THE RECORDER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 981, 11 June 1879, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE RECORDER.

OUR EXPORTS OF PRODUCE

In pursuance with the course adopted by a last month, and which we intend folloMin regularly, we give below a return, compilj from official records, of the produce sent from Oamaru by water carriage during the past month. The shipments of grain a re not so large as might have been anticipate It will be observed that Dunedin again rcceived the largest share of the produce shipped away, and will of course get the credit of exporting it abroad. Iu addition to the quantities given in the tables below a large amount of produce lias been carried away by railway, but it is impossible to ascertain the precise figures. We have purposely omitted all small items in the exports, preferring only to give such as our readers are mainly interested in. The fol. lowing tables show the quantity of each class of produce exported and the port to | which they have been shipped : WHEAT. Sacks. Dunedin 11,605 I Auckland 240 Wellington 250 New Plymouth 50 Bluff 295 Hokitilca 247 Greymouth 32 Westport G5 Total ... 12,784 Total last month 22.504 oats. . Sacks, j Melbourne 5.030 Brisbane 509 Adelaide 6,075 Sydney ... 3,557 Dunedin ... ••• ••• 1,210 Auckland ... ... ••• 1,82j Wellington 697 New Plymouth lj> Napier... ... ••• ••• 405 Wanganui ?9Q Kaipara 100 Hokitika ... ••• ••• 549 Greymouth 29j W eatport 300 Total 24,673 Total last month 23,5!! BARLEY. Sacks. Melbourne 41! Dunedin ... 1,6$ Napier Hokitika Wanganui ! Total ... 2,2 ; Total last month 2,f potatoes. Sact 1 Sydney J , Dunedin ... ■■■ I 1 Auckland 8 ' Total £ i Total last month { L - FLOUR. Sii Brisbane ... jJ Dunedin ... ••• ••• ••• • Auckland ... ••• 1^ - Wellington W Napier ® ' Bluff M = Wanganui ... ••• K 0 Kaipara * Nelson ® Hokitika ® Greymouth ! Total ... '1

Total last month jj* POLLARD. Brisbane ... H Dunedin ... ••• H Auckland H Wellington ... ••• H Napier H Hokitika ... 'H Grcymouth H Kaipava ... Total last month fl BRAN. -V Brisbane Dunedin ... ••• Auckland ... Wellington Napier... ... Oreymoiuli ... Wcstporr. ... ol diet Mini o, couatir.ui.i.'ti >• ... ;al last mouth Auckl ... ... ■ Napier Wanganui ... ... Hokitika ... ... Grcymouth Total last month

Besides the above there away many other items of producook it is unnecessary to give a detailed ment. The list of these includes ill of wool, a host of skins, cliaif, vcjfi stone, &c.

TRIAL OF DOBBIE'S BR( CAST SEED-SOWER.

On Tuesday last a highly luccessftijfc Dobbie's broadcast seed-sower, wit' several improvements effected by it'' after the shipment of the first cons?' to New Zealand, took place 011 Mr.* Turnbull's farm, White Rocks. Thonjday was anything but favorable, and® of our farmers were either engaged» Road Board elections taking place the® day, or taking advantage of the fact tM' rain of the few previous days had ploughing a more easily performed ope" 11 there was a very fair attendance. those present were the Hon. MathewHw Mr. R. M'Auley, and several 0! prominent farmers. Still wo should liked to have seen a larger atteinMXj agriculturists, for the trial was uiiqucatiw one well calculated to test the capabilith the machine. The land was uneven, u" 1 places had steep banks, the horses J new to the work, and the driver novice at such a trial. Mr. A. W. i)ol one of the manufacturers, who ,a on a' from Adelaide to this Colony for the of introducing the firm's improved pah and to make the necessary alterations 11 machines previously sold, superintended operations of the machine, occasiot stopping to explain many matters of w alike in regard to the constructional"'® of working the seed-sower. The niJtwas tried in all manner of ways, "" case proved itself an invaluable help®"' the farmer. A fino piece of well-p' ot S land was and owing to the u " ! and heavy nature of the ground two M were used instead of one, as is usually case. An exhibition of the powers 0 machine to- sow widely and evenly was given, and on going carefully over the it was found that the seed, which was sown at the rate of 1J bushel to the had been very evenly scattered over » 1 of 57 feet. Some doubt appeared entertained as to whether the inMhro capable of sowing properly when g the face of a hill, but this was set Mr. Dobbie sowing several very. ]jj pieces of land, the grades of tv'hicß pretty steep. Here the work done equally good, 110th withstanding horses were somewhat too anxious to the bottom of the small gullies, and tra rather too fast. After this Mr. Dobb ' an illustration of the capability machine to sow in one direction Having altered the feed-guiile, > simple contrivance by means of w''" machine can be made to throw t direction the operator desires, he s°jV a width at one part of the field w . land narrowed down owing to the cu * the fence. The trial was altogether . gratifying alike to those who appf L introduction of labor-saving inac.lnn to Mr. Dobbie. We have whatever in saying that the Dod . cast seed-sower is the best nrnc'i" kind yet introduced into the Coloujall great inventions, its greatness mainly in its simplicity ; it 13 .j construction, and its manipulation , simplest kind. It might easily by an intelligent boy. W f c nrc [ e r, intricate parts, likely to get out o „j. on this ground is:to be highly co : ; Although there are a largeiiuui j machines in ihis district, and « ;■ eadera have become tolerably well m J

i . tutlur* tad CKuMrttM* » short Dobbie broadcast wedati prove nninterwtrn*; but we tint description by stating fl®7 J; a adapted for sowing any kind ot grtkfl*, turnips, Jfce.—the the regn'ation of OT.vJ The fact that the machine can {o do all «* seed-sowing ghrea b ;s an additional value. The main ' 0 £ the Dobbie sower are the hondistributor and feed guide. The dis'"•Jnrtor consists of » circular disc of strong unMiined iron about 18in. in diameter, on "ttfaru firmly fixed five fans of the same cowed form. This ®Etor is fi«d on an uprteht shaft £riur also » small level coc-whedl which *r* into a much larger wheel attached to thfrnaia shaft. On the end of this shaft is r«.l a toothed pulley to receive the driving %L, which passes round a circle of in«o isty contrived spoke clamps attached £The spokes of any ordinary cart-wheel, so that when the cart containing the sower Z;L forward the driving chain causes the Itributor to revolve with great velocity. rha feed guide is small circular box-like anting with half the bottom cut away, the Mher half being of a slanting or incline f ren «as to guide the grain into a certain part !?t]io distributor. The object of this feed oniib is to enable the farmer to scatter the ?o«d in whatever direction he pleases; for \.„Hnce supposing he has sown all of one strip of 25ft., he has .imoly to tura the feeti K uule a Ilttle to the riuhi; or left as the case may be, and all the a-iin will bo thrown to one side of the cart. Ska aame thing is applicable when finishing if a headland. Of course when only half a width is sown a smaller quantity of grain is •Unwed to p'W» through the regulator, othergirt the sowing would be too thick. The toil regulator is so arranged that any quan?w 0 f need can be sown per acre, say from oJ pound of grass or turnip seed up to four tuahala of wheat or any other grain. The noper part of the machine consists of a Jlvaniaed hopper capable of hotding about on, bushel of grain- The hopper, distributor, and shafts, are supported on a neat, 5,16 strong, caat-iroa frame about 17in- by 20in., 30 that it does not occupy much room jtt tka cart. The difference between the nabbie seud-aoww and the American handjowara that were previously known in New Zealand consists principally in the distributor. That of the American sower evolves in an ujpright or vertical position, jo that the seed is thrown high up into the air thus making it liable to be affected by thu least breath of wind, besides which, for *.iut of the patent feed guide the sowing is thicker in one place than another. The motion of the Dobbie sower causes the grain to bo discharged in a horizontal direction, tlia sanus u sowing by hand, but of course with much greater regularity. These machines are coming greatly into uw in South Australia, where they appear to be in high favor, Judging by an incident jecoriled by the Adelai « papers, and which »o will briefly relate. Messrs. l>obbte had jrwogod for a trial of their machine with its improvements, recently, and everything was jji readiness for a start, when a ilr. Brown suddenly appeared on the ground with one of tfawtu'a seed-sowers, and challenged Mr. VV. Dobbie (who wn present to conduct ths trial). Mr. Bobbie being quite agree#blu to thu sudden turn things had taken. liml one of the old pattern sowers, minus the latest improvement.!, brought out to sow Against the rlawke (another seed-sower of ijoutJi Australian manufacture.) The ground j via marked off, and the company, which ' vratalarga one, elected three judges. At a given signal both machines started simultaneously. and on the completion of the roimil the judge# carefully measured the urouwl sown by each mwcf, and otherwise .jridiialJj' examined the work done. After » fow deliberation tlity gave their vordiut »* follows : —" VVa unanimously ujroii to award thu decision in favor of the Dolto s»w«r, for the following reasons, viz.-Tile Dobbfa sower has diatribtred the grain miu-'h more evwity than the ilrawfce, ami lias »lso covered a width of O'Jft. iu the oiio round, whilst the flawke only covered gilt in width." Having disposed of thtd umuinuimced trial, Mr. L'obbo gave an exIliOiti'im of the powers of the improve*' uuuJline, to thu evident satisfaction of the Assemblage

ACrRICULTU RA L RETURNS. The following is the account of land und*r cultivation ami agricultural produce in the several Provincial Districts, the results of a """■lotion made in February last i

Sirrs—Hawke's Bay—A few returns are •till wanting- The numbers for !s;!> for this provincial district, and also the totals for the colony, must csousetiuentty fco considered sttoivet to revision. Canterbury—Sown grasses r Tliuse figuivis do not agree with those pablislnul last year,as-it has been,discovered that in oiiu instance a amount JQ native grasses was returned in IS<3 as tn sown grasses. It ta believed that stmufctr srrors occur in the returns from other localities ; also- that much laud, partially under nrtiticial grasses,, has been given ua under •own grasses in one year, but not so given m anther. The comparison, therefore, ot these particulars from year to year cannot be dep*#ded upon.

ji if I I I'rovl iU'ii'.l Dts.trluta. 2 ~ .» 3 i .& s 3* '3 5? Hi HI. 1 a Acres. c" Acres. Acres. Amikluml .. W7lr • • Tnnumki • • Mf" „ .. W7« IVullinifton .. „ " .. W73 llnwliu'a ■■ jliirlliurauuli l.sT'j •■is" 8 Hulanif ..W;J Wnstlimtl y.iarb Canterbury .. ts7i> • ■ W* 8 Olutjo . . ..137S ®.tai S.153 t.Wt 7,27' > sa'.uiw 12.2M7 U,i!U> 3,012 4,304 CvUH) sw •US# 1iO,4S3 77.-MM 67, 430 _ a», t-i'.' a.em 5.US7 3.70B * ',i!XJ 7.U37 5,022 to.-j.tr 9..1U" tii.SuU t0.!<70 «."> 7 545 •130,31)4 32M7H 2M>,S>tS 2IU.4-W 213,055 - V.5-1.' 31.7 IT 9U450 7T.a:>s 5(V-'5-l 5/.704 17,-.>7 1S.2-J7 3(!.(W! ai.tm 2,sat mam •tw.ooo 3l5.5t; 7 2!>2,i!lM 7.7::; HD.S'.v: r.4.:)«2 5»7.ni',t 500.354 3i>t.t'i!> wTD.Wt 37.33.; ■&KMI 57.oi;;j ar.t-ji 2.43T 2..s.->2 tt3.:w.t ttw.oiw tOO.Iiut sMitf Totola 1S7!) .1S7S 2U3,3B;S 27J»tiUfl 3I?.StO 1,231. too t.077 454 t.-waaa-t'.icroiint) In t37S Dgvruiwu IreWZU _W»2 ITS,977 139,646