GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 768, 17 March 1910, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Mr. C. J. Reakes, chief veterinarian, has .returned to town from his visit ot inspection . to tlio Auckland- district.

The arrival in London of a cargo of about 1000 carcasses of pigs from . Russia a short time ago (says, tho Stock-Journal" of February -J) led to developments. Nearly 200 oi them were consigned to a cold storage 111■ sera\®5 era \® , gey, l , and owing to a breach of the l uolic Health Regulations most of them wero rejected.' One " hundred and- sixty-nine were'without their -'heads in the natural state-of attachment," which .rendered it impossible to properly inspect tue submaxillary and tonsillar glands.

The. Palmerston Borough Council, has let 15 ; acres.of its reserve for five .years at «E92."55. per,- annum. .It. is understood the land is to bo used for dairying. Up to now, the borough was .only gettiflg £1 per . acre, so that tho present IcaSQ will bo a good "lift" for tho Eeseryo. Committee,' which was getting rather short of money, recent improvements, to tho reserve in other parts of .the borough having 'taken all available funds.

The Paltnerston Borough; Council lias decided to, declare -pennyroyal .a noxiousj weed. . There are some very patches, of .the. weed /growing 'in % .borough,, wh'ile' ragwort,. and • Calilo.rnian art 1 not unknown hi the precmcts ot the town.

On [Sunday, last.: Mrs; Morphy, ,of, Aorangi, near Feildmg, had ov « twenty tons: of hay destroyed by. nre..

The nasal, bot 'tro&We .is ; reported to be in evidence in. the \Vaikato this year. One or tiro farmers appear to be suftering a good deal 'from the;nuisance, but nothing of'a general nature is. reported in the local press. ■ .

The correspondent of a Tarannki paper thus summarises the opinions of a number of' land-seekers, who were recently over- the' Rangitatau block lirstly: Ihe land- was pretty steei).. / Secondly: It was nietty. dear—too dear;vand thirdly,, the sections were to.o' smail.Onlytwice weie' the Government allowed to n&Y® well.'' All 1 said ; the sections had beer wellsbwh; > and- most, allowed' that the burli; had not only been a good one, but nearly all agreed-that * wise. had advised the Government to conduct the felling; and sowing.

' Mr: EC Elliott,' Inspector of; Stock 'for the Hawera district for; the past . two 3 r ears7 has been / granted, seven montlis, leave of absence in order to ! pay a visit to . the Old Country, .and lie expects to sail in April. ./ 'J' . ■

' ; ifhe. llangorei; Cooperative Dairy. Coiut pany/is • installing an electrical motor,, bo,'driven ' from ,tKe ' New.Plymoiitli. borough .electrical, system. ..

' The rejection of the, rope, and '.twine, works- at- Foiton -is. ncaring completion. All;the' buildings' are" ■completed;. and i'lie installation .of machinery' is_now 1 being' pushed oii witK' all speed.'' When com; pleted, the factory ?,will. ; . Be . thoroughly up-to-date, aiid'will provide .work . lor. a •large number <of hands. •,

Bush'tires were,raging at Ohakune lastFriday/ and. many residents, experienced •a - ,;' rather . ; rough time. In - several • 111-r stances' families-were; compelled to iinako hurried exits from - their- homes. Ino •.fire.''-.worked in •• the./ direction ot. Gam: man's mill, and : the hands had_>a trying, time saving. the bridges. No serious dam- ' age is reported. . ;

'It' is estimated roughly that some fifteen tons 'of rabbit poison have been, sent; out from the Masterton depot this season.'-.This, of: course,'-would', not all • be-.'iised in the Wairnrapa, but .' would bs'.- distributed over' various portions of tie "district lrhere s rabbits abound. ' ;V.' : . .'" V:

Vcotl is reported 'to' lie exceptionally !plentiful' right; the Nelson district/ and sheep/find lambs are- coming on,- well. • • . •

i i:Tho Hawke's '■ Bay; Fruitgrowers' Company, Ltd., reports that up to February 28' i'their output of 'fruit'tor this season ' totalled -'47,000 cases. • For : the same period last year the output reached, only 19,000.

-■■■The';butter exports from Taranaki for the sis months, from' September ljto Februarv '28 were valued at .i) 382,7*8, of which '£284,850: worth was shipped-.at; New Plymouth and .<£97,928 worth at Patea. Duripg the same period Auckland Blnp^d:;'^77;ilO v worHi.\-*The; cheese exports from New Pl,y/nouth for the same period were-valued at ,£94,330, and from •Pates. JE225,3C8,. m'ating. a total of JJ322,698 from; I'aranaki.. irhile Auckland s cheese export was worth ,£19,686. butter and cheese are added together the figures • are, - for Taranaki,. .£705,476, Auckland, JG39G.79G. -

•' Up to- .£6l per head was paid recently for draught horses in the Eivcrma district of. New South' Wales.. At the clearingsale' at ..Yong.in jth6' same State ,«£<L was paid for a draught yearling colt and Xil for a two-year-old draught gelcl'ing. • r ', '•

■ A ' welcome ■ raiii' set ill throughout Banks Peninsula early oil Monday; and will be of benefit to the pastures, which were 'just beginning ' to show the effects of the long dry. spell. Milk supplies.still continue good, and most of the factories should havo a rocord output this season.

. Complaints loud aud bitter are to lie heard - throughout . tfawke's Bay from truckers, of stock concerning the /appal*■ent.* utter incapacity, of the: management to cope with' the stock tfatne. A buyer for the National/Mortgage Company* informed a/, correspondent of the freildiug "Star" that not' loiig ago he held , a mob of fat lambs at n lakapau for nearly a week for want of trucks. The sheep had practically nothing to eat' and lost condition;to-the extent 0f..250.

Good burns have been secured in.-the Marokopa arid Kiritehero districts, sdutli of lvawhia Harbour. There is said to he a strong inquiry for iarms in this locality. ■ ' .

It is many years since "Williams' Bon Chretien Dears were so plontiful in, Auckland as tEey have been this season. Evidently the ,hot weather suits that va-. : riety. Usually, Bon Chretiens average about 6d: per lb. "retail,, but for some weeks past ' the hawkers in Queen street have .been selling large quantities of this variety of pear at 2d. per lb. A well-known Ngaere settler is given as'the "Stratford Post's" authority fnr stating that a species of black moth specially chooses ragwort plants as a depository for its eggs, and that .vhsn the. caterpillars emerge: therefrom they practically destroy the plant upon which they feed. These caterpillars are further said to be unusually numerous in the district this year. . Seldom (says the "Waikato Argus") has the approach of autumn brought less apprehension : to t farmers; in •. the ' district for everything 'points to abundance of stock feed right' into winter. At present an excellent growth is being maintained, the season- being phenomenal for. the grazier and milk supplier.

■ The following figures show the returns at the Matauru Dairy Factory from the beginning o£ the seasoii up to the month of Febrtiarv for tJio last tiro year's:— i(!09: Milk received, 4-46,359 gallons; but-ter-fat, - 112,2881b.; . cheese, 4G1,G521b. j cash paid, J:8492; price for butter-fat, Is. 1910: Milk received, 590,851) gallons; butter-fat, 132,28811).; cheese, 589,40811).; cash paid, J£B9B!S; price for butter-fat, 10(1.

The report of Robert Campbell' and Sons, Ltd., of Otago runholding fame, for the past year'states that the loss of <£1500 on sheep account is attributable to the Severe snowstorm which occurred Inst winter, referred to in'last year's report. The realisation of last year's wool gave a satisfactory result. The profits for. the' year amounted to .£5140, to which lias to be added the balance of .£60,770, brought forward, mailing a total of JiGS,OIO, out of ! which a bonus of *21000 to the directors and secretary, voted at the general meetings, was paid in .January, and an interim dividend of 5 j>e. cent., amounting to was paid in July last, leaving *51,910 to bo now dealt with. The directors recommend a final dividend oi 5 per cent, on the present capital, making. 10 per cent, for the year, together with; a bouus of ss. per share, free of tax, leaving a balance of .£43,910 to be carried tor.ward, .'

Potato blight appears to be sprcadine in the south. The Temuka "Lender' rioiy states, that, nearly' all the crops in the district 'between Ueraldine and Timaru are affected.'

iTlie Inisli. districts south of (he Waiknto are reported to have suffered greatly from insect pests in the form of caterpillars.' scarcely a busli farm escaping loss in this form. The moist, hot season is doubtless the cause of the development, of insect and fungoid troublos, and probably nothing short of a cold snap will effect n cure.

The Smith"; Wairnrapa Poultry Association purposes holding its show on J lily 13'; and H, if the governing association approve of the dales.

A-Raglan settler flstimated that several Hundred pounds' worth of. grass and clover seed were eaten by quail in that county alone every season.

. The main stumbling block to the southera ' proposal for fortnightly sales of dairy product l appears to be selection of the spot for holding the sales. The present plan is for sales nt Dimedin, but there is stated to be strong objection to this, throughout Southland, where the claims of In'vercargill are considered superior.

Jkthurst burr, ragwort, pennyroyal, and gorse have boon declared noxious weeds by., the Woodville County Council. It u-aii said that pennyroyal tainted the cows' milk very badly.

'.Two -horticulturists ft Matanra have been experimenting with a new American variety of tomato: The tomato is bottle or pear-shaped. The seed was procured from- the United States last year, and the growers have, so far, had a fair measure of success.

• The new Co-operative Butter-box Company in Sydney is considering whether it is wise to be entirely' dependent on New Zealand for supplies. Mr. Meares, manager of the Coastal Farmers' Co-operative Company, speaking at the rccent conference, said he had been advised that there would be ample supplies available from New Zealand for several years tocome. In order, however, that they might have alternative sources of supply, he had made inquiries while in London regarding some timbers,, the supply of which was practically inexhaustible, and which were suitable in every way. The first . shipment of these boxes would arrive in' a week, or two. This was Polish timber. In northern ■ Europe, and even ill Japan, there were several timbers which appeared to. be suitable, the supply of which was inexhaustible. One of the duties of tile company would be to arrange for 'an auxiliary supply , from some other countries. They had to exhaust the Commonwealth, "and it.-might' ; bo possible that Queensland timbers could be made available for- the"' dairying industry. The auxiliary supplies lie had spoken of could be-landed here at a lower rate than those from ■ New Zealand.

■ !At the. annual • conference of the New Zealand Dairy Factories Managers' Association, at the National: Dairy Showat Ealriierstoii in June-next,, a paper will be read on "Pasteurisation," and also probably one Qn "The Care of Milk from the Cow to the. Cheese Press."

It is. expected that the'new: freezing Works at. Tokoinaru Bay on --the East •Coast, .mil,, be sufficiently completed to allow :of freezing .operations, being begun, in. November next. The . contract price for building the works, is <£40,000. The company is also making a harbour for. the lighters, which it will employ to carrv the sheep out to the liners in the bav." A depth of. 16 feet at high water ami .10 feet at low water is to be obtained at the wharves, which will be sheltered bv breakwaters running out 640 feet into the sea. Eventually it is hoped toextend the breakwater another 600 feet to where a depth of -60 feet is obtainable,' and. the largest, ocean-going vessels will then b'o able to come alongside. . In' the past ,it has been exceedingly 'difficult 'for farmers to drive their | sheep ' down to' Gishorne and get them to.tho works in a fat state.