AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 29 January 1908, Page 6

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL NEWS.

A peculiar case cam© before Mr S. S, McCarthy. S.M., at Winton, on the 13tk. H. Gunnfngham, a farmer residing at Oamaru, being charged that, on Ndvembei* 1, contrary to sub-section 6 of section 6 of the Government Railways Act, 1900, ho showed a signal by holding np his han-d, and thereby misled -the driver of a train be< tween Nokomai' and Athol. Defendant ad> mitted the offence by letter, and was fined £2, with costs 7s.

A very prolific peach crop is being gathered in the Gippsland district of Vic^ toria, an average of 60 tons a day being sent by rail from JBairnsdale. A couplo of rabbits caught in the Maun* gatarera Valley _ bore sorrowful evidences of the fires raging there. Their eyesight' had been destroyed, and every* particle ofj hair had been singed off, though they were etill alive.

"It "is coming to a pretty pass/ remarked Mr P. Smith at the meeting ofi sheep farmers' at Pahiatua. "if we oannofc employ a boy to assist in the shearing without, consulting Mr .Andrew Collina, or some other agitator, wio actually tells us we do not know how to run our own busfr ness "

A Kairanga farmer .calculates that -his wool clip this season, chiefly from hoggets} averaged 9£lb. A Kimbolton fanner aver* aged a lOlly clip from foaggets.^ As a^ result of the prolonged spell of hof?, dry weather, .many of the potato crops in! the Oarterton district have become practi* oally sw-eet potatoes. The intense heat has transformed some of the potato starch into sugar. A correspondent of the Wairarapa Aga states that at Mr J. White's slaughterhou^s at Featlierstone, a few days ago, M^ A* Everitt killed and dressed 1 two bullocks int 29 minutes. This is claimed to he a' record

Two valuable sheep .doga upset a hive* of bees near Paa&es, New fionih. Wales, and before they ocnzld -be rescued they were botfci stung to death. It is an exceptional occurrence (says MoriV ■clay's Wang>anui Herald) to have a frosfi at this time of the year, but this morning there was a.- light visitation locally of our winter .friend.

It is rather significant, is it not? remarks the East Coast Mail, that the winning milkr cart 'horse at the Nuhaka Show should be named Chalk 1

It is 25 years ago since the first cargo oS frozen meat arrived in England. The advance in the meat trad© -since then is well known to our readers.

Thirteen young 1 Australians passed through Christchurch the other day, ext route for the North Island. They are o| a good stamp, and intend to settle in iNetv; - Zealand. Tt h, -understood that these aiar < the pioneers of further contingents. At the Barnstaple fat stock show -was af side show of a pen of seven IsKyptiari sheep. The sheep look likl^ a oross between? \a deer and a goat, and are fed, white, andl black, and hare lerig tails. , ' During December last 948 cattle wet* slaughtered at ihe Christolrurch municipal abattoirs, 6791 sheep, 2960 lambs, 397 calves, and 513 pigs. The animals condemned werg 17 cattle, 5 sheep, 1 lamb, 1 calf, and 1 pigIn accordance with the decision arrived at by the members of the Sheep-breeders* Association (South Island), a start has Beea made with the inspection of the Bordei? Leicester flocks in ' Ofcago, and the inspeo tion is being conducted by an inspector appointed by the aasooiation. The Border Leicester flocks are to be first inspected', but a general inspection of aU flocks iuf' the South Island will commence this monthi or early next month. It is not the intention of the Victorian; State Government to come into line witli the Commonwealth in fixing the maximum! capacity of wheat sacks at 2001b. "The Premier stated on 7ih January that ihe Stato Cabinet had decided upon a maximum o£ 2401b. Although the Commonwealth had decides! * not to allow the importation ofi bags .of a capacity of morp- than 2001b itt the past, bags of up to 3501b had been -used, but everyone seemed satisfied 1 witß- 2401b. It was not intended 1 to allow the big Java? sacks to be used again. He did not know; yet whether the State Government would enforce its decision by railway regulations b legislation v

or y og. . - The Western -A-wtralian. Tsove:nnnaent lias initiated a system of assisting the farmers in the sheep line. It will purchase sheep and sell them to the farmers on long terms. Reoently it bought 2053 two-tooth ewes, and^ 30 rams/ from various owners in ' the Mulwala district of New South Wales. ' Reports from Gundagai, New South' state that through the combined agencies of &" poor season and the rabbit)}, the pastoralists aTe ; threatened with a baa time. Grass was never scarcer, and sheept are dying in some parts from eating dry food. Others are falling- off so fast in condition that hand-feeding must be re* sorted to before the summer is over. Ont Tarrabandra Station pits, traps, and poisoa carts account for an average of 1500 rabbit* per night. Raspberry jam and arsenic* havo been -tried as bait, with excellent; results. On one small patch 1300 were poisoned in one night. Mr Joseph Knight, the Government expert, states that there are now betweani 2000 and 3000 acres under flax cultivation! in Victoria. In some oases excellent re-» suits have been received, but in others', through lack of knowledge on the. park of the farmers, disappointment has been Gecav sioned. Almost any part of Victoria* favourable to either oats or wheat is b^» lieved to be well suited to flax, which i 3 now growing successfully in many localities^ more especially in the southern districts. If the ground is not naturally 'oose :§ should bs well worked. "When -the fibre aa well as seed is required, the crop must bet sown broadcast and thickly. Mr KnighfJ states that, with a crop yielding 10 bushel* of seed and scwt of fibre to the acre (whicH is "below the average), the return wov.'cß hardly be less than £8 per acre. The following suggestions In the saltingr of butter haye been issued bY the Iow& TJairymeri's Association, TT.&A. : —No estalt* , liehed rule for salting butter properly car* ' be given. The buttermaker will have to he> ' governed entirely by "local 1 conditions. Tb£ amount of salt to be incorporated in thqj butter depends directly on the amount ot moisture the butter contains. Butter fat is not a salt dissolving substance. This can!

Cheap Bulbs for present planting. Sea Niuiro and , Elaib'b advertisement, page 8 of this issue, £nr_ specially cheap M&ea of Tulips, a**

be done- only -by the moisture in. the* Lwtter. The first thing, then, to get a uniform amount of dissolved salt in butter is to get g, unifox&i amount of> moisture. The watei should b= evenly distributed through the tnass pf butter. "If 'it is present in pockets ob-. crevices in. the -.butter when- the salt is added ir.uch- salt will be- lost in the form of brine ;, besides-, those particles of butte.* Hear the -pockets will contain.' more- salt than those farther- away;' -Best results are^ obtained by a&owiisg' the- Gutter, to drain well "after washing, and> then applying the salt, in. rsß" case should salt be added till the butter has assumed a gathered condition. A. H. Haywood, in a- recent number of the New South Wales Agricultural Gazette, contributed a brief note on Bomney sheep At the Wollongbar Experiment Farm 1 . Very satisfactory results had been, obtained. The saeep matured early and produced on an average 71b flee-^es. The carrying' capacity of paspalum grass rt at a very low estimate, may bo gut at 10' sheep to the atare." London milk is apparently still .far from being rick or pure. Mr Jl W. Peck reports In the JburnaL of the. Royal Institute of Publia Health that in 101 samples of London milk collected and examined, 68 were found to have been, skimmed, and 89 •watered. The average fat content was 5.66 per cenr.. Speaking of the dry weather at present being experienced in his district, a prominent farmer said that in. Auckland a really dry season was sometimes a blessing in disguise, because the drying up of the soil gave the grass^a rest. In a year when there was no lengthened dry period the vegetation gcft no rest whatever, the climate being bo- mild that ~ growth continued all the winter to a certain extent/, whereas in the - .southern parts, of -New Zealand the frosts of winter gave the soil the needed period ot, inactivity. . In. 15 years Great Britain, added to he? pqpulatioiu.more .than the total , inhabitants of the Dominion, of Canada and land; in" other words, nearly 6,000,000 people. From .a - hasty glance* at these figures J[says Hural World) one might asBumVthat agricultural production has correspondingly increased. Suclv however, has not been the case. As a matter of fact, there are now 1,000,000 people less on tha land; there are 1,625,00& a^res less under tvheat cultivation.; and there are 1,020,000 fewer head of live stock. Under a reasonable economic system, there should have been mere people engaged on the land, more land under wheat, anct more live stock, co that the needs of the growing population might b-3 supplied. Oows like to be fed. and milked at regular times If milking is delayed they frequently become uneasy, and the irregularity may^ cause considerable depreciation in the smount of milk obtained.. Cows which/ are left too long without milking get very distended, udders, and may suffer considerable pain. Very heavy milkers have somelimes to be milked three times instead of twice a day, to relieve the pressure on the udder. • Over-stocking, or allowing the udder to become unduly distended witn milk by failing- to ' milk a cow previously to exposing her for sale at a market or sale, is a common but cruel practice. It frequeptly leads to inflammation.' of the udder, and often to the loss of one or more; quarters. v South Australian Minister of Agrioultura has received advice from Natal* that, owing -to the fact =that consignments of apples from Australia 1 having been found <o be badly infested with the caterpillars .■of th-3 codliri and brown apple moths,, the Natal .Government - had decided: that in future any consignments found "to be infested vdth^-fchess caterpillars- will be destroyed. This means' practical- proHibition,. as it is impossible to be absolutely certain that the fruit "will reach Natal free from infection Fruit for Soutlr Africa is carTied" in the ordinary holds, and while a carsful examination prior to shipment may fail to detect any sign of codlin moth, the eggs may be present,, and these would most probably hatch on the voyage and the caterpillars attack the fruit. The growth of a sheep's foot is from the top of the foot downwards, at the sides, «und from the neel of the foot to the toe en the sole. It i& very easy to- understand-. Wider this condition, that the growth of the horn of the feet of a sheep <»rilr cetuae the toes to turn ixp By reason ■of the constant pressure in the direction of *lie from part of the feet. Thus> when sheep are neglected, their toes turn up et the front, and they experience- difficulty in walking. As a remedy for this the knife may be employed to chip off the surplus jiorn, thus shortening the toes and easing the movements of the sheep. A careful shepherd will give his attention to this matter, and by needed clipping of the tees fend cutting" away* the turned under horn et the sides of the feet, make^ the. walking: 4>f the sheep comfortable, and, on rocky pastures, safe as well. _ Nature itself provides for the safety of the sheep feeding onmountain pastures, and by the v wear of this Surplus horn keeps the- sole^in its proper Cupped shape by which . sheep may, with safety, traverse the Tocky -mountain sides. " ißutthis natural - wear does not, occur on soft Jow-lyTclJqpF fsEixiA. .so -felx«tt=. -to- prevent possible lameness of the sheep the feet must be pared at regular tinies; The reports which are mow- coming: to hand of the results of harvesting- operafcions render it tolerably certain that early twtimateff of the- South Australian wfceafc

. yield will have to be materially increased. c Both as regards quantity and quality of ; wheat and hay expectations are being ci- - ceeded In November the Register figured ! on a 17,000,000 bushel crop, but it looks i as if a million or even a couple of million i bushels will have to be added wfien the l final fignres go up. Some- phenomenal • yields are being reported, which will in- ; crease the averager for the- whole of the State. Farmers seem, to- have made up - their- minds- to have it both ways — in tonnage uitd in sterling. They are holding ! most tenaciously to both wheat and hay, and merchants are having to pay full rates in order to get supplies. As regards hay. it is rarely that chaff merchants have had to go. into the country and offer tall, prices in a year o£ plenty as they have had. to , do this season. Old stocks were largely drawn upon in the closing months of last • year, and in order to fill contracts for chaff new hay had to be bought in a number of instances at over its market price. Foreseeing the probable effect of Sydney ! demand, most merchants have been careful !" how they have contracted this year. Prices |- are stilL rising, and yet farmers are indifferent sellers. Some absolutely refuse to ! cart, and notify the buyer after a hard , bargain has been struck that it will be necessary to take delivery from the stack. The giowth in America of the- Dutch Belted cattle has hitherto been slow, but those who have taken to them speak of them, _ after several years' of experience, as being model dairy cows, very hardy, docile, and easily kept. The heifers are described as giving from 10 to 12 quarts the first season, and increasing until six or seven years old to 16 or 2* ouarts, with a "butfce.- fat percentage of 4". They were originally owned by the nobility of Holland in the- seventeenth century, and it was al- ' most* impossible to buy them. Then cam© the wars in the low countries in Holland^ and cattle-raising had to be neglected' for many years. Many of the cattle were killed off, but these jet black cattle were a curio- ■ sity. to the foreign soldiers, and their fame soon spread' through Europe. They were imported into the United States by P.,, T. Barnum, of show fame. He saw them in the low countries, and hia trained eye at once saw a freak, but he soon learned that they were fine farm cattle, and obtained more, not this time for the "greatest show on earth," but for his- farm. He raised them successfully, and a few other scientific farmers took them up. One of the first herds- was nearly all destroyed by fire. A very fine herd was exhibited at the World's Fair at Chicago. They attracted a good deal of attention at that time with • ihe result that two-thirds off the exhibit was purchased for export to Mexico. In that country they are being successfully raised. There are 2000 head on the register in the United States, but the increase for the next few yeaTs will bring the number up to the same level as the Jerseys or Avrshires. In the distance these cattle bear fhe anrearance «of having had a sheet pinned around them.