LOCAL AND GENERAL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 15 July 1915, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

The number 'of patients in the Weraroa military hospital yesterday was 25, but many of the cases are very slight. Australia has 12,000,1)00 cattle, 83,0u0,000 sheep, and 3,800,000 swine. New Zealand, with a population of> a little over a million, has over 2,00,000 cattle, 21,000,000 sheep, and 355*000 swine. In one of the rooms of the Board of Trade city offices, in London, there '« on view an agricultural implement thj# iis an admirable specimen of ingenuity. It is an a 11-!ne 0 1 astic steel spade capable mider,.>j) resin . 0 <j[ being bent into anc l o jf re . gaining its proper shaj)/ H -| l( , n t i ic pmj _ sure is removed. Xt is made in two pieces, the welded on to the shalt, and i« one of the curiosities in an of hand ana edged tools jdrganised by the Board of Trade in con,junction with the movement to capture German trade.

10-night llic second tsoi'itv* oi' dances will bo held by the Lyric assembly in the King's Theatre. The floor of the theatre iis being well worked up and as there is a good area, the dance should prove an enjoyable one. Good music has been arranged for and everything done to .secure tlie comfort of visitors.

A football match between a team representing the Levin school and one

.picked from the town youths, was plavetl on the Levin park domain yesterday afternoon. The teams were of tho usual number—fifteen—l/u : t each side played about fourteen forwards. Success in such a game requires plenty ol main strength and something el.se, and in these directions the school team wvi'e 'eiildnssed by their heavier opponents, and Avere defeated by nine points to nil. it is reported that the war lias croft - ted a scarcity of cattle in Hussia and Siberia, and that large importations tvinii Chosen, Korea, are under way to supply the deficiency. The latest oris for 50,000 head and" 20,000 of these are to be Korean cattle, but tho remainder are to be supplied by .Shantung Province 111 China. It' the venLui" is suceesslul it is said that regular importations of cuttle will continue from

tiie.so countries

A cow believed to be 28 years old, died last month at Lake Cowal Station, Marsdens (Australia). This cow was .first broken to milk' just 20 years ago, and during her life produced 2'J calves, the first 22 of which were dropped in successive years The recent 18-months' drought, in the district ■prOTed too much for her. Can any dairy farmer beat this .station-bred cow's records in years and numbers of calves?

All the freezing works in llawke's liay arc at present filled with frozen meat, and very little, killing Is being done. J.he meat cannot be disposed of o*\ffiig to the lack of shipping facilities One boat is expected to load at Napier this month, but as there are over 200,000 carcases in cool stores this will not make any appreciable difference. At all the works immense flocks are offering, but the companies cannot deal with them owing to lack of accomodation. Says a Home paper: in view of the great increase in the price of bread and the likelihood of a still greater rise, the very large increase in proiits shown by the Cardiff firm of Spflloiw and Bakers, Ltd., is exciting much pu(jlic comment. The profits Tor the year ended February 28 amounted to £367,W>s as compared with £89.0017 tile previous year. The capital'of the company is £1,000.000, made up of 500.000 shares and 50,000 £10 preference (shares. The shareholders mnnljcr over 1800 and include peers, High Court Judges and County Court Judges. Evidently some people are growing rich out of the war at 'the expense of the poor.

Hie records oi two herds of dairy cows owner by two neighbours furnish a striking example of the utility of dairy records to the man who really wants to build up a good herd. The •first man hat* been cow testing, lor four .years, and has selected his cows carelully, studying their various preferences and capacities, each ono as an individual He raises heifers from his best con*; lour two-year-olds gave List year an avora<£o of 7144 pounds of milk-,-while his herd of ten gave an average of 8059 pounds of milk and 251) pounds of fat. The neighbour considers it .simpler to buy just what cows he" can; tie doeg not raise any calves. Last year his nine cows, all upwards of six years old, except two heifers, gave an average of only 4240 pounds of -milk. This is only just about one-half as much milk per cow as in the first 'herd. The 'best cow gave only G355 pounds, less than the average of the four Tieifors in the first herd. He has nothing on which to start building up a good dairy herd, unless it be bis judgement :n "picking the winner," which julgnient, by the way, does not appear to be of AI quality. . The owner <>f the first 'herd has tlie advantage of four years of dairy records, practically indispensable to the real dairy tanner, besides matured judgment in handling cows to Fetfer advantage. —Cow-testing pays.