On the Land

New Zealand Tablet, 21 October 1915, Page 53

On the Land

GENERAL. Three cheese companies in the Eketahuna district have just sold lines of cheese at B|d net, on trucks. This is believed to be a record. The Patea Press says that potato blight has made its appearance in the Waverley district. Some very early and exceptionally fine crops have been completely cut down by at. The feature of the wool sales in Sydney last week was the demand for crossbreds, which fetched 18£d, that being the top figure since 1910. Merinos were steady, except superior. Irregular and inferior merinos were difficult to sell.

The cost of keeping pigs at the Ruakura Experimental Farm is found to be small in comparison with the returns given. This is mainly due to the fact that the whole of the pig-food is grown on the farm. A great deal of this food would practically be waste if not fed to pigs.

There has been a brisk inquiry recently for Rua-kura-bred milking-strain yearling Shorthorn bulls. In the last half of August seven sales were made, and no young Shorthorn bulls available for service this season are now left. Eleven cows of the Ruakura Shorthorn herd which had registered under semi-official test were entered recently in the Herd-book of the Waikato Dairy Shorthorn Association.

In the Otekaike district, where the fierce norwesters had parched the soil and generally created havoc among the stock, the recent rain was especially welcome, and the total rainfall of 175 points has saved the situation (says the North, Ofayn Times). Some idea of the desperate position which faced the farmers before the rain came can be gained from the report from one farm alone, where 100 ewes were lost from a first-class flock of 600.

At Addington last week the entries in almost all classes of stock were small, and there was a general rise in prices. Fat cattle were very firm, and fat lambs and sheep were dearer, while store sheep showed a rise in values. Fat Lambs.2os 9d to 29s 6d. Fat Sheep. —Prime wethers, 30s to 42s 3d; others, 24s to 29s 6d ; merino wethers, 29s 6d to 33s 6d : shorn wethers, 19s to 33s 6d ; extra prime ewes, to 42s Id : prime ewes, 27s 6d to 33s 6d ; others, 21s lid to 275; shorn ewes, 27s to 325; hoggets, 17s to 27s 4d. Fat Cattle.—Extra prime steers, to £2l 10s; ordinary steers, £8 5s to £l2 10s; extra prime heifers, to £2l; ordinary heifers, £6 17s 6d to £l2 10s; extra prime cows, to £l4 ss; ordinary cows, £6 10s to £lO 10s—price of beef per 1001 b, 32s 6d to 50s, and extra to 545. Pigs.—Choppers, 60s to 117 s 6d : extra heavy baconers, to 925; heavy baconers, 72s to 80s; light baconers, 58s to 70s—price per lb, 6-Jd ; heavy porkers, 38s to 42s —price per lb, 7d.

At Burnside last week there were only small entries of all classes, and consequently competition was keener than usual. Fat Cattle.—llß yarded. Butchers' stocks were low, consequently competition was exceedingly keen, and prices, taken all over, were extremely high. Compared with previous week, prices would be fully 30s per head better. Quotations: Best bullocks, to £22 15s; extra, to £24 12s 6d; medium, to £2O; lighter, to £l7 ss; best heifers, to £l6: medium, to £11; light, to £8 10s. Fat Sheep.—l2B3 penned. There were a few pens of good sheep, however, and these were very keenly competed for, exceptionally high prices being paid for the best quality. Quotations: Best wethers, to 50s 6d ; extra, to 565; medium, to 40s: light and unfinished, to 30s; best ewes, to 48s 3d; extra, to 545; medium, to 30s; unfinished, to 225. Fat Lambs.—There were 16 of the new season's lambs forward, and these were keenly competed for up to 275. The pigs forward sold at prices on a par with late rates.

THE PERCENTAGE OF CREAM IN MILK. Since cream merely consists of the same constituents as milk with an extra large proportion of fat,- the quantity of cream produced from any given quantity of milk will entirely depend upon the percentage of fat in the milk, and the percentage of fat in the cream taken off (says an exchange). For example, supposing the milk contains 3 per cent, of fat, and the cream is to contain 25 per cent, fat, it will be found that 12 gallons of such cream will be produced from 100 gallons of the said milk, or, in other words, cream will be removed from the milk at the rate of 12 per cent. With modern separators the quality of the cream can be easily regulated; in fact, it may be taken off nearly as thin as milk, or almost thick enough to cut with a knife. It is obvious that the thicker or richer the cream the less will be obtained. As a general rule you may roughly estimate that from i to f of a pint of fairly thick cream may be obtained from a gallon of average milk. PASTEURISATION OF WHEY. For many years past it has been the custom of a large number of the cheese factories to pasteurise the whey before returning it to the milk-suppliers, with the result that this by-product reached the farm in a very much better condition than formerly (says the Journal of, Agriculture). It was also found that the stock to which it was fed thrived much better than upon pasteurised whey, and the farmers were almost unanimous in their opinion that its value was increased! Moreover, when the whey was pasteurised the surroundings of the whey-tank at the factory were free from objectionable smells—everything, in fact, appeared to be in favor of a continuance of this practice. During the last year or two, since the skimming of the whey for butter-making became more general, a number of the dairy factories have discontinued to treat the whey in this manner. The reason advanced —that the whey was so reduced in value that it was not worth the expenditure for heating—is quite a mistake, and dairy companies would be acting in the best, interests of the farmers if they would insist upon the whey being pasteurised. EFFECT OF WAR CONDITIONS IN FRANCE. Marseilles is an important centre for the manufacture of chemical manures, and for the seed-crushing industry. The manufacture of chemical manures has evidently been hard hit. From a Consular report itappears that in consequence of a serious falling off in the orders from agricultural districts, the work at the factories was suspended for several months last year. The oilseed industry seems to have done better. Forty seed-oil mills, with an aggregate of about 2000 presses, were in operation in Marseilles last year. Practically all the imports of oilseeds were consumed in the Marseilles mills, whose seed requirements have averaged in recent years approximately 600,000 metric tons, representing 240,000 tons of oil, or over 60 per cent, of the country's production. Extremely high prices prevailed during the first months of the year, but the market became easier afterwards.