FARM AND DAIRY.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 November 1922, Page 7

FARM AND DAIRY.

From Che “Press”:—A North Island visitor complained in the course of ft chat during the week that a leading North Island newspaper had quoted beef a.t a recent sale at Addington at up to £2 5s per 1001 b, and that some buying had been based on the report. Beef has not reached that figure, it may be remarked, since, the slump set in, except at the National markets. Occasionally a. butcher, after delaying his purchases until near the end of the market on the assumption that prices would weaken, has had to pay a high rate, at times up to 38s or 395, and other butchers, who are not stopped by a few shillings, have paid up to the same figure for a choice body or two. but the general average of prime beef has rarely exceeded 36s per 1001 b, and generally it has been for sojne time from 34s down to 31-s, with uneven and roughly finished beef correspondingly lower.

A peuliar accident happened at Ruakaka. North Auckland, on Tuesday, resulting in serious injury to George West, a share-milker on a farm in that locality, says the Auckland Star. Milking machines are in use on the- farm, and West had put a young heifer in the stall preparatory to affixing the cups. A short length of chain was at the entrance of the stall to prevent the animal running back, having a hook at one end. In this particular stall the point of the hook’ was unusually sharp. As West was stooping to couple up the chain, the heifer backed, and the point of the hook was driven into his throat and penetrated the. windpipe. Medical aid was qifcklv forthcoming from Wh-a-ngarei. and ‘■•’.ibsequentlv the sufferer was admitted to (he* Whangarei Hos-

“Amongst the buyers -of New Zealand wool I met in Bradford,” said Mr. A, Carr, ex-president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, who has just returned from England, “were men who were gravely apprehensive as to the i future, -owing to the discovcrV among some of our clips of Australian burr. According to these men—the opinion is not my own—this pest is creeping in slowly, yet steadily, and the Agricultural Department would do well fo take the most drastic steps to eradicate the pfts-t, which I was told outside New Zealand was introduced through Australian rams which had been brought into the country.” ‘“’Five yeans ago,” said one Bradford buyer to Mr. Carr, ‘T would have bought any clip of wool from New Zealand without seeing it. To-day there is not one buyer foolish enough to do that.” ‘’The burr is an awful thing,” continued Mr. Carr. “The biddi-biddies can be combed out, but the Australian burr has to be eliminated hy chemicals which affect the wool and depreciate its value by 50 per cent.”

“I visited Smithfield market in London during my -stay there,” said Mr. W. Hollis, of Lyttelton, and saw New Zealand beef, lamb and mutton on sale; also frozen meats from the Argentine. It was noticeable that the New Zealand meat was evidently better handled in the unloading operations, as it was much cleaner than the other.”

Dairy farmers will no doubt be interested to know that on Tuesday las! the famous Holstein cow Alcarta Clothildt Pietje. gave birth to two fine healthy -heifer calves, on the farm of her owner, Mr. Vernon Marx, at Mangotoki. It mav be mentioned, also, that the cow has' now completed the record qualifying her for a Government certificate of merit.—Axgu*.