WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 25 August 1909, Page 9

WELLINGTON AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

A rough, u-et week has been experienced. , A month ago the writer was Th« pessimistic enough to sugWrather. gest the necessity for conserving what moisture was in the soil as the suhsoU had not been thoroughly saturated for the last two years. On looking round the' country to-day all such fears are dispelled, as water is to be seen* in every depression and watercourse. There have been no floods — only creeks and rivers running full. Along with the rain we have had cold snaps, with snow lying, low down on the -ranges, which .has been hard on the young; lambs, especially on- open country. Whete no shelter has been provided the loss inus-t have been considerable. When the land is flooded with water is the time for the farmer to <k>n Ssi-faee gum-boots. By the way, Braiufsg. gum-boots, or sea-boots «s they were tezvmed half a century ago, have become quite fashionable for country wear by both- men and women. Why they should have been! so long in. coming into use on the land is strange, as in getting about the steading in dirty weather they save many cold and wet teet, which is the cause of most pulmonary troubles. Being thus projected, and ermed with a spade, the lotting oft 7 of surface water can be greatly facilitated by cutting out a few sods here and there. On flat country, levels are at times very deceiving to the eye, •' even when libere is plenty of water about. I remember on one occasion, when going ahead of the team with a draining plough, making surface drains, instead of the water in a swamp' following the plough, the drain being made was filling the swamp up. There is not a great deal of such dead level country as that in New Zealand ; still it is baffling sometimes to know in whioh direction to run drains to the best advantage. Where- water lodges, every day that it is allowed to remain-decreases the productiveness of the patch submerged, whether under •cultivation or in pasture. Neailv everyone acknowledges Ihe bad effect of water on crops, and endeavours more or leas to effect a remedy. At +he same time, too few realise the enormous loss sustained by allowing water to lie stagnant, sometimes for months, on a large percentage of grass paddocks. The dest-ruction of the finer grasses makes room for rubbish and weeds. This in itself -is a. big itent, but -hhere is another whioh, ustfer som-s conditions, is more of a menace to stock-owners: shallow water holes or swamps are hotbeds for breeding many of the pests that infest both sheep and cattle. This is more especially the case in spring, when the hot sun raises the temperature of the water to, perhaps, 70deg or 80deg, when it will be found that the shallow pools are alive with insects. Therefore, advantage should be taken of the opportunity when there is plenty of water a.tx>«fc to .©iiiKe? <ligr snaa.ll dnainfi. or, if there is any great length to be done, get the single-furrow plough ait work. Of course, if there is a draining plough to be had it makes far more satisfactory work than the ordinary plough, as it cuts the cod clean out, of the furrow and lands it well clear of the drain, thereby providing against stock treading it back. Wihere there are any private roads they want attending to to see Farm that no stagnant water is Koad*. lying Jn the water-tables. Where dairying is carried ! on it is a hard job to keep the steading in anything Hke good sanitary condition, but by attending to the drainage much can be done to mitigate the slush and mud, even if there is no metal to be had. At the monthly meeting of the General Committee of the ManaXaaiirata watu A. and P. Association A. and P. consideration was given to Association. ii ] 1B matter o f co-operative farm experiments. Messrs Lancaster, M'Rae, Booth, Balsillie, Buick, and Batchelor were appointed a committee to arrange matters in conjunction with Mr Bayliss, superintendent of agricultural experiments for the North Island. The personnel of tho committee 's excellent, and farmers are justified in expecting good results from their work. State farms are a necessity in these days of competition with the world with products of the land, but the climate and soil of the Dominion varies so .much that one or two experimental stations are not sufficient We are fairly well supplied in the North Island, yet at the same time there should be another established on the East Coast, where .farming :s oarried on under quite different conditions that w.hat we have on the humid West Coast. Although there is Lincoln College in Can- i terbury, it is hard to understand why there I has not been established an experimental I station in the immense extent of purely agricultural lands extending from Christchurch to the Bluff, and it is to be hoped that shortly the powers thafc be M-ill sco their way to etart some such station somewhere in tho south. Southern farmers may rest assured that tho majority of their brother farmers iix the north consider thai they are fully justified in demanding 1 a State farm in the most accessible part of the south. Yet it has to be admitted that farmers do not avail themselves of ■che opportunities they have of acquiring information afc the State farms. While giving full credit to the value of State farms, personally, I believe lhat there are greater potentialities iv this new venture of cooperative farm experiments, owing to co many varieties of soil being get-at-able. Tcher-s is no reason why every farmer should not have experiments carried on in close proximity, if not on his own land. — The New Zealand Ayrshire Breeders' Association wrote asking the A. aad P. Association to j

select their judges for Ayrshire cattle from the list supplied — namely: Messrs S. T. Burridge (Wellington), D. Buchanan (Jacfeytown), G. Carter (Porirua), J. Gait (Southland), W. P. Harre (Kate.), P. Ireland (Palmerston South), J. Kyle (Fitzherbert), A. M'Farlane (Bun-xlin), H. H. Olsen (Taranakij, J Parlskn.3 (Christoburoh), and O. Wood ley {Awapuni) Messrs Barraud and Abraham wrote donating a trophy of the value of 10 or 12 guineas for the most points in fat cattle. The New Zealand Sheep-breeders' Association, wrote ofliaring a challenge shield for the beet Lincoln ram at tfie forfclicoming show, and Mr F. Moore (Kai Iwi) dona-tod a prize of three guineas for line besfc p&n of three yearling steers. All the trophies were accepted with thanks. Sergeant-major Dovey wrote asking for the use of the show grounds for the annual j military tournament. There was a long discussion about "the application, some of the committee considering that the tournament, ] being hold -the -?r«ek' 'after the s-ho*w would militate against the attendance at the show, and that the touroamen. should be held either at Christmas or Eaeter. However, it was decided' that the use of the ground be given for £10. It was further resolved, by 11 to 10, that owing to the tournament clashing with the show the date now applied for would not be granted after this year. It was pointed out that it was possible Lord Kitohener, might be in 'New Zealand a* that tkne (Bth Nov-smiber), and if it so happened that he was able, to be pre-_ sent at the tournament the meeting would' be a reword one for Nenv Zealand. Son*& months ago Mr F. S. Mcßa©M c ßa© had % motion on the Order Paper as follows: "That all stallions and brood meres shall be inspected j by a qualified veterinary surgeon and passed- | free from all hereditary unaoundness before receiving a prize award." This was held over until after the conference of the A. and P Societies. Mr Wheeler said that at the conference there were five motions on Bubjeot. The Manawatu motion was carried, butf as Parliament was not sitting there seemed to be no hope of getting anything done for the next chow. The conference decided to set up provincial councils, which* would discuss such questions. A long discussion followed. Mv Russell pointed out that the rules of the association made provision for veterinary inspection of prizewinners rf necessary. The Chairman said, nothing could be done this year. He ruled that Mr M'Rae's motion could not be accepted, as brood mares were held to be subject to inspection. He would not accept an amendment by Mr Wood that brood mares should bs included 1 . It would be against one of ihe rules, and it oould not be moved without notice^ Mr Con-way said they should wait until the matter was dealt with by the conference, and on [his motion ' the matter was held over. Mr Wood then moved that the rule regarding inspection, be put in force, and that a Government inspector be asked for. This was carried. We are therefore just as we were, for the present, at least, on this yexed question cf inspection. If correct, as Mr Wood 6aid, that Mr Gil ruth in a report had stated that 65 per cent, of the horses in the Manawatu were unsound, surely ■there is urgent need that steps be taken to put an> end to such a state of affairs. Although it might curtail entries at the show, it would be better to have a few sound animals than record entries of those that are unsound. The sooner A. and P. Associations realise that their object is the improvement! of stock, both as regards quality and freedom from disease, rather than Slaving record entries, the better it will bo -in the interest! of the Dominion as a whole. By yesterday's telegrams I see that Mr E. Short, of Parorangi, secured Ilorae- some of the highest-priced .breeding. draught mares afe the Elder»Ko s=xlo -on. W-edrfceexiay. Some months ago Mr Short purchased, at a high figure, come of the best of Mr Taylor's mares, besides some others, and | Mr Hociken, the well-known dealer, who is now in England, is commissioned to buy as good a stallion as is procurable, and al«o some mares. Thie should go % long way toward* raising the standard of draught: horses in five Manawatu, as Mr Short :n: n everything strives to be on. top. We are too much given to trusting to \ ~ memory, which with most of ! '«Want» us ir> treacherous, and i» Vook. often the cause of wasted time just when it is most precious. This can b& averted bj hanging up a pass-book in the barn, stable, or workshop, w<h«rei» •the farmer or his employee* can enter whatever is found wanted — either bolts or parts of implements or machinery. The men working the implements should be requested to do this, asthey know what is missing better than the farmer can. They may tell you at night when they come in that «uch a part wants renewing, but if not immediately required it is apt to be forgotten until such time as the farmer or "his man goes to yoke up again. Then a, good day may be lost when good days are few and far between. The merchant or storekeeper cannot get along with out a wanted book, and it is just ac necessary to the farmer. Even the man who has a smithy and store handy will save much time by keeping a supply of extra bolts, S hooks, split links, etc., and whenever these run out jotting it down in the want book, along with "the hundred and one articles that go to make up his equipment. The want book is like <tho diary— once started always used Mr Hugh Roberts reports that at hh wool and skin sale this (Friday) Wool morning at Feilding the Sales. maricet was a great improvement on last month's prices. Fleeces, medium, realised up to 7d ; dead, sgd ; lambs, 7d ; best crutcbing, sd; dry skine, 6£d, and a line of butchers' green skins worked out at 10s 9d ; liifht 3s 3d, medium 4s 104 to 5s feel, heavy 6? to 6s 4cl. For hides the market, was about the same as last month. ANTIQUA OVLS.