IN AUSTRALIA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 839, 10 June 1910, Page 8

IN AUSTRALIA.

. JOTTINGS FKO3I THIS WEEK'S ' MAIL. . Nice- falls of rain have occurred over the whole of Victoria. Crops on followed land are beginning to come on well, and there is likely to bo sufficient feed for ewes (luring the lambing period.

In New South Wales tht, unpromising outlook in the country is strengthening the price of chaff, and =£5 to i's 3s. Id. is' now being paid for choice qualities at the Redfern auction sales, Sydney.

At the New South Wales Sheepbreedors' Show on June 2D some 800 stud sheep will bo exhibited, including pens from Victoria, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Merinos, as usual, will take first place.

The discovery of Irish blight in many of the potato crops in the South Coast district of Now South Wales indicates that this disease has now got a firm hold, and potato-growing in the future will become something of a scientific process.

Seven years ago a pastoral company in Queensland had a big overdraft; its shares were worth only 25., and no dividends were paid. This year the same company reports having wiped off its overdraft, put .£25,000 to reserve, and its annual disbursement now represents 9 per cent, on the share capital. The shares are worth 275. to-day.

Between December 1 last "and... May 31, 3,938,245 acres of Crown lands . were opened for selection- in Queensland.

Figures relating -to. the meat export trade show that there has been a great "expansion this. autumn in the export of sheep-and lambs. From January 1, 1910, to.-datf1..375,231 .carcasses have been exported from' Victoria, as against 207,571 for the corresponding period last year. The. increase is 167>000., ■

' In .1903 there were only 111 farmers in Victoria who bad silos, making a total of 4700 tons of silage. Since that time, 520 farmers now have silos producing 27,000 tons. In the . United States one farmer in every five has a silo.

Sydney dairy produce salesmen do not'approve of preserving eggs, but advise- farmers to cold-store any surplus lots that they- might have, in the season. ■Stored eggs are more easily sold, and realise higher .values;. ■ ,

Under the Commonwealth Arbitration Act the existing shearers' award, which expires -on Juno 12,, will continue in forco until replaced- by a new award. The :'new season's shearing is thereforo likely-to continue on the old basis.

At TJhornton jpiatsjsijgthe valley, of the Goulburn, Victoria,rthere is an'area of 5000 acres of river flats divided into 24 farms. Half the farmers have silos on 'their holdings; the other half have none. At present the local butter factory- is kept going entirely by the farmers who have silage to feed their cows, while their neighbours' cows have not only gone dry, but aie going back in condition. The object-lesson thus provided has created quite a silo boom in the -district.