GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 761, 9 March 1910, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

A young New Zealander, who has been following, the land ballots without success'for three years, is leaving this-week: .to settle in the Argentine. ■ . The price of bacon pigs has advanced a-halfpenny per pound, and the farmers arc;;now';being' offered 3kl. by the bacon companies. The Commonwealth Government has issued/in circular form its recent Gazette notice permitting the of hoofs and. horns., 1 of animals slaughtered in New Zealand. The Friraloy Canning Company ro- ■ ccntly' shelled six . tons of peas in one day; with its machinery, the peas being canned and put through 1 the various pro : cesses'ready for the market. -At a timeMvhen benefit stock sales are in. the, air, it is interesting to note the , enthusiasm' attending an impromptu otter, of a fat wether, bv Mr. G. \V. Lleller. towards the funds of the : Wairarapa and •feast Coast P. and-A. Society, at Messrs. Dalgety.and C'o/s stock sale at In rata hi. This realised the handsome sum 01 Bs n 6d., which has been handed to the sec'retaiy- ;. .. " Though numbers of Wairarapa farmers, are' reported to ,be clearing out their pigs owinr to the Ipw prices prevailing. Air. W. iTumphries, of Moroa, Morison s does "not appear I .to )5o lnc ' locfU .paper;' states -that intends to go in extensively for'.pig-raikiug, and has al-ready-.over iorty pigs onrhand which he is fattening'for the market.

Wairarapa sheepowners have been,uoti : fled that .the period for dipping sheep ex, pires on March 31, and-a close inspection of all-sheep at;the s'aleyards is being made'by-the local stock-inspector. •

Several new- cheese factor}- proposals are being discussed.by dairy farmers ra the Carterton district. .

: Messrs'. Abraham,'an'd Williams, report having-sold'the line.of over 3000 wethers oil account of. Mr. Chares Harris, ,• of. Hautotara, - at' the record price _ of the season, viz., 14-s.-4d. per.-head. - fho Martinbbroitgh "Star" - understands that the»e were' bought by.a, local ..buyer, acting..on behalf of a southern client.'

; Inquiry made by :theTimaru Post, shows that:' the much-dreaded blight is again making its the potato crops', of'"South .-Canterbury. Bearing-, iu mind the'results of-former seasons, and. the fact that even -best " potatoes aro hardly ready.. for /export,-, merchants are 'riot inclined to' operate.:.:. : .' ';■ '•

From i fifty-three:: suppliers delivering milk-to the Belvedere cheese . factory, some'2loo gallons of milk,-is. being received' daily (says the ."Wairarapa The: milk supply during, the past three weeks has kept'; up well,.owing, it is stated, to many of the dairy -farmers feeding , their cows on green'maize. The highest test at this factory is 5.2, and theWst 3.7, but the majority-: of suppliers .have 'a,test of 4or over." Tweritv-seven' export size (BUID.) cheeses are'being manufactured daily, and the last shipment railed- away consisted of 216 cases. ." '-"'■::.-

A' South Canterbury farmer, speaking of the'damage-ilorie by the. raius m bar-: vest-time,'said, that 'he.*had gram crops which,'had the rain kept off,; would have yielded'-'him £1000, but"' through the sprouting' of the grain (it became, as green "as '• grass) -he ' would; not 'now .net more 'than £450. or "^500. ; '.He added, however, .'thai he had made up a good part of-this :loss from Ellis' sheep, the-value of which'went up with a run after the :rain.:" .:..'..'■..'; :'.:.»■ ji„ ■ ' :.Tho'. .Canterbury ."fruitgrowers' 'Association,'' at its. last'iriie'eting,'discussed the question.of hayingV-Bjll introduced into Parliament to compel auctioneers to take the highest ...bid .when, the^.bidder. is . prepared to pay'spot cash.- Mr.' P.. Sisson asked, what' there was, 'under, thot:preseut system/', to- prevent'.anf'auctioneer', from refusing- a.bid arid Knocking down anything" to a friend; who couldf'sell at a p"rofit.*.'and halve' the'..'prpgeeds,',with thp' 'auctioneer?' He'said ithat, that had beendone'"again- arid- again. 'If l .ca§h was. not at.onee 'forthcoming-: with . a bid, the 'article^ 1 offered'-'could? ; :up again. Jlr.:pitty J ..M,J.,Js i bej.ng,asked to intrddesired ';< ';.-•'"■

. Very considerable :actiyity,.is,being dis-, played in the.Llunedin frozen.meat market. 7 During the past,'week 7600 lamb's reached the Burnside Freezing. Works, to be'.frozen for the. Loudpiil.jnark'et,. and. ! there is'every prospect '.of,'a daily average of 1400' being maintained. for such.; large 'consignments coming forward "may. bprfourid ,in/the'; dryness, of tho '■feari q'Klack of ,feed. The taOie's. of; the threshing mills' in the.' Ashbufton'tcouiity, -of which there are' about ''fifty,' amount, so. far, to'about 28,000 0r'36,000 .bushels of both wheat 'and' oats. ': : ':'' According to the Dannevirke "Evening Neivs," fiheJat'pofkers'.yere selling;last week in'rthe"- ; "&trict'.!'at' f ,2d.':a lb. . There is evidently a shortage' of sheep in the. Oamaru district and' plenty of feed.'Several sheep buyers have been in ,the Gore district, on',-the/look-out for good store' sheep- for - Oamaru ftunholders. No fewer than ten trnck-loads-were consigned on' Friday morning - from the Eivcrsdalo station to Windsor, near Oamaru, 'and there are' more to -'follow; - "'•"•" ' ...',.- ,: Though the..district,was:.only opened up about;twimtyithree year's'ago, very.little bush'-"how ■'■'remains.,., standing . around' 'Eketahuha'. ' To-day'.-.'there ojfe' about half, a dozen sawmills in operation in thevdistrict,' where ..there! were .thirty odd - some ten-years ago.;;ln two years'' time it.is :,possible' that" there- will .not: be one mill, •remaining. The v timb.ei';ih one of the last blocks of standing'bush''was"sold for-.£30 an acre a little whole "ago. : When the district-was being opened up the Government sold the land at 20s. art acre, and the bush was destroyed'and burnt by the settlers.'as rapidly.,;as/possible. Nobqdy in those days; realised what that first crop might.'eveniualiyi come to be' worth. , ,

.-'.'Considerable interest is.being taken in the demonstration of wool-sorting whichi it'is proposed to hold at the show ground,; Hastings,. this month. It is anticipated; that iicssrs.' Wheeler (Halcombe) and Matthews fh'eatherston) will deal with the. Homheys, Mr. Lancaster (Palinerston North) with the Leicesters, Mr. Archibald (Karamu) with the Lincoln, Mr. Richmond (Tomoana) with iat sheep, and Mv Little (Argyll) with Southdowns. The Minister, for' Agriculture; the, Hon. T. Mackenzie, has promised to be present if he can possibly arrange it.

In answering a complaint made by some Nelson growers, the other day,.,as' to the desirableness of more strictly enforcing the Orchard and Garden Diseases Act;-Mr.' ■T.-.AV. Kirk pointed out that the Department had very few inspectors, and these ;could not be'.everywhere at once. There Was one inspector for Nelson, oho for Canterbury, cue for.Otago, One for Hawko's Bay and .the Wairarapa, and one for the long stretch of country from Wellington' to New Plymouth. They niust admit that great improvements had been • effected since the' coming, into' operation bf the Act. : Tho ; Department, desired to give growers: time to. come, up to the mark, and it had decided not to prosecute for three years "after 'the A>" came into force, except in cuses' where it was obliged to. Last year,: however,"a number of growers had been . invited to visit the Stipendiary Magistrate, 'and soveral' prosecutions were now, authorjsod in -the ' Nelson district. As' these had been deferred until tho return of the inspector, Mr. Hallam, from Tasmania, it iras hoped, that the orchardists' concerned ..would take advantage' of the respite to put their properties in order, 'i'lie Department occasionally received confidentie! notes from orchardists, drhwing attention to..the neglected:state of-a particular orchard, which was becoming a-pest centre. These were'of great, assistance. They were treated confidentially, and the inspector was advised to make a close examination of all orchards in ,the particular locality mentioned.'