NEWS AND VIEWS.

Shannon News, 9 March 1928, Page 4

NEWS AND VIEWS.

FROM OTHER PLACES

Bulls For Export.

The Piri Land Company, of Orini, Taupiri, have recently sold the yearling purebred--Friesian'bull, Totara Pontiac Daintyboy, to the well-known breeder, Mr Walter Hawker, of Anama Station, Clare, South Australia. Totara Pontiac Daintyboy is a bull with a remarkably fine pedigree, combining many of the best strains of Friesian blood. Mr W. Hawker his new owner, is one of the best known of South Australian Friesian breeders, and is to be congratulated on purchasing such a ,vell-bred bull. At the last Adelaide Royal Show, Mr Hawker won both the champion bull and champion cow with New Zealand bred Fricsians from J. Griggs stud at Longbeach. Dr. S. V. Sewell, of Melbourne, Victoria, has purchased from Messrs. Fraser and Kirkness, of Victoria Park, Invercargill, the junior yearling bull, Motherland King Sylvia 2nd, for his well known Friesian stud farm. "The Maori was an agriculturalist, a'.fisherman a bird snarer, but he was never a pastoralist," said the Hon. O J. Hawken, Minister of Agriculture, addressing the section of .Maori pupils at Wesley College, near Pukekohe. Therefore, although the Maori already possessed the sense of agriculture ,he had yet. to be taught general farming to be allowed to handle- animals, and acquire the pastoral sense, said the minister. Not alone should ho be persuaded to exploit his hereditary gardening faculty but also-adopt European methods in oher farming fields. Those Maori and Island boys being so ably trained at Wesley College would have a great influence for pro gress among their own people. As foresters they were ahead of Europeans.

Back Country Kates.

Some back country settlers are apparently under the impression that reductions in land values as an outcome of recommendations of the Deteriorated Lands Commission, also have the effect of reducing County rates. One farmer who applied to the Waitotara County Council yesterday for a refund of some of his rates had to be informed that the Deteriorated Lands Act, 1925, did not refer to valuations for rating- purposes Relief under the. Act was purely a matter between the tenant and he Crown.

Waikato Returns. The serious check resulting to the dairying industry in the Waikato through the'recent dry weather is shown by the January payout of the New Zealand Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd. A total of £383,783 4s Id was paid by the Dairy Company, for butter-fat supplied in 1928, compared with £414,004 4s 2d. for January, 1927 The payout for January this year fell off badly compared with that of December in respect of which £448,150 18s 4d. was paid out. It is evident the full effects of the dry weather were not apparent in December as the latter amount compares favourably with the payout for December, 1926, £412,026/8/ . The quantity of but-ter-fat supplied in January was lower than that in the other months under review, being over 1,000,000 less than j irf December. Keep Books. "If all farmers kept accounts, they would be better off." said the Minister of Agriculture, Hon O. J. Hawkezi when addressing a book-keeping class at the Pukekohe Technical High School yesterday morning. The Minister emphasised the value of education with a an agricultural bias. When it was pointed out that this school was the nearest State school to Auckland conducting classes in practical agriculture, he promised to convey to the correct quarter the desire of the board of governors to acquire another five acres of land. A deputation suggested that some pupils of the Seddon Memorial Technical College, in the city, should go to Pukekohoe for practical training.

Southland Concerned,

Dairy companies in Southland are perturbed at present concerning: the Dairy Control Board's allotments of cargo space from Bluff. There are at present 19,000 crates of cheese at the Bluff cool stores awaiting shipment. The Argyllshire duo on March 14. is scheduled to tave 13,000 crates. The next boat will be the Pakeha ar; riving on April 14, which will take 10,000 crates. With the constant arrival of cheese from the factories, this slow clearance will result in a large quantity of produce being delayed which, it Is feared, will result in loss to the companies. Research Work. The officer In charge of the Wal-

laceyille Veterinary Laboratory, ; ; |f r Hopkirk, has returned from a visit to Victoria and N. South Wales. While in Melbourne he attended the .Commonwealth conference of veterinarian officers. He says that Victoria Is making steady progress in research on vaccine prevention for tuberculosis and mammitis, but New South Wales appears to lead in research work and there the veterinary school, the Department of Agriculture, and the committee on industrial and scientific research are in strong cooperation. Tattooing Sheep. The question of the branding or tattooing of sheep for export was referred to by Mr R. J. Anderson at the executive meeting of the Southland A. and P. Association last week and it was decided that there be a recommendation from the Association to the Council of the Sheepbreeders' Conference that every sheep sold for export should bear a tatoo mark. Tossed by Bull. "T'PiJ On Saturday morning, while Mr. James Cox was engaged in watering a Jersey bull, he was attacked by the animal and severely gored on the left leg and -face, and then tossed ever the fence. The injured man, who was rendered unconscious, was taken to his home en a stretcher, and after receiving medical attention was conveyed to the Franklin Memorial Hospital, where he is making satisfactory progress. , Ensilage Feeding. "How soon can ensilage be safely fed out to stock after it is made?" is a query put to us By a farmer this week. We could not give Mm chap- , ter and verse on the subject by a re-, 'sognised authority, but next day another district farmer to whom the .quesion was put, said he had recently read where experiments carried out at ione of England's experimental farms, .showed that ten or twelve days after stacking the ensilage may be fed out -to stock with satisfactory results. iThe statement is passed on for the information of those other farmers..who may have had doubts about the matter. :