ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, 8 September 1921, Page 43

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. There was a large yarding of fat cattle at Burnside last week, 288 head being forward, a number of which consisted of extra prime quality. The demand at the commencement of the sale was easier than that of the previous week by about 20s to 30s per head, but as the sale progressed prices firmed slightly, but eased again towards the finish to about 35s less than the preceding week’s rates. Best bullocks £l6 to £lB, heavy-weights £l9 to £2l, extra good to £24 17s 6d, medium £l4 to £ls, inferior £ll to £l2, best cows and heifers £ll 10s to £l3 10s, extra to £ls, medium £9 to £lO 10s, light and aged £5 5s to £6 10s. Fat Sheep. —A large yarding, 2454 being forward, the majority of which consisted of good quality, while a number were of very poor quality. Prices for prime sheep were easier by about Is to Is 6d per head, while inferior showed a drop of from 2s to 2s 6d per head. Best wethers 26s to 28s, extra to 30s, medium 20s to 21s, inferior 12s 6d to 15s, best ewes 18s to 21s, extra to 25s 3d, medium 14s to 16s, inferior 12s. Pigs. — A medium yarding was offered. Small pigs were eagerly competed for, and good prices were realised. There was also a keen demand for baconers and porkers, and these sold well up to late rates. Best baconers realised B£d to 9d, and best porkers from 9d to 91 d per lb.

At Addington market there was a smaller yarding in all sections with the exception of fat sheep. Beef sold

tjbetter, but mutton lost part of the previous week's recovery. Fat Sheep.—A big yarding. Prices eased from Is 6d to 2s on the preceding week's improved market. Extra prime wethers 24s to 29s 6d, prime 19s to 23s 3d, medium 16s 9d to 18s 9d, light and unfinished 13s lOd to 16s 3d, extra prime ewes up to 295, prime 16s 6d to 29s 9d, medium 14s to 16s 6d, light and unfinished 12s 6d to 13s 9d, prime hoggets 16s to 18s 3d, ordinary 9s to 15s. Fat Cattle. —A small yarding, prices as a result increasing about 30s to 35s per head, there being a. total clearance. Extra prime steers £22 to £27, prime £l6 10s to £2O, medium £l2 to £l6, inferior £8 7s 6d to £ll ss, extra prime heifers £l3 5s to £ls 15s, prime £ll to £l3, ordinary £5 17s 6d to £lO ss, extra prime cows £l3 5s to £ls 10s, prime £lO to £l2 15s, ordinary £7 10s to £9 15s. Vealers. —A small entry and a keen demand for good calves. Runners sold up to £7 ss, good vealers £3 10s to £5, medium £2 10s to £3 ss, small 5s to £2 ss. Fat Pigs.—A medium, entry and' a good demand. Prices advanced. Choppers £5 to £B, light baconers £4 15s to £5 10s Gd, heavy £5 15s to £6 10s, extra heavy to £7 10saverage price per lb 9d; light porkers £3 5s to £3 15s, heavy £4 to £4 average price per lb lOd to 10£d.

ABOUT LUCK.

When people talk to you about "luck'' put your fingers in your ears. .It may be going a little too tar to say there "ain't any sich thing," but it is a safe plan not to recognise it. Some men seem to succeed with very little effort, but the majority win their good positions/ by sheer hard work, skill and enterprise (says a British Agricultural Journal).

Those fine cattle you see in the show-ring are the results of years of careful breeding; not the offspring of a chance mating. Their breeders have not trusted to luck. Men sometimes jump into fame as the result of a chance deal, but they don't often stop there long. It is the persevering, methodical, enterprising individual who has an ideal and strives to attain it who generally wins through in the long run.

When you have a loss or disappointment don't grumble about your "bad luck," and leave it at that. Just weigh the circumstances oyer and see if there was nothing you left undone which you ought to have done, or which you did , which you should not have done. In short, convince yourself that your management was absolutely correct before you talk, about "luck."

Find out your mistakes and avoid making them again

in the future. Study the methods of the so-called "lucky" men and look for the secret of their successes, and if you learn the lessons these mistakes and successes teach you, you will more than likely soon be among the "lucky men" yourself.

EXACT KNOWLEDGE. There is a real and desirable thirst to-day for exact knowledge, and farmers are beginning to realise that habits of guesswork and supposition are not good enough in the conditions of agriculture at the present day. We see evidence of this in the progress of milk recording, which is a means of obtaining exact knowledge with regard to the milking propensities of a beast. In more cases than one this exact knowledge has proved how far wrong farmers were in the estimates they had formed of the milk yields of different members of their herds. At its best, guesswork is unreliable, while figures honestly compiled cannot be refuted.

In the poultry-keeping world every year more people are going in for trap-nesting, which enables them to get exact records of their birds, and it enables them to select the most suitable stock for breeding. And in their financial concerns farmers want more exact knowledge, which can only be obtained by keeping books. The boast of some farmers still that they have prospered without figures or accounts is empty and meaning, less, for on the other hand hundreds have blundered and lost money for the same reason.

As a matter of fact, in everything connected with farming exact knowledge is the only safe knowledge, and it is to the interest of farmers as a whole to adopt the methods now available for acquiring it.

DRY ROT OF POTATOES. At this season of the year the disease known as dry rot is apt to show itself in seed of first early potatoes (says Farm Field, and Fireside). It is particularly severe in that popular variety May Queen. The disease is caused by a fungus which, entering the seed after it has been lifted, develops extensively after the turn of the year and destroys the sets. It is now too late to check the fungus, though the further spread of disease may be prevented by removing and burning affected specimens. As seed of early potatoes is a valuable commodity, it may not be amiss to point out how in another season the trouble may be reduced. It has been shown that careless handling and bruising are very important factors; they predispose the tubers to disease by assisting the fungus to gain entrance. Early varieties for seed purposes should be lifted in good time, handled, and riddled with great care, and put into the sprouting boxes as early as possible in the autumn. Tubers which are boxed in the autumn and “greened” early are seldom attacked badly. Extremely susceptible varieties like Ninety Fold and May Queen should never be stored in clamps or in bfns. It' is perhaps advisable to state that dry rot in a disease quite distinct from the common blight, which is often responsible for loss of seed during winter.

Dr. Frederick J. Kinsman, formerly the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Delaware, but for the last year and a half a .Catholic, declared recently that he has made no 'sacrifice in entering the Catholic Church. "There is no sacrifice," said Dr. Kinsman, "in doing the thing you most want to "do."

New Zealand leads the world in Disc Harrows. The "Steel Queen" model has been copied in Great Britain, Canada, and United States and holds probably 75 per cent, of the trade in New Zealand. No implement has been developed in recent years which has done so much for the farm.- The 1921 "Steel Queen" is still the leader, which is no more expensive than its various imitations Is your money buying the original and beet, or the inferior copy? Over 11,000 "Steel Queens" sold!

BOOTH, MACDONALD & CO., Ltd.,^CHRISTCHURCH. Branches—Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Hastings,' New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Masterton, Ashburton, Timaru, Dunedin, , and Invercargill.