AGRICULTURAL NOVELTIES.

Waikato Argus, Volume III, Issue 221, 11 December 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

AGRICULTURAL NOVELTIES.

(Continued).

[BY J. W. ELLIS.] NEW ZEALAND IMPLEMENTS. I was surprised and pleased to see how general these were. The ehaffbutters seemed all New Zealand ones, while Booth and Macdonald's windmills wore strongly in evidence. At the College they were just introducing double-furrow ploughs. They had previously only used single-furrows, so that each of the 100 students should get a fair amount of ploughing. They had both an English and American double-furrow, and I, as a New Zealander, of course put in a word for Reid and Cray, and I got their agents in Sydney to send up one of their digger type. They told me that they had sent out the previous week twelve of the same class to one order from the Young district, and that they were doing a large business for Reid and Gray. THE DAIRY INDUSTRY IN NEW SOUTH WALES. From conversations with the Minister for Agriculture, I gleaned that his Government were determined to help all they could to dcvelope an export butter trade, and that he confidently looked forward to the time when their exports in this line would exceed the Victorian. The one great difficulty in the way, in his opinion, was the want of suitable cows. lie was very emphatic in stating that it never paid dairymen to rear steer calves, and that the rearing of beof cattle must be left to the back country, and that it was essential to the success of the industry that the cows should be bred for butter purposes only. As this class was in very limited numbers, he proposes to import a large number of pedigree cattle of the various milking' breeds, and as the' cost of freight by ordinary steamer was very high he had under consideration tlie advisability of chartering a suitable steamer and tilling her with high-class cattle from England, to be distributed amongst the various farms and experiment stations connected with his Department, so that the Government herds in each district would form a nucleus for tho improvement of the herds in the surrounding district. The intention is good, but I doubt if it will work out well in practice. Still, if a large number of the right class of cattle is introduced, it cannot fail to do some good, and at any rate it shows that the Government are willing to spend large sums of money to foster this industry, and this is only one of many ways money is being spent with the same object. The Victorian system of bonuses is, of course, not in favour in New South Wales ; they are, however, prepared to spend quite as much money, but propose to expend it in such a manner that the producer may derive a more direct and more lasting benefit than the Victorian farmers have done. At the Hawkesbury College the cows were principally grade Ayrshircs, and seemed to me, both in appearance and pail results, a. very ordinary lot. For a fee of, I think, 50s, anyone can go

through a special course of dairy instruc tion at tlic butter and cheese factory in operation on the place, and while I was there the papers were making merry over the Minister’s proposals to start classes for farmers’ daughters, and were quoting all sorts of extracts from the i rules and regulations of the College, and making such inquiries as to whether the Minister would not kindly, on account of i their sex, allow them to provide coloured moleskin trouse s instead of the white 1 ones specified. This factory has a firstclass reputation for its product, and lias an outlet for all the cheese it can manu facture at Sd per lb That looks as if they were a long way from an export trade; but it is a great country, its 1 capabilities are immense, and it may soon leave Victoria and New Zealand far 1 behind. WHEAT-GROWING. This is another industry that the Hon. Sydney Smith is fostering. I have already mentioned the large c llection f of wheats at Wagga Wagga. Here they also go in largely for the growth of wheats for seed of the proved best sorts ! for that district (the Riverina). This is ■ sold to farmers at 7s 6d per bushel, find ' the demand is greater than they can supply. When I was there a very elaborate and expensive granary was i approaching completion. It was built close to the side of a hill, and the wheat was taken in on the top storey and ' emptied into bins, from which it works its ways through cleaning machines, etc., down to the ground floor, each sort being kept separate. It was very nice and handy, but it will take a lot of acres of 10-bushel crops of wheat to pay for it even at 7s Gd per bushel. I, in common doubtless with many of your readers, have often wondered how wheat, averaging 10 bushels per acre can pay. My wonder was increased when I found that as a rule the wheat lands were originally heavily timbered. But 1 find on inquiry that country that has been ringbarked at a cost of, say, Is per acre, can after a year or two be cleared and stumped for a very few shillings an acre. The trees are uprooted ssith bullocks, and when set fire to burn clean away, leaving the land ready for the plough. The wheat is roughly put in, and almost all reaped with strippers, one of the principal makers of which arc two gentlemen well known to many in Waikato—Capt. Ptreoval, late of the Native Land Court, and his son, a late reliesing officer on the Auckland Railways. I was through their manufactory in Melbourne, and sasv several strippers, ploughs, etc., in progress of manufacture, and saw some ready to go out. Their friends will lie glad to know that they have a good sound business, and arc well satisfied with their new vocation.