FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 November 1916, Page 3

FARM AND DAIRY.

MHjKING SHORTHORN ASSOCIATION. The following address b\ the president (Mr. James C. Wright, of M'ata|jul was presented at the annual meeting of tho New Zealand Milking Shorthorn Association at Palmerston North on the 2nd instant: ' The balance-sheet shows a very satisfactory balance in the profit and loss account of £230 15s fid, whiii is very creditable for a society only three years in existence. Forty members have been added to our roll, and we have at date over seven hundred and fifty entries for Volume 11. of our Herd Book, thus sliowing plainly the increased interest that is being taken by practical farmers in the milking Shorthorn. It is pleasing to note that entries have come from all parts of the North Island. Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Taranakr and Manawatu districts have all added their quota;- and it is very satisfactory to know that a large number of our members are placing their cows under semi-official test. We have every confidence that the records of the milking Shorthorns will compare very with other breeds, more especially as our animals are all practic ally grass fed. I wish to impress on members the absolute necessity for aiming at milk production, as the milking Shorthorn never stood higher in the estimation of the farmer than at the present time, because of its dual purpose The first thing one is now asked, if yo:j have a bull for sale, is what is the record of its dam. I would urge members not to keop a bull from a bad milker, as animals that will not get good milkers will cause the first set-back to o.ir association. We are now on a very satisfactory basis, and let all endeavor to maintain to the best of our ability the main objects of the society and go in for only the best. The sales of milking Shorthorn cattle during the year have also proved that the breed is bein? recognised by fanners as being the most profitable that they can keep, 'and the demand for good milking Shorthorns is still very keen. A large number of A. and P. Associations now include special classes for milking Shorthorns, and this also has helped considerably to awaken interest in the breed. We urge our members to give their hearty support to those associations by exhibiting at their sliow3 I sincerely" trust that before next annual meeting a lasting peace will be proclaimed, with the Hun crushed never to rise again, and with a united Britain for generations to comc. A number of our members and members' sons have given their services and their lives in the interests of liberty, right and justice. We mourn their loss and ofi'er our condolences to their sorrowing relatives in their bereavement. I would like to see a roll of honor obtained for the names of those members and members' sons who have so nobly sacrificed their lives for King and country. SKIMMINGS. Apparently indifferent lambing results are pretty general this year. In this weekly South Island Notes published in the Farmers' Union Advocate, "Agricola" states:—"The paddock lambing is practically over, and the tailing opera tion is being performed. In so far as the job has been completed, the tallies vary very considerably. There are some good percentages, but I am afraid they are few and far between. Enquiries ha\e convinced me that, in iny district r.t any rate, there will be few mobs over the cent, per cent, mark, while most of us will be down below that tally. Some paddocks have gone up to 140, but some are down as low as 25 per cent. I have heard of over 00 dry ewes being picked out of a mob of 120 ewes; a mob that usually goes up to something like 150 per cent." The lack of good wholesome feed for ewes at the critical time is Mamed,

Some idea of the quantities of fertilisers imported into New Zealand may be gained from the fact that since the war began 36,000 tons of ground raw phosphate has been received from Maketea Island, and 4flflO tons from Ocean Island. This would represent a total of over 70,000 tons of manufactered superphosphate if it were all turned into their fertiliser, but a portion of the phosphate is used as a base for ether manures. Although we have had a very favorable spring, and although the country is looking remarkably well almost everywhere, there are some (districts that are commencing to cry out for more rain (writes "Agricola" in his South Island Notes in the Farmers' Union Advocate!. Up towards the hills, where some nor'west howlers have been experienced, theie are evidences that a good season is assured, but lower down towards the coast there are some localitu:;-. that require rain rather badly, especially for the spring-own crops, and for the rape. An incli of rain would be acceptable over a great; part of the "province of Canterbury and North Otago, the. portions where the drought, was felt the worst last year. Changeable weather has been experienced down south. At times it i, beautifully fine. Then the temperature will fall, and cold wind will prevail, undoing much of the good that the rain and warm sun have accomplished. The spring dewn there may be .-aid to be a backward one, while further north it is one the early side. The ground is, no doubt, getting warmer, and a few soft showers would bring things away with a rush. English Cheddar cheese, which used to be 2M per lb. dearer than Canadian cheese, is now only Jd dearer. American cotton,provides live-eighths of the whoift rt the world's crop. Tn Fishguafl liatl Write, milk iB now being soUl ftt SA pn qiiart. Some early potatoes grown on Mr. H. Walton's property at iWaikanae were (the Otaki M*ll ctatM)' Bold at auction in Wellington a few days ago for 5d per ib, or at the rate of .£47 per ton. An ostrich feather, if held upright, will be seen to be perfectly equal on both ides, the stem dividing it exactly in the centre. In other feathers the stems are found to be more or less on one side. The Queensland Government has ptirchaed the Cecil Downs estatp, covering an area of 20(1 square nilies, to provide land for returned soldiers. America's estimated cotton crop !» 11,800,00(1 bales, or 1,200,000 bales 'ess than last season. On the publication of these figures prices at the Liverpool cotton market jumped to the highest figures since 1873. . The short yield can hardly fail to be very unfavorable to Lancashire. An unusual claim has bfen made against the Taranaki Education Board by a settler in respect of three heifers, valued at £ls, which, he says, lost their lives through licking paint from the grass at one of the boards' schools. The paint is said to have been spilt by the •board's carpenters. The matter it to b* i resorted upon by th« dtai.rm% '•