AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13691, 5 September 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

"The foUoWrog. ts>a Jist o£ private:prizes giTenLfhf-tbe:oe*t A, and P. Show : •Xhe -president, Jlr J. .Rutherford, gives £l7 9* as follows:" £5 to sheep classes/ £2- & second prize meet point* draught bones, ~£3 3s most entries in draught horses,-'.'£s ■ & for military events, and £&2s forliann and agricultural product. Th*" Mr R- H- Rhodes, gives-£2o'"a> follows, £lO first prize Llovd Lindsay competition, £5 for tradesman's- turnout,; and £5 fw spring dray hones: Messrs J- Ballantyne and Co. «ve £2 2s Ist prize in Mounted Rifles rescue race,"Mr B- F. G. Corchran gives £l s lsyfor ppny trot; Mr R. Irving £1 Is foe pony trot and 35 for group of foitt draught mares; Mrs. Leslie Orbell £j'st" : .f6r;ppny hurdle race; Mr G. A. M- Macdonald £lO for best journey bone; the , Soutn, Canterbury Licenced Victualler*' Association, £5 5s for most points in draught horses; Mr Jno- Whh-«ll,'.-'i&'JSs for best draught walking mare or gelding; Mr Wm. Hay, £2 2s for haxseis how*; Jlr D." G. Watson, cup, valued £10" 10s for brood mare with two Mr Thos. Teschemater, Bo -5s fat mjMt - points in light horses; Messrs Ehrortirr Bros., £8 & for hunter classes; ijrflennr Lee. £2 2s towards pony "prizes; Mr W. F. Hamilton, £5 cw« towards general' prize fund: the Canwrtury Tanneis' Co-operative Association, £lO 10s "towards farm and agricultural produce prizes.; Messrs Priest and Holdgate, £2 2s for/most r points in agricultural produce; the . South Canterbury Woollen Manufacturing Co., £1 7s 6d (trophy) for most '-points'in dairy produce; the Atlas Milling-Co,, £1 la for bread classes; "Mr/A. El* G. Rhodes, £2 2s for butter . classes; Messrs Guinness and LeCren, £2, 2s for crossbred sheep classes; the exors. late C. G. Tripp, £2 2s for best in-hred. half-bred ram; Messrs Dalgety a'od Co.. £5 as for pen of five fat wethers"; -the S-2. Loan and"'" Mercantile Agency Co.» £5 5s for five crossbred sheep suitable' for freezing; the Christchurch Meat ;to-» .£lO 10s for jien of sheep suitable for export trade;-.the National Mortgage; and /Agency Co., £5 5s for pen of fat Jambs: the "Canterbury Frozen Meat and -Dairy Produce Export Co., £3 3s for>best English Leicester ram, and £4 4s for*fire-far wethers; Mr J. Sowden. £1 Is for pen of five English-Leicester rams; Messrs Little Bros, (per Dalgety and CoCj ' 10* gallons Little's sheep dip for most points in Border Leicester sheep; an 4 Messrs McDongall Bros, (per 2C.Z. Loan and M.A. Co.) 10 gallons McDougaffsdip Tor most points in English Leicester sheep. The total *■-'—» of private prizes given" amounts' to. £147 5s 6d.

..*■' the : . present time," says the Asban . unusual number oi4farm*re are desirous of selling their fanns or-are aV least in a position to tfejjit with a -view to effecting sales. consider that land will decrease in varae^-While- others -are apprehensive -of ... tWvissue of the coming harvest. Fanning, certainly has not been so remunerative: as- it- might . have been during the past but-where. a, shortage increased .value* ruling . y^ the land VBttj&Sfßti years -*are- firmly' of opinion . *bat not" decrease in value .in face demand,' and-ihoold tb£ mating season,, prove successful—and tlnar* believe that such wdl may even be a in the price of land. Dairy Company has

p$d j; dut for milk during the past season to June 30) £73,679 17s/-"and has a«n||>)tur of £BOOO still to deal with. -TKis-.wJul enable them to pay out a bonus per lb. of butter-fat over ibe: whole year after allowing for depreciatian't of buildings and plant, and five ptripait. interest on all paid-up capital. MQ&isppliers holding shares in th's company*fw3l have occasion to congratulate th«nf|bre* on September 20' (when the boiiuf .«ill he paid), as fifty of them will orerJ&tCO each, and two will receive over addition to'the interest on their ■tonaL''J?'-*.. TW Department of Tic'tpria past two weeks received csje***BiSuV applications for potatoes and otheir seeds-, for planting and sowing oa«|he experimental plots connected with Stated schools in various parts of Victoria. • During' the past-two years plots hare \biee» on school grounds for the purpose'of teaching the scholars the art of crop-growing, the work having been.,carried out under the supervision of the teachers. The Agricultural Depart-

meat has supplied the seed and manure*, bat. taken no part in the work of supervision, no has its officers been furnished 1 of malts.. of the insect peat known at'eeT worn* "in potatoes arriving in 31elboo7ne from Tasmania lately ha* made it necessary for the inspectors under the Vegetation Diseases Act to exercise considerable- precautions to prevent affected produce from being removed from the vessels. Severs}, lots of potatoes containing- the worm have been stopped within the past few weeks, and a consignment of 500 bags„wa* seized. The owners were allowed to take the produce away by the «ame vewel that brought

them. The eel worm is a microscopically tav>H creatnre. whose presence in a potato caters a targe number of noduh» or warts to farm on the sttrfac*. Thc*e are not injurious to health if eaten, but a» til* uneven skin thus produced necessitates, a vtry large- amount of waste when the potato' in being prepared for the t**ble, the worm is regarded as a pest to*-the potato industry. iTha-'dast spread over the surrounding coontry by the volcano Tarawera in 1886 hp* been proved to be a fertile soil. local stock inspector report a that the dttst has become covered with indigenous ptants. especially tht* to toi plant; and of whit* clover," from ss-ed probably carried by bird* or animals, there is a splen-. SA growth. Sheep and cattle are in good condition, doing well on the clover in the summer and the tot toi in the winter. Last iteason Captain M»ir ploughed ap a few acres of run. on a flat which was previously nothing but pore pomice. but having a coating of 2ft of the volcanic, deposit. N'o manure whatever ws» applkd. Here »om«« Imperial green-top and purple-top turnip*. ail weO a» mante. oats, and potatoes wrre planted. AH the crop* wete »o«>d and UW tnrnips were magntricen'.. Some of tbe> root* were of enorntoo* »Ue. nuiu tiers going from 24 to 26 inches in cir cbaference and being sound and of g<~.d weight. One. it was declared, measuted &lin ami weighed 521b.

DAIRYING IX XKW ZEALAND Speaking at a Wellington mating tb<* other day, the .Minister of Agricttltui* laid that twenty yean*, ago, if wi»il wax down « made ali «f»*- difference, hut now then* w«r# mar» tudtwtrie* ariH our export* were being changed. Wool and Sax went op and down, according to tlf frifrfrt, 'bat tbi» did not apply to food ««pj£it«* '■ If ve took car«« that our fooni-capplies were always of the best, tinpnc« would alwajß remain goal, ami «e ihua pnt ounwlrest in the position that gaaocial trouhh>< wooM not affect ns at tfi. Thv Minister nt<wtioned that 80 ptr cent, of °»r export* came nnder tit-' DtpsXtment of Agriculture. Mr M.-Naii Mr. Iwfd, - •«; other cotintriea going r.tu ~f ;h market ifc would help the Kual p.,

The extract was 'as follows :—" In Germany a large quantity of butter is now consumed, and jt» is found necessary to import- large quantities to meet the demand, whereas, only a few years ago Germany was .exporting . large quantities of batter, to other countries. As "showing the magnitude «i the imports of bucter, it may be mentioned that as many as 9000 casks of Danish and .Siberian butter are frequently purchased in one week at Copenhagen for shipment to Germany. Discussing this- matter with one of the leading business men in London, he informed me that only a few years ago he employed an agent in Germany to deal with butter for export, but now tnat same agent was acting as bis talesman of butter imported into Germany. The consumptive demand for butter is also increasing in France, aud at certain times of the year it « found necessary to import, large, quantities of butter into that country. During my visit to London butter was being shipped from Holland into France at a pnce above the London quotations. One factor which is affecting the-local supply •of bntter and cTieeso in England and Scotland is the ever-increas-ing demand for- milk in - the large cities. The milk can be delivered in 'good condition over long distances by train, and the dairy farmers i prefer to' du>pose of the whole milk where possible, instead of' making it- up into' cheese or' butter. Many of these dairy farmers .arc now actually' buyers of imported butteri * and when on a visit to several dairy farms in Scotland I found that the butter' from Xew Zealand was being used. . : . Many of. the cows in Denmark produce over 10,0001bs. of milk per annum. \ In one district 1 visited the number of lierds of cows producing between 9,000 and 10,0001bs. of milk per annum was fortytwo." a •

THT PRICE OF BUTTER/ A Wellington paper says:—Housekeepers will be pleated to leant that an extensive fall in the price of butter' in Wellington is imminent. The fall has already begun in Auckland. The present Wellington price of Is 6d retail was fixed not, because of any actual scarcity, but only because butter-holders feared - that a- shortage might possibly occur : laler thin month. " That fear* has now. vanished. The present position is.that there are, in tb« cold stores of New Zealand, 5000 boxes, or more, of reserve- butter; that ibe dairy factories will be nearly all in full working order next week; and that there is no outlet for exporting butter at auy price corresponding witn any tiling like the rate uow charged to the Wellington public. There is no ojiening for our butter in Australia, because ot the lower prices now ruling there, and the big'duty. Butter for Britain is worth, at the rates how ruling in London, less than per lb. on the wharves at Wellington. It is impossible, therefore, that the very same butter can much longer be sold to the householders in Wellington at a retail price more than 50 per cent, greater than this. The present protit«i are not going into the pocket* of the dairy farmers, but into the jKjekets of thoue linn* who previously bought up supplies and are uaiuruliy anxious to ie.uise at the biggft pi ice that, can be exacted. The law of supply and demand, however, di>es not justify the present price, and an early fall of Is 2d mail can l>e'anticipated. Doubtless there are factories already looking for sales to gloceiis at price* M nicll ttottio cause that reduction, ami the- fact that city dealers are not likely to offer big rates till their dearly-bought stored butter is quitted will encourage direct sale* to some nf the more enterprising giocci*.

THK STRAWBERRY CROP. What. ask» th« " Dominion," is the value of an average strawberry crop in New Zealand! Jt used to be said that their wete IUO grouei*> arouno Birkenhead toelldlllg tile Writes to lilt Auckland market ; that the average value of the crop uas about £l5O per man; and that tne Birkenhead groweio produce half the strawberries «if New Zealand. At the present time there are fewer but larger growers, but the output i« scarcely iiicte.uxd. The output troin Bitkcuhead, tliereiore, would be worth about £30,000. and the output <>l the whole Dominion £60.o:o.

What i« the weight of * New Zealand rtnp of Mlaubvnie*' On the avcuige of the Birkmbrad grown -bulk pii»- «»! al*>ut 6d jwr |*iuml in an average h-j>uii, the weight of :i crop selling for i>'<o.ooo would W 1.200.000Uiv. ..r ov.-r SO) ton-. The av<-ragi- gro*«» t<-turn |»-r .*» r<- of cultivated lxrd-> at Birkcnhtad i* about £100; in other part*, of the Dominion it !■» con»iderablr le*«.

Tint* th- h.«igi»»d «r< p of 50.0*..'9 ton* w..uld givo th.-' 10 million Knyli«h |><-i.j>!<<ivrr 231 hj». of th«« m<»t |«pol:»r >4 all lj*nie» to each inhabitant, at a triad c™*t of. perhapv »<1 per pound. A New Zealand average ctop gtv-n only enough hcrrie* for a poun<l batUcctfui to \nr »har«d among nine people. For thi* limite<l fenut it would co*t eacli, per«on al»ut a prnny.' Bat likely what really happen* is that one pcrwm gcu tlu* whole banket ful. and the- other right get no strawberries at all. THE EXODUS OP FARMERS. A* a connterbkut to the rariouti tvports puo!i»h>(t of Xew Zealand farrn»-r» *ct»ling 'ii (Jueerhdand. «.ir« the- ** Pasioraliet*" l:«-vi.w. .Sy.tnrj -.' ill.- Do-.n'incn |.u»ili«h .• .[.-inri,", ,),;,, .t ~.t,.i

and gone to Queensland, many have come back disappointed and prepared to remain in New Zealand. What percentage these bear to the total number who have gone for good is not stated, and w« doubtvery much whether the substantial value of the original statement is affected'by these exceptions, even though they may tot up-to a considerable number, for many Xew Zealanders go over to have a" look at Australia and talk of leaving New Zealand, but when it, comes to the point shrink' from leaving * their old home'. .Whilst it is very difficult to decide the actual causes of the exodus, there is no duubi that the heavy taxation especially the graduated taxation on large holdings), the unsatisfactory conditions ,of labour, and also the, high price of land, are. all contributing towards- the ; discontent which is manifest on the part- of the larger landholders in New Zealand. Most of the large estates have now been cut up, and of the few remaining, • those in the province of'Hawke's Bay last month ratified through the papers that they are arranging for the subdivision of 10,000 acres hi each of their properties —an indication that the' large owners are forced to realise that-they cannot exist as they .'to realise that . they cannot exist as they are. now. Many would think that the cutting up of larger properties, and forcing them into the hands of smaller would be the means of more than satisfying the demand for land in small holdings, but so far this has not been manifest, and it is-pretty ev'«<nt that there is a very large demand for land'in small holdings and at p:.i':e<i which the large holder cannot make in terest out of. Labour conditions in-'SVw Zealand are so unsatisfactory that large agricultural holdings are' now p r et'y an impossibility, and cannot be worked af.a profit, and the position is gradu- dy getting down to being one in trhich the small man alone can exist.