FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 23 August 1907, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY.

Residents of several parts of the country (says the Oamaru Mail of Blh August) have remarked a curious feature of the present heavy weather. Springs that have stopped running through the drought have been flowing for the past week. In ordinary seasons this is accepted as a sign of rain. A man who has had much experience in farming, both in Southland and further north, expresses the opinion (says I the Otautau Standard)" that land in that district is nol within £6 an acre of its lvalue.. He argues that if the land is worth fnm £2O to £3O an acre in Canterbury, it is worth more than from £0 Ito £l2 an acre in Southland.

One of the Timani Rom-millers spread 12Jb of wheat, poisoned liy Mr. flrigg's method, on his railway 1 siding, and small boys picked up 310 dead sparrows in the vicinity. There are large nnmbers of sparrows about the railway yards, and they have learned how to lra-c holes in sacks so a3 to extract grain. It has therefore been found necessary to sheet all grain loaded on trucks in the yards. By the steamer Wimmera, which left Lyttelton on Saturday, Messrs. W. Hayward and Co., of the Hink Stables, Christchurch, forwarded 14 horses to Melbourne for exhibition at the Royal Show, which will open on Tuesday, 3rd September, and will remain open for five days. The horses are in splendid show condition, and reflect the greatest credit on fheir owners. They have been entered in the various harness classes, and at the conclusion of the show will be submitted to auction by Messrs. Campbell and Sons. Of the two pairs of carriage horses, the first were bred by Mr. H. D. Buchanan, of Little River. They are bays, standing 16.2, and are , by the well-known horse Victor. The second pair are upstanding bays, one being by General Tracy and the other by Wildwood. A pair of bay buggy mares, full sisters, by Hazeldean, were bred by Mr. Edwards, of Woodend, and are splendidly matched. Another pair oi , buggy mares were bred by Mr. J. M'Lelland, of Scargill, and stand 15.2 hands. Of a pair of handsome black ' cobs, standing 15 hands, one was bred by Mr. (i. B. Starky and the other by ilr. Duncan Rutherford, of Leslie HiiLs.

A black gelding, bred by Mr. J. C. N. (jrigg, Longbeach, has been entered in the buggy class. The team is completed by a chestnut gelding by Prince Imperial, from the Ashburtou district, entered In the dogcart class, a bay mare by Rothschild, sent to Messrs. VV. li. Veirs and Co., the owners of the trotting sire Dixie Alto, for breeding purposes, and a brown "gelding, 15 hands, entered in the dogcart class. The Blenheim correspondent of the

Lyttelton Times telegraphs;— The item In the new Australian tariff of chief interest to Marlborough is the increased duty on barley, which during the last two or three years has been exported to Sydney frcm this district in considerable quantities.- Local merchants say that the effect of the new duty will be to place an extra Ixl per bushel on Sew Zealand barley, and local growers will have to suffer to that extent. The new tariff will also tend to encourage the growing of this cereal in 'Australia) especially in Queensland; nevertheless, it is believed that the additional 3d will not be prohibitive and may not even lessen the trade to any appreciable extent. Marlborough barley, it is pointed out, has a characteristic quality especially sought after by maltsters, and this will always ensure a demand, even if the extra impost has to be paid by Australian buyers themselves. Reports of drought in the "south have had a stimulating effect on agricultural operations in Marlborough, and growers of oats, wheat, and barley anticipate a more than usually profitable season.