WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 20

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

During the week we have had" our full share of wind and rain, and The most of the rivers are in Weather. flood. As yet no great damage has been reported, except to the railways. Some heavy slips came down in the Manawatu Gorge. There was a washout on the Manawatu line near Lin-ton, and as usual, .when floods occur, a considerable length of the Palmenston-Fox-ton line was under water for a day or two, causing considerable interruption to traffic. Strange to say, there has bsen r.o trouble on the North Trunk line, as v. as confidently expected would be th© case when the first heavy rains came. Ons thing we should be thankful for is that with all the boisterous weather we are having it is not cold. Vegetation is, therefore, coming- along splendidly. AH work on the farm is at a standstill, and is likely to kc co for a i i\eek or two, as the lookout is far from promising for dry weather. An odd lamb is to ba seen here and there, but there will not be many lanibin;. before the middle of the mon<th, by which time, it is to be hoped, the weather will have cleared up. Perhaps tlio wet condition of i the paddocks will make farmers &ac the utility of providing shelter for ewes when lambing. Another matter that dees not receive the attention it deserves is the erection, of sheep bridges over open drains and small creeks. Over a large extent of the | Mana-watu delta, whrlch extends from Otaki in the south to the Rantritike-i in the north, having the foothills of the Ruahine and I Tararua Ranges on the east and the open sea to the west, the drainage is very | imperfect, and what there is is most erratic. In many places it is difficult to cay in which direction the fall is. On land that has not been brought under the plough thero is a network cf small creeks or watercourses from 2ft to 4ft deep, and about the same average width, which form regular traps for lambs. O\cr the 'argersi7.e*J creeks owners have erected sheepbridges, but more might be built with advantage. Still, -there is not the same danger with large creeks as there is with the smaller ones. The ewes cannot jump the wide creek, and, rather than wads or swim, will make their way round to the bridge if there is one, or, wanting that, will remain where they are until the water sub- | sides. In the case of small creeks there arc numerous places where tha ewe? aro ■ accustomed to jump, a<nd do so, with the ! result that the lambs attempt to do likc1 wise, and fall in and are drowned. Under such conditions small biidge3, which need cost little, will isavo many a lamb.

A few years ago few of us could be led tc b-jlieve that ue would 1? Effect of New now paying fiom 25-- to 35s Hallways, a cord for firewood in any part of the Alanawatu, but such has been t!--e price for tin- laat jcar or two. For this reason coal has bron coming into mere general use for domestic purposes. Tlie prico has bean about 32a to 40s a ton — retail pric?-5 by the bag bfiug considarably higher. Few had any id* a that the opening of the- North Trunk railway would' have had any effect en tie price of firing, yet as v consumer 1 oin glad to say that coal is now ! c r.o- delivered at the railway stations from the Waikato at 22s 6d per ton, which means that householders can have coal delivered in their sheds at 15s a ton less tli.-ui formerly. The coal ie bright and clean, i-iid housewives tell us that Waikato is equally as gocd for fires and ranges as any rf the west ccost of the South Island coal. Manawatu has .gained imm-ons&ly on that item alone by the North Trunk railway. I understand that this coal is being sent through the Gorge to the East Coast, <i'id is competing with the sea-borne from the South Island, which i« ha.id> to understand. Another effect the opening of the rail has had is raising the .price of pork here by Id por lb. aa & it-suit of the Waikato

buyers competing with the Wellington ' bacon factories. So far the high price of store icheep in the Manawatu has debarred many being bought for the north, but tlleie has been a considerable number of ('airy cows bought for the Waikato, and 't is noticeable that it is only the best thtt the northern men buy at sales. Messrs Abraham and Williams this week conducted one of the- largeet Dairy Stock sales of dairy cows that has Sale ever been held- in the district. The sal© was on account of Mr S. R. Lancaster, nea<r Palmerston. The herd submitted consisted of 250 head, comprising 24 cows in milk, 145 grade Jersey springing cows, 45 grade shorthorn springing eowe, and 36 springing h.elfers. As was expected, there was a very Uvgo attendance of buyers, some coming "from a long distance. A number of the best cows and heifers fell to the nod of Waikato men. Competition right throughout the sale was keen, and good prices were realised for everythisg offered, although it was considered by some that the Jersey grades did not bring their full value in comparison with prices that have been paid of late in Taranaki. To show what lead the Jersey has over the- shorthorn it may be 6tated that the 145 grade Jersey cows averaged £9 6s 6d, selling at prices ranging from £7 to £15. The 45 grade shorthorn cows averaged £7 11s, the highest prices being £11 ss, the average foi the springing heifers being £6 11s for the 36 head. The cows in milk averaged £8 146 6d. The whole herd of 250, including springing heifers, averagsd £8 11s, which is big money to have to pay by anyone starting a dairy herd this season, as a number of small holders who have previously been raising lambs are now endeavouring to do. When we come to analyse why one man succeeds on the land and How to Start another fails, very often a Dairy Herd, the reason will be found in the fact that the man who prospers has not tried to follow every boom, but has held, on through good and bad times, producing what he started to do, either meat or milk, while the failure kept on cnanging with the ups and downs of .the two products, but always being ju^t about one year behind in go doing. Let us take the case of a man who excha.nged from sheep to cows last year. Supposing his land was carrying 4CO ewes. Jn turning his attention to dairying he would require, say, 50 cows to replace the sheep. If the exchange was made in June. 1908, he would l'eceive for his ewes £400 and for the 50 cows he would have to pay at tha outside £300, leaving £100 to start ■with. Now, take the case this season. £300 would ba full value for th& ewes, and he would have to pay £400 for the cows, which leaves him £100 in debt to start with, or a difference of £200 by leaving the exchange till this season. Reasoning from the manj instances that have come under notice- during the last decade or two, it is impossible for the man who follows booms to succeed. In the p/ast there was some excuse for the farmer chopping a.nd changing about, as the' country and it 6 industries were in the making, and many times it was hard^jbc say which was the best way to turn. But now we have means of putting oux meat, butter, cheese, grain, or any other product on the markets of the world in perfect order, if details are attended to as they should be, thanks to steam and freezing. Supply and demand dictates the price we receive for produce tlie same as any other commodity. The advice I would tender for what it is worth to anyone who finds that he is not getting the best results from the methods he ie taking to make a living off his holding ie in the first plae-a, wherever possible, not to put all the eggs in one basket— i.e., produce ac great a variety of products a3 the land is capable of doing. If it oaems advisable to greatly alter the methods, such as changing from raising lambs to producing milk, go slowly about it, and instead of aellin-g all the sheep off in one wason and stocking up at once with cows, start by leducing the number of the cheep Gorr.ewhat, and secure a few of as good cows ac can be got, as the nucleus of the future full herd, which oan be built up as opportunity by purchase or breeding offers. A fortnight ago "Agricola" had' a paragraph impressing on young Talse of a fanners the pleasure and Diary. profit that will be derived in the future b\, starting to keep a register of their daily doings by keeping a diary. I am glad to endorse from a long experience all that "Agricola" Paid. To-day, when opening a diary of over 30 yea is old, scenes were recalled 10 memory which afforded greater pleasure — aye, amd in a minor degree, i adnoss than any biography or life's story in the form of a novel. But the fanner hhoald keep something mere than a ppisonal diary. The name or number of each paddock should appear, giving- each a debtor and credit page, showing what laLour, manure, and seed, etc., were expended, and the icturne obtained. If tho fW<l i* in ii-a'A note, the date when a ci-i tain number of etock wen put on or taken o'F. Ihis is the only authentic method of pro\in# that the pasturo wants renewing either by manuiing or receding. Once anjone jrets a start at keeping either a pcit-onal diary or records of farm woik it Incomes fio interesting and valu.-l^'o that he cannot help continuing J tin'! from my diaiv_that on the ramc date a- to-day— August 5, 1877—1 was on a station in Now South \Yalo», and a time of thought, and the day happened to be Sunday. But we had neither Sunday nor ho!idaja in theso- days, and the entry ie vciy meagre, as I was seldom at home moie than ono night in the week. It reads : "Bonny went out to No. 3 paddock and put up slip rails. Two men cutting pr-sto. Jim and Watty came loimd South- wosl Pc-ringa and %ot a number of ewes and lambs to Wambera ; sheep looking wretched. Me and I went round by oak-plain* gate and found a "number of sheep on the fence : brought thorn on to Mambora." Again ' I find this entry on August 5, 1892, which shows that I was in New Zealand : "Adam started ploughing lower paddock. Willie onidi Ted sowed other side of creek in cow paddock. Willio shifted his plough to lower paddock toni«ht. Johnny and I planted fch.ru bs on hillside, and then buried old Dick (a horse), and hung a g-utc on to the- road." AXTIQUA OTIS, i