FARMING & COMMERCIAL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 134, 23 February 1918, Page 10

FARMING & COMMERCIAL

NIW3 AND NOTES,

1 THE CANTERBURY CROPS

I QUOTATIONS FOR GRAIN AND I PRODUCE. ■ By Telegraph—Press Association, j- Ciiristchurch, February 22. The purchase oi' wheat is going on | steadily, though more would have been | offering had it. not been for «tho wet t weather delaying thrashing. Oats are | 6carce, os tho mills are devoting most 1 of their time to thrashing wheat. There in is a keen demand for oats to fill orders 5 for delivery next month, and prices f are firmer. Gartoti's are now worth $ 3s. Gd. to 3s. Bd., and Algerians, Duns, | and Danish 3s. 3d. to 3s. 6d. per bushel at country stations. Oatsheaf | chaff is also scarce oil account of chaif- | cutter owners being engaged in thra-sh- | ing. From £3 15s. to £4 ss. per ton, k according to quality, are the ruling > prices at country stations. There is y more inquiry for grass sced ( owing to * the quantity damaged by rain shorten- \ ing the expected supply. Up to 4s. | Cd. has been paid for extra prime heavy I ryegrass. Cocksfoot is very firm iu £ consequence of the crops having been | damaged by the damp weather on the Peninsula. p. There is not much business being | done in potatoes, few outside orders j having yet been received. The best '( price now offering for present and fori ward delivery is £3 ss. per ton at !i country stations. A fair amount of 4 business is being done in onions at \ £3 15s. per ton at country stations.

p _ 1 AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS

LAN AMBIGUOUS ItETURtf. A well-known Canterbury farmer lias forwarded the Christchnrch "Press" copies of tlie form to be filled in giving particulars of holding and stock, and a card 011 which the information ley garding live stock has to bo repeated, jj exclusive of the number of sheep shorn § and lambs tailed, and tho animals S slaughtered for food on the farm. In 5 ail accompanying letter the farmer 5 points out several inaccuracies tiiat § will result if the form is filled in ns ! requested. The area of land held by i tho occupier has to be set out, and the | areas in crop, etc., have got." to tally with the total area of land. But where s there are what may be termed double I crops growing on the same land, one I or other must be omitted or the total I area will be out. This tvill apply prin--5 cipally in cases where grass and clover ! seed has been sown with a grain crop— i a comifion practice. Thus, for instance, ' a farme? has 300 acres, 250 acres are t in old pasture, and 50 acres in grain crop sown down with grass. He lias thus actually 300 acres in grass, as ! well as 50 acres in grain crop,' yet the total area sown has to agree with the ; total shown under "Tenure of land"l After a farmer has, therefore, filled in tho details asked for. lie will fmel that the summary he has to make will nut agree with the total area of his holding. In tho summitry, moreover, the flaxbearing areas of one acre or over (not to include areas principally used for grazing) "have to be stated. The correspondent points out that in Canterbury there are numerous gullies and river-beds used for grazing that produce some thousands of tons of green flax, and thei? will, therefore, not be returned at all.

Again, it is pointed out that green fodder_ (including rape) may lea-J to confusion, as a wheat or oats crop may be userl for green fodder and still be kent for harvesting, In tho as to live stock provision is made for a return of horses —stallions, geldings over two years old, mares over two years old and fon.ls: also fillies, colts, and geldings under two years old, thus, apparently, including horses of all ages, yet there is .a line for "other horses," and one will naturally want to know what they arc.

LUCERNE AT ASHBURTON

!| RESULTS FROM THREE CUTS. Mr. A. Macphersou, Fields Supervisor, has forwarded a Christohurch paper Inspector Branigan's report on the results of three cuttings of lucerne on the Ashburton A. and P. Association's grounds. The lucerne was weighed in a green state. The results were, for the different varieties Turkestan, first cut, 3.935 tons per acre; second cut, 1.389; third cut, .926; total, 6.250 j| tons per acre. Peruvian, 6.945, 2.662, w 1.851; 11.458. Poitou or Northern, f|| 7.523, 2.778, 2.546; 12.847. Provence, || 7.176, 2.773, 2.778; 12.732. Russian, | 7.060, 2.053, 2.083; 11.226. Spanish, i 7.176, 2.430, 2.430; 12.036. Dryland, K 7.176, 2.315,1.851; 11.342. Hungarian, m 7.871, 2.430, 1.967; 12.268. Arabian, | 7.408, 2.083, 1.967; 11.458. Patagonian, | 8.334, 3.125, 2.546; 14,005. MarlI borough, 8.334, 3.241, 2.778; 14.353. | Mr. Macpherson remarks that it will U be noticed that there is a falling off in jjjj weight from the first cut. This is due E to allowing the race water to flood thfc | area to the extent that the crowns of R the plants were submerged, in Novem- | ber, the water remaining there for some I considerable time. This resulted in the | death of several of tho plants, and tho | weakening -of them all, and no doubt | the stand will be affected more or less to during the whole of the season. It will I be well, he thinks, to top-dress' the ! I area with lime, at the rate of one ton j | per acre, this autumn, which will have | a beneficial effect 'upon next year's B crops. The weights of the two heaviest | yielding varieties, Marlborough and | Patagonian, when converted into hay, | would give an approximate yield of 3} | tons each, which, at £4 per ton, gives if to date a total value of £14 per aero, | At least one more cut- should be obtain- | cd from the area before tho season is | ended. i | Tho secretary of the Thames Oliam- | ber of Commerce states that during it* 1916-1917 season the value of butter- | fat received from the Hauraki Plains i| amounted to £72,390. The estimated | number of cows being milked on the | | plains is about 5000, and there are be- | sides many hundreds of stock, both | sheep and cattle, apart from dairy K co,vs -

LIVE STOCK SALES

Messrs. Dalgety and Co., Ltd., Palmerßton North, report, having held their fortnightly sale at Taihape on Thursday, when a good yarding of sheep came forward. There was a fair attendance of miyei-B, and all lines submitted met with ready sale at prices satisfactory to veil dora. Quotations :-2-tooth wethers, 275." 4d. to 285.; 4-toolh wethers, 305.; 4 and 5year ewe's, small, low condition, 13s. to 165.; good lines, 255. to 255. 7d.; mixed 2-tooths. email, 20s. lOd. Draught horses £20, £24, £25 10s., to £28 ss. COMMERCIAL ITEMS INVESTMENT SHAKES. Huddart-l'iirkor (ordinary) shares have risen from about 355. to 37e„ and several sales have been made at the higher quotation during th£ past two days, the demand coming from Australia and Dunedin. Yesterday's quotations were as follow Buyers, Sellers. £ s d. £ s. d. National Bank 5 7 0 — Bank N.Z. (old) — 12 10 0 Union Bank 54 5 0 — N.Z. Loan and Mor. (ord.) 8110 0 - Well. Trust and Loan ... 5 12 6 5 17 6 Christchurch Gas (£5) ... 5 17 6 6 2 6 Hokitika Gas 4 8 0 5 0 0 National Insurance 3 0 0 — Gear Meat (£1) 4 16 0 — Huddart-I'arker (ord.) ... 1 17 0 2 0 0 Union Steam (ord.) 3 2 6'' — Union Steam Cpref.) 110 — Well. Woollen (ord.) 6 15 0 — Well. Woollen (pref.) 4 5 0 — Westpnrt Coal — 1 11 0 Waipa Colliery — 018 0 Leyland-O'Brien 16 6 — Mamnoth Molybdenite ... 0 5 9 — Manning and Co — 3 3 0 N.Z. Paper Mills 0 19 3 — Rharland's (ord.) 17 9 — W.F.O.A, (£5) 6 5 0 - Customs duties collected at the port, of Wellington yesterday amounted to £2904 ss. 2d. BABBITSKINS. By Telegraph—Press Affiliation--Cooyriglit (Rec February 22, 9.10 p.m.) London, February 21. Rabhitskins.—inning's report: 807 bales woro offered. They excited competition, and all were sold. Low qualities were 50 per ccnt., and the best 75 per cent, above the July rates. Australian furriers' skins touched a recoTd—lsod. per 11).