IN AUSTRALIA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 795, 19 April 1910, Page 8

IN AUSTRALIA.

'. JOTTiNGS FROM .IESTEBDAY'S' -, ':'■■ '■'.:' '■'■'■■ ■;maie.: : : . ■;■■■..".'. ... Unless rain is,received this month.says; ■'- \ the Sydney "Herald,", tho outlook for : ; iwinter. feed will be serious.,.. In .ft few ..y.jweefcs the ground:will.be too cold to as- -•■■■ eisfc. growth, even:\if .rain falls. In the I'" , wheat districts, , also, farmers are becom- ;■ ing. anxious, at;.the> protracted dry spell. :'.': ..AH the southern districts of New South-' ;, IWales- are in urgent need! of' rain, as the ; 'fgrowth-. of herbage which followed the v. January rains has mostly gone off. ' . Tuberculosis ■is '.worse this season ,in I many parts of Victoria than has /been - (previously known. Many animals' have ; ibeen destroyed to try and grapple-with . (the scourge. ' '-..'': ; '-.-.. .: .-Arrangements have.been. made in Vic- ':'!■■ I tpria .for: a shipment of Rutherglengrape.s I itp • test the London ■: market. The Gov- ■- .eminent . Viticulturist is confident there :. is 'a. great.future for 'this trade. ■ -.'-.-' The compulsory registration of stallions is only a'matter of time in Queensland. :„ All. the important agricultural. societies .'•ere now refusing prizes to animals which :, .cannot pass.'a veterinary test, .and now 'the Chamber of Agricultural,- Societies las adopted a. report which advocates the ■, etraight-qnt ■ registration .and-', classifica- ■• tion of; stallions and the prohibition of ■ the, importation of• unsound animals. . V

A movement has been started, and hae Ibeen supported by; many of-the agricul-; Jtural societies in Queensland; to have teheep-dipping made compulsory. There iwas a feeling in- some/quarters that ;such' a. provisions would give the State a bad xaine, but this objection has'been overTuled, on the ground that -if the matter !was left to individual, owners the owner ' rwho conscientiously dipped "his , , sheep iwould Buffer for :the laxity of the other fman. ' : ' The Angora goat is rapidly increasing . lin importance' as a factor .in the material, ■wealtn of. Queensland.- ./In ISOi, there -•were only 20t)8: such animals in Queene'Jand,- anfl at the.end'of last year; ac- • cording 'to., the: Government' Statistician's .animal report, the number' had Tisen to 7198.' The mohair obtained in' 1904 was :12161b.,: and in 1903 51021b: '•■:_ From most of. the maize^growing. dis- " itricts of Queensland reports indicate that ithe. figures for. th'iS year; will: be ,of a, record ' character, and in .several instances .growers' talk' of. 'tanking their, grain. : Experiments made -under .the auspices .of the Queensland' Agricultural Departijnent show'that with pigs,at,4d. per lb. idead weight—the, present" value—maize ■fed to them is worth 35." 3d. per bushel. According to. the estimates of .the Victorian Government. Statist, the yield of cats for. this season is 7,913,423 bushels, from an area, of: 384,226 acres, equal to ,: an averago yield '-.'of 20.60. bushels. This compares with ' last season's yield. • of 11,129,9-10. bushels from '410,869 acres, or. an'average of 2G.50 bushels per acre. Tho actual yield per acre is 2.92 bushols per '.acre below the pre'-harvest estimate of |23.52 bushels, based;upon information re-; iceived in November. ','''"'■■". : Tho South Australian Government's lonus of £50 for an effective- implement fcas been a-svarded to a 13-tine stumpjump cultivator and stone-gatherer combined, 'fitted with automatic spring relieving gear for rough country. When gathering stones the cultivating attachinent comes off and plates are put on. Trials have been held fbv the past 22 years without success until the present ' ♦

Turnip disease has attacked some of the crops atlCopuaranßa in the Wairarapa, but it'is hoped that tho cold wenther will check its ravages befbre it assumes a serious aspect.