FARM AND DAIRY NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 105, 24 April 1908, Page 4

FARM AND DAIRY NOTES

The value of the crop of lucerne hay in the United States last year is estimated at about €20.000.000. according to Mr. Wilson, Secretary for the Department of Agriculture.

Stlong pressure lias been brought to bear upon the (i'overuincnt with a view to securing the establishment of experimental farms in Canterbury and Otago. The matter has been under discussion for some time, and a decisiou may .short-

On many of the American dairy farms the employees are obliged to wear spe-cially-made clothes ol white materia) and a cap to match, and use sanitary milk-pails to help in the produelion ol

A farmer at (jungagai (.New South Wales) recently lost a large number ol iat sheep. On opening Hie animals' stomachs he found them to contain the hoofs and wool ot other sheep. Other ,uiiiiu:b- since waUheil were lound to eat carcases of dead sheep, wool included, uiiich iornied haul balls in. the slum-

A farmer living about four mile.- up from the Hinds railway station reeeiitly threshed out a 2.)-aciv paddock of Tuscan wiieat. which averaged til bushels per acre. An adjoining paddock, of 15 acres in extent gave the satisfactory yield oi 55 busiiels per acre.

(iu.d pluughnien are very .-cai'ce in th# AshburUm county at present, and labor agents have In en -overtaxed with enquiries. An agent states that during the pa-t fortnight, he has had enquiries for twenty-three ploughmen, and only i,iue have been available.

A May field fanner has informed a representative of the AshburUm Guardian tnat .some of the turnip crops ia the locality are being attacked by a greencolored grub, which devours the leaves and then attacks the roots or bulbs of the turnips. Fortunately, these pests are not very* numerous.

Says "Drover" in the Otago Witness: The markets for fat sUnrk remain steady. Uwd rains in North Canterbury caused an advance in stole sheep, of which considerable numbers continue to conm to ChristchurcU from the North Island and front the Chatham islands. The buyers are still mainly from the south.

A scourge in the form of blight of the ordinary type has overtaken the whole of the turnip on the Taieri Plain, and many acres of the crop have been completely mined. Should the eoming winter Ik' a severe one, if will g<» very hard with the farmers, more esqiecially those who luive depended upon their turnip crops for the winter feeding of cattle.

The American Consulate in Swedea report* thai. the Kussian CovernitH'it; encourages till! co-operative movement in Siberia, and l-liat many jnivule "v.»tali'" creameries have found it to their advantage to close and join the co-op-erative creameries. In li>M there weiv .started 34; in I!K).>, 118; and in I!M)0, 178. Two hundred and twenty-threo cicameiies, with 510 separator.-, represent farms, with 182,tfdU cows. All these creameries ha\*e Iwon organised by a special committee, and beside* t hem there are -100 large and oOU small co-operative creameries and the total Inttter production may be placed at not less than 4U,OUU,<JUOIh; but the quality is not satisfactory, and the price obtained is now alxmt 8d per lb.

Discussing tlnj condition of stock generaily in tiie Dominion, Mr. -J. 1). Kitelm*. Secretary fur Agriculture, iu the course of an interview with a ChrislehiU'eh Press reporter, said all classes of animals had been rather out of condition this year. Due of the greatest troubles in connection with the Hocks wa* the indiscriminate breeding that went on, principally through the use of ewes with Down blood in them. Mr. KiU-hie has frequently urged that ewes with any tinge of Down blood should never be kept for breeding purposes, unless, of course, they are purebreds. The abuse he has referred to was having a most detrimental ell Vet oil the quality both of the wool and the lambs, and >hould receive early attention from those who were intiTe-lcd in maintaining the -landnrd> of the ll<"-j N >, (l f Ihe Dominion. Tin** nmeily niu-l Ir<* to .) lariM' r\tent in lb'' hand* of Ih»* lanuerihr'iiiM'lxe.-. Another matter to which the speaker drew attention was the u-.-.of unsuitable ami inferior rains. The Flock ]sook Association sliould take this matter up. with a view of securing, by legislation, the necessary power to prohibit the .-ale of unsuitable rains.

.Mr. E. 11. Jkliowan, of Willowbridge, South Canterbury, who ha - for --<'vei.il years devoted considerably attention to potato growing, and every season has planted a large iimiiilht of varieties with a view to determining which is tin- most productive, has been saying something about tubers. There cannot be a heavy crop without good liaulms. Northern Star, Eldorado, British Quceu, and several other varieties require a moist soil, indeed, very few varieties will do we'l oil a dry soil ill a year of drought. A few of those which do fairly well under such conditions are: Princess Victoria, Zion House, Shamrock, liajifurly. and Up-to-date. 1 might, add to those lirecxc I'rolitic. Sutton's Abundance, Jjord lioberts, Bruce, and Carter's Early Favorite, llanv growers will l>e greatly disappointed when they commence digging to lind their crops much lighter than they anticipated, even where the li.llll ins look strong and give every indi-i-alion of a lair crop. In some c-.i-es they will iind the yield poor, nearly all the tubers being only of seed size, and a large number only lit for feeding to the pigs. This, of course, is due to the very dry season. The days of excessive heat experienced willed the haulms, and as a natural result the tuliei's also stiU'ered. Some varieties will also stand the Ileal and drought lie tier than others.

An experiment in potato-growing is reported from the 'Hen Nines Experimental Station, New Mouth Wales. Ti,.' heavy clay soils in parts of the district prevent the poUlocs, when gixiwjl in the ordinary way, from expanding propcrlv, ;tml an attempt was made to overcome the diHieultv l»v growing them (mi tup i.f the -nil under a la.ver ol -traw. A hah-ehain pint was <•< lin tin- ordinary way, and harrowed and Ihe mmml potatoes placed liy hand ii; the !olli' ( .nlh. altout hall'-eovered over. Then tlic whole >url'a<e of the plot wa« loveii'tl over with straw a little Over a tout deep. The potatoes, were a h>u;.r lime Ik'loiv thev all tame through. Nothing further w,h done, and no weeds When the crop had matured, the straw was moved away, and the potatoes picked oil as required. Tin? yield was small owing to losses by cric'keU and the experiment is to be continued.

Clover. <ay> "Kouseabout." in tin? Timarn PoM. i- one -of the rrupi thai can l»e»ro\\n. It lakes very linie l.i hoc hi ~a veil. ,i tid it is not really damaged hy wet wealher. II i> I h*t- {jrown in >inall plut> ;i few jiri'e-. ill extent. The hmilMe liee- >eem to work keiier over Miiall plots than over large onn~. A hag an nose is a handsome return at even i'/.cl a lb. and tinprice should lie much above that this season. Even Inilf a bag an acre is a payable crop, especially if liny or rye grass seed has previously been taken oil' t lie paddock.