FARM FACTS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12402, 16 January 1905, Page 2

FARM FACTS.

BY "GILES."

In defenoa to a charge of selling milk ■wholly devoid of fat, a Norwich cowkeeper said that his cows hod been eating cabbages. He wad fined os. At the disposal of the famous Longjtiddrv flock of Leicester sheep prices .ranged from £5 to £7 for the animals usold singlySheaiung operations hare be-en pretty well completed around ' Wanganui, though one or two late sheds are still .actively engaged. . A large percentage! of dairy farmers -in the Wanganui, Waverley, and ifcui«itikei districts have of late forsaken the cow for the sheep, and many others <iro contemplating a move in the same "Having won a Derbyshire ploughing match open to all England, Mia tonma Crofts has been entertained to dinner by the competition executive, and pne*anted with a new plough by the nrm -whose implement she used. A small farmer in the Wetidon district, Otago, shears each year 200 sheep. . Three years ago he sold his <&pduruig Christmas week, and it realised £26 12s. He sold this year's clip fw>m the 200 sheep, and it realised £4« 12s. A ilaiterton, settler (says the "Age ) had a rather curious 'experience with two ,■ of bis sheep a few days ago. They became ".cast," attd as they were unable to he took them to his wookhed and "doctored" them with, half a bottbe oi whisky. As a result of this "doctoring the sheep slept for two days. Farmers &w oomplannang at the ettecb «f the bad weather on Umbs, amongst which the mortality has been unusually lieavy. One farmer in the Sandon district says ha lost 250 lambs durmg the «dld snap that was experienced at JNew Year Notwithstanding the high prices prevailing for sheep in Wanganui ana districts at present, I have it on good authority that prices are stiiil higher in tha Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, and Palrmeration North distracts, the estimated .average being about Is. per head higher sill round. Even at these rates sheep are 5 very scarce. As one would-be buyer remorsefully .remarked, "There are practically no sheep offering at all.' . Many practical farmers are beginning to realise that it is a mistake to .attempt to work a .large area of land. They have (says the Southland "Times ) -nob only come to thisooncluson, but they are trying to place their views before their neighbours. It is no unoom--mon thing now to hear a farmer state that it is hia belief thafc it is more profitable to work 200 acres well than to -attempt to work 1000 acres. -This is a cood sign, and as farmed generally realJU this we sha! see a gradual adoption or better methods of farmng. The Masterton A. and P. Association *his yaw will be held on February 14th -and loth. Over £1000 is to be offered in prise money, and spec;al Tuducements are to be .given to obtain Large entries in the various oompeitittone. In 3unlPing events alone £150 is to be offered. Entries close on Saturday, January Jo, and schedule and entry forms may be tamed on appl'ioation to the secretary, The paddock at Totara. on which the .experiments are being conducted with a view to finding a speoifio against the Oalifornian thistle has of late assumed <euite an adr of bustle (says the Oaniaru Fifteen optimists with conooc•*"K>ns of various .ingredients have each ■worked their little plots, some being satisfied that one application of their magic preparation wiU suffice, whilo ottos, Appreciating to its-full the strength or *he enemy, are not so sanguine. in. «r-any cas.es the leaves have been emtireJy removed, and tbgt roots, on examination have been found to have suocumbto tha depth of 1 foot. J3«f». ol course, is a comparatively slight achievement) as agaaneb the roots of a Cabformian thistle, which go down tothe depth -of 4 feet and ramify an all directions, but it would admit of a serial crop bemg taken off tffia ground thus cleared, and if that were fo^owed by tumip^the ;• <3iaiaces of eanadicating the weed should 1 he good. Five of those who asked for -sekwtioas have not yet arrived on the jSosHie,.being kept waiting for thear prejparatLionS. ;<; -. * ' Mr Kinsela, the Dairy Commtesion- ' --er thinks New Zealand is in. a fair way, to compete with almost any country m tho world. IntfjCtenmark, he Kays, they .. \&r& labouring usofler different conditions >fepm those obtaining dn New Zealand. -'• ""Wo are aix weeks f^l&Ajt'ft!B ±5, r 1 1. tlBr <market, and the Argentme, Hepublic is .only about.mxteetf o^^entee^ days; *ub traiir^Na'ting-^^Ar^eabiniaipeopw liandavdown with regard to pnee. Why we cannot compete with Denmark is mowing tio the fact that thd Danish people ship their butter direct to the same purchaser on the London and Scotch tnarEet-year after year, and build up a .trade which brings them larger prices. -The man. who purchases that butter 1 will pay a penny a pound more .for it if I can get it tregulady, became . ifc is good.' What do ■we do here/ We ■asend the butter to ome man one year; 4and the next year we send it to some.3>ody elise. The .people do not get to know our brands and quality, and, therefore, our butter has to be 'slashed about ■on all the markets of Europe. When -at Home, I saw New Zealand butter lying on the floor of a Tooley street produce store which was thirteen months *&&. A gentleman came to me andi jsaid, 'Here is one of your prominent brands from the colony of New Zealand, .and it is fishy/ I said, 'No wonder!'

HMt is al." Ond day this week (says a correspondent of the "New Zealand! TJmes"), in company with two or my neighbours I travelled by the same train which conveyed our fat sheep to the Mteat Export Company's works at Ngahauranga. I have had many a rid© on the passenger trains of the colony, and in differ--lent kinds of vehicles drawn by horses, (but I never had such a ride aa the one I goti when going to Wellington on this occasion. From the point of being bang•>ed about nothing could excel it. A portananteua which one of the party had -was turned over and shot out from bequeath the seat. We were in a small compartment attached to the guard's van, with the seats across the carriage. 'Imagine the effect of such a shock on a ■truck-load of live stock. Thero were ■three trucks of pigja on this train, and I :aiot!iced on onto occasion when shunting, "I think' it was at Bketahuna, that the pSgs were suited1 up to one end of tbe truck, very much the same as a wave -surges up against a rock in the sea, the -only difference being that in on© case it is water, doing no harm whatever, and in the other it is_a mass of living pork, which is shortly to be kißed, being bang■ed about in a railway truck. If the knocking about had been confined to the -shunting there would not bs so much to -complain about, but it continued at intervals all along the line. The worst) shock of all was just before we reached the works, as if the driver, before parting with us, wished to impress the ride not only on our minds, but on our bodies as well, and on stepping from, the torture box at Ngahauramga the first -thing we saw on looking into tho yards T?aa four dead she&p which had be&njmled out of the trucks that had come ■In during the night. We were vexed, ■but not surprised. lam quite satisfied in my own m'nd that if Sir Joseph Ward iiad had fat sheep on that train and had travelled with ua (incognito of course) within twenty-four houra these stock trains would be run veiy -differently 'from what they are at present.