GENERAL ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1544, 13 September 1912, Page 8

GENERAL ITEMS.

NOTES FKOM VAEIOUS SOURCES. Tho Paiiatna-Akitio Agricultural am )• Pastoral Association has fixed January 3 5- as the dato for its next show. n It is generally supposed that tho lif ■• of a breeding ewe is finished after fivi 0 years, says the "Ashburton Guardian.' 1 But, .like, everything else, a good deal de J ponds upon tho core taken. Tho followinj !• facts might como as a surprise to dealen '■• and breeders: Mrs. H. Ward, of High 0 bank, in the Ashburton County, has madi a hobby of caring for pot owes, and tho re :, cords of six of them are as follow j . Norah, aged 13 years, 20 lambs; Brownie t flged 12 years, 18 lambs; Kathleen, aget . 11 years, 18 lambs; Jeau, aged 11 vears j 9 lambs; Stiffy, aged 11 years, 9 lambs! Daisy aged 8 years, 12 lambs. All of thest animals have either, one or two lambs al . foot at the prcsont tim«. ■ .J? midst of much rejoicing over the ; high price for potatoes for export to the Commonwealth there has come o cj ■lliue word from "the other side," says tho Dun- , edin Star" of Saturday. It is an instruc-tionJrom-tho hew South Wales Govern* nient to tho effect that the importation of,seed or small potatoes from New Zealand must stop.- Unless tho Dominion authorities can persuade . tho Now South Wales officials to stay the restriction as regards forward contracts, tho result will bo serious to Now Zealand merchants. Local potato exporters held a meeting yesterday afternoon, when it was decided to wire for. T. W. Kirk, New Zealand Government Biologist, requesting him to ask the Sydney authorities to allow shippers to complete present contracts to the end of this month. It is thought that this ■request will be considered favourably in bydney. Different opinions are expressedas to the reasons that prompted the restrictions against seed or small potatoes, but the, one that seems to hold tho most weight ,s that which lays the blame on a bjdney produce firm, who are suspected of IS S' faHo and selling the mixture" fo T ,£l6 a ton, thus netting a clear profit of over £S a ton for the wee tubers. i The growth of the silo, idea among Nebraska farmers has been very marked, tn 1909, according to Professor A. L. Haecker, there were forty silos in tho state; in 1910 there were 400; in 1911 there were 1650. At the annual meeting of the Kaponga P? IT I C ° mpan - T the chairman stated that the directors were offered G l-16d. for their f&°!' p t ™' al 2 d mal, y P e °P le called thorn fools, for not accepting what seemed V &-* pnce - other companies were ollered the same, and one company, which was supposed to contain tho brains of laranaki, signed on the same terms as Kaponga-eonsigned at ssd. guaranteed without recourse. This other comnanv, hearing that a smaller factory had sold outright at 6>d., considered that they had made an error, and recalled the f s ??*:, . He immediately offered to buy half their output at 6jd., which they accepted. On that half thev lost ,£7OOO. If Kaponga had sold at GJd., they would have lost over .£4000; if they had acceptover I 7000" ' ° ffer th ° y ™ m have J ° st The Hawera Co-operative Dairy Factory Company paid out Is. 3Jd. per lb. to suppliers for butter-fat supplied during the past season. The table of statistics attached to tho directors-* annual report was as follows:—Lb. of milk rcceivpd 27,814,918; lb. of butter-fat,T,057,093;7ver ! age test, 3.79 per cent. Used for ohcescmahng: Lb. milk, 26,645.241; lb. butterfat, 1,010,154; lb. of cheese from lib. butter-fat, 2.68; lb. cheese made, 2,716,863; lb. milk to lib. cheese, 9.8; average test. 3.(9; cost per lb., f.0.b., 0.706. Used for butter-making: Lb. milk, 1,199,677; lb. butter-fat, 46,939; lb. butter made, 55,3-15; overrun, 17.90; lb. of milk to lib. butter, 21.67; average test, 3.91. At tho stud horse sales in Sydney recently one prominent buyer refused to bid for draught horses that had been docked, on the ground that they could not protect themselves from insect pests, which were prevalent'in his district. You are making a great mistake," he told an owner who was offering a docked horse. , 'I am sure of it," added the auctioneer. In Victoria docking has been declared to be illegal, and a protest has been issued against the practice on the ground of cruelty. In England, it may be remembered, a conviction was gained against ail owneT last year on the same ground.