AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13697, 12 September 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

The Canterbury Frozen Meat and Dairy Produce Export .Company iave iwoed following circular to farmers and graziers: "The -season is now approaching when gtockowneis yill be dealing with their Jamba, and the directors of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company therefore issue -this circular to etrongly urge upon th«m, whea-docking the lambs intended for the freezing trade, to, the tail short. The advantages of doing so are. the short tail looks better on the carcase than' a longer one and causes a habtex: distribution of fat on the leg and romp, ami also is obviously less liable to get broken off in handling when it is brittle from being frozen; such breakages not only--cause the loss of what many people consider a tit-bit, but- render the "carcase unsightly and to reduce its •value." The following was the dLstribot'on. by Counties, of the sheep in Canterbury in April last: —Kaikoura, 161,444; Aiiiuri, 309,491; Cheviot., 143,813; Ashley, 718,207; Akaroa, 227,328; Selwyn, 494,625: Ashljurton, 793,911; Geraldine and Levels 591,299;' Mackenzie, 276,067 ; Waimate, 526.942. "Each district except Akaroa showed an increase, the increases in Sooth Canterbury totalling up to 144,665* Of the total in Canterbury 441.494 were "wethers, 2 tooth and over, 2,313,428 breeding ewes, 211,110 dry ewea, and 1,176,495 were lambs. The atodc inspector in charge of Otago, Mr Bruce, who is - in. close touch with the * localities to -yrhich the small owls have been, introduced, declares cmphati■caDr that the waff owls have absolutely cleared thvir neighborhoods cf email bir<». In s»»iiw p'ao.is the small bird* ■were to_Jj>e- ?--ea in myriads: ; here i w now not a sijn of .".one- Th s clearance » of the pest » general in ;• radius of 30 snila» from where the owls were liberated »n view, of the remarkable disappearance of .the small birds, it is naturally suggested, says Mr Bruce, that they are scattered rather than killed. - A good number are eaten, judging by the feathers near the resting-place >f the owls, bat a mere - fraction - compared ~ to the numbers Which have, vanished. Mr Bracks' opinion is, that ;tl» Wl\ swooping down oni its prey immediately after dusk, OTftt'the birds to sucban extent that they migrate to tale country. The benefit of "".the owl- would become pronounced,. he" points- out, in nesting T f«mn i v&n they wopld force the birds 'to desett> ? tß^: r young and generally prevent breed n%.' * Mr J- Turner, the 'chief fruit inspector of the Agricultural Department of Victorn, is gTeaetly with the financial ; possibilities or'fruh-grlowing. He stated last Saturday that figure had been published chawing that in Tasmania applegrowing bad returned as much ax £175 ai\niim. .. '*We;have. instances, of excellent profits in Victoria," Mr Turner. *. '"A Bacchus Mash grower /had a fine crop of Jonathans; which retumed vtpti tree. - The fruit was bought for export at 6s per bushel,. and, the! gross. return amounted to £360 per acre. - In other districts, as much asJBI4Q. or;„.£160 to the acre had been obtnned' from jSturmer Pippin abtl Five Crofcfl apples." , After Qjjly /five an<f a half month* of •work theSbnpfeved Small Holdings branch of the Victorian "lands Department' has erected 2SO hoases upon the fanns which it has established for working men in ▼arious parts of,-the state. The department is pow ready for an extension of its activities., A small "piece of. land at Dkylesford has yet to be. settled, but it will carry only about 10 farms. It is-probable, that in the near future other arealj-j' of land will be obtained by the braiKh for use as working men's fanns.

, POULTRY FARMING,. EAY? . r ... SATISFACTORY BALANCE SHEET. Thei -New. Zealand " Poultry Journal" havftg been .challenged by the "Weekly Ppbb»" to produce a balance sheet proving tlwf poultry farming pays, in its Lust iuae pablwhes the following, as a letter toJlte editor:— Dear S r.—Several months ago I proini»M you I should obtain a balance-sheet froni a reliable poultry man showing that, poultry farming can be made to pay. A well-kiowa'pAultryman residing s ifc tthe L— , and fwlkie mum? X herewith enclose, aud will supply thep&me to otJieiis iniereatedttin tlw the following pitftlStftn : —He supplies" -the or-, difaary trade. In his remarks.he states: "My land be'ng freehold, I have charged the poultry with the'lrigbest rent obttiiuable in this district, and aa the poultry ■utilises, four acres, I have charged" tbem op wifh"renif at £lO "an acre per year.' I , Have laid out £SOO in plant and machinery and charged 10 per cent, on this. The other items will speak for themselves. I keep an "Assistant, and my own time with the poultry has averaged eight hours a day.v You.can publiah the information m a done." Mr formation required, and certifies that every item » enrrvet'. Balance sheet June let, 1907, to May 13th. 1908: Receipts.—Market Hens'. 8368 doa., £596 6s 4d; ducks, 749 doz., £65 7« 3d, £665 13* 7d. Egg* for hatching—Hcus> 243 do*., £47 4s; ducks*, 38 do*., £9 15# 6d., £56 19* 6d. Stock sold—Henri, 240, £39 lfi» 6d; pullets 130, £52 17s 6d; cockerels, 453, £BS, 18* 9d; chickens, 543. £23 3s; ducks, 68, £22; drake*. 62, £l3 16s Id, £235 11* 10d., * Manor*? sold,' £lO. Stock on May 31st, 1908, 1209 ; stock on hand June: I.H, -1907. .1046; ex««» on hand-» 163 (low estimate*). £SO. Total £lOl6 4s lid. Expenditure.—Fe-tl on hand June Ist. 1907, £32 5s 4d; M bought during the year, £127 18* 6d-£460 3w 10.1 Uew fe*-«f on band Mav 31st, 1908, £66 14s), £393 Sb lOd. Wage* and fre'ght*. £l3O 8* 2d: re pair*. £5 3» 8d; hUtionery, advert irving, etc.. £2B lis 10d; stock purchased. £4 : k-n*«M», flr. wo.Hl, toal, vie., £ls Rs 9.1, £lB5 12, sd. Rent of four a<rcs at £lO an .im . £4O; 10 per oent. iutercH and dcptrti.i tioo on olant (£soot. £SO. £!TO. Credit balance £3*l9 2* 8.1. Th® it Will be sem that fr<>ni j,) ▼e*m«nV. thi* poult'rvm.in li>* j>.»i I all expenses. |<a»d fur l.ilntar, allow*-d lt«\»vv rent for tiU land and » jikhl nit cro-t €»n OMMfery invented. and msd.« warlv £7 I*r week for himself. TJ« * «h.»».»j lhat jKioltry farming in the hand* of ma in'*llig«ut and practical nun can bo mado a payabk* bu*iiv*«v. The following jnfnrma!ii>n u.i« .<! I a later data in answer t.» a „f the b*Lm.v« fheet: Labour employed. 1 nun Amount of wag*-., £l2O 12' I Particular* of plant o,[ . n-it,.- j;ko, I bone cutW £7. c»rn rru.Ji.-r £.-» i:,. | abaft, bells, puller-.. ct.. £B. -nruhatoi* j £27 10v. 2 br»«xfcr»' Imuv, 40 j 1J ar..j I 30 xl2 £45. f. nKHI«-r*' *;'«vp £S, pi j ] fiiting*. «•(«-. £lO. imtili.iior h"u*«* £V? !

XmnUer of mzc and 1 howsie 8-J x 6. 6 hou«.-. 20 x 10. 6 houm-» 10 x B. 5 h»u+.T> 13 x 8. £liO. aO<l »i/.e-« of yani> S-llf honro Mrre» 14 ranLr SO x 6fl; 15ft hou->» «ach *rvt 3 jard* 66 x lofi-: 30ft hou«- > •aeh >crte 2 yard* 10<3 x bQi' : 3 of the 10ft house* ivrll N-rvc 1 yjrd 100 50ft: 3 other 10ft In at«* in borvpadduck- Tliero ar» hlmi icv«ral other yard* of variou* sizes that can be as war* run*. Cusl of freight, £9 l£t> 2d.

Details of marking—All and stock sold for table purposes were sent to one shop, and being guaranteed fresh highest prices rul ; ng wefe obtained. ' Manure —AH manure hot used in my own garden was tipped' in a heap and sold in- one lot! for £lO. For what" purpose it was used does not concern rue. dumber of birds June Isl, 1907 Pullets' over 6 months 650, hens ovei\l2 months 243, ineks over 6 months 52. ducks over 12 montis 17, drakes over 6 months 25, cockerels over 6 months 54, cocks over 12 months 5; total 1046. Number of birds May 1908 :—-Pullets over 6 mon'.lis 387. , hen» over 12 months 566, ducks over 6 months 72, ducks over 12 months 40, drakes over 6 n»ntlis 28. cockerels over 6 months 110, cocks over 12 months 6; tolal 1209. Number of chicks 'hatched, 1800 In 1850, chicks sold 543. cockerel* reared 630, pallets reared 470. v Losses of stock during year. —No actual record was kept, but as there was no disease of any sort on the farm", " the number of deaths among the grown stock vroa* very light. Detail* of food used during the- yea r: —Wheat, 151 sacks, pricey from 3s 7jd to 5s 9d bushel; - pollard, 104 tons > prices from £5 to £8 10s per ton; maize, 52 sacks, prices from 3s Bd. to 5s 2d p<*r bushel; barley, 44 sack.*, prices from 3s 3d to 4s 3d per bushel; p*-.is, 36 Hacks, prices from 3s to 5s 3d per bushel; bran, 4J tons, prices from £5 to £7 per 'on ; oats, 15 satJas, privea front 2r» 6d to 2s 9d .per bushel; hulled oats. 3 sacks, 6, lOC's at £l6 per ton, £4 16«; bone and meat'. £l6 15s; beans, 4 sacks, 3s 9d per bushel; oatmeal, Iback; millet. 2 *ackfv Feed used in June, 1908:—Wheat, 43 bushels, peas 8 bushels,, pollard 1 ton, bran - 7001b, rntiiae 8J bushels, oats 23 bushels, barley 14 buslKils, Beans 4 bushels, bone and ni<&t cost £1 15s. FERTILE AUSTRALIA. BOOM FOB A : GREAT PEOPLE. (By T. K. Dor iii "Life.") "Australia will never be a great country. It is insignificant, and must ever remain so; for it* is incapable of supporting a large population." This waii volunteered for my information in London by one claim'"': special fciiouletlgo of the" subject. He pas % journalist, who,"however, spoke not as the scrilxtjj but as "one having authority, ffor he had not only published bookk-iw about "• the r cofonie*, M but had often represented a State Government in one ca - pieity and another.' Afier a short career, in one of our cities," ho had returned to Loodoti more t ban. tJiirty years ago. where he had s.aw subsisted upon his sup|Mtsed intimate knowledge of this entire continent. He backed up his pessi mistic forecast of our fuiUue with what he imagined to be pr«M>fs. After the usual "Look at> Canada!" and "Look at the United States!" ho wealed ts»e quev tion with this deliverance—" Australia possesses; a mere fringe of 'fert : le country around its borders—an exceedingly pro duc'ive fringe, I admit- but the var>t interior consist? of arid wastes, unfit. f,, r tho wupport y( population." And this from wno posing for so long as u ixuii pet eat authority! Let us examine tho fallacious l(a>i> ujHjn which this feeble destiny for the Australian continent it, prophesied. I liad just been "looking" at. tin; gnat countries to which Ik: invited attention, and the, «ight ha* been in no way disappointing. It had, however, furnished standards of comparison for estimating the ra,ourft'H of our own- country; and when we intelligently " look ut Australia." we find that tho one grain of truth in our critic's statement, furnishes a complete refutation of his false conclusion. In admitting that the maritime regions of the continent are exceedingly fettil--, he supplies evidence that Australia can Income a great country, and that it is capable of supporting a large imputation. The interior i* not m> iivies-!v arid as he supposes, but that is not his m«« seritiu* mistake. His f»*al e»n«r a« in regarding it a* being " vast." Th<- vaist |M>rtion of the continent happen* to 1n« that- which he admits is exceedingly fertile, viz.. the cxp-mwi r«-.t<-!'*> <■! man time territory. North America pos.M»ses a " fnuge" of j>oor country 1000 juile* wide «>n the Atlantic side, which one <-ri«w* |>y rail in reaching Chicago or Winning. I<cl u< divide by four, and take a mere riblxm of 260 nnh-s wide, !"e>* how #c stand. We have entirely dts|M>»vd of tint " vast-interior" If a line i* drawn around tho continent only 230 miks from the sea, the territory «>utii<ie of the line coinprlvs al*>tiL 2.0'«0,000 squate mdes; and, us the total art.i is than r>.000.000 square miles, the cfwtst.il region c"v«is mvr« than tn>> thirds f>f Au,»tj.tlti.

'l ho.'M' Rf- at cS|>atiM>» of mat it inn- 1-11 . t<>ry which, lo I heir .-idvantaycoui front.iijv to 90CK) iiulv.t of c«>.L.»t lin<-. h.n«hcen contrniptuuujdy c.iii<~«l <x " ar« inueh larger than all tlic ronutnw of Kuroj*- j>ut toother, if \te l*-avn Hu'm;i out "f th«< r.iic-iiSa! ion. -n.-rc i- ai'o 1* - Jx-li for a |»>rtion of while tltc wiioln of the int. rior «I<h n«rt. ni.tko tip an atri o-i<- half th<* of the Ku:o}»-.in dominion. To fav that Ih-v.ium: »o|iu- j«-it:<-n-t of t:i** "liiall* r :n'c:i'-r ar<- .iiid. t!ir:e i> no! ri-.in fi.r lii K v j-.j-ti!aiion«. ii[--<>n a inari tiii-.c territory r t.'ian I t.-rnuur. fjalicr. Spam. Italv. Ati.tiia, ami -mail*-.- )«<puioiiA <oun!ii>* of I mti** result fftn ">riir!.'i:nj w>r»<« than •,l>ii<>rancc. • A map .ifrmiip.inrm; t ;»«- t • »howr« a!! tho*»- nmiiirM u-und tbv co.wt of Australia j

Now as to fertility. An a matter of fact-, portions of the interior are good, and portions of the maritime country are bad. How much of Australia is good is mainly a question of meteorology. There is no continent on which rich soil has been to widely and evenly .distributed as on Australia, and consequently in this country, mo*e than in any other, productiveness depends upon climate and rainfall. Now touching our alleged aridity. • What are the facts? We have uccessful agricultural settlements which have been long established where the average annual rainfall is not more than 12 inches, and a larger number prospering under a rainfall of 15 inches. Unfortunately our rainfall statistics do not tell tig accurately what area of the continent is under these conditions. They shite that 843,000 square miles have a rainfall of between 10 inches and 20 inches, and there is, therefore, a very largp area receiving between 12 inches aiid 20 inches—probably 600,000 square miles, or, say, half a million. But, in order to give the enemy no excuse for cavilling, let us leave out of consideration this half million square miles, and confine ourselves to scientific fact. Coghlan shows that, in addition to tie area with from 10 to 20 iriehts, there are 827,000 square mile* enjoying a rainfall of more than 20 inches of rain per annum. Hera we are on indisputable ground, with 827,000 square miles of country enjoying a. rainfall the minimum of which is from 5 to 8 inches more than actual experience has, proved to be necessary for successful agricultural settlement.

We have been invited to " look at Canada," and we cannot do belter for an example of a great, country which is generally acknowledged to bo capable yf supporting a large population. Sir Wilfrid Laurier has'; taid, ,n this connection, "The nineteenth centuiy was the century of the United States: the twentieth centuiy will be the century of Canada," and there are writers in that Dominion who claim that the populationcentre of tlie British Empire is destined to be Montreal instead of London. These are magnificent claims, and it ;s noticeable that they are mainly based upon the area of land within tho Dominion suitable for cultivation. Careful inspections have been made, with tho result that no less than 171,000,000 acre in the Western Territories are considered to Ihj suitable for agricultund occupation. Adding the country already occupied in the Eastern Provinces brings the official total for tho whole Dominion up to 254,000,000 acres of agricultural land. Foster Fraser, in "Canada As It Is," estimates the area at no less than 250,000,000 acres. It is the vast magnitude of these astounding figure that inspires the enthusiasm of Canadian btatesmen and writers, promotes gigantic railway enterprises, and maintains the greatest immigration propaganda the world has seen.

If we now " look at Australia" we shall discern a strange difference in our method of using figure*, as well its in the etfect produced by them. J Uet, as the "jiien of a million aci,s" find "land" too restrictive a word for ordinary t»se, and sjKiiik generally of "country," our statisticians Ufuaily deal with square miles iustead of acres. Dividing by 640 cersainlv makes a sum look smaller, and it also tends to suppress enthusiasm. The 82f,000 square utiles of country, which we have >veti ]*>».>es*c*> u ninfiill of more than 20 inches, looks bigger when is it staled as 529,000,000 acrt-s, and found to !h> (iv. r twice as largo as the magnili cent territory which is expeetvd to shift London to the opposite *ide of the At lantic Ocean.

Without t.iyili£ any lit nlxnil the half million Mjuart- imletv f.-)20,0Q0.000 ;o-te>i, with ;i pwhaliio j-,iinfal! of fium 12 to 20 inciico. or tlie extent io which new "dry /arming" method.-! and tin* development of our gigantic irriga • ti<m ri-M'tme.s will pu.-di hucctxwful .v. t! lenient into le.-s humid regions, and having out, entirely the va-t underground Mjppiie* "[ water available bv artesian hoi.-, it is manifest tJiat we t• > day, witli am pie rain for the need-. of apr leuliuie, -m an .1 of virgin icrriloiv ni"!C lli,tn twie«- a> .io th.it. ■ laimed for the Kr<Ml country which mtcndr- t<> lead the- world's agricultural expansion in ilie twemkth century. I h<- t hteadbatv fallacy may In- adv.iin.d '.hit it unfile* inoiv than 160 acrci* to support .t ,>cttk-r in Auotraliit; but whilst -» m.m in Au>tr»jia desires motv land than in other countno, h*> <](«« not it 'juire mot. Wh.it ho r>-<|uirc* .ihown hy tiiii nuiali holder. whun.- d*<iire ha.« not vet heru c-oiiMtltfd. The nun who in- K nl *dilft I lie jHtpulat Jori c-nMe <>i tii«* Kmpmr lo lhe hank* of (he St. i.avt l < |-.i me H'Mrieted to Ji!o<lm t h«-pl'-duct-, I.( the colder temperate /one Au>tnrlia »p*n> v:i>t area-i erttn.lv wi;h in t it-- liii"»t J>l •>- i in - ! n c /on« 7» of Ihp vi/., th-- letnjvi.ite, th-- Mibtroji; r.il. and tiif iKipu.d. It. j- under lii.-f elllll l! :r c .I|..|ir fh.ll- t fir" V •itii'iim! of i.ili-mr jwr ac-i.- e.ui i>- profit al.'v rmp'ovr.f. 'lll- Mtuati.m <•:* \ i:train at (!)«• antijvxtm nl»»» csve* h«r i lll;;if ur .vjvatltayr. Her prodm-,.i rotit<hind when th-- who!*- northern no; 1 ;* tho annua! ileal th of ,m ■- H-mnd Winter M".;r--v-r. tin* pi<> a.-oa> of .\ti*tra':.t at ti,.« -•i. and th- ir j-iod;:, r, are i-e.r ; • for t:m<- wuh an extra t hoi* ami ni 'c-. of land I arr:Th-v th<!iri'->. own**! !>v th«- (*opi.-, and ti'.' : aiiw at -. w h.eii pi.vate caj-ilalwiA i:a--e

si retched across h.iif a continent, in order to tap f- rule territory. If we judge by ..agricultural resources, and special natural Australia;; must become one ofHhe .greatest countries in the world. i: ".... . ; :'-

thjsdfklkldsf