FARM AND DAIRY

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 63, 5 September 1911, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY

( , TIMBER FOR BUTTER-BOXES. AN AUSTRALIAN SUGGESTION. Woolly-butt, a timber which abounds in the forests of Eastern Gippsland, is suggested by the Melbourne Argus as I being "equally as good as, if not better • than, New Zealand pine for the nianu- : fiieture of butter-boxes.'' The suggess 1 tion'has emanated from the manager of 1 I the butter factory at Swifts Creek, Air. J. P. Ryan, who'points out that there , are tens of thousands of acres of woolly- ! butt in EastjCrn Gippsland, but, unfo'r- ; tunately, it is left untouched owing to > lack of railway communication. \V|ien questioned on the utility of woolly-butt : for butter-boxes, Mr. R. Crowe (superintendent of exports) said it was difficult to supply a definite reply. There had been no satisfactory trials made of Victorian timber for such a purpose. Occasionally a man came down from the country with a small piece of wood under his arm. He submitted it for inspection, and asked for an opinion as to its suitableness for butter-boxmaking, but no opinion could he supplied. The only way to test timber for such a purpose was for some sawmiller to erect a plant capable of reducing logs to large chunks, which might be left to season. It would then be possible to tell whether such timber would or would not warp. However, that had not been done up to the present, and he saw no reason to Hiink it would be done immediately, as saw- 1 millers could not, he understood, supply the demand for timber for ordinary building purposes. It was therefore not likely that they would engage in the butter-box trade,-which was not of great scope. ]f millers could be induced to take the matter up, the position in relation to Victorian timber and its uses would be defined. Victorian dairy herds are yielding ! rather poor returns. The , estimated average yield per cow is only from 250 to 300 gallons of milk a year, the aver-1 age butter returns ranging from between 111 and 113 pounds. These figures strikingly illustrate the low grade of milking cattle that must be included in many herds, and point to the urgent necessity for systematic testing. Further consignments of Jersey stock are now en route to the Dominion, comprising two bulls selected by Mr. J. .Stuckey, the erstwhile celebrated Rangituman Hereford breeder, for Mr. K.) Eagle, jun., of, Carterton. One of the hulls bass to his credit six first prizes. The other comes of a particularly good milking strain, his dam having yielded as much as 88101bs of milk during 1009. At the first annual meeting of the Eketahuna Cow-testing Association, Mr. W. Elliott stated that probably over 1000 cows would be available this year. S "We can look forward to the time when f cows will be sold on their tests," he ' said. "This will be a very big bepelit I to the farmer who is compelled to go , on the. market to make up his herd, t and will ensure good prices to the [ farmer who has good cows for sale." J Young cattle are said to he very scarce ) in Waikato, and local cattle-dealers ; have been operating freely in Taranaki, j where prices are considerably lower for! that, class of stock. ' j There is said tq be a plethora of old potatoes in the Dominion, and, in the South Island particularly, large stocks are still held, there 'being very little prospect of values hardening this" season.! Several of the Southland cheese fac- ' tories have already disposed of their i output at sixpence a pound on the trucks, A general impression prevails that a sharp advance in the market rates of cheese in the Dominion will lake place before long. Large areas of oats, lucerne, and maize are to be experimented with bv Masterton farmers—ttm-season. Maize j is to: be grown and thoroughly tested as a foilder for dairy ;CojWs.; while lucerne is to be experimented" 'with in many cases' for ensilage. Various methods of sowing will be adopted, and details carefully noted as t6'.which crop would be the most valuable crop for a specific pur I pose. j : ~.1.1; ~':iM—l!