RURAL TOPICS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9156, 1 August 1908, Page 5

RURAL TOPICS.

(By "Agricola").

THE WEATHER

The past week has been marked by a number of frosty nights and bright sunny days. No heavy rain has fallen, though there have been some slight showers, and the Maungaraki ranges received another baptism of snow. Now that spring is approaching, the pait winter months may be summarised as on the whole being particularly mild, and suitable.for agricultural operations, while cessation took place in the growth of pasturage, and stock have wintered well. Lambing has commenced on a number of properties, and 1 gather from conversations with country settlers that given fine weather during the next five or six weeks a good percentage will result in the Wairarapa this season. THE MASTERTON A- AND P. ASSOCIATION. It should indeed be very gratifying to all interested in agricultural and pastoral undertakings to find that the Association is working so strenuously towards making the Show one of the foremost in the North Island, and with the capable man?gement just elected, there can be very little doubt that good and highly satisfactory results will, be 'achieved. One very commendable feature is the appointment of such well-known and up-to-Jate settlers as Messrs Q. Donald, A. McMaster, W. E. Bid- j will, B. Rayner, A. Donald, and H. A. Matthews, on the committee as representative from south of the Wairarapa. Let us hope that it foreshadows ihe speedy amalgamation of the two district Associations. THE HON G. FOWLDS ON THE PRICE OF WOOL. The Minister of Education, the Hon. G. Fowlds, may be excellent, and as a Socialist everything that is ndmirabh, but when he utters statements on the reduction in the prhe of' wool—that it "would not so rapidly cause any effect ujion the wellbeing of the people because the money went mostly into the hands of the wool kings, who always had more nnney than they wanted tor their business, but would now have a little less to invest." One may well exclaim of this gentleman, "Let not the shoemaker go beyond his last." The pastoral indastr> is ever the target fo • some politician to shoot at. But le: us pause and consider what a mine of'wealth it is to the community, and what an amount of money it represents to the Dominion. The export tables speak as follows:—Mutton, £1,3,5,460; lamb, £1,430,122; and wool, £7,529,158; a total of no less ,than £10,304,770, or rather more' than one-half the value of the whole of our exports. It has bean; estimated that the fall in the price' of wool this season is well within the region vc, one and a-half million pounds sterling, a great proportion of which w mid, notwithstanding the Hon. Minister's assertion to the contrary, be distributed as wages among the labouring population. The curtailment of our farmers' incomes by, the low prices ruling means that! less labour will be employed, which in turn will react detrimentally on a very large section of the community. If some politicians were in the position of many of our small sheepfarmers who have had their incomes reduced by one-half, and have had to refund largely to their merchants and bankers on advances received, they would be less apt to talk bunkum on the effect of the falling in value of produce. It has often been remarked that if wool realised Is per lb, that the Dominion would be so prosperous that it would matter but little what Government was in power. It is perfectly obvious that upon the well-being and, prosperous condition of the primary products rests also the prosperity of the Dominion, and that when they are obtaining high values the whole community participates and shares in the benefits.

PROVISION FOR FEEDING DAIRY

STOCK.

In many parts of the Commonwealth of* Australia attention has been turned of recent years to providing sustenance for stock and the making of ensilage is finding a large place in the rural economy of that country. Not so in New Zealand, for in many parts of this country silage is unknown. As the season of the year will be soon approaching when there will be an overplus of feed, dah-y farmers may well turn their attention to conserving quantities of herbage for ensilage, which can be made from almost any rough vegetation practically often left to go to waste. It is in many respects preferable to hay, entailing less labour to save, while it can be harvested in a crreen state, and in spite of showery weather. While for every ton of ereen fodder cut for silage you get an equivalent in weight, viz., 2Q cwt. ha> only yielding 5 cwt. for every ton cut. If special crops are grown the following are some of the best: — Lucerne, red clover, cowgrass, vetches, cow pea, serghum, amber cane, maize., etc., the latter being considered one of the best as yielding heavily to the acre (often 40 tons), and being of such a succulent nature. A ten of ensilage will occupy a space of 50 cubic feet, and 401b the daily ration for a cow.

SMALL BIRDS,

In this district very little is being done to combat and reduce the small bird nuisance, though these small creatures are ever increasing, and levying heavy toll on the grain, eras* seed and garden products. The importation of the English small owl has been attended with so much success in the South Island that the Farmers' Union Conference are qui it; justified in recommending the introduction of further numbers, and it is to be hoped that our local bodies will fall in witii the idea, and bring about concerted action in assisting to introduce them into the Wairarapa.