ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 27, 12 July 1923, Page 51

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. There was a large yarding of fat cattle at Burnside last week, 361 head 'being penned. The quality in the majority of cases was only fair. Prime bullocks and heifers sold at late rates, but medium and inferior quality were easier. Best bullocks realised £l2 to £l3, extra prime to £lB 2s 6d, medium bullocks £8 10s to £9 10s, inferior £5 to £6 lOs, best cows and heifers £6 to £7, extra to £8 ss, medium £4 10s to £5, inferior £3 to £4. Fat Sheep. There was a large yarding, 2644 being penned, which consisted principally of good quality. Competition was not so keen as that of the previous week, and prices were easier by 3s per head. Prime wethers brought to 50s 9d, extra to 545, medium 38s to 40s, inferior 28s to 30s, best ewes 33s to 365, extra to 435, medium 27s to 295, inferior 18s do 225. Fat Lambs. —There was a medium yarding of only fair quality. Competition was a shade easier. Best lambs 32s to 345, medium 28s to 30s, light 21s to 235. Pigs.A moderate yarding, all classes being represented. Competition was brisk, particularly for prime baconers. Prices, if anything, were a shade easier. Prime baconers realised up to 6sd, and prime porkers up to 7id per lb. . There was a large yarding of beef last week at the Addington yards and a small one of fat sheep and store sheep, quite two-thirds of which were hoggets. There was an excellent sale for these, and also for ewes and wethers. Values were : Six to eight-tooth ewes 30s Id, low conditioned four year Corriedale ewes and good aged ewes 26s sd, 275, and 28s 6d, inferior aged ewes 18s lOd, 225, good crossbred ewe hoggets 265, 26s 9d, cull and inferior ewe hoggets 19s 9d, 225, good wether hoggets 22s 4d, 23s sd, ordinary 20s 6d, 225, cull and inferior 16s Bd, 18s 6d, good forward four to six-toothed wethers 31s 3d, 325, ordinary 27s 6d, 28s 4d, cull and inferior wethers 19s, 25s 6d. Three hundred odd fat lambs were forward. -They were a poor lot and went to the freezers at the recent per lb values. Fat Sheep.—Some prime sheep were forward and improved the market for well finished sorts. Extra, prime wethers 395, a. few special 42s 6d, 455, prime 35s 9d, 38s 6d, medium 32s 6d, 35s 6d, light 28s, 325, extra prime ewes 335, 355, a few special 37s 6d, prime 27s Gd, 31s, medium 235, 275, light 20s 6d, 22s 6d, aged 18s 6d, 20s. Fat Cattle. Four hundred and forty-five head were yarded, including 55 from the North Island and two trucks from Otago. There was an easing of 20s per head. Average beef made from 27s 6d to 31s per 1001 b, extra prime steers £ls to £l6 10s, a few pens of special £l9 15s, prime £ll 5s to £l4, medium £8 10s to £ll, inferior £6 10s to £8 7s, extra prime heifers £lO 17s 6d, prime £7 10s to £9 10s, medium £4. 10s to £7 ss, extra prime cows £lO 7s 6d, prime £6 5s to £9, ordinary £4 15s to £6 2s 6d. Vealers. —The offering was not sufficient to meet the demand and there was a distinct improvement in prices. Runners £5 15s, good vealers £2 12s 6d to £5, fair £2 to £2 10s. Fat Pigs. —There was a short yarding and a jump up in pork values. Choppers £4 5s to £8 10s, light baconers £3 15s, £4 ss, heavy £4 10s, £5 ss. The average price per lb was 6RI to 7RI. Light porkers 40s to 47s 6d, heavy 55s to 675. The average price per lb was 9d to lOd. „ HOUSE ASHES. House ashes and cinders should never be wasted where there is a garden, and especially when the soil is heavy or clayey (writes a contributor to the Otago Daily Times). They should in that case be spread on the surface and forked or dug into the soil. They will open up the clay and help materially to aerate and drain the ground. Fine, gritty ! house ashes spread round plants will help to keep off slugs v and prevent them from doing damage. Tlie large cinders should be separated from the finer material. When planting bushes of any kind mix a little lime with the large cinders and place a good layer of these in the bottom of the trench before putting the soil back. This facilitates drainage, prevents water from stagnating round the roots, and helps to keep pests from burrowing among them. There

is, of course, no mammal value in the cinders. It may be hero mentioned that even brown coal ashes may be safely used in large gardens under 'proper conditions. It has been the practice of the writer of this note for many years to use all the brown coal ashes produced in the kitchen and other fires. His practice is to mix these thoroughly in the compost heap where, after about a. year’s inclusion in decaying vegetable matter, grass mowings, etc., they have become quite innocuous. Strongly sulphurous lignite has, of course, not been used. It is perhaps worth mentioning that no dust cart has been made use of for 20 years, and that every particle of ash used as above-mentioned has been put back into the ground with perfectly satisfactory results. ANIMALS POISONED BY TUTU. The Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture supplies the following information in the current issue of the A./. Journal of Agriculture, to a correspondent: Ihe eradication of tutu is often a very difficult matter. If the plants are cut the underground stems shoot up again rapidly. If there is only a small quantity to be dealt with the plants may be grubbed out, but if present in large quantities cutting and burning is the only method. After burning, grass-seed should be sown. It is very difficult to state definitely whether or not cattle generally will eat tutu when not particularly hungry. It is usually held that if there is an abundance of young grass available cattle generally will not eat tutu in large quantities, but some appear to be very partial to small quantities even when there is plenty of other feed, and these animals seem to gain some tolerance to the poison. The poison in tutuplants is particularly dangerous when there are young shoots, and also when the plant is wet from rain or dew. CONTROL OF RAGWORT. The same authority supplies the following information on the above subject: or effectively controlling ragwort, where it is not possible to well stock with sheep, when the plant is young frequent cutting must be resorted to before it flowers, thus preventing the growth of leaves. If flowering of the weed is permitted, and it is afterwards cut down, there is no doubt sufficient sap in tin* stem to mature a proportion of the seed. In such cases and where the weed is only' on small areas much good might be done by either pulling up the roots or by cutting the' plant beneath the surface, or by cutting down, gathering, and burning it. This, however, should be done at least in the early flowering stage, and not when the seed has matured and shed.