FARMING NOTES

Wairarapa Age, 7 January 1926, Page 7

FARMING NOTES

Harvesting in Canterbury, according to a souhern paper, is'by no means general yet. Shearing has been completed. Work at the Waingawa freezing works continues to be heavy, and 52 butchers are on the boards. It is likely that more will be employed this week. No beef is beihg killed at present. Despite the fact that it has been a very poor season for oats and wheat*, says the 11 Otago Daily Times/’ many farmers near the coast have their oats in stook ready for threshing, although this will not be done for some time yet. Notwithstanding the sharp decline in prices at the last wool sales in Napier, the allocation for the next sale in February is already filled, large quantities offering from Hawkes Bay, Gisborne and the East Coast. Freezing works in Canterbury opened on Monday. -Stock is offering freely, but there is no great rush to get it to the works, says an exchange. Last week’s rain had unproved the pastures a lot and this would probably prevent farmers rushing their stock in.

“Whit is wrong with our farmers of to-day that they cannot get pro--perly into the pork industry ” asked Mr S. Bowman, of Dunedin, ' when speaking to members of the herd testing association. 1 ' The farmers of Denmark are into it,” he added, and they are reaping enormous benefit.”

Favoured by the recent dry spell, harvesting operations throughout the Rangitikei district are well advanced. Golden grain is stooked on all sides ready for collecting and threshing but it is noticeable that the crops are more stunted in growth than usual. The crops are shorter than in the past, but the quality of the yields is expected to come up to par.

When Mr J. Smith, of H. and J. Smith, (Ltd.), returned from a recent visit to England he brought back with him a gold cup, which cost 100 guineas at Home, and presented it to the Southland Metropolitan A. and P. Association as a challenge trophy to be held by the exhibitor* gaining the most points at the’Summer Show. At the end of 10' years it becomes the absolute property of the exhibitor who has won it the most times.

There has been soihe discussion recently as to the biggest crops of maize that are grown in Poverty Bay, it being generally conceded that anything in the vicinity of 100 bushels is an excellent crop. Authentic records supplied to the Farmers’ by one grower show that this season he took. 824 bushels from eight acres of land, the average therefore being 103 bushels to the acre. The land on which the maize was grown is close handy to town and is land that has been cropped on many occasions.

Mr R. Joyce, a well-known pig breeder in Victoria, stresses the value of lucerne as a food for pigs, and he regards the pig raiser who neglects to grow it in suitable places as missing a valued opportunity. He states that a sow in young running on the crop requires only lib. of grain a day to keep her in sound condition for farrowing. The brood sows are run on lucerne to within, a fortnight of farrowing. They are then introduced to the breeding pens, but are run out each day until due to farrow. .During this period they are brought on to slop foods. The change on to slop foods while they are still on the lucerne gets them ready for the sty period, when they will not receive lucerne. \