THE FARM INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 38, 8 November 1907, Page 2

THE FARM INDUSTRY.

WHAT IS TOW? DOES IT INCLUDE BRICK-BATS? A COMPREHENSIVE DEFINITION. "When I was in fcho flux-milling and twinemaking business, somo years ago," said a flax - irian to a Dominion representative, "a balo of tow used., to consist of tho following articles:—Dungarees, bottles of oil, spanners, brick-bats arid big stones, pipes, tobacco; and matches, flax bands, rubbish such' as oan be got round a scutcher house, from oast-iron stripper drums weighing lewt. to ljcwt., and every portion of the machinery that goes £o make up a flax-milling plant. The only exceptions wore those parts which are bigger than the balo itself, and these wore usually omitted," This was a rathpr strong picture, with high lights, and wo wero forced to demand explanations and corrrboration. Why should a miller sellihis machinery at tow prices? "It "Una riot the millor's work, jerilied our friend. ' "These articles wero put into tho bales by his men. The presser was, in those days, paid by weight* arid if he could, find a good solid' body haiidy to make tho bale heavy—in' it went. Sometimes the 'boss', would remark, 'That looks a heavy bale for its size,' and the pressor would explain that lie had put it through the pressing machine twice." But tho matches, pipes, dungarees, bottle? Of!—? "Thoy. were due to the practice of treating the tow heap as a place whero anybody -julcl have a shake-down'. Plenty of these ;hings rolled out of the pockets of men who slept on the heap." But that is all past? "Well, I don't kriotf that it is any different to-day. Nobody kuows except the' men wlu open out the bales—the' manufacturers who make usq of the tow in the Old Country Our tow.is not graded. It is packed without Government inspection and shipped away without examination or grading—shipp A simply for what it is worth. It is tho most dangerous stuff that could possibly bo put aboard a ship, because of tho foreign bodies in it—the, matches." I What is the remedy? "It ought to be graded, and carry tags insido and out, and also the miller's brand. Then tho manufacturer who opens out the bale, if dissatisfied, could ascertain the miller .whose brand it bears, and that miller could be warnod that if the tow wero not improved in future, his, shipments would be consigned back to him. That would quickly set matters right." MILK SUPPLY. ' . ■•• STRICTER INSPECTION REQUIRED. A MASTERTON DOCTOR'S STATEMENT. (FROM OUR OWN COBKESrONDENT.) Masterton, November 6 • : The necessity for some • special method of inspecting inilk used for town consumption lias been again exemplified, by a statement which'has just been made by Dr. Archer .Hosking, of Masterton. His report declares that an unsatisfactory condition of things and that : thero is some connection between this and; the infant mortality which at different times-attacksitho district. ' The. doctor says tliat.he, on. one..occasion, drew the attention of the Health Department to tho condition of. the milk supply in Masterton/ and was askod t.o ; lay,.ah .information against.an individual,-a,stop winch he did not consider,himself bound to undertake. • '''•. ... .■' -.!'•.

After., giving details regarding, some, .of the milk .brought .undqr.his microscope, the. doctor says it,is a disgrace to a civilised; community.- Other specimens, he informed a Dominion representative, were, adulterated, and he had'attended children, whose sickness could be traced plainly to the. milk supply. Ifc was . the babies and'the invalids ,who could not'. exist without a plentiful supply of milk who suffered. It was pitiable, said the doctor, to see the illness'oaused in this way.;; . . •'. .'

Interviewed on the subject, the Masterton representative of the Government Stock Office said he had no doubt that what tbo doctor, had stated was correct. It was ,a niisrnke, however, to imagine that a milk supply of this description was confined to .Masterton. It was not. The same thing was going on in almost every town in the Dominion, and would go on until an Act was framed which would deal with the matter effectively. The present Act was so ineffective that it was almost impossible to 'securo a conviction, evoti with the strongest case. It was curious that the greatest care was taken that the milk sent to the butter and cheese factories should be of a certain quality, otherwise it :was rejected, while that sold for human'consumption could bo exactly what its owner liked it to be. Asked as to how -the people were to obtain a better milk supply, the representative said that the uew Act which was to bo brought forward this session would help to improve the business, and tho systematic inspection of dairies and cowyards by tho Government inspectors would possibly do the rest. . , STOCK FOODS. . .NOT FOOD, BUT TONIC. Much controversy has been carried on recently, says the "Practical Farmer" (Philadelphia), as to .the valuo of stock foods in the economy of live stock foeding. Some take tho stand that for such a :uso they are of little value: Others claim that they have found them highly useful, and have given testimonials to this effect. Yet others look.upon them as a fake, and denounce tho papers that advertise them. There is still a fourth class wh6 believe that .some of them at least have a place of considerable importance in the economy of feeding, but that fed to stock it should be as a condiment, rather than as a food, v We believe the last view expressed to correct one. However, we think it is unfortunate that these preparations should be] called stock foods. In the very nature of things they are not foods which should be fed in competition with fodders and cereals, but they are medicinal in their nature, and thoir virtue lies in the toning and'stimulating influence which they exorcise upon the appetite and digestion. Since they are more of a tonic', they should be fed as such rather than as a food. If animals are riot, doing just right, they may bo given such food to stimulate digestion and whet the appetite. If animals are being pushed for tho block, and aro forced too much, as is frequently tho case, _the,digestion becomes deranged and the appotito fails. Thou it is that properly compounded condiments should ,bo fed. . But when the offect sought is secured, the feeding of them should cease, not because of any harm that will follow, but because continued feeding will be.without any resulting profit. When horses aro taken in from tho strawyard tb got them in condition for spring work, or if cattle, sheep, and swine aro not doing just right, tho reason for this, in- a large number of instances, will be found to arise from sluggish or disordered digestion. Here, again, is tho plnco for .feeding such condiments, but only until the animals get in tone. They have an important place in toning up the system of animals that have been over-fed whilo preparing thorn for the show-' ring, or block. When tho appetite slackens, and the droppings become offensive, than a properly-prepared.tonio will render good service.

Tho so-called stock foods aro not foods, but tonics, and will bo sure to disappoint tho feeder if used in any other why'.' We do not know tho ingredients of those foods, nor do wo know tho proportions in which they, are blended. Rut wo do know that really useful stock foods are compounded that aro 3old at very reasonable figures, which not only place them within the reach of every farmer, but loavo tho manufacturer a very fair profit.

A PAGE FOR THE MAN ON THE LAND.

WAIRARAPA NOTES. (I'ROM OUR SPECIAL"COKUESI'ONDENT\)' " Tho other day, Mr. Andrew Eddie, tho well-known Jersey breeder, was gored by his bull. Sovoral ribs were broken, and Mr! Eddie received other injuries, and ho now lies in a critical condition. •• Mr. Eddie intended to compete at the Wairarapa show with this bull. • His accident.is another proof of the' general untrustworthiuoss of a bull. The wondqr is that there are not more accidents of this description. At the recent show it was seen that bulls and ■their charges were' apparently on tho best of terms. The brutes were treated and spokon to .as if they were pottod children. It is evident, however, that no matter how much kindness these animals recoive, they will rbnd their protectors on the first favourable opportunity. This particular bull had been with Mr. Eddie for four or five years, and ho had taken four champion prizes. It was the intention of his owner to sell him before the end of the year. In tho Masterton district the M'Kenzics, mostly connected with stock and farms, are more plentiful than all the Smiths, the Brownes, and the Joneses put togother. At a stock sale in Masterton this week there were present about four representatives each from fivo ' M'Kenzio families, and almost every hoof was knocked" down to one of the clan. Some _of these families number from thirteen to nineteen, so that there is no fear at present of the name dying out. It is noticeable that in many portions of the Wairarapa the present few days' spell of intensely hot weather has parched the oarth to such an extent' that it has cracked. In different.portions of the bush districts, and also lower down the valley, some farmers ais' just sowing tb'oir crops. If there is a particularly dry season the district will havo a very bad time. . Cropping in the Wairarapa seems to growless and loss every year.. Farmers generally trust almost entirely for returns only from their.sheep and cattle. There are some farmers, however, who havo stuck to agriculture, and have made money. For instance, Mr. Harry Judd, formerly of Matarawa, is reported to have,made thousands of pounds alone out of potatoes, and Messrs. Eaton and Horrick,' of Kokptau,. have also had big returns. In the Waihakekd district, Mr. Francis Court, a most practical farmer, has placed almost tho whole of his farm under the plough within, a few years. This year he has fully one hundred acres in crop, all of which are coming on splendidly. To bo successful in his line of business-a stock auctioneer must have a fair, amount of imagination and a 'readiness to explain • the roason why things,are not always what, they seem to be. It is usual to place the- condition of stock in tho most favourable light, and in following-this line an auctioneer is often led into a species of deception not altogether in accord: with- his church-going procilivities; that is, when ho goes to church. A veteran auctioneer in the Wairarapa, one of the most popular men who ever took the stand, has a habit of excusing the condition of his stock by blaming the country. The stock may bo rolling in fat, or they may be all bones, tho auctioneer, from'force of habit, says they .came from poor country.' Tlfe degrees of roughness in the stock are represented as corresponding with the stato of the country from_ which they came, and it is on record that'in! his time, the auctioneer has condomned every foot of country from Wqodvillo to Palliser.Bay. ' ,

It may he that', there l are some farmers in the Dominion .who are not.,gatisfi'etl' I mth.thqii .lot, anil who have gone to. Now South' Wales, but they don't go from th'e. Wairarapa... The. Wairarapa". land agents state, that 'they have sheara of Now South Wales.''and Queensland farms for sale, but in the'. Wairarapa'' they, havo never ..received an application for one' for over, two years—this notwithstanding the fact that every,'effort had been made to place these'farms .before'' possible .desirable buyers. "If it were not. for the drought spectre," said one agent, " I'really believe the Dominion' would 'yearly'lose' many of its farm population. New Zealanders, however, have generally shied clear of Australia. They tackle the Argentine, Canada, and South Africa, but they koep away from the Commonwealth so. far as the land business is coilcorned. As to'the statement that there is an excess of immigration to the older State I am-inclined to' believe that the position l has not been correctly placed. -It-must be romembered that nearly all New-Zealanders in their travels go'.first to Sydney, and. from there are distributed, on the ocean liners for Creat Britain, Japan, and other States in the Commonwealth.' -They nearly all return tc New Zealand, but their nort of-departure is not Sydney,;hence''the-New South Wales papers hug themselves'into the delusion that they are reaping the benefit from a Dominion exodus." MANAWATU NOTES. INTERVIEW WITH MR.'SIMMS. (prom our own correspondent.) 1 Mr. A. ,G. Simms, the Government Pomologist', in'the coiirso of an interview, stated that the potato crops .in Foxton were far in advance of anything ho had seen on the Coast. Other vegetables were equally well advanced, and the soil there was particularly adapted for root crops. Speaking generally of the Coast, he considers that the fruit market will be exceptionally good," especially in stone fruits. Mr.. Simms . says he considers Foxton far ahead of any other locality visited. Growers there are forwarding vegetables to Wellington* The potato blight has made its appearance in almost every district along the Coast, and spraying is being extensively carried on. Mr. Simms regretted to state that there was laxity shown amongst orchard growers in protecting fruit trees against orchard pests, : and was of opinion that the only effective measure, would be to prosecute in order to make examples. Ho informed mo that three colonies of calicphiabtes enemy of the' codlhf moth—have boon liberated in the Manawatu. Small quantities of tho same can be procured from the Department _on application. Mr. Simms carries wjth him several interesting specimen's of orchard pests, which growers should mako a point of inspecting in order to guard against thein.^

Approached on canning prospects in the Manawatu, Mr. Simms said he considered that they were good, provided people could be ' induced. to go in extensively for fruit cultivation.

Regarding tho Chinese exploitation of the fruit market he considered that there was no danger, provided Europeans kept their eyes open. The nurserymon along this coast aro raising strong objections to. Australian fruit, trees being allowed to land in tiro Dominion \free of duty. At present, representatives of Australian firms.. aro operating along the coast, and booking orders for next season's trees. A local nurseryman informs mo that these firms are in a position to bring trees from Australia and land them in Palmcrston at a rate below that prevailing hero. In explanation ho states that the rate of wages iii Australia is beloii the standard Now Zealand wage, and,, together with no protection duty, this outside competitibn will mean a sorious /lenaco to New Zealand growors. DISTRICT REPORTS. When near'Colyton recently (writes our Foilding correspondent) I was agreeably surprised to soo how well tho slock around woro looking, considering tho rough .'season they have gone through. Sheep and lambs look strong and well, ono flock in particular, Mr. Adsott's, looking remarkably well and carrying the finest lot of lambs 1 have seen this season. Farmers are beginning to put in various crops for feed.' Mr. Bobbie, of Bunnytborpe, Ashhurst Road, intends putting in'a'quantity of rape.