printing presses, and we shall all haw as much ,-fs %ve can carry- about. And how about th** Country then' Does anyone suppose' that a" million country people will be fi»>lL-h enough to toil amid th? roudro;«d.« of tit** North and hilih of the Kins Country just to find food For two or three millions wro are enjoying themselves under Hie glas-s-roofed streati of some future Auckland O'tvf

The turn of tlie Country wHliome mioii, and 'all tlie sooner for "I he uniting of population into*the City. Jt v"»H tome to the shape of <>U-ady pros Mire upon the food .-uppiv and pressure upon; C4overnrneut and pressure upon Parliament. The Country is thought little of by the tounsmen while food is cheap, as compared to earning - power, and w.hik- foreign sauit-ccs of food appear illiiuit,ibf.. ' But as Hie ritie>.giow every country will waul all the food it grows and as much more as it can get. and the fanner will he implored to get to work, and when Juruiiiig isn't rushed the induo-im-ntti to fann will go up beyond all expeethlions. Kailway:* will run throngh'every district and tight line*, elect ricHlly worked, lr- seen on every important countiy road. . Schooling will he adapted to countiy condition*, and reason tickets on provincial tramways and railways will be issued to bona lide farmers at £1 jkt aimiim. They will get telephones in their holies for oixpciice si month, Hiid have their doctors .subsidised until medical attendance j* ;>> £,*„{ ;•.- jn r»wu>. and have Ere- hook-boxes sent weekly from tin- t'iiv library ami have special trains itiu l-i. suit Uk'ih whenever they want to go anywhere. Their .toads wilt be made tit to walk mi -:t*. well as to drive on. and th-.-ie v.ill l> c electric lights in- e-very -farmhouse mid free railway carriage for the family washing as mentioned. And it* thai*j>nt- enough, then ,-'- brass band will play weekly "to > vi-.v farmer ami a minister "coin-. U> have tea and- ask him if he is q..i:t<coiirftntublr every month. V, tl the <-"icv. gi'MW it ever :■» hugely. mu.it still have iti'i-l or-die: and-the -Farmer is ths- ouly matt who will count foe ve:y much when thv City feels hungry. "