WILL BRITAIN COMPETE?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 985, 28 November 1910, Page 10

WILL BRITAIN COMPETE?

, ; QJJR I HQPSE EXPQiRT. INDUSTRy. /■' .Britisn'.breeder's. r , of. draught, hones . are'..'advißed:'..'.hy.Vftho /.'-'Live Stock ■■.'.,' Jp'urnal" \ '(London)* to 'turn .their . at■:;,:tention'.to' the'state of* the market}: in ~ 'Australia.;.:. The rapid. "development'of 1 .". .'the farm-iinovernent, which necessitated .'* ,'tho employmdht':of, great' : numbers'..: of : . -.additional horses has (says .the joiirnal) ■ , led to a shortage,' and prices have been ',*. advancing for"some. years. A good typo ■fv of gelding in:the Commonwealth fetches ' ■ ;from : £40 t<) £80/ and good brood ihares .-:•-• 'bring;; up -The English ' ? : ,v.-.cation<seems.to havo been influenced ' : somewhat, by* news from Australia. It * -* quotes thefollowingifroin tho "VicT - ;'■':torianv'V\'eeHj; Times":—"A' few days ago, -two.' filly foals were sold for: £50 ,'■ ■' apiece.' These 'Quotations ;aro' not con- ... fined vtor Victoria,- but-, are common to every State.in Australia. It is obvious, .'■'■'. therefore,- that .the supply .is. not equal- , to'the demand. New areas: of'Growtf ','"-_ lands arp anhuallj being opened up, y'. , the? closer ■settlement methods ave sub- ', i ' dividing ;'the ( . estates. - The farms thus '.;, brought..--into , existence, must, be ',■ equipped ', with ..farm . horses;' , ! \ The' f '.'Live Stock- Journal" adds tho follow- ;* ing.\cpmment position is a dis-. "advantage, to-the settler, is just ..commencing in Australia,' h it it pro\mises Kim* cscellent, prices for all the draught horses'ho subsequently breeds. British -breeders : with-.- a' ; ' surplus . of Bteck might-find it* worth their.whilfe to' get into communication, with Austra-.' lian salesmen.' , . *..* ■ . ' ".'' c'\ ■' ■ The matter.'is one-of some-interest to yjew Zealanders,. as a good deal ; of lustralian money .has been brought nto the.Domiuion of recent years trough H-he sales' of horses to people n the Commonwealth. ■ However,, it is norq than likely that, the distance Jetweeh England- and, Australia - is' too neat to. permit a profitable trade in fiorses to 'be; carried on-betweeit tho two countries under'. present circum-

stances.;',' ~ . " '~ -.-, .; Another. point is that of laie there has been an. exceptional demand in England for. heavy.foals*. If that is the case'the country'is.'-hardly likely to- in-' crease its exporting for a while, .unless the oversea- prices are very tempting— that is, 'what remains of the priceafter the. expenses-of transit are paid. The last, English';mail'-''brought. 'the, preliminary horse returns from ; Great" Britain; The total numbers are stated to be. .1*542,287, being, .a decrease,' of 7706, 0r,0.5. per.cent., as compared with last year. Of. the .number 1,136,841: are horses used for, agricultural purposes, there being of these an increase' of 4827.' There ace.'282,269 unbroken horses one year old and .above, a decrease of 12,388;' and the unbroken horses under one year number 126,177, a decrease of 145. ' Adding the figures for Ireland, the total for Great Britain and Ireland i5'2,158,531, an increase of 6353, but the return only refers to horses in country districts'. :.: Though', the animals wore not classi-' . fed,'and, it cannot be stated what percentage werp draughts, a recent .English return.stated that the number- of horses exported during the nine 1 month's ended September 30 .'was 38,355," as with 34,150 in the corresponding period of last year. Of the5e,:,.18,472c' went to Belgium, ,13,888 to' the Netherlands, 1605 to Franco, and 4390 to other' countries. The value of the horses- exported' was £873,810, against £768,553 lasKyear.. Tho' number of horses inippried tvas 12,027, of which-451 came .from the United States, 71 from Canada, and 11,505 from other countries. The value of horses exported, wa5; : £415,784, against -£450,283 last year to'.,the same date.'

Bureau -of '■ Microbiology, so 'far as they havo gone, indicate that there, may. .be some value in the method, but the. work has not reached a conclusive stage. Some efforts made to treat potatoes on a largo scale gave r very .'irregular Tesults. However, .further ..observations, are in progress. ' ; •Mγ: G..IT. Kibble-white, Experimentalist of. Graftbn_i .Experiment Farm, .New South Wales, in 'following -up the Work of Mr. D. M'Alpino, Vegetable Pathologist to the Victorian Government, suggests that experiments might bo devised to .test the effect; of exposing the tujjers to strong sunlight at a maximum natural 'temperature.. " There is a- distinction between mere heating and exposure to sunlight—the intter having special effects (says the "Agricultural. Gazette of New South Wales' , )'.' The point-has been noted by the Bureau of Microbiology for observation, and inquiries '' in connection therewith have ascertained that blight has ..occurred- in p'p.tatoes so exposed, it ,, being the practice of some farmers to expose and "green" .their seed potatoes prior to planting. It is possible that conditions raay be found that will do better. ■