GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1895, 1 November 1913, Page 8

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

A meeting of the Ekotahuna branch of the Farmers' Union was held last Saturday. The Hukanui sub-branch wrote, asking that bacon companies bo written to, asking if they will reinstate the insurance schemo on pigs. It was pointed out that about two years back the companies instituted a schemo whereby vendors . secured something near the value of pigs condemned at the works, the premium paid boing Is. per head. Tho companies dropped the scheme, and vendors have since been called upon to bear the .whole loss of pigs condemned. One member contended that the high percentage of condemned pigs was due in a great measure to the carelessness of breeders, while another considered it only right that tho careless grower should pay the full penalty. It was eventually decided, on tho motion of Mr. Wales, that the bacon companies operating in the district be written to asking them if it is possible to reinstate the insurance 6cheme. The strike', if prolonged, is likely to have a very serious effect on the dairying industry in the Pahiatua district. The Rexdale Cheese Company has received a letter from a firm of dairy produce agents in Wellington intimating that the company must be prepared, in the, event of the strike continuing, to receive advice to send no more shipments in the meantime. The communication also stated that there ; were 100 wagons full of cheese in Wellington waiting to" be unloaded. Tho Ballance Dairy Company has also received word to the effect that it is very doubtful whether the Athenio will be able to sail for London on due date. Tho Athonic's cargo was to include' a consignment of Ballance butter. .A thousand crates of cheese were shut out of the Ruapehu and are also waiting shipment by the Athenio. The average cow of the ten best herds of one of the Agricultural Department's illustration 'cow-testing associations produced last year 2711b. of butter-fat, while the average cow of the. association produced only 2011b. The difference in value, at Is.'a pound for butter-fat, equals £3 10s. per head. The census for the year 1911 credits New Zealand with 633,733 cows. Could each of these be increased in productive capacity by the recorded above, says jthe "Agricultural Journal," tho value of the increased ,yield would exceed the value of the Dominion's annual export "of either butter or cheese. A farmer of the Ashburton Forks district states that his lambs aro affected with lameness, which has resulted in the loss of a number of his flock. The lambs become so. lame that they cannot stand up, but if the ewes feed them theyjrecover, though in many cases they arcA-ne'glected by the mother and are starved. \ (Published by Arrangement;) Mr. Albert J. Parton, of Victor Cheese Vat fame,'has an interesting exhibit in the Richmond oil engine. This engine has made a great name for itself in England, securing the highest award against all other makes at tho Welsh National Agricultural Society's Exhibition, held in 1910. For excellence, economy, simplicity, nnd reliability, Mr. Parton will supply further particulars on. application, and farmers will do well to inquire about the "Richmond." 'Resides this, Mr. Parton is showing a few examples ot dairy tinware utensils, but owing to the' rush of orders has not had time to, devote to making a display, of. 'ariy-prV-tensions. During the present season Victor goods, particularly vats, which, by the way, have a centre-drainage, mating them so far ahead of the old flat-bottpmedi style, that orders have been received from as far north as the Thames and the Bay of Plenty, and south <*& f ftr OS3 ln Westlanu, besides, scores of orders from the Wellington aid Tarannki provinces. Victor dairy cans also command great popularity on account of their substantial build, and tho rain and dust-proof lid since whey separation has become popular with the cheese factories. Mr. Parton's staff have been kept busy manufacturinf' very large whey vats and tinned steel shirting to convey the whey from the cheese vats into the whey vat ready for the separator. During the past few months several factories have been fitted up, and at present he is carrying out a contract at the Rexdale Factory at Mangamanui having just completed NireahaandDnlefield. Dairy tinware bearing tho Victor trade mark is well known for -the substantial make.- and lasting properties. In addition to the • above, Mr. Parton has been appointed local agent for the well-known L.K.S. milking machine, and will undertake the erection and attention to all plants in any part of the district. The L.K.S. milker, with an M. and L. releasor plant, is the greatest labour-saver on the dairy farm to-day.

Develop the milking propensity and high butter-fat test by using the "Gilruth" Calf Food. The constitutionbuilder. It is not only the best, but also the cheapest.—Advt.