AGRICULTURAL ITEMS

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 7004, 8 May 1906, Page 1

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS

The Xrw --.-jutt! Will 3 < r ,vi»rn:nent ••ntomol .gi-t state- thai the pot it>) .rub is vi.ry ba'.laii over New Soutu Wait 1 -, lasmania ami Victoria. ih.? Heif-»6t Vr-if/, rig Works are exceed iugly busy, vl! the boar linghouses in the t .-wnship are crowded, and there is not an >. tupty house in the district. L st winter, ou thy other hand, there were thirty or forty cottages un ccupied. A Ma-ttrton settler, who has cc'asi n to Oh h de .i a:.,org i : ht-ep, has informed the l>..ily Times that dippiug this ?.:t-.n t;;n iijihou: the M-..-teito:i ifistricl has been P'irticuiiiily i-ffe live, and sheep are very ■ .r-d. In th-' lui-h uisrrL-ts- the re bill's tr. m dipping have nit t.eiu s • sati-e 1 :c:«>iy. r.»; i..r- ij the Ot-g-i Ceitra: di-'uh-t nre ratimr desp .n.ieut a r p-esent on th* subject of feed f r their st. c k this winter, theie haviug been, ia souih par:?, an uuparalleled dearth of rain during llm summer and autumn —a very different condition of things to that experienced in Dunedin it--3 it, where there has boen little sunshine. Ine following complaint of a Kansas farmer who writes to ihe t-pringfield Kopu liicin regarding au alleged fallacy hunually repeated in the statistics of the Department < f Agriculture may h -.ve active appiic-»lli 0 elsewhere:—".All the Core, hay, am many rt;ier things are reckoned up with cit tie, horses, h >gs, as if the largest p-.rt ••!' ur core, hay, aud imny other •,...u!u'- did not go fco m-.ke in-ae cattle, h r-e.-, .>r a g-. A large part >: our fat cat le, \ t'niuk, .re bjugiifc on time at Kansas Li y ia 'he fail, aud 1 have ku"wu many c-ises that in the sp'ing, when lie-y sold, they did not bring enough to pay the pr.ee paid in the fall, after feeding out their year's crop of com. When you re id the reports of Kansas crops you want to dividr by three to get anywhere near their true value to the farmers. " Hou/.aau, writing of the mules which W6re torinerly used on the New Orleans tramways, says that they "prove their ability to count up to five." '1 hey have to make five trips rrom one end of the line to the other every day before their turn of work is completed, and they make four journeys without showing that they expect to be released. When they reach the end of the fifth journey they always bray. Without discrediting the story or reflecting on the arithmetical talents of the mules, it may be suggested that the animals ;»re guided more by the sight of the stablemen waiting in readiness to take them out of the harness than by the number of journeys they have performed.

The weather (siys the Auatra'asian) has been warm, aud inclined to be muggy. There has been some iight rain in the coastal districts, but none inland, and another good fall would now be gladly welcomed by the majority of cultivators and all graziers. Excelleut progress is being made with the preparation of the soil for the next cereal crop, a considerable extent of land has been already sown, and doubtless the bulk of feeding operations will be concluded by the mi Idle of May. Farmers are afforded a splendid opportunity this seas.ui of getting the work done early, owing largely to tho March rains, and it is to be hoped they will not neglect to get the crips sown in good time. A substantial increase of the area under cultivation may be anticipated this year. A large number of the farmers iu the Tokomairirodistrict fOtago) have threshed. and in the majority (f cases a disappointing return is the result. In several instances only about half the usual return has been obtained.—Tuapeka 'limes. It is feared that there will be very heavy losses of stock this winter in the Cromweil district, Otago, as the food is scarce, and with such a heavy snow coming so early it will be a long winter.

The conditions under which Dr Danysz, the rabbit extirpator, is to come to Austra ia to experiment in rabbit destruction is that he i» to be paid £I2OO, and .£2OO per month for two years. His assistant is receive £M per uiooth. Dr Danysz may return to Pans before two years have elapsed on a bacteriologist, appointed by tii.' E'r mier, certifying that nothing more can he uoue with profit'. A Crown tenant writes as follows to a Wellington paper :—" We live in a rural district; our biddings are small, and it is only by very careful management that we keep the wolf from the dooi. I h.ve iive -»nd a half acres, aud on that I maintain myself and family. I have two cows, two heifers, and a horse, which get their living, ft' the iive a\d a half actus. Uv f re I carted manure 1 was unable to ko j p a cnv—it would have starved; now 1 have enough hay, oats, etc., for winter tei-'.i. Any farmer will know what this means. I have been harried by the Land Board, I am bidgered by tho Health Department, and threatened by the Jounty Council. What is a poor Crown tenant to d-i? Pnpirangi was acqu : red for working-men's homes and small farmers. Now they .retrying to make it a fashionable suburb, and a very healthy one, at that. I'aparangi would be Arcadian in its peacefulness were it not tor its aristocratic element." The Tuapeka Times reports that at a meeting of the, Waitahuna branch of the Farmers' Union a member said the great destruction to the crops cansed by the small birds this season called for still grater efforts to keep down the pe.-t. Any small patches near to the township or iu sheltered spots had been rendered useless and in several paddocks acres of beautiful looking crops had been completely stripped, nothing but the straw being left. He noticed that in some parts of America tho small biri pfst had been effectually dealt with by giving 2jd per p.iir for heads during the winter months, r.nd as the number of biros got reduced the price was increased, lie was of opinion that robbing the nt si of eggs, although checking the pest to a certain extent, had not the desired effect. Ihe birds simply shifted their quarters and made a fresh start.