STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 7

STOCK AND GRAZING NOTES.

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Weekly Stock Sales: [ Monthly: Burnside, Wednesdays Ngapara, first Thurt▲ahfturton, Tuesdays | day in each mouth Aldington, Wednesdays Glenavy, second WedWaiareka Railway b* 3^ m e « ch »»"«». Junction, Tuesdays Duntroon, second Fiiday in each month Fortnightly : Clinton, Palmerston, Bulclutka, Fridays Winton, and WaiGore, Tuesday* kouafti. Oainaru, Tuesdays Periodically : lavercargil., Tuesdays jHeriot, Kelso, Kyeboni There were heavy yardings at Burnside and Addington last week. All the Canterbury freezing works were closed, and but for sonic "West Coast buyers the price of fat sheep at Addington would have been much dower. As it w-es, pribes went down. Is 6d .per head, and a good deal of stoclr remained unsold. Burnside and Addingtbn> prices were about ?qual. ' The total shipments of frozen meat from the Southern Hemisphere to Great Britain. - during- July were : —Australia, 65,000 carcases .mutton, 3000 lambs, 63,300 quarter.beef; New Zealand, 156,000 carcases mutton, 243,000 lamb, 47,000 quarters beef; South America, 250,000 carcases mutton, 45,000 lamb, 200,000 quarters beef,. These aye slightly less than the June shipments in mutton and lamb, but there was a largft increase in beef, the increases being 56,400 from Australia, 25,800' from New Zealand, and 40,400 from South America. The beef market seems in a healthy condition, ami this increase is a matter for congratulation. I hope to see mere beef and less mutton' and* lamb from Xew Zealand in days to come. -In Australia' lamb'buying ha& commenced, ' and buyers offer 6s to 7s for prime lambs on the "ground. Last year they paid 4e to 4s 6d more at the same time of year. Based 1 on results the prices they now offer seem good, but, of course, growers don't think ep and not much' business has been done. Th© glut in London is not likely to ba cleared until some time nex< year, so that it will probably not be advisable for freezing works to open as early 6 usual in New Zealand. ' Tsie veterinary school at our Universityis not an accomplished fact, although the movement in that direction is progressing slowly. Thw is a matter that the farming community should take a lively and constant interest in. At present this is hardly the case. The question came uf at the A. and P. Societies- Conference in Wellington, when the president (Mr J. G. Wileon) referred to the need of agricultural education and the establishment of a veterinary , college. He said it wae 10 years since they had asked th« Government to establish a veterinary college, and nothing had bsen t done Mr Wilson must have been unaware that the Otago University have taken this ; matter up, and that the Government _ are suporting it to a certain extent. Mr \\ item • suggested a scheme foi sending two men . from New Zealand yearly to graduate au<J qualify at the Victorian Veterinary Col- . lege, which is subsidised by «*« \ ictonan - Government to th* extent of £4500 per ■ annum. If all we wanted was to provide a few more .veterinary surgeons in A<?w > Zealand "Mr WHeoft's'^clieme nugnt be right v enough, but we want both a veterinary and an agricultural college in. New Zealand for our own people, so that the best teaoimg / - in both subjects may be available to all, not only to those who wish to become pro- . fessional men, so that there may be a general increase of knowledge disseminated through the farming community by meane , of these colleges. In a country like >cv» , Zealand no branches taught at our uni- , versity are of more value or importance to the .community. Our prosperity depend* on our farmer* and they need the best - equipment possible, for undoubtedly they , will ihave to meet keen competition on th« ; markets of the world foi all their product*. • The question, yf cheap production and the * means to accomplish this is Jargely bound i up with scientific principles in ajrrieul- - ture. Canada ba« a magnificently endowed ■ agricultural college, conducted by the most ' able men the world at present can produce. I hope to see th« farmers' unions and agricultural bodies take a lively interest in this matter of veterinary and agricultural col- + leges, and push them along. If they getf t slack on these matters progress will be all * too slow. The Otago .University Council £ is badly in need of funds, and seems in- ' dined l to go in foe a multiplicity of affaire, so that unless pressure is kept up the veteri- z nary school may be pushed into the back- '- ground. Sam© of our wealthy farmers couldj ! not- do better than help to endow the veteri**! nary and agricultural colleges. The veteri* 4 ■qf»—^n^— ———————^—— ,1 m More Plane?, Jr., agricultural and aard«a " implements ar« in use in the world than any ~ other three make* put together.— Nimm© " and Blair. ' :

nary college for New Zealand 'should undoubtedly be at Otagso University, in conjunction with the medical school. The agricultural college might well be in Christchurch. If the governing bodies of Lincoln College and the Government could come to terms Lincoln College would " be an idesi j place, and it could be made one of the best j and moat useful agricultural colleges in the j world, and a benefit tc the wholje of New Zealand. If Victoria can afford £4500 pet a-j}um to endow a veterinary college New ought to do -far more, because as an agricultural coUntry we are surely ahead of Victoria. The New South Wales Go-T-ernmenfc propose to inorease then present j subsidy to the University from £10,000 to { £20,000, provided they establish schools of j agriculture and veterinary science. All_ over the world we find Governments.^ assisting | agricultural colleges. . TEe JBfon. Mr Biiddb, i Minister of Lands, has expressed ha willingness to help the Otago Veterinary College; but unless farmers are alive to, the great importance of agricultural and veterinary colleges ths Government assistance will be paltry compared to the value of such institutions to a country whose very existence depends on her pastoral and agricultural interests. Some farmers may say that we jbaye ir the past jogged along -without, them, and done all right. So we have up_ to now, but the struggle has yet to Tfcorne, and for" it New Zealand must be as well equipped as other countries with whom we Aave to compete. One of the most interesting papers read -at Palmerston North was that on the pasteurisation of ekim milk and whey at dairy /actor ies. The Government have issued this papar in pamphlet form, and doubtless every factory in New Zealand has got it. I hope dirsctore of factories will read it and give it full consideration. If they do I should certainly say that the pasteurisation of skim milk and whey would be a general custom at every cheese and butter factory this season. I believe the butter factories generally will pasteurise both their cream and their skim milk,*and I hope the cheese factories will pasteurise their why also, for it is just as important that they should do co as for the butter'" factories to -pasteurisa their skim milk. A study of this pamphlet will show that the cost of pasteurising whsy is a paltry affair. The need for it is certainly great, and everyone must agree with Mr Cuddie " when he Ba y 8; _"Ii .has been proved elsewhere that, not only is th» di«?emination of disease prevented, but also the feeding value of both whey and skim milk 16 greatly improved by th-?ir being heated to the required temperature. Another advantage that should not be lost . eight of is the benefit to be derived from the purifying effect which tho .hot liquid has on the tanks into which it > ran before being delivered to the milksuppiieis; and this applies to the milk cans al c o. Under tho existing conditions it is eafo to say that much of the trouble at i'ie factories with inferior milk 16 due to tht milk cans being polluted by the con-.eyanc-o in rbsm of impure, whey to the -farms from the often evil-smelling and dirtyranks, these- being seldom cleaned as they should be. The cans are thereby made diffi-. cult to dean, and it often happens .that a thoiongh cleaning is neglected, with the r«rBu!t that the whole milk is seeded with hanofnl bacteria, whitih seriously affects theflavour of the produce made from it. Pas--teur,"sation, or heating, of ths whey is highly desirable from this point of view alone." There is little doubt that disease among pigs especially, and calves also, ia largely due to ths dissemination of disease in ekim milk and whey. The whey tanks get very foul desp : te strenuous efforts to clean them. -Mi Singleton conducted the experiment in wh3y pasteurisation at the Hawera factory for eight 'days, a»d' every -' 'one who knows Mr Singleton* will have con'fider.ce that the test was carried out properly. The cost of coal at Hawera was -£1 IPs 10s per ton. The cost of pasteurising whey at 160c!cg Fahr.— which tem,p3rature does no harnr to it— was l£d per A lower temperature costs less. an underground tank this whey, would rfee at a temperature of l?.odej? Fahr. nexr fmorning. The fat of the whey docs not -rise, and the whey js therefore of bottev feeding value. It is as sweet when returned to supliere as when taken from the vat. and is never sour, or going sour, as crdinary whey often is. and consequently is 'of much higher feeding value. lam convinced that cheese factories which decide _to pasteurise theii whey will get full value and more f or any expenditure incurred. £Ehe suppliers will get better whey for their hpifts and calves. «nd fh-e- spread;- of disease prill be checked. I believe that at present ;*; * very large portion of the wney at fac|fories is wasted. This need be no longer case, a* pasteurised whey will be found ittracb. more useful thaD unpasteurised lias Seen in the past. It is a matter for re%ret that the killing: of calves at birth is ktill so prevalent. It is not good farming. iGood cows are now really very scarce, and at is quite time dairy-farmers stopped oatfIkilHng and used first-rate bulls and reared iheir calves.