A BUNNYTHORPE LEGEND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 675, 27 November 1909, Page 8

A BUNNYTHORPE LEGEND.

WAS IT THE RAT' WTho'/.'Bunnythdrpo ':' correspondent of ■ tho ''Feijding'' Star" -tells the following- tale:—, Soveral fanners are "growing ■ maize; for green' teed"-for;" tbo'K. autumn,, .and one .has .;had' a •rather.'; unique; 'experience'-.-'in.' this-, .departure. He./hadi'sown.cabout half, aii aero of ;maizo : as; 'an '■experiment,- '.and':; in ' due; time; it; came up .voryiovcnly, ; thci" execptioii of a strip on onesido.of the patch,; which seemed a- failure,; as .no inaize'.sproiitcd. As the.,time; went, on,' 'however, he'noticed,, that, tho ..barren - patch; wai-getting"-larger.:eybry:,day,.and he 1 thought, a blight was taking his crop. One, morning he'. was' out-.-early;.:and, was surprised to:seo what' he • took 'tp-bo -a' young,< rabbit ..busily scratchingL'.up' .fhevyoi'tng plante.. On closer examination hp; saw;;that it"was :a huge; rat.: fie'.shotT it.'„;lriL'tH-'o ..weeks--tho'; rodent had. destroyed the crop on, a, piece,.of. ground 100 ft.; long by about 10ft.'..wide, by tearing up. the plants and 'eating tho grain from , tho roots. NEW ZEALAND LAMB IN LONDON. ' .'■lt - has -been: frequently urged by the most competent authorities that if .fjciv. Zealand products ;'nro- to - maiiitaiit ; the ; position, thoy at "present hold i'on ithe London market, no -point making- ;for ■ thf ; perfection '.of, these products' can auord to bo ovorlooked. : ' Other countries 'dro' now'becoming nioro and more ali.vo to; tho importance of tnis market, it- be- . hoves.'f 6w 'iiealand: growers of ; lamb, ; etc., :to bo vigilant, i': ..; i, - ' '. ~r ' STbo v' following:. paragraph; -from... the ' Otago ."Witness". 6f June. 16 is significant;.-. It clearly sets forth'the;, situation at tho consuming enu, and no producer can. afibrd to-ignore ,tue requirement's of his customers—i.e.: ."Exporters confine, their.';operations- almost. -entirely. to lambs, the class of mutton offering-not ;being what' they want,-, aild they only buy- a . few prime, light-wbightcatijasses. -v ! i'he'se are tew, •and:-tar'- oetv6eii";ete.,\e{c?:y\:-- ;. ; Why-nre Such carcasses few and far between? Simply because sheepri'armers fn.-. general' do ■ not study sufficiently, the/ means ;whereby -"primoj, light-weight carcasses" ; can bo produced. 'riio . ossontials: arc at .least three in number: .' v , -' - - . : ' l''irst—The production of the. most rapid featuring cross.- . ■ ■ V ' . .. Second—A sufficient 7 supply .of the most ; -. fattening feed—i.e., rape, -etc.,' .:; ,'l'hirtl-rThe, cleausing of tho , lambs, from all parasitic filth. .;. 7 ■ /i'ho advantages of, tho- 'first-;.two . arc -in a great measure lost if the latter-is not strictly attended to. No lambs infested with; parasites can. thrive. The managerof the Jiorth British; and Hawke's Bay Freezing Company's farm at I'ukctapu, Hawke's Bay, Xow Zealand, has conducted .'exhaustive, experiments in dipping, ■; and ho positively, asserts . that tho-dif-ler.enco.in ivcightbetwccii half of a flock-of lambs which lie dipped in Quibell's Liquid Dip and .tho. other half of the same flock which ho allowed torr.n on similar.feed. undipped was quite 31b. per head on an average at the end of a month's .tims, when both: lots were slaughtered. Such : an advantage no sheepoirner can afford to lose in, these days, of low, mutton and wool values. , . ViT.. '. The "splendid results which-follow the use of Quibell's Liquid Non-poisonous Dip for dip-ping.-lambs'intended for short keep.aro such that no sheep-owner who wishes to mako the most of his lambs'can afford to dispense with them. ... - . '■ -