ON THE LAND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 39, 17 September 1924, Page 45

ON THE LAND

MARKET REPORTS. At Burnside last week 248 head of fat cattle were penned, as against 221 on the previous week. The quality generally was good, there being a number of prime heavy bullocks yarded. The supply was slightly in excess' of butchers’ requirements, and values eased for heavy cattle from ,20s to 30s per head. Mediuimweight prime cattle, however, did not suffer the decline to the same extent. Quotations : Extra prime steers to £2l, prime steers £ls 10s to £l7 10s, medium steers £l3 to £ls ss, light steers to £ll, prime heifers £lO to £ll 17s 6d, medium heifers £8 to £9 10s, light heifers £6 to £7 10s. Fat Sheep. — There was a short yarding, 1457 being penned, against 2182 on the preceding week. The quality was good, and the sale was a keen one throughout, particularly for heavy mutton. Prime heavy-weight wethers hardened in value from Is to 2s per head on the previous week’s rates, while mediums sold On a par with recent values. Two pens of newly-shorn wethers sold up to 35s 9d. Quotations ; Extra prime wethers to 655, prime wethers 49s to 57 medium wethers 43s to 465, light and unfinished wethers 34s to 40s, extra prime ewes 50s to 53s 9d, prime ewes 39s to 465, medium ewes 30s to 37s 6d, light ewes 25s to 28s 6d.. Pigs. —- Fat pigs numbering 130 and stores totalling 108 were offered. The greater proportion of the* entry consisted, of porkers, and these sold at about the preceding week’s rates. Baconers had. a brisk sale, and there was a rise of some 5s per head above the previous week’s prices. At* Addington last week there was a small entry of eight races and a-half of fat sheep, and a firming sale throughout, values being in advance of the preceding week by Is 6d per head. Graziers with feed were in the market, but with little success. The sale concluded firmly. Extra prime wethers 55s to 59s 9d, prime 48s 6d to 52s 6d, medium--44s to 47s 6d, light 39s to 43s 6d, extra prime ewes -50 s to 58s 9d, prime 42s 6d to 46s 6d, medium 38s to 425, light 33s to 37s 6d, old 27s to 325, prime hoggets 38s 6d to 42s 9d. Fat Cattle. There was another heavy yarding of 455 head, of which 134 came from the North Isalnd. The quality was good, but the over-supply caused an easing in price of about 20s per head. In a few cases prime beef made to 44s per 1001 b, but generally from 39s to 425, medium 33s to 38s, and light and rough from 32s down to 25s per 1001 b, extra prime steers £l9 17s 6d to £24, prime £ls 5s to £l7 10s, medium £l2 10s to £ls, light £9 to £l2, rough £6 10s to £8 10s, extra prime heifers £ls 12s 6d, prime £9 10s to £l2 ss, ordinary £7 to £9 ss, light £4 10s to £6 10s, extra prime cows £l4 ss, prime £8 10s to £ll, ordinary £6 to £8 ss. Vealers. —There was a large entry, but a big proportion was quite unfit for butchers’ purposes. -Good calves sold well. Runners £7 17s 6d, good vealers £4 10s to £5 15s, good calves £2 15s to £4 ss, small 12s 6d to 37s 6d. Fat Pigs. There was a medium entry of pork and a small entry of baconers. The demand for bacon was good all through, and the pork market, though sound, was inclined" to fluctuate. Choppers £3 10s to £9 17s, light baconers £4 15s to £5 ss, heavy £5 15s to £6 8s (average price per lb B|d to 9|d), light porkers 50s to 655, heavy 70s to 78s (average price per lb 9|d to 10£d)SCIENCE OF THE AXE ' OE AXECRAFT AND BUSHCRAFT (Contributed.) DIFFERENT STYLES OF SAW SUIT DIFFERENT WOODS. The types of tooth known as the M tooth, the plain peg-tooth and the triumph, have each their special admirers. A great deal depends upon the blade and its temper, as well as the teeth. - The saw that possesses wide-spacing between the teeth is, more adapted for cutting soft, and stringy woods, whilst for hardwood a: thin blade with many teeth is essential, both for ease and speed. :

- SHARPENING. File from the base of the tooth upwards from the opposite side to that on which the tooth projects or is set, forming a slope on each side of the tooth so as to bring it up to a bevelled / needle point. If care to sharpen' up from the base is neglected a short, wide-based, squatty tooth is soon developed, which has a tendency to lose its grip, and slip over the wood instead of cutting it. SPLITTING AND TEXTURE OF VARIOUS WOODS. A knowledge of the texture of the woods of the different kinds of timber we have to deal with will be of great service when we come to face the complex question of splitting up timber for posts, rails, shingles, palings, etc, Totara splits freely and is almost unfailingly straight in the grain. It is somewhat brittle. On account of its great durability it is much in demand for posts, piles, bridge and culvert timber. Being easy to work it is highly prized for multitudinous uses ,in carpentry also. In the early days of the colony shingles split from totara or white pine, on account of their non liability to warp or curl, were in general use for roofing. Totara bark, cut and stripped off in long lengths, was also used by the Maoris to cover their whares. White pine (Kahakatea) does not last long, however; it is subject early to the ravages of the borer. It is generally free-splitting, much softer than the other native pines, and has a clean whitish appearance on which account it is much in demand for the making of packing cases, butter-boxes, etc. II in an is somewhat paradoxical as regards texture, being sometimes' straight in the grain and free-splitting, and sometimes completely inlocked, involving the bedding in of wedges and much hard work to split it. It is frequently used for posts. Matai, or black pine, is about the hardest of the native pine family. It is rather brittle but straight in the grain. Binni, or red pine, is more stringy and- tough than matai. Much of this timber* is straight in the grain*and splits freely, though a considerable percentage of it is inlocked and tough. It is much used for carpentry and joinery; rails, palings, etc., are split from it. Miro belongs also to the pine family. As regards texture, it stands about midway between the rimu and the matai, and partakes also of the characteristics of these two trees, " ■ Kauri, also a pine, is free-splitting, straight in the grain: one of the best timbers in the world. It is easy to work, durable, and therefore reserved for milling timber, wherever this is practicable. • Rewa-rewa, or honeysuckle, is frequently found straight enough in , the grain to split palings, etc., but seldom attains large size. It is mottled in appearance, and on this account is used to some extent in making furniture, or in cabinet work. Rata belongs to the hardwood variety, it attains great size, but comparatively seldom grows a straight, upright trunk. It makes first-class firewood and splits fairly well, but does not las£ in the ground. Punri is to some extent used for posts, but like kauri is entirely (or nearly so) confined to the forests of the Auckland province. Puketea, in the straight bole of the tree, splits freely. This tree invariably grows numbers of flanges at its base to buttress itself. It is dark-colored, stands nailing or bolting, together well, is fairly soft, not inclined to splinter, of the kind suitable for boat building. Red Birch is to some extent used for posts, splits freely, and is of medium softness. ■ . Black Birch is tougher and harder than the red variety. It is, as the name implies, darker in color. These are the more important trees of the N.Z. forest, from which our timber supplies are drawn. (To be continued.)