ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 14 July 1921, Page 43

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. There was a small yarding of fat cattle at Burnside last week, 164 being forward. The quality on the whole was medium. Competition for prime quality beef was good at prices 30s in advance of the previous rates. Inferior quality sold under keen competition at that week’s rates. Best bullocks £lB to £2l, extra to £22 10s, medium £l4 10s to £ls 10s, inferior £9 10s to £ll, best cows and heifers £l2 to £l4, extra £ls 10s, medium £9 10s to £lO 10s, inferior £5 5s to £6 15s. Fat Sheep.A large yarding, 3253 being penned. The yarding consisted principally of good quality heavyweight wethers and ewes, prices for which were easier by about 2s per head. Medium and inferior weights sold at previous week’s rates. Best wethers 23s to 265, extra to 28s 9d, medium 20s to 21s 6d, inferior 15s to 17s 6d, best ewes 18s to 225, extra 26s 6d, medium 15s to 1/s, inferior 13s to 14s 6d. Fat Lambs. —A large yarding, 2331 being penned, a number of which were not properly finished. Competition for prime lambs was the same as on the preceding week, but medium quality and store lambs were easier. Best lambs 21s to 235, extra to 25s 6d, medium 1/s to 19s, inferior 12s to 14s. Pigs.—A medium yarding, the bulk of which was comprised of light-weights. There was relatively only a small proportion of bacon pigs forward. The market did not show the same animation as that of the previous week, and prices were easier to the extent of 5s to 7s 6d per head. Best baconers and porkers ‘realised value equal to B£d and B£d per lb. At Addington market last week the yardings, except in beef, were smaller, and there was an improved sale in all except this section. Fat Sheep. Values were from Is to Is 6d better. Extra prime wethers 29s to 355, prime 24s to 28s, medium 19s 9d to 23s 3d, light 15s to 19s 6d, prime ewes 19s to 24s 3d, medium 15s 9d to 18s 9d, light and inferior 11s 3d to 14s 9d/ hoggets 13s 6d to 18s 6d. Fat Cattle. There was a drop in values of 30s per head. Extra prime steers £ls (0s to £24 ss, prime £ls 10s to £2O, medium £ll to £l4 10s, light and inferior £9 to £lO 10s, prime heifers £lO 10s to £l6, ordinary £7 10s to £lO, prime £9 to £l6, ordinary £5 17s 6d to £lO 15s. . Vealers. Runners up to £6 10s, good vealers £4 to £4 17s 6d, medium £2 10s to £3 17s 6d, small £1 to £1 10s. Fat Pigs.—Choppers £5 to £lO 7s 6d, light baconers £4 15s to £o 10s, heavy £5 15s to £6 10s, extra heavy up to £7 10s average price per lb B*d to B£d, light porkers £2 15s to £3, heavy £3 5s to £4—average price per lb 9-Jd to lOd. Messrs. Donald Reid and Co, report as follows on the x ecent sale of rabbitskins : —At our regular fortnightly sale good-sized catalogues were submitted to a full attendance of buyers. Competition was keen and all offerings were disposed of at satisfactory prices, for the most part on a par with those of the previous sale. We quote: Runners and suckers 2d to 3d, summers 9d to lid, racks lid to 15d, autumn 24d to 40d, incoming 50d to 55d, winter bucks 57d to 65d, winter does 60d to 65d, super winter does to 75d, super winter black to 96d, first winter black 60d to 75d, winter fawn 40d to 48d.

THE PLANTING OF SPRING WHEAT. It is never advisable to sow wheat in the spring when a sufficient area can be planted in the ' autumn, but on many farms this is not always possible (says a writer in an English farming journal). Autumn sowing' may be done in a fairly rough seed-bed, as the plants require protection from cold winds, and too fine a tilth soon becomes beaten down to a hard surface by winter rains. In spring, however, conditions are different, a finer and more friable seed-bed being desirable ; yet it must be firm and well consolidated, and this is the trouble where wheat is sown on newly broken-up ground. Notwithstanding that the roller, is freely used before drilling, the turf continues to decay, and by the spring leaves the ground very hollow, and if this condition of things continues the seedling plants suffer . to the extent that many of them perish. The sooner that the roller can be used in

the spring the better, as this presses the roots into closer contact with, the soil particles, thereby encouraging renewed root activity. The varieties of spring wheat are Very numerous, but as in the case of autumn varieties, very few ill serve the grower’s purpose, and for safety it is always veil to keep those varieties which have been proved by experience to be best suited to the district. The farmer requires a wheat which yields well, and is of strong constitution to enable it to resist disease and also drought. In Canada, where the winter is long and severe, and little <u no darkness interferes with growth during the summer, quick-maturing wheats of the highest quality have been evolved. These wheats, of which Red Fife is a type, when grown in England maintain their characteristic features of early maturity, low yield, and high milling quality.

DRAUGHT HORSES’ SHOULDERS. The Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture supplies the following information to a correspondent; —The secret in keeping the shoulders of draught horses whole and sound is in having properly fitting collars, and horses in good condition. Broken shoulders are in the majority of cases due to the collar being too big. In fitting a collar care should be taken that the length is sufficient, but the sides must fit close to the neck. The padding and shoulders should be kept clean and free from matted hair and dandruff. No medicinal agent will prevent the shoulders from breaking if the collar fits badly. However, both methylated spirits of wine and solution of alum in water have a tendency to harden the skin.

HEAVY HORSES ALWAYS WANTED. An eminent politician, writing in a magazine just recently, said “there ought not to be a single horse on our streets.” He should have been at the recent Shire Horse Show when His Majesty King George received the challenge cup for the dual champion stallion Field Marshal V., whose worth, notwithstanding “the slump,” could hardly be estimated (says Farm, Field, and Fireside). He would have seen thousands of farmers who breed Shire horses as a profitable branch of farming and thousands more .people who enjoy seeing a parade of them. Then he should take a walk round the Liverpool docks, vheie he will see that nine or ten horse-drawn lorries are used to one horseless vehicle, which goes to prove that for hauling heavy loads in cramped places and for short journeys the weighty wagon horse cannot be beaten, and when the tax is paid on motor lorries and, the running expenses totalled up, there may yet be something in favor of horses for longer journeys. There is a life in front of the Shire, although in some people’s opinion the horse has had its day. This latter view was held when George Stephenson ran the Rocket on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and again in 1896 when motors took the road. ’ Possibly light trade horses Will be scrapped, but not massive workers, which can pull a weight of two tons each.