OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 19

OUR CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL BUDGET (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

— The Weather and Farming Conditions. — Variable and unseasonable weather conditions prevailed during last week, which for the most part was oold, bleak and we». A south-westerly blizzard sprung up at the commencement of the week, and although th« weather cleared on Tuesday,, it again changed on Thursday morning, when rain, hail and snow fell in most parts of the province. Fortunately, however, the snow storm did not last very long on the tne fiat country but the fall in the back country has be«a considerable, and on Friday morning - when the weather cleared, the hills were whitened to their base. It was thought that the cold piercing wind together with the rain would have been responsible for a heavy mortality among breeding ewes and young lambs, but chiefly as a result of the large number o£ plantation^ and live fences with which the Canterbury Plains are thickly studded, the shelter thus provided minimised what must have been a heavy death-rate among lamb 3 had the, country been bare and the paddocks unprotected from the bleak wind. As it is, reports to hand from the country districts are very gratifying, and show that the death rate, as a result of the storm, is not alarmingly large. It may be said too, which is a very fortunate circumstance, that lambing will not be general over the flat country until the middle of the present month, otherwise, the blizzard would have been responsible for a large number of deaths of lambs. In conver sations I have had with farmers from various parts of the province I learn that tLe average loss of lambs in each flock that was actually lambing when the storm occurred ranges from five to six. Very encouraging reports are coming to hand regarding the lambing, and there are indications that should the weather continue fine, notwithstanding last week's storm, the percentages will be exceptionally high, the comparatively large number of twins being mainly responsible for this satisfactory state of affairs. So far, very little decking has been done, but percentages on an average will exceed one hundred, and in some fairly large flocks I have learnt that as high a return as 120 per cant has been secured. Apropos of the docking of lambs, it may be said that the patent searing machines will be extensively used by farmers this season, the results attained by their limited use last year having proved very satisfactory. On Friday and Saturday morning frosts ranging from 12de.fi- to 15deg were recorded in South and Mid-Canterbury, and up to lldeg in the northern end of the province These have had the effect of cutting tender vegetation, and interfering with stone fruit trees lhat were out, or partly out in bloom. Crops and grass pastures, which made wonderful growth during August, have received a severe set back, and this will be accentuated should the frosts be continuous for any length of time. There is every indication that frosts will continueuntil the removal of tLe snow from the ranges, and as the coating is fairly thick this will not be speedily brought about until the prevalence of north-west winds The average rainfall over the province for August was slightly over l^in, a<s against less than one inch for the corresponding month last year. In consequence of the catchy weather very little work of cultivation was carried oift on the farms last week, and as the season is advancing farmers are very anxi ous to get an uninterrupted opjjortunity ol completing the sowing of spring cereal?. The soil is in a sodden state, and while permitting of ploughing, it will require several days of fine dry weather before drilling- can be successfully put in hand. Farmers all over the province are complaining of the havoc grass grubs are play ing among the early sown cereals and ftrass pasture*, and when the weather is suitable railing- will be put in hand for the purpo«c of endeavouring to minimise the operations of the pest. It is now several year* since the grass grubs were so destructi\e to crops and grass. — Miscellaneous. — Spring threshing is being extensively carried out in the Ellesmore district whon weather has permitted. During the past week, however, this and othei classes of farm work have been at a standstill. At Rangiora during the past week 200 mixed classes of horses were offered. Competition was not keen and a medium clearance of the entry was made at the following prices : Unbroken three-year-old draughts, up to £23; two-year-old do. £18; three-year old do, £25 to £32 ; four and five-year-olds, £28 to £37 10s; six and seven-year-olds, £20 to £28 ; aged draught horses, £10 to £15 ; hacks, £8 10s to £12 10s. All ol asses of sheep, comprising a small entry, were in fairly good demand, and prices obtained were as follows : Fat crossbred wethers, 14s 6d to 15s 3d; lighter fat crossbred wethers, 13s to 14s 3d ; fat crossbred ewes, 10s to 12s 6d ; six and eight tooth crossbred ewes (in lamb), l^s 3d; failing mouth crossbred ewes, 7s 6d to 8s od. Failing- mouth crossbred ewes with lambs at foot (all counted), 5s to 6^ ; four-tooth crossbred store v.etheis, 11s 6d. Pigs: Baconeis

45s to 655; porkers, 40s; stores, 28s to 355; weaners, 14s to 20s. The entries at xhe last Addington stock market were as follows, those in parentheses being for the preceding week: — Cattle 476 (471), sheep and hoggets 2875 (6428), pigs 327 (639). It will be seen by the above figures that there was a large decrease in the entries at last week's sale, but, notwithstanding this, there was no marked improvement in prices for any class of stock. The preceding week's rates, however, were firmly maintained. The annual general meeting of the Staveley Co-operatfiye Dairy Company (Ltd.) was held on Monday last, August 30, Mr Hugo Friedlander presiding. In moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet, the Chairman stated that during the season ' the company had received 1,636,3151b of milk, which yielded 65,7801b of butter-fat, while the average test was 4 per cent. "'lt is gratifying to note," said Mr Friedlander, "that tho supply Tvas 82 per cent, in excess of that for the preceding sear, which shows conclusively that dairying pays, if conducted on sound businesslike lines. Then, again, since the establishment of 'he dairying industry in the district the \-alue of land has increased by several pounds per acre." The average price pa-id to suppliers for butter-fat had been 9 7-lod per lb, and the company had received 10 8-10 d per lb. The company was able to show a profit of £75 16s on the year's working after writing off the second instalment of flotation expenses. The report, which was adopted, advocated the paying of a dividend of 5 per cent. Since April last the Ash burton County Council has purchased no fewer than 148,688 head of small birds. It was decided at a meeting of that body on Friday to continue the purchase of small birds' heads until October. The chairman also reported that the order of itnpoi-tinfr a- number of the German grey owls for liberation in the county had been entrusted to, the firm of Messrs Friedlander and Co A number of land sales have been effected during the past two weeks. Among the sales are the following on Banks Veninsula: — 83 acres to Mr James Hewitt ai £21 per acre, 103 acres with homestead to Mr P. Cunningham at £23 per acre, 57 acres to Mr James Hewitt at £14 5s per acre, 35 acre* with dwelling to Mr J. L. Giddens at £36 5s per acre. At a meeting of the Banks Peninsula Dairy Factories' Association representatives" of the various factories were in attendance, and made proposals in regard to the coming season's output of cheese. The best offer received was s£d per lb, f.o.b Lyttelton, but this was declined, and it was decided to hold another -meeting early in December to decide whether to sell direct or consign th» season's output. The annual general meeting of the Farm Workers' Union was held recently, whea it was decided to recommend to the executive to call a special meeting to take into consideration the rearrangement of finance with a view to taking th-3 union's case again before rhe Conciliation Council, and that the secretary shovld urge all branches to call meetings to deal with the matter. Mr E. Kennedy was re-elected secretary for the ensuing year. The Ashburton County Council has laid down two chains of macadamised asphalt on the Ashburton traffic bridge as an experiment. Since the laying down of the composition it has been found that the structure has been the vibration minimised, and the asphalt will carry the heaviest load allowed under the by-laws. Should the experiment continue to prove tho success already shown, the council will in all probability treat a number of its bridges in a similar way The price of the asphalt is mu:h less than timber planking, and it is claimed that it will last upwards of 15 years if properly laid down. "Agricultural and pastoral associations throughout tho province are well advanced in the revision of their prize schedules in view of the approaching show sen son. In many instances the prize money has been substantially increased, and restrictions that were formerly imposed and which had a tendency to bar the progress of the assoeiat ions' Futures have been either miniTii'*ed or entirely lemoved. In one way this is a mistake, as the removal of conditions regarding rha breed and quality of stock in favour of larger entries has a tendency to convert organisations of the kind into monev-niaking concerns. Afc the ann-ial meeting of the German Bay Co-operative Driry Factory Company the report sr.itpd that the past season's operations had bean successful, tiie total output bein.s 121 tons 15c\vt of cheese, nearly the whole of which had been shinpVd to T.ondcn on consignment. It had been all graded, and realised 58s to M?s per cv.-t. The' pisrgery in connection with the fnctory bad resulted in a net profit of £106 12s, while the balance sheet showed a credit on the profit and loss.accouni of £474. It was resolved to mako a further payment of Id per lb on the season's butter-fat, and to declare a dividend of 5 per cent, on the paid-up shares.