AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 94, 22 April 1911, Page 12

AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS.

THE AMERICAN BEEF TRUST. _ " Considerable indignation is expressed m New Zealand at Mr. Haldane's statement that the British Army is still to be fed on American beef." So runs intelligence cabled here, says the London correspondent of The Pastoraliste' Review, ,and the sentence given in in* verted commas has been seized upon by some papers for political purposes, who preach a moral upon it against free trade. To one who heard what Mr. Haldane really did say in the House of Commons, it seems likely that wrong or incomplete information was afc the bottom of the affair. The' facts are that Mr. Field, an Irish member, who would feed everybody and everything upon Irish produce, asked if tho Minister of War would state whether or not the troops at Curragh were three days a week fed on Swifts' meat, which, it is common knowledge, is about the best refrigerated meat that comes here, and is much appreciated by the soldiers, officers and men alike. In a supplementary question, which appears not to have been reported, Mr. Haldane's attention war, further called to the statement that the Commonwealth objected to the Meat Trust, and intendtd to keep the members of it out of Australia. The Minister for War replied that it was true that Swifts held an Army contract, but that as that contract expired in May, it was not desirable to interfere with it just now ; further, that when a new contract was entered into, the question of whether a tenderer was in a Meat Trust or not would have consideration. But suppose Meat Trust meat be excluded, has New Zealand such a surplus of meat that she could fill all the Army he^i contracts? Or are the British troops al< the Curragh to be compelled to eat, isL part at any rate, the worn-out dairy cows of Ireland, and be deprived of prsme meat from the Argentine? TKe farmers in the Waitara (Taranaid) disteict are reported to have realised the qualities of lucerne as a fodder for their dairying herds. It is said to thrive well in. the soil in that district, and ite cultivation is lively to be gone in for on an extensive scale. Hungarian Government authorities — a new bulletin of the International Institute of Agriculture states — are not satisfied with the productiveness of agriculture in their country, and they are particularly anxious to encourage and improve the production of live stock, especially pigs. Instructions, therefore, have besn given to agents to provide stock -keepers, and particularly small proprietors, with breeding animals of good strains as cheaply as possible. The Department of Agriculture undertakes to pay 10 to 30 per cent, of the purchase prices of these ..animals, allowing easy terms as to payment. Farmers in the Argentine are having a bad time, the long drought having ruined the crops and caused the death of thousands of animals. Th© best Norwegian horses — or ponies, as we should describe them— says the Live Stock Journal, are those bred in the Gudbrandsdal region, about halfway between Christiania and Trondjeim. The characteristic colour is dun, with a black stripe, mane, and tail, which is attributed to Danish blood introduced more than 150 years ago. These animals are larger than the average Norwegian pony, ranging, as they do, trom 13 hands to 14 hands by native measurement, the Norsk method being to take the height from the wither to the first streak of the outer side oJ the hoof, not to the ground. Gudbrandsdal experts are very particular about the ears of a horse, holding these indicative of good qualities as well as breeding; and it is noticeable that the Gudbrandsdal ponies' ears are a good deal larger than those of the so-called fjord ponies ; but the head altogether is more suggestive of "blood." Summarising the indispensables in successful potato growing, there are three things necessary for the production of a profitable crop :— Good seed, well cultivated soil, and the liberal but judicious application of suitable fertilisers. The> dominant requirement of the plant is for potash, but a supply of nitrogen and phosphate df lime is equally essential. The soil must also contain a sufficiency ox humus, and for this purpose a moderate dressing of farmyard manure is desirable. The cause of many failures is due to lack of humans in the soil, loss of moisture through improper methods of soil preparation, poor seed, lowin vitality, and the use" of low class fertilisers. As regards fertilisers, a dressing of good Peruvian guano is hard to beat for potatoes, or a compound manure containing a high percentage of potash, say, with an analysis of 5 to 6 pei cent, of ammonia, 10 per cent, of phosphates and 6 to 8 per cent, potfash. Close in-and-in breeding of cattle will, it carried iar enough, ultimately cause deterioration Darwin says says that lnter-bceedjng prolonged during many generations is highly injurious." In Great Britain in-aud-in breeding has had less all-effect in shorthorn cattle than any other stock, and their distinct type has been formed and fixed by following that course. Several of the prominent Jersey breeders in Queensland have found m-and-in breeding necessary, 'in order to maintain the true type and as a preventive to the cattle running to coarseness. ' „ ?i J1 Squires* the champion prizefighter of Australasia, is a farmer, and a successful one at that. The wheat exhibit at tho New South Wales iioyal Agricultural Society's Show in the name of Farmer Bill Squires, of -the Peel River near Tamworfch, was- (says the Referee), awarded 'champion and first" nrizes. btrange to relate, the grain was of the variety known as. "Farrer's Come iiack, ( and Squires has certainly "come back into the public ey«, but not to the glamour of the ring. .From almost overy country in Europe last year (says the Scientific American,) came complaints of rainy weather In come regions the crops were almost a total failure, and everywhere the sum- | mer resorts had a poor season in con- | sequence of the rain. Many theories— most of them guesses— have been put forward to account for the increasing ram of the last few decades, but hardly •any two of the scientists agree But, leaving out conjecture, and considering , only facts, there can bo .no doubt but I that tho average of rainfall is increasing in Europe. Since 1689 records have been kept in Paris. Until the end of the eighteenth century there was no group of. years when the average was as great as 20 inches. But eince 1800 there has been no time when the average has not been over 20 inches, and this average haa increased towards the present time until in the 17 years of 1893 to 1909 the average was 23 inches. Of couise, there have been dry years and wet years, and sometimes several years at a time have ■'had either leea rain or more rain than the average. It is pretty well recognised now that Australia has evolved what is a distinct type of Ayrshire (says the Melbourne Leader). Possibly the climate nas had something to do with the development, but it is more likely to be due to the effect o1 breeders striving after utility animals. A well known breeder of btock in Victoria, lately returned from a visit, avers that Scottish owners have been breeding bulls mostly of a staggy type, long in the legs, and without the true, dairy points seen in Australia.