GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 790, 13 April 1910, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

•"Thirty cheese factories in the Dominion are- now. pasteurising their whey,' and very many more are expected, to follow suit;noxt season. . Last- season there was not a singlo factory in. the country, which was.doing this,--'and the credit of owning tho , first cheese ■ factory . ,to pasteurise whey -belongs to. the Kaikoura Dairy Company oyer ; in /Marlborough.. ■ ■ Vegetables' are cheap.' this season in Ohristqhurch/ Tomatoes at three cases for .a shilling,-. tho cases alone costing niriepence, can hardly pay the grower's expenses... Marrows: have been selling at'n shilling a'dozen.' •'.-'. The "Southland Times" states that wethers /which,va little .time ago, stood at from 9s. to 10s., now fetch from 13s. to 14s.- in Southland: :■■'•■' . ' , At the meeting, of tie directors of the Kaikoura , Co-operative . Dairy.;' Company, held last week,, tho secretary '. reported the milk supply, .for March ..to- have ■ been 694,2811b.j an .increase of 1G0,'5791'b.. over March; 1909. -The total output of cheese to; March' 31' has -been nearly.'' 50001b. • in CXCB3S of the output for season 1908-9. The directors' decided .to^poy,;s'pu^.'.'at the-end of April- an. extra-pennys.perlb.'for but-ter-fat to date"'and this will' absorb about .£7OO in addition to tbo month's payment' of - probably ; ..£Boo.. ~<■.;■.'. '>, .;■.".'.''.' '/The present cold'spell is-having" its usual. effect upon'.grass lands in. the Waikato, "and growth is': receiving a distinct check. Notwithstanding'that the season has been such a' remarkable one for growth, a considerable. ,area of country in. the north,'particularly .in, the 'buslr districts, is just now bare of feed; largely clue ;to -the ;ravages of caterpillars, crickets, and'qth.er\jnsegCpe^^'j v lji''somo 'Cases,■ from this cause, livo stock have had' to.be taken away, to'graze, and the outlook generally for some months, to. come is considered 'to be not .too 1 bright. A' paddock containing 30 acres of turnips for feeding off purposes was sold at Ashburton on Saturday at 345. Gd. per acre. ' ....„;..> • threshing has/bepn'.'done; "during of ifine weather -just^.experiehcedi'in'i'the. Cheviot district. Wheat' principally is being threshed, and' the yield' is giving an average of about! > 40. bushels per acre. The mill men .are complaining that it .is'.not ■ [very ;profitable,. owing to' the; amount of straw that'has to bo handled. . ;;geuerally.,.j(s, ;;well'advanced, and' w|ntjf feed." is promising, there being a.stro'ng;growth,of grass just now. Mr. T. Dowling. .who purchased tho homestead and. about 2000 acres of tho Springfield Estate, Canterbury, of which he took-possession on Decoiriber 20 last, ; has evidently■'. lost no time in making .hisMhvestment profit-producing. According.. to the . "Ashburton ' Guardian," he ':has\just..cbn?pleted the sale of 15,000 bushels of prime milling velvet at 3s. Bjd. per bushel on. trucks, Lyndhurst; and has arranged for a special train' to carrv - a draft of 2000 fat lambs and 800 fat sheep ;to the Islington freezing works. •'■-. The "Mataur'a Ensjgn", states that at. the Pleasant Point stock-sale oh Monday tho.National Mortgage and Agency Company obtaihed'.-the.'top price;-for the sea-sori-Y-'for-'aVline'i'of iwell-cohditfoned fat .lambs,-' disposing o^them u ''at 19s. per head. ... ' . ' ,', ;. '_ _'_ ;', Notwithstanding the adverse weather conditions of the current milk season in Southland, the choose exports to England from the Bluff lire still,ahead of tho corresponding period of any' previous year." In March the, shipments were 13,23", or 475 more crates than in March, 1909. last month the total of crates of cheese shipped from, the Dominion was 40,728, so Southland was responsible for practically bne4hird of that amount. The rest of the South Island only dispatched '3771 crate's—viz.v-Lyttelton-909, and Dunedin 2602.. '-- ' ," ' • , > .Word, was- rceived--in- Oaraaru on;. Friday that 12,00(1 sacks of potatoes had'arrived in Auckland by olio steamer, and "the mai-ket. was jflattened out.:' The shipments have been more than the nor r thern-.city. could absorb..:■'•■ ■ -.- Owing to the continued absence or rain,'.the.country is looking very dry and parched (says the -'Waikduaiti correspondent of, the "Otagp Daily .Times"). The grass is disappearing quickly; and as the turnip crops are poor, it looks as though all" classes of stock will have a hard time during- tho coming spring. No doubt 'the farmers will dispose of till surplus stock -before the; winter, really sets in. Oats, still continue rather dull in the market.-(says. the. '"Southland Times"). Nearly all'the millers, are'well supplied, and-as current London prices only warrant purchases for' export -at about Is. •5d. ; per. bushel on trnclc3 at country stations, growers are disinclined to sell •at that.rate.' Henco little business is doing for the present. A speculator in the market at Gore Street last Saturday bought several specially choice lines at Is. BiL, but Is: 74d. is nominally the value at present. ; The quality of tho grain is viiformly good. ;' The. annual ram fair under the auspices of the Gore Ai and P. Association was held last week, at Gore, 576 rams being entered.- . English Border Leicesters and Shropshires were not at all in demand. The best class-was the Romneys, some of. ! which:.'sold at good prices, they being decidedly tho best in demand. Tho' entry was] below that recorded for one or two years-past. ■ • ; At the meeting, of the Fcilding A. and P. Association on Friday night, Mr A. K. Mayo gavo expression to tho disappointment that, many farmers have felt at the intimation that has. been received from tho Wefaroa State Farm that the i proposed visit was untimely, and should be deferred to o. future date Mr Mayo I contended that although the fruit season was over, thero should still be many other interesting and instructive'object lessons'for farmers' at any. time.of tlie year, and he thought that if ian experimental farm could only bi visited at certain times of the year it might just as well be closed altogether. A small block of land north of Auckland, covered with kauri forest, was recently sold bjj.tho native.owners for .£SOO to a'. European, who.a f?w. months ago is stated i bv.the "Wairoa .Guardian" to ' have disposed of it for £2WO.