AGRICULTURAL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 13738, 31 October 1908, Page 4 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL.

WHAT TEACHING DID. A little knowledge may be dangerous, but this is what it done for three counPotts at the_Y.M-C.A-, Sydney, "was the poorest province in Germany 50 years ago. One. of its people went to the great exhibition in in 1851. and wlitn he tame back he worked to have Irs countrvmen taught how to farm. Every pupil in" the State had to go to an agricultural class at least two hours a week for six mcntbs- Well, it is only one-fortieth the" size of New South Wales, and has onlv two million people. But there are 700 schools teaching farming, and 16.000 pupils; more than half tlie land farm land, and three-quarters of it is owned bv peasant proprietors, well ftd, clothed, housed; holding 14-acre lots, and growing cereals, grains, tobacco, sugar, not to speak of live, stock. Money is lent by co-operative village banks—over 700 of them. Usurers have all gone. Paupeis (Here are none.". - And .two men did all that. Denmark. In 1881 Denmark was miserably poor because itswheat was undersold. But those in .authority heard, of. the cream separator. They sent "six. experts .through.- "the land : with cjpeam' separators- there are 2006 ifa-operative. i .factories, and £12,000,000 worth: of;buitex. £3,000,000 worth of ba-/ con.:aind'£llsoo,ooo- of eggs.are gent to, -Extgcmd in the year. It.-is a rich counfrf now,-because'its farmer* were intelligerit; |Jskx}, ' loyal men. Lastly, -Wiscon«rn;. in America. It was a poor Siate in 1884/" said the lecturer, pointing at. an almost- blank map. " But this is Wisconsin . in -1896." , The new slide ehowed Wisconsin dotted so thickly with creameries"that a good part of it could hardly be'seen. NEW ZEALAND MERINOS. (By-S. B. Hollings in Pastoralist's Rt- ' view.") ; In* New Zealand wools the manufactur«t» of the world have a nseful, sound, and well-grown commodity, and during the last few years buyers have been only too giad' to avail, themselves of the produce grown in. the Dominion. Perhaps the requirements' of manufacturers have been extraordinary since 1901, caused mostly by the tremendous orders given out for khaki daring the two recent- wars. It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good, sjad much as war is to be dreaded and condemned, yet it puts millions of pounds into tbe pockets of New Zealand and River Plate, pastoralists, and principally those 'growing crossbred wools. But to-day it" is not my intention to sjteak about New Zealand crossbred* at all. but to coniine'my monthly scrawl to dealing entirely with Merino*. Here we have an article which in . a few* important particulars differs somewhat from tlie Merinos of Australia, and it is just as well that one's knowledge be increased concerning the different characteristics inlierent in the wools! of the . world. QUANTITY GROWING LESS. When I first went to London sales, now twenty-one years ago, the wools of New Zealand in regard to quantity, quality, and composition were vastly different to what they are to-day, and I haw heard my father frequently say that lie reti;emhers well the time when never a bale was met with of New Zealand crossbred wool, the entire offerings being Merinos. What a change has come over the situation, and I will venture to say a change for the, better, both in the interests of growers as well as users. In this respect thb composition of qualities in the wools of the Dominion has developed on ver progressive lines, and with it untold wealth lias naturally followed in'its train. I am not going to 6ay a single word about the line of action at present being adopted by. any one farmer in New -Zealand, suffice to ear that tho disappearance of the Merino is to be somewhat regretted. I would like to say to all farmers, breed as many crossbreds as possible, but don't entirely overlook the claims of the Merinos. This really lies at, the foundation o£ the success of the frozen meat and wool industry of the Dominion, but the growing less and less of Merino wool is to, be strongly deprecated. JSo doubt Ui«._policy is entirely dictated, by one of £, v, dl, and where tine-wooled sheep can" {s,*Jcept to advantage and imt|le ta_ pay, ( the' Merino should still be bred and reared. ' In New Zealand fine wools w« 'have an excellent manufacturing article, and while undoubtedly the Merinos of Australia very largely make up the deficient quantity from New Zealand, still there are many manufacturers in the woollen trade who like New Zealand produce, and boy it very .rvadily indeed. I unhesitatingly say. that tlie continual d-.-appearing of. Merinos from our woor sales catalogues is- to be deplored, and while growers have a. perfect right to breed that class of sheep which in thtir opinion pays the be>t,. still it will l»e nothing short of a calamity to th>> wool trade if Merinos disappear entirely from the flocks of NewZealand. , VALUE OF LENGTH t>F STAPLE. New Zealand Merinos usually oiion- a verv good* length of staple, and in this respect thev differ a little from the Merinos of Australia. There i< seldom a starved growth, length as a rule being more after the order of South Australian wools. In other words, they arc good combing wools, for topmakem and spmaeis of worsted yam must stdl have » veil-grown and sound staple of wool. I his season, especially, with so much short, burrv. seedy wools from Australia. c "" Zealand Merinos have been well sought after, and .they, have told quite as well as shafty, long-combing voo!* «rown in tha Commonwealth. I am just afra'.d that many pastoral'nts in Australia are at the present time a L little disi*>*»e<l to undervalue this important wool eliaracteristic. aud are attaching too little mipor'atice to kngth of staple. This is a mistake, for clothing wools are at their best poor combiog wools, every topmaker and spinn-.-r wanting length and character. In a well-bred New Zealand clip of M.-iino «00l length of staple us generally there. L»t no grower forget that a H.II u'tonn dip of wool will always show '•hir* im portant and valuable feature, .md -a combing hih»l uill alv\a\~h be nor l< lli.m Sin. long. When wool* are >ii*• t s- they always "noil" more heavily in ! lie < ■omb ing operation, and this means inert a»e<i iOst; in o:l» r words, the buy. r cannot atlord to give t he njlik* pro- as h- ean for longer ctapled wool, knowing that there will bo more waste w.'h it- i-on»equ-nt increased cc*,t in th- eonibing .itut spinning ojwration. SOI N"I>NI>S. As a rul- N.-iv Zealand M-rin--. are al ways sound. * "n«- seldom :iievt« wi'h a clip thV- l* t'-li'ler and inu-!i_\. the -,taplt neirir alwajt. b- ing *c!l grown and -"ill nourislnd. nith the in--vt.«!•!•• !• ~ul- tii>: the him* are sound -sn i el.i-'.i.-. What this mraiis onlv «li-- m.tmif n ?ui- r kih>w •, but, it i> a rhajaeteri-ti'- whieh iix cvrrywlh-re should riiet-urago all thev are worth. likely the ah•cnee of long cont:nu-d drought* pl.ivan important par: in tin-. elura«-.ter->ti-. .aid { 'nr. n-« >;■ -it!• li:'-slm-p is also a «-«>nfnbutmg I- Thereis room for a spVndid -er;<.s of inv»-»ti gations and critical an.i!)..is on tii s v. ry point. I am unable ro «xpl.un tlu fact, but it neverthrl-s* rviiums that th - n<-ar- , <r Merno woel is gru<" u :o the equator, j

t'je stronger is the tendency for the staple to be tender and mushy, no doubt, the predisposing causes being the intense heat and the less reliable nature of the feed. Now in New Zealand wools this deficiency is verv seldom met with, and it- is all thsr belter both for growers and manufacturers that it- 35 so. Sometimes a clip < is weak and tender, but if it is, there are always in evidence other features which clearly show an observant person that the sheep have been *on short commons, or fared badly somehow. This should 1h- obviated as much as ■ possible, for soundness of staple is never wanting in a well-grown | desirable fleece of wool. THE QUESTION OF QUALITY, On the question of quality a greater difference is met with in New Zealand wools than one would expect to see, quality ranging anywhere from 60's to long warp 70's, and- some even liner. As a rule the bulk can be classed as sliafty M's, and this is- a very useful quality indeed. One does not meet- with the strong, shafty 60s wool of the South Australian type, the staple being less bulky, softer in the handle, and distinctly finer. In some of the South Island Merinos there is everything to indicate highclass breeding in -the flocks, and it is only fear of causing offence, and not'doing* justice to-every deserving breeder, that prevents' me mentioning the- names of - a few- stations- whose clip of Merinos ■is-of tip-top quality. There is every-, "thing th»t any .buyer wants,' and in these times' of slump - prices, , where we see a clip of New '■ Zealand v Merino . fetching " from lid and upwards, ■ the grower can take that as indicating ihAt- his clip possesses real excellent- quality and other sound characteristics. I hope : no breeder of Merinos will -be satisfied with breeding anyhow and anyway. Quality of a high-, class order can be obtained in New Zealand as well. as anywhere else, and this wants preserving -and maintaining. PASTORAL INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. The " Edinburgh Review," basing its conclusions chiefly upon Blue Books dealing with agricultural statistics- for the United Kingdom, and Miss JebbV' recent book oa<- ' Small Holdings,"' publishes an encouraging article on this -subject. In January it was shown that the arable farmers of the. United Kingdom, by ceasing to cultivate any. but the-mcst suitable land for cereals and green crop 6, have be?n able to maintain their place. The April article shows that, .the pastoral industry of the>. United Kingdom is, on the whole, in even better case :—For not only are our horses, ' cattle, aud sheep, and even pigs, celebrated as being among the most valuable in existence, but there appears to be some characteristic common to all kinds of our live stock that induces foreign and colonial stock-rakers not only to purchase the best our breeders are willing to sell them, but to be under the necessity, from time tto; timo of replenishing'their flocks and herds with fresh purchases of British and Irish stock, in order to maintain in their foreign homes the vigour and value of the imported strain. , England has greater numbers of Jiorste, cattle, and pigs than any of her colonies; but- when it -comes to sheep, New South ■ Walts has nearly three times as many, and even New Zealand a third as many again. In 1901 the United Kingdom bought horses from abroad to the value-of nearly one and. one-tenth million pounds, anil sold horses to the value of just, over £600,000. In 1906. it was exactly tlie other "way: the sold horses at over one and one-fifth million?, and bouglit horses at somewhat over half a million. In 1906 over 60,000 horses (including pouies) were exported, at- an average, price of 19 guineas. 'Most of these, of course, went, to foreign countries, but a considerable number wont, to British colonies, 1 tspecially considerable when it was realised what a trouble aud expense it is to take a bom.- out to Australasia, for instance. Canada took most- stallions (631, average value £77); then the United States 489 which took 43, average value £250, and New Zealand 12, average value £325. Austria-Hungary's 5 homes averaged £5,960 each, an dßouinania's 2, £1,040. The kind of thtTo horses may therefore be inferred. It- is significant that Belgium imported 29,531 geldings at £8 each on an average; and the Netherlands and France also large numbers at a low price. -The. " draining,',' - procesa. indulged in by foreign-cogntnesandour culonit.s'is therefore costly 4 4<> them and remunerative. to horse-breeders; and horse-breeding may be inferred to be a national industry of increasing importance.

We export thousands of high-priced cattle for breeding purposes, and imi>ort cattle by hundreds of thousands /or purposes of food. l»bt wbertas in 1901 we ex|H»rted 1.648 cattle, average price£s7 lCls. in. 1906 we exported 5.616. average price about £SB 4.-. .In .1906 we imjwrted a considerable nnmber more animals for food, but paid 9s 9d a head less for them. In 1906 New South Wahs jiaid the higliest price for the three lead of cattle she purchased—£239, but Argentina purchased the greatest number. Uruguay took 5-18 cattle at an average of £7B |ier head. . Tlie number of slieep in (Jreat Britain is less than at some breeibng jieiiods—barely 25j inillioas, whereax it has I Ken over 28J milbons. But there is the same tale to tell with regard to highclass stock in the case of sheep ;t- in the ca«.s of horses and cattle. New Zealand imported 165 sheep from" us at over £25 each. Kven Argentina paid nine guineas on an average for .the 8.000 sire took. The writer T-ays: "The high pricct, r>aid for good stock "cattle and sheep serve a.» inducements to Uritisli and Irish fanners to l.isv prize htoek. They niust. however, remember that in time,the .descendants of the stock now purchased from the United Kingdom rnav pcssibly produce animals that will siicceysfully competo with - the sto<k .of -the mother country. No . ffort should be spared in improving our best breedi. for only by constant vigilance and unremitting care will it bi- jiossible for the United Kingdom to maintain her position for-another gem-ration.

More and more sc in to 1h- kept in Great Britain, and if .-mall holding* develop, more and m<>r.- are likely to U.krpt, fi. r ])ig-kee|iing on a t-niail seal.-, when in<livit|uai care and attMjtinn ean be given. o-i*.cially when combined i\ilh small fruit growing, i, likely to prove liior» prolitable than anything to the jiii.ill holder. I ji 1901 jilily 578 were cX|torted from the l"nite<l Kingdom, average pric- £9 2s ; but by 1906, the average prie- remaining tie- same, tie- numbers .-s}»>rt>-d had ri-n to 2.221. Sh> cp alone ..f live s;tv, k. b.>lh m t*#r. at lit it.on and Iteland." «ivs th»* «t'it» r. " hav.- not a rat v ivconl to fliniv, although, a.-, "as se-n !i"m t !e----re-ji-1 'ive chart-, their ea.-e -*> be no in- • ins a b'qh less one."