FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 206, 5 October 1909, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

That the dairying season is an early one is shown by the following figures: The number of boxes of butter received at the Motuioi freezing works for the four weeks ending September 30, was 10,797, showing an increase on the corresponding period of 1908 of 2578 boxes. The total increase for this season to date is 4890.

With regard to the appointment <.f assistant-directors in the four principal divisions into which the Agricultural Department, under the re-organisaticn scheme, has been divided, two of the newlv-appointed officers are Mr. J. Duncan and Mr. W. A. Boucher. The former, who will in future act as right-hand man to Mr. Clifton, in charge of'the Experimental Farms Division, has for some time been chief stock inspector in the Auckland district, while the latter, who will occupy a similar position under Mr. Kirk, in charge of orchards and apiaries, hat? for many vears been the North Island pomologi'st, and as Mleh '.3 favorably known to the majority of fruit-growers, who recognise that Mr. Bomber's wnole-hcarted work has been a large factor in plaeiii" the industry in its present assured position. It is stated thai the agricultural imp'oirent makers do not intend to exhibit at any of the smaller shows this ;.ear. One large Christehurcii firm will be represented at only live shows in the Dominion. Mr. Cockshutt, a Canadian delegate to th" Chamber of Commerce Congress at Sydney, told a Nvdiley interviewer that the one tiling which impressed him perhaps more than anything else was the wool industry, in Sydney. ''You have, to use a Canadian expression, the wcol industry of the world in your mit. Such methods of handling' the trede as we saw on our visit to the Da'iretv stores cannot be beaten anywhere. Von* have the trade of the wo: Id at your feet in the wool business." A ciue.-ition as to the relative merits of frozen and fresh meats for army purposes was asked in the House of Con:moss in September Oth by Mr. Rowland Hunt, Unionist member for the Ludlow Division of Shropshire. Mr. Haldane. Secretary of War, in reply, said that experiments proved that frozen and fresh meats were -'practically equal value. There would be no alteration, therefore, in the army meat supplies.

How necessary it is to examine cars fully any s'eed imported, says the Sydney Mail, was shown at Hobart tJia other day. A consignment from New Zealand was supposed to contain thirty bushels of fog grass, but the officials state that they found only a small proportion of fog seed in the lot. On the other hand, they allege that thev found several of the proclaimed weed seeds, and many other weeds) not proclaimed under the Act as noxious. The consignment was rc-sliipped to Xew Zealand.

One of the strongest evidences that the dairy industry is profitable is the increase of dairy cows in the United States as contrasted with the decrease of the other classes of cattle. In 1008 there were 21,104,000 cows la that country, and in 1009 there were 21,7*20,000, or an increase in twelve months of 520,009. Other clauses of cattle show a decrease of 2,180,731 head m one year. It should be the ambition of every farmer to keep one cow for every acre of land on the farm. This means extensive agriculture, and the maintenance of the herd with ensilage and soiling crops. The Illinois Experiment Station lias commenced to build up a dairy of twenty cows for 20 acres of the farm, and has already reached seventeen cows, which in 1908 made a net profit of £ll per acre. Some of the consignment arrangements being entered into by dairy factories this season arc of a peculiar character (says the Wellington Tunes). To illustrate: The agent of a Home firm gave lO'/ud advance without recourse to a well-known factory in North Taranaki.' The following day a cable wag received in Wellington stating tli.it the brand was being offered in London by the "consignees" at 106s c.i.f. It would be interesting to know the differbetween this class of consignment business and a straightout sale. The amueing part of it is that while this consignment butter is being offered in London at 106s, or ll%d a pound, the factory refused to accept offers at 10% d from nine different buyers, and In one case at 10% d. It preferred to consign, in order to "risk a better market," a market, however, it will probably never enjoy. This transaction is on a par with the New Zealand consignment cheese being offered in Glasgow and London at 50s c.i.f. and e., within a couple of days of the arranagement to consign being entered into.