GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1983, 13 February 1914, Page 10

GENERAL FARMING NEWS.

j 'A.Tato oF,l?lsth of. Id. per headi of sheep and l-3rd of Id. per-head of cattlo on all sheep and cattle in the Haw.ke's Bay Kabbit'Board district will be struck at a meeting of tho board to be. held ~ at Napier on Tuesday, March 3. 'An important meeting of fanners and- . ' chairmen, of dairy.companies and others ' interested in, liiaking an' effort increase the facilities for handling _ and freezing of fat stock, also for providing cool storage- for butter and. cheese, will bo held at Manawatu. A. arid.P. Coin- .-- rnittee rooms. on. Thlirsday next at' 2 p.m. Importatft suggestions will 1)6 placed heioro the meeting. ■ l ■ '■ -\ A blight (states' a- soutlieni exchange) lias been .attacking the wheat in South j ; Canterbury, causing it to die from the ! root upwards. A sample of tlio affected ' grain was sent to Dr.' Cockaynej biologist to the Agricultural Department, and ho has advised that tho disease is known as "take all of wheat" (opioboliis gramjnis). ' He ; recommends the use of basic slag on. the land as>a curative agent. ~,Oats, ho- says, do not cpntract the diseise- (farmers noticed this),-.so' that this cereal can bo grown with safety on tho affected land. ■ The wool railed from the. Pahiatua station so far this year totals 4380 bales, states an exchange., The number of fat sheep railed/from.the local station this season, is over 37,00Q> Last month was.a very busy one for tlio officials, . 24,000 . sheep, being ; ' trucked from tho district..- ■ - ■ • .-• '■■■ - The official opening of the Mahgaliao Co-operative Dairy Company's fino new cheese factory on ; the Mangatainoka

Block on Saturday, was attended by settlers from all parts of the district, riofewer than ten other dairy companies being-represented. After the opening ceremony tho visitors'were entertained by .the wives of tho settlers 011 the block. Numerous toasts were honoured, and thoso present (states tho Faliiatun "Herald") dispersed quite, confident that.they had .witnessed the opening'of a factory- with a good future, erected by settlers who would do justice to ths fine district they were settled in. In declaring the factory open, the chairman of directors (MiVA. Ross) said that the factory was well built and equipped with the latest labour-saving devices, and was capablo of dealing with the milk from 600 cows giving 3 gallons eacli per day.-This, he stated, should meet their requirements for a number of years. Tho Greytowu Dairy Company paid out on Saturday tho sum of £4046 to its suppliers. Tho sum is a. record payment for tho company, says the Greytown "Standard." ' • . The dates for. tho Manawatu Winter Show have been fixed from June 16-to It. is nn error shared by many farmers, 'writes the director of an experi-. mental station; that fertile, soils do not requiro the-assistance of-artificials, and that'tho occasional'applicatfons of farm- • yard manure serve to -produce abundant .cropsj whereas,, really,' as.our experiments have demonstrated, it-is just the contrary. It is on rich soils that, artificials ju;diciuosly_ used,' iii epnjunetio'n arid' supplementing' farmyard 'nranuros, produce': the'.most profitable' results. ■ - '.Quite a' largo number' of Ashburtoiv dairying,' and" graiii-g.rowing.' and{ they find that the combination pays '(says' a> soutliern _• 'exchange).- ; The highest chequo. paid to any siipplierby the AsK-' burton. Dairy' Factory Company, Ltd.,' fpr^tho,month of December amounted to: £75,': and several others ' were' paid cheques.' well] over £60. for, tho. same period... Almost all of these farmers combined dairying: witli wheat-growing anil- slieep-breeding. "Considering.-'thit dairying-is practica,Uy,in. it's infancy in' the county, th'o money made by 'those! following it is very satisfactory. - Fo'r.last December the local factory ' paiil suppliers £4700,' as against £3aOO for' 'the corresponding month of 1912, an increase of £1200. • ' . • •■.•'. .'A warning jwas" received ' at. Kaimirp from the Kaimate district, recently, about a probable visit'of three alleged ■tax-gatherers' that'haye -done'business in the Kaimate district during _I last week. Their , mode of operation' is 'simple but effective (states the 'faranaki "Herald"). They call at a farm during milking time, one of them makes inquiries' about a lost horse, and when found that xhe family. is engaged in the shod a signal' is given, a member of the' firm enters the farm-house and collects all the cash —jewellery or other traceable stuff has no attraction for them— any sum'from a few shillings out of a girl's purso to a.fair'slice of a milk cheque is' gathered in, while tho other, niembers do outpost duty. Those dar-, ing thieves ,are'supposed to' bo well mounted'."... '■'." '< ' ... '. ;■' During .the last 12 months tlio pig industry in Mauawatu has been nealected by many farmers, who considered that they we.re, not petting sufficient return for their trouble and exnense of feeding (says the "Manawatu Times"). The result is that there is a great scarcity of pigs in the district- at the nfesent time. A few of -the smaller farmers 'liavoj been far-seeins enough- to, sight profit ahead) and their : investm'eJits"'Ha'Ve' ! been highly satisfactory. . Owing to tho scarcity of grass'many Eallauce farmers are now. feeding maize •to their cows,,though aj this crop, owing to bad weather at the time, was sown very late, there is not a very good yield. Even with this milk-producing fodder, the -,nilk. supply is rapidly decreasing, and reports from our cheese factory show a great decline in the output. . ■'...■' '