GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1871, 3 October 1913, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Tho timber industry in tho Dannevirko district has now Riven way dairy farming, and factory returns show that there is money in milk. Last season good prices ruled, and dairy farmers wore rewarded with substantial cheques. With a view to learning .what dairying meant to Danncvirkc, the "Evening News" instituted inquiries tmongst tho different factories regardng tho number of their suppliers and he. total amount of monoy paid out or the season. In the case of somo iroprietary concerns tho figures supilied oro confidential, and can only bo iicluded in tho aggregate, but the folciwing figures show the productive powirs of the district: —Norsowooa faccry, £16,431 lis. 9d.; I'amaki, £13,326 s. Id.; Ormondvillo, £8618; Umutaooa, £7350; Matamau, £o51u; Raunuti, £4791 10s.; Weber, £2178 10s.; ctal, £53,210 16s. Bd. To this has to >e added £24,095 paid oat by propriety factories, bringing the total up o £82,306 13s. lid. It was found untble to secure any returns from the argest proprietary concern in the disI'ict, but had these figures been availible there is little doubt that tliey could have shown that the dairy outiut for tho district last year reached he value of £100,000.. A number of farmers have been greaty perturbed in the Eketahuna district luring' the ' past, fortnight (says the 'Express") owing to the abnormal morality amongst their lambs. The worst eaturo is that the greater percentage if deaths occur amongst the best' developed of the flock, and post mortems lave failed to reveal any apparent ause, thougli it is generally assumed iver-fatness- is responsible. Ono farmer i,'ho feeds salt to his flock found that he lambs were .keener after it than heir mothers. This aspect the farmer ilaced before an officer of tho A<mmltural Department, who said it was easible, owing to. the amount of saltaken, for tho lambs to develop _ a woser's thirst, the quneching of whicli ended to mako them over-fat, more specially with tho owes in the condition .hoy were this season. The Ballanco Dairy Company's supily of milk is at present over a quarer of a ton in excess of that for the orresponding period last season. Lambing returns are unusually high 11 parts of the South Island this seaon. On several large sheep farms porcntages ar© generally well over a nunred. In ono case a large flock roturnd cioso on 150 per cent. Tho honey season has opened in Luckland in most favourable weather, nd bee c/jlonics are generally very for-,-ard. Tlio boistorous weather usually ccurring at tho spring equinox was ot experienced this year, and unless he weather-breaks this, month, and dejyed equinoctial gales are often very overe, apiarists will probably have a uccessful season. White clover, states he "Herald," has ajready been in ilossom for several weeks, and all ionoy-yielding vegetation is much in dvanco of the customary development, 'ho main honey flow, starts about the nd of the second week in November, hough it maybe earlier this season.