FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 193, 23 January 1915, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

WHEAT GROWING. A LEVIN EXPERIMENT. The possibilities of the '-'.nd roumj Levin for wheat growing ar • shown by a crop covering a field ten : res in ex; tent, at the Experimental l'V m, Weraroa, states the Horowhenua Chronicle. After the commencement of the war, when land owners were requested by the Prime Minister to increase the acreage under wheat, Mr J. Drysdale, the farm manager, decided to sow the field above mentioned with wheat. The ■ ground which was in pasture was ploughed in September, disced and har- •- nJ the wheat, purple straw Tus- .. ":ir.ure of any sort was . i ■ ...... such as grown, - 1 - any portion mor»- wr.ru rest. It is estimated to yield 50 bushels to the acre, roughly about one ton of flour. If all the landlords had sown a few acres with wheat the flour shortage would soon be remedied, and the profit of the grower considerable. Fifty bushels to the acre at fis per bushel gives a gross return of £ls per acre, and the land occupied only for six months, when it may again be put down in grass or some other crop. ' MARGARINE AND NEW ZEALAND BUTTER. In speaking of the prospects of New Zealand butter in the Home market, Mr F. W. B. Greville, editor of the New Zealand Dairyman, who has just returned to the Dominion from a visit to the United Kingdom, says that he found our chief competitor, as far as the second qualities were concerned, was margarine. New Zealand dairymen must aim at the very highest quality they can produce. The quality of the best New Zealand butter was spoken of at Home in terms of the highest praise, "but margarine," added Mr Greville, "will surely extinguish the factory that i does not turn out the highest grade. One margarine factory near London was turning out 800 tons of margarine a! week, when butter was at a normal j price, but when it rose in price, the output would be increased by 20 per cent, j There are ten great margarine factories in England and Holland. The one I have; mentioned uses the best of milk, irres- i pective of price, and vast quantities of the best butter. Their net profit is ' £SOO a day in normal times. Their daily milk consumption exceeds that of the whole city of Wellington." Referring to New Zealand cheese, Mr Greville , said that he had found that there had been grave complaints as to the way in which it was packed. It was necessary to standardise the hoops, so as to secure uniformity of height of the cheese, for all the crates were made of one size, whereas all the cheese was not of the same height, so that often there was too much play between the cheese and the top of the crate and the centre board. The crates were also too lightly constructed. The packing of the ; Canadian cheese in drums was an ideal system, for the cheese fitted its container like a glove. The British Government, said Mr Greville, fixes the maximum retail price of butter and cheese, but the market has been made by the War Office buying stupendous quantities of cheese for the men where cooking could be done. The War Office demand had sent the price of cheese up £lO | per ton.

New freezing works which are capable of puting through 2000 sheep a day are being opened in Hawke's Bay this wetk. This will relieve the temporary congestion that is being experienced at other works.

An instance of very rapid germination of turnip seed has occurred on Mr Thomas Wylie's farm, Saltwater Creek, Canterbury. The seed was drilled in on a Thursday, and on Tuesday morning tlie plants were above the ground suflit iently high to show across tne field. The seed be 1 , had been worked very fine by frequent grubbing to eradicate twitch.

Talking to an Oainaru Mail reporter kit week, Mr Astney, M.P., expressed the opinion that the grain shortage will be materially reduced as a result of the recent good rains, and that the three million bushel deficiency lie predicted at the New Year may be reduced to nearly a million. There is, he said, every prospect of a good deal of seed wheat being sown next season, and for a time these will add to our perplexities by reducing the supply for consumption, but given a good year in Australia, free from the drought that militated so unfortunately agalnsS the present season's crop, we should come out fairly well, though wheat will probably go to 7s, and bread will be a luxury before the year is run.

A farmer at Fairlie refused an offer of £4O an aero for his potato crop.

Mr. Charles Leo, \>f Ratana, who is an expert in wheat-growing, has some sixty acres sown in that seed, and it is reckoned by experts who have visited the farm that a yield of fully fifty bushels to the acre can bo safely anticipated.

_ An instance of the remarkable capabili- j ties of the country lying inland of Wanganui was given a Herald representative recently by a Wanganui man who owns a farm 011 the Parapara Road. He stated that this year one of his neighbors has sold over 2000 fat sheep off his place which, only- two years ago, was all in standing bush. Such a record, only two years after the area was first put in would, lie considered, be hard to beat anywhere.

The effect of the several months' spoil of dry weather is apparent along the Main Trunk line. In the Waikato crops are stunted in height, while seemingly in many instances thick in bulk. The countryside wears a burned appearance. Around, Marton, however, the crops are much better in appearance. In many places there is only a small growth of grass, but here and there welcome contrasts arc seen in green pastures—in districts where the rainfall is larger. Harvesting is general now along the line.

A lady visitor from Gisborne informed a Wangamii Chronicle reporter recently tlmt affairs are very bad in Poverty Bay, owing to the long spell of dry weather. Quite a drought was being experienced, it being quite four months since there was any rain. The country is completely parched, and she said it was quite restful to her eyes to see the green pastures, oats, wheat and turnip crops along the line bctweeen Feilding and Turakina, She said there was not a green blade of grass to be seen in the Gisborne district, and the farmers were obliged to rush their stock along to the freezing works, owing to the scarcity of feed. Water has become very scarce, and while subsidiary creeks have completely dried up, the river has now been reduced to a mere trickle. The outlook was I decidedly bad, and a number of people had left with the intention of not reI turning until bountiful rains had fallen.