FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 270, 24 April 1915, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

NEWS AND NOTES, Lupin lias bison declared a noxious wood by tlio Pahiatua County Council. The Wairarapa JX'iinos states that a Carterton farm his boon sold at £4O per acre. The Winton Record Vays that llr. Marti-.i Crowe expects his oat cropa to yield '2O bushels to the acre. Potato digging is now pretty general in the Rongotca-tilen Oroua districts, and some very good yields art' being obtained. Several farmers report having obtained crops of 2(1 tons to the acre. The Tawai correspondent of the North Olago Times says that the. ily is very bad on the turnip leaves, and a'good rain would prove beneficial to get rid of the pest. Swede turnips have gone to blight in a great many instances. One large meatworks on the Brisbane River has closed down owing to the cold store being full of meat, and a second and larger establishment is likely to follow suit unless some relief by overseas steamer is secured at_an early date. A Liverpool (England) firm of butter blenders was fined £2O and ten guineas costs for being in possession of butter that contained an undue proportion of water. The defendants are army eontractors, and it is stated that the butter was for the use of the troops.

1 The Victorian oat harvest only yielded 1,008,470 bushels as compared' with 8,81)0,321 bushels the previous season. The problem of finding storage accommodation for butter for export is becoming acute in Queensland. One of the bacon factories, whose piemises are not fully occupied, has been asked to set aside space for butter. The nasal fly in sheep is becoming widespread in Queensland. It has already extended all over the Darling Downs, and has been seen on the coastal side of the range. The fly affects the nose, and, though not fatal, causes a great deal of worry to the sheep affected. It is predicted, that in time it will extend throughout the northern State. The Commissioner for Railways in Queensland intends to allow settlers adjacent to railway lines to shepherd their stock in railway premises for the purpose of obtaining the fodder that is so short on their fanns. He will not accept any responsibility for loss to the stock. A similar concession was refused in another State.

The raising of Corriedalc sheep in Queensland is being tried by Mr. S. Townsend in partnership with Mr. C. H. Ensor, of White Rock, Canterbury, New Zealand. Mr. Townsend has a property at Dalby, Q., : and has just landed 1,700 Corriedalo sheep. Artificial fodder is to be raised for thoae slice]), a form of husbandry that has not had much prominence in that country so far. Referring to the Western Australian draught horse market, un, Australian journal says : A little while ago the horse market was practically lifeless, but during the past feiy weeks the position has completely .changed,' and a fairly good inquiry now, exists for good sorts of draught horses. Medium draughts are quoted from .C3O tp £?.>, heavy draughts ,€45, extra heavy draughts to £SO. . Fifty-three bushels of wheat, to the aero on a five acre plot is claimed by Mr. J. H. August to be a record for the Wairarapa. The same farmer has grown also this year 40 bushels of wheat to the acre iu a crop of 35 acres on his Woodside property. This also is claimed to be a record, and if any fartner has done better we (News) should be pleased to publish his figures. The straw yield in both of Mr. August's crops is exceptionally good. The Hon. David Buddo has just received a letter frpm his sister, occupying the old family farm on the east caost of Scotland, in which she states that a military officer called and instructed those on the farm to brand their stock Kl5O, and also told them that if advised of the likelihood of a German invasion they were to have the stock driven up the course of the Bervic River to the woods inland. The family were further Instructed that on no condition were they to drive the stock on the main roads, which must be kept open for his Majesty's troops. Albert Dorrington, writing from London, says :—-"There will be some Napoleonic crashes in the wheat world before the war ends. Already a good deal depends on the opening of the Dardanelles. Up to date there has been some pretty frantic trading, both here and in America. Deals in New York on February 4 were the most riotouß since the famous Patten and Leiter gamble. One can easily imagine the living hell that would follow r in the Pit if a solid report came to hand that the Allied fleets had forced the Dardanelles and released Russia's bulging grain ships upon a wheat-fam-ished market. English farmers are holding to their stocks like bulldogs ; and are refusing to sell at any price. The secretary of the Westland Agricultural and Pastoral Association has written to the Manawatu A, and P. Association asking for the opinion of the local association and settlers on the question of making it compulsory to dehorn bulls. If the settlers .were favourable, the writer remarks, there should be little difficulty in having it made compulsory. His committee decided that so many lives would not be lost were all bulls dehorned, and one bull would have no advantage over another in the show ring. The Westland Society did not intend to move unless there was an unanimity of opinion in the matter. The local association (reports the Manawatu Standard), without discussion, decided that it could not see its way clear to support such a proposal.