BY THE WAYSIDE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 76, 22 December 1937, Page 14

BY THE WAYSIDE

News of Interest To H.B. FARMERS ITALY'S W00L-BUYING Italy has been a prominent buyer at Anstralasian wool saies this seaeon, but demand from that source is likely to slacken as a result of recent decisions of the Italian Government to compel importers to pay a specially high lire rate for foreign exchange amountmg to 35 per cent. for mixed to 60 per cent for puro wool. Southland Dry Spell.

During the past week welcome showers have fallen in most districts in Southland, which will relieve the serious situation of the comtinued dry weather, says the agricultural editor of the Southland Tinies. The rain will revive pastures and check the conun*ued drop in the milk supply but cow9 have falen offi considerably and it is ddubtful if they will recover again. It is also too late to do much good to most of the hay crops, which are much lighter and fewer in number this season. On many farms none could be saved because of shortage of feed. Shorthorns Average £326. At the special sale ^of imported Shorthorn bulls held in Buenos Aires in September, a catalogue of 28 bulls offered on account of Scottish breeders and exporters, including Alexander and Co., R. L. P. Duncan, A. J. Marshall, and others, averaged £326 10/- a head. The highest price (£845) was pald for Garguston Resolute, a two-year-old red bull by Kinellar Observer, bred by R. S. MeWilliam, of Garguston, Muir of Ord. This bull was fifth as a yearling at the Perth saies, where he was sold for 42gns. to a North Ireland buyer. Australian Butter. The satisfaetory position of the butter market in Great Britain and the strides made by Australian dairy produce abroad were commented on at Fremantle by Mr J. H. Maggs, chairman of TJnited Dairies, Ltd., a large English coneern, which handles a fair amount of Australian produce. He said: "The reputation in London of Australian butter is higher than lt nas ever been before. You can tell that by the price, which is now the same as for New Zealand butter. Actually, wben I left London there was only about 2s. per cwt. difference in price in the varions butters from all over the worrcf. Danish butter nearly always commands a premium, but in recent months you have been getting pretty close to the Danish price." Killtag Grasshoppers. Ifaissian entymologists have announced the discovery of a bacteria that they claim gives 100 per cent. eifectiveness in grasshopper destruction. They have inoculated a number of grasshoppers and liberated them to move among swarms with the result, so they claim, that millione are wiped out in a very short time. Ayrshires Televlsed. Television is making rapid strides In England, and to the Ayrshire breed has fallen the honour . of being the iirs*. breed of cattle to be televised. When the B.B.C. were looking for suitable animals for this purpose they choso four Ayrshire cows belonging to Mr Rugald Mackay, Symonds Hyde, Hatfield, and on June 29 they paraded before the television cameras at Alexaander Palace. Killed by Lightning. Mr Andrew Lindsay, Dipton, Southland, had the misfortune to lose two valuable draught horses recently through being struck by lightning during a thunder storm. One horse was lying close to the fence and the other was on the fence with its head split open. All the wires on the fence near the horses were badly scorched and had the appearance of wire that had been through a heavy fire. Boronated Super. The use of boronated superphosphato for the control of mottled heart in swedes is a practice which has grown considerably in Hawke's Bay during the past two years and which has »iaa good results. It is pointed out, lxowever, that boronated super does not control dry-rot in swedes, while the use of boronated super in direct contact with the swede seed has been known to have a detrimental effect npon the germination of the seed. For this reason the broadcasting of the borax, at the rate of ten pounds to the acre, after being mixed with lime, either before or shoi'tly after the seed has been sown, i& advisable as a precautionary measure. Butter for Germany. "How much butter are we going to sell in Germany?" was a question asked Mr A. J. Murdoch, chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board, during an address at Morrinsville. In replying he said: "Provision has been made fot the sale of £400,000 of New Zealand 's goods and you can take 25 per cent., or 1000 tons as butter. If Germany takes 1000 tons from us it will be 1000 tons less that she will need from Den-> mark. That 1000 tons from Denmark will then be loaded on to the English market and we will be back where we started. Personally I do not think that we will have aecomplished anything from the agreement. Our great market is Britain and we must maintain and support it. It is the market which glve? the best results. If a lariff was imposed there it would seriously affeet the Do> j nisioo's development.