FARM NOTES.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11510, 17 February 1903, Page 9

FARM NOTES.

"Weekly Press and Referee." The following from th« "African Review" shows that the number of nations intending to have a finger in the South African pie is likely to swell to on enormous ex* tent: —"Business men interested in Mada-

gascar state that a profitable cattle trade may soon be opened between that colony and the Transvaal. The southern part of the island is a rich field' for raising cattle, and no other ca*~» in the world are ratted to the Transvaal climate. The cattle now there, owned by the natives, number from BOO,—> to 1,000,000. They can be bought for £4 per head, or less, and they witt sstt in the Tranevnal just now for not less than • ' £14. 'Le Temps* recently stated that 6000 head of cattle have been transported from Madagascar to the Tra_va_l this year at a profit of 600,000 fr-ocs." ■ ; The King's Chri*m_s fat stock, selected from the Royal farm* in Windsor Park, was sold last week at Slough CsMle M»r* ket. The animals included tea D**»tV bullocks, one Shorthorn bullock, on* hundred aud fifty Hampshire Down sheep, and seventy-eight prune bacon pigs and porkers. Tbe Devon oui--locks made from £37 to £50 each. The, shorthorn bullock fetched £44, the Hampshire Down sheep made 60s to 66s each, tlie Berkshire bacon pigs from £5 to £7 12s 6d each, others £3 to £6 each, ( and the porkers from 56s to 77s 6d each". Tlia present condition of the meat trade, anent tho higher prices for the American article, has aroused the Russian speculative genius with evidently good result.?. Trwf shipments have been nude to England of veal from Tomsk, and of peak from To-, bolsk, with such satisfactory success thao the organisation of a great company to export on a'large scale is contemplated; . jJ In response to" a telegram from the local health officer, the Victorian Board of Public H«_7t- »ent Mr S. S. Cameron, M.R.C.V.S., veterinary inspector, to Avoca, to investigate the mortality among cattle and pigs. After taking evidence,' the expert arrived at the oonclusion that the cattle died from natural causes. In respect to the pigs, he visited lmpey, and at Bailey's slaughter-yard there klUed thiee ailing animuLS. After dissecting them> be found them to be suffering from diphtheria in a most virulent form. He secured three specimens, showing the pig in the mb tial, worst, and recovery stage, and is taking these to Melbourne for bacteriological examination. Contagion was so rapid, that of thirty-six pigs only eleven are now alive. Mr Cameron has ordered these •to bo isolated. Up to the present he has not quite located the source of the disease.. . An indignation meeting of butchers wSa held in Berlin recently to protest against the use of horse meat .in eousagea. Such use is practised by certain, unscrupulous manufacturers, and they are damaging the reputation and good names of honest concerns by their actions. Barely one-tenth of ail the horse meat ia sold as such to customers. Those who buy—except the very poor—principally use it for dog food. The biggest part by far finds its way to dishonest (sausage m_nufactarers, through some trickery, and back to the wholesale meat dealer again, who, in turn, d-poaet of it in localities where the questions of quality and origin ore of secondary concern. At prices that this a-usjge is offered for sate, it is impossible for an honest dealer to make it. There is something wrong sbm>. where, tho butchers say, and they are look. ing-out for a remedy. To illustrate what is doing to promote trade between Argentina and South Ajfrtoa we note that the British steamer, Iljfprd arrived at Capetown on December am from Buenos Aytres, with a cargo of ajm produce, etc., making the passage in a little over 14 days. The Bford was spsc__ly , i constructed in 1901 for the cattle trade, and can comfortably carry 1300 head of cattle and 2500 sheep, besides other ££_*• Her beam is 48ft, and her length 370 ft. She is fitted with patent xoUmg-ohooks to ensure steadiness on tire voyage. Ser engines ore of triple expansion type. The agentts at Capetown lay themselves oat to give the fullest information regarding Argentina, and exhibit a complete set ot | photographs of the breeds of cattle, horses, sheep, mules, etc., as well as samples, # •DToduce. '"'■'

produce. ■ Tlie first importation of Suffolk -beep into Victoria, arrived from England rec-at-ly. It comprised seven ewes and a ram from tho flocks of Mr H. E. Smith, Walton Grange, and Mr D, A. Green, FuwrhogfaM, Essex, the latter having bred t_ve swe§. Writing of these sheep, ''Brum" says in the "Australasian: "—"To look at,' the Buf-, folk _U.ecp.jjs not as handsome as the Shropshire or the ■ Southdown, but the Suffolk's popularity rests on more useful quetttAes than mere beauty. It is essentially a mutton sheep, with a remarkably hardy constitution, growing rapidly to a great weight, and .producing mutton of the highest qualities. For producing early lambs of the highest quality they are said to have no superiors, if, indeed, any equals. They are ""very large framed sheep, of great length, and what strikes one at first sight is the remarkable development of breast N and quarter. Such louts and legs of mutton one-never sees in Australian sheep- They have a pkun but not very, large head, quite black, and nearly bare. Their ears are rather long and-drooping, which detracts from their appearance. They are famed as mothers, and, to judge by their udders, they most give a large quantity of milk. Doubfate and triplets are common, and Mr Prentice, secretary of the Suffolk Sheep Society, states in the preface to the "Suffolk Flock Book" that thirty* lambs reared per score of ewes is a frequent average. The ram js of medium size for a Suffolk sheep, remarkably active, with a splendid breast, loin, and quarter, and his neck is very strong. The wool on these sheep has much the character of that grown by Shropshires, but they are scarcely as well covered. To judge by the specimens imported, they are very heavy sheep, and most of the ewes would give over 801b of dressed carcase." '