FARM AND STATION

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20183, 11 March 1931, Page 6

FARM AND STATION

WHEAT FIELDS.

r ~' LATER THRESHINGS ' < • BETTER. V---'r V; ' . • - v- 'v.. ■".•// rr- ; ■ < Although .anills in' some districts., ha vo ?*pulted ~in?4after threshing a third less wheat than in a normal season, individual yields from other localities are quite up to-the best averages. A record yield of 98 bushels to the acre is reported fiom a 20 aero paddock in the .Kaifipoi-district, as well, as an-, other 'of 88-bushels and a third of 82 in the same iirea. Being later and on heavy land, they were ■ not affected by the., dry .spell as were the earlier crops - f on-the light land. Merchants • who are now receiving samples of later crops report very much better yields, and there is a general agreement that the official esti- > niate :of 27_ bushels to the acre for the whole Dominion will be exceeded. The South Canterbury. crops are reported ,to be better than, usual, and should to some extent for the decreased yields in the Ashburton county and various districts between the WntTOaksjriri and Itaknia rivers. Tim lighter crops, naturally, were threshed -first, aiid sh.i'se returns may have coloured the general estimate somewhat pessimistically. Some merchants think p tliat a 29 bushel average, is quite probliible.? Others;'again, .who have contracted with farmers for certain Quantities, are of'opinion-from the returns so far that, the official yield will not be far from the mark.

WOOL DEMAND.

THE - SOLID ADVANCE. * • -' v ) THE JAPANESE COMPETITION. ' Some rather wild figures have got into print concerning.the advance-in.prices, and .the total value of the wool sale in Christchurch'' last weelj. As' is, always, lots may record a. pronounced rise on the" price offered the preceding sale, but it as offes :happeiis other.. lo|s. shojnv.a - very ImJallmargin. The; average of from 2d "aT c<jv%r»- the week on We-'January male, or apjprjoiiniaiely. 30 per cent. - ! very 'saibatatiiial improvement— the trade, over J timeiiasg five weeks, v .thfrl elapsed MisT^6si*t^ch^ale.. , ' P *. is one^couferete-'Xaet Jease'' Would 1 slip back.,.- Cartainjy,prices, would .not-have reached the point they did* last week be «n» temporary' 'market •that 'has been ■ticja in. Thb Frbbs The of , im-

igfWa. of - xourso,' would 'its application to." the;,few reSouth luand' sales. . waikagain strong, farther advance on Christchurch pemjy' 1 a Jb.] 1 .• v*.''■'L'.» ■■ l P i - v. j 'A world's record for, any age of,any jbreed,, oa.'three times a' day milking,: "Aaa beei^'-made 1 in f the ■ .by ,ihe pedigree "FVi'e&ian beifer, 1 Darinosa 'Sylvia Coljuatha^Pontifl*;,'a, daughter of t/arimtion King de Koli Calving at ytjh®. l yeaw and seven xfeontl)B she produced 82,1081b milk and 1181 fat in 365 days. 18-:I 8 -: . ' < -When she u'. preparing the'picnic .7Wlud(!a « .tin Pf. PuJjiMmas. * ••Tfafcfl.'a sometimes a .drSjk;" *sbe sigs, J hfitiify,

By "Straggler."

OLD EWES.

SOME DRAB PRICES. It is hard for the owner of old sheep to adopt .'the*.rough and 1 ready - method of getting > rid of them so general in prefreezing days. However, it would pay him to do so, as many sales show. At the Amberley .Fair last week, a line of Merino ewes, described as soundmouthed, sold for 7d a liead. This would not . pay droving, yard fees, arid commission.

A Marlborough station owner, offered a good; sized draft of sound-mouthed halfbred ewes at the Blenheim market a few weeks ago and refused a bid'of Is 6d a head for them. He travelled them to Christchurch, and sold them at about the same figure, but by the time they had covered 200 miles of dusty roads, with little feed, they were not the sheep they were'in their home province. Of course" the returns showed a debit. A Marlborough farmer mentioned £0 ; '/Straggler" the other day that ho had passed 30,000 sheep on the road south practically all boing sent down to Canterbury on owners' account." Last season one firm alone' sold 30,000 to Canterbury buyers. That was the difference this year—the northern farmer had to .bear all "knocks!', of the disastrous: market; In a district, isolated from* other sheep centres such as Marlborough, failing-mouthed. sheep are;not worth moving when prices ate low,'and on the other hand the local demand is practically non-existent. > ;

One of the big Marlborough stations has a draft of about 300 good halfbred 1 wethers to sell each year. Two years ago, .after clipping -14s worth iof wool oft' them, he sold the .line to a- butcher, for 22s a head, This season <he jsold them for 3s.- - , A record, however, comes from South- , land, where,- last, {veek, a line of 34 fresh.: old, 'ewes was quitted at the Mataura | ealeyards for 3s the lotl Failing to get a bid at per hpad, the'auctioneer asked for a bid for the pen. Even then it took I buyers a long time tomake up their minds. At last one individual offered 2s 6d, Trat. the bid was accepted, and the price gradually advanced to 3s for the: line, when it .was Mocked down at that figure. A little quick figuring on * the part' of\ spectators showed the actual •price per . head*, to . be one. and oneseventeenth pence, and after, yard dues,: -eomnussion, etc., had been - paid,; tlio vendor 1 actually, paid away 8d more than: he received for'hi# aheep. ' :■ \ 'Even heavy fat, v ewes are practically i fnnsaleable in, s6me districts. A South.land 'paper -of Saturday recordsathat /large line* of' owes have tyeen lettered to' exporters, but could not find . .Irayerß/ the stating that they ,wonld bejpreparedto haadle the sheep thfih on io the^^^^^^^^kJt. gueb'a state of&ffairs would&lmOst seem, to'be absurd, but even if these instances are exceptional, ewes at present market' prices are so little, that, owners , >would ijot in sendlng-thenn long'distances' to a freezing works, or the costs of transportation-would proveto be greater than £twto-.£a|qp.;-These very low pricpif jnofr." fen* tispal even in a are' for toothless culls" ■fthati'jrtay ",beclassed *m '&6g ;a eoifpfe of shillings' l«wes- that could raise.- ti' andwhich are'not so badly'conditianod .into; 'the bargain,- HoweveV|''ii;i^^BAon :, 3jke v the present, where go od-,to]qjDdi;nda(&ed ewes joan-.be: obtained fotS?s ! not economy to feed is" so scared. - and' five yew ewes, on 'h&n^are miking round about ths pound/ tWie is always a' market fortlUe, oTd ptuff." , . t V '* I

|austßAijaN butter.

BIG INCREASE IN/ EXPORTS. exports of Australian butter for t^e 1 season" from July Ist,' 1930, to' jFebrnary. 14th,' amounted to 1,744,719 boxes,, or 45,618 tons, of which 38,247 tons-went to the lTnited 'Kingdom and 437J tons to .other countries. Thei export 'of the", various , States jvas as South Wales, ,b()j;eaj - Victoria, 742,444; Sputh > Australia 36,395; and Tasmania,Bl7 bixes: ' Last season/tQ about the same date 1,334,289 ' boxes, 33,357 tdns, 'of jto. the .United Kingdom. of the sho^f sub^taptial; increase in increase over .'tho .correa,jppndin^.Ape%)4i,,pf ., f she j pr«viou». 'season* being 32 per cent. in Ehipments 'to the' ,

TOP-DRESSING.

AUTUMN PROGRAMME. "Because of the present financial position some farmers may be contemplating the elimination of autumn top-dressing, despite the fact that its vUlue is beyond question. At a recent conference in Palmerston' North,' rep*esen-' tative of the grassrf arming investigators of the Dominion, . the economic merits of late summer arid autumn topdressing with . phosphates were , unani-, mously agreed to, and it was pointed out incidentally that extensive enquiries disclosed thai ' pre-winter . j/hosphatic top-dressing reduced the maintenance cost of butter-fat production—that iB ; the cost of production exclusive of Interest and labour charges, : The decision of the conference stressed '« the need/for endeavouring to avoid neglect of top-dressing under the present difficult conditions. In particular, top-dressing of young pastures should not be neglected; judicious top-dressing in the early stages tends to- foster' vigorous establishment, particularly of the better species, and ltd prevent. undesirable species gaining an initial ascendancy, whichCwould lead* :t0 rapid deterioration of. the pasture as a 1 whole-r-deterioration which it would bo difficult, and costly to remedy subsequently., , : The . foregoing, very sound is supplied- is, tho * February issue of, the 'New Ze^lSnd;Journal, of Agriculture.' Last season,' according to northern papers,.a number of Waikato, farmers cut down, on account . lot tho decline in butter-fat prices, and' this season they are paying the penalty. ,in reduced - production. It is recorded,'that , some ..farms have declined by up to 25 per cent, in butter-fat production. Where land values ■ were originally ■ on a high scale, and i heavy interest, .and other obligations have to be-met, such a reduction is .obviously, attended with serious results to the. individuals 'concerned. One element that'should, operate sgainßt general*; reduction *in the South. ; Island of . top-dressing ,is ' the substantial decline in ;the price-of' the. basic top-dressing fertiliser, superphosphate.

There Las been <a - great - increase in Canterbury - top-dressing- this- last twelve' months, and where-it'has,been'comb'ined-'with the intelligent • handling of pastures, farmers have "very' - markedly increased the -carrying capacity'of their holdings. An .instruction Table. ;A table has been completed calculated on the basis-of'figures extracted from ther New Zealand ,3E9a& ■Book of ■ fgen, the soil' by* various farming' operations.* The table. is as follow?, (the quantities,, in the columns .'being in tons): — . Nitro;«n Pho«- Pot*»h Plates' - Mpat..„Eipprted ; — '. . . < ,-.V ; - '» Beftf" '828,474cwt ' 7 • Mutton 1,031,146 „ > H Lamb 2,014,703,, • 3 ■£ '• • s,&e4;s2fe,,;" -, -,V r'' .» ■' -wmoVetf ■< "3 t B«4 4,205 ' "894 .jbalMU * t? I asversgo , ol i 8001b * f- toar 4, l)al» ; , *./ff,Bßo.' 107 4,148 j 'Wjhea!;- a, ,i ,■ 'j t'. P3&7- 9,828 669 basheli'' " 1,005' 830 '268 >_ tfSS.jOO/j,.bushel*' "<2OB 287 84 ,18(r,l07;.,ton8 - 485 980 ; .2£>;484'30,832', 10;788 ■* ( The 20,454 * eqpiyale at * to''rotors than; 893,000 tons

' 1 ''' r " ' , • " i ' of blood and bone of an analysis' of 7i per cent, nitrogen, while the phosphates are equivalent to 50,000 tons'of 40 per cent superphosphate of gubno, «nd the-potash the equivalent, of S6;000 tons of 30 per cent, potash salts. f /These totals, which' do not ! tkke Muto consideration 'the ingredients taken out ,of the soil by the large,'quantities "f aueat and other products raised for local consumption, illustrate the drain on ' resources of - the sdil > which annually takeq-place, and if "the productivity of the soil is to be-maintained the three' "all-important elements must be-put back into"the land through', the medium of 'fertilisers. > , ' As time goes on the' depletion' of the *oil is aggravated.- The reserves on which crops have succeeded in tie past I .are decreasing as each year What was only advisable a decade or so ago is now- 'necessary., - A »mnii mdderate aiinual cost; which-will, long" the _ life J of' the' pasture -and its productivity, \ is much motd flcouoniical than 'the .periodical growing of cereal and. toot crops to enable • the-pasture

- The "Melbourne .Age" says>that as a> Result of thetour.of Victoria carried out by a large party ofNe'wiZealaadera last year, proposals ~were, made' for the establishment of in the -way. of a reciprocal tourist j understanding between. Australia' and" the Dominion. The primary purpose. of; these interchanges of visits iB, educational,, and) affords, practical comparisons.- for the sheep anddairy farm(er#,> who comprisedalmost ;the .whole oMhe personnel! pt the New Zealand farmers' tour. A' similar-party of Australians', ;sriU leave Sydney on"- April 2nd "next * Zealand. This- will*be 'conducted on.> the same lines' as : characterised the

Victorian "Eeso" tours which have been in vogue in the. State of ' years, and. will therefore be a' distinct, departure from the usual New Zealand ■tours, which make a feature of the. / purely scenic-attractions. The tour, has " been, organised fin . response to requests-; '■ N made by a number; of Victorians when:; the New Zealand,farmers' party visited several of our leading primary-product ing districts. HOW TO TREAT FOOTROT. • , ■ : Remarkable success in tlie treatment of footrot has resulted by the .timely application of Pellex 'Foptrqt -Cure., Clean and trim the foot- thoroughly* and then apply the j>iritment liberally'. Usually one application effects a rconjplete relief. Cook and Roes, Ltd., Chemists, corner of Colombo And Armagh streets, will 'be, glad to'give you foil'particulars. 1 , —*2'