IN AND ABOUT THE FARM.

Waipa Post, Volume I, Issue 11, 23 May 1911, Page 4

IN AND ABOUT THE FARM.

SMALL BIRDS NUISANCE

DISCUSSION AT RANGIORA

At a meeting of local bodies held at Rangiora (says a Christqhurch paper) it was suggested that it would be a good opportunity to consider a, uniform method of dealing with the small birds nuisance. During a brief discussion, it was found that most of the boards paid 9d. per dozen for old birds’ heads and from 2d. to 4cl. per dozen for eggs and young birds’ heads. It was stated that a farmer in the Waikuku district, who prepared the poisoned wheat himself, had drawn £l6 from the Rangiora Road Board last winter for birds’ heads. Mr J. Marshall said tire Rangiora Board had come to the conclusion that it was a mistake to supply poisoned grain to the farmers, the results having proved unsatisfactory. The board now left it to the farmers to procure or prepare the poisoned wheat, and under that system, over £2OO was paid last season for small birds’ heads. The discussion did not result in any definite conclusion being arrived at, and the matter dropped.

JAPANESE WOOL TARIFF. The Bradford an Australian paper, writing on April 7th, stated that the event of the week in the West Riding woollen circles was undoubtedly the publication of particulars respecting* the commercial Test-v with Japan. Dnr ; ”g fT ' r> p• "t three months do p'l’h' of fabr--.cs b or- be m * f this district in order to get ■ into Japanese ports ly\ r Lily Ist “The question re‘-’g discussed, to-day is: What effect are these new duties going to have upon woollens and worsteds manufactured hem, and intended for the Japanese market ? It is certain that that country cannot absorb anything like the weight of goods which has been recently shipped, and experts affirm that it will take fully two or three seasons before that market assumes .a normal aspect. Japanese mills are not in many cases running today at a profit, and this notwithstanding that natives are working at 6d per day. Only the very plainest fabrics are being made, and the Japanese are altogether incompetent in handling textile machinery.”

THE IMPENDING BEEF RISE. BUTCHERS’ OPINIONS. A Wellington man in the meat trade thinks that during the present week the wholesalers will raise the price of beef by 2s per lOOlb. “It will then be imperative on the retailers to raise their price in proportion,” he says. “ Two shillings a hundred means a farthing a pound. Supposing this rise comes, and the retailers go up a halfpenny in their price, someone is sure to draw attention to the fact that the retailers want a halfpenny more from the public while they are only paying a farthing more.” As a set-off against that, he continued, the public failed to consider that a good portion of the weight of a carcase of beef was made up by bone, and on that ' bone the butcher paid the extra farthing a pound, but gothing extra for the sale of a great proportion of it. He thinks the retail price of beef will go up by a halfpenny a pound very shortly. One butcher said that the big demand from the South Island was influencing the wholesale price in Wellington. South Island buyers were up that way looking for beef. One man’s estimate is that the wholesale price will soon be 2S C per lOOlb. This, he savs, is not exceptional in comparison with recent winters, but t-the point is that the retail price will likely keep pace with the wholesale this winter, whereas in the two previous winters the butchers were selling too cheap. They had been, in the two periods referred to, cutting out one another, and it was a case of survival of the fittest.

The following are the words of a very well-known tradesman : “ During the last eighteen months the retail butchers of Wellington have lost between £20,000 and £30,000 to the public through selling too cheap. One firm alone has lost £3OOO. Others have lost all they had to lose, and now have to look for a profit.”

BLIGHTED POTATOES.

WHEN TO DIG THEM

A question that is of great interest in most of the potato districts at, present is when is the best time to dig blighted potatoes. In discussing this problem in the New South Wales “ Agricultural Gazette,” Mr E. D. Butler says that with the abnormally wet season just experienced it is rather difficult to advise. In other countries the subject has claimed much attention, and the ultimate conclusion of some experimenters is that if it is desired to store the tubers they should not be dug until the tops are dead and thoroughly dry. As long as the tops remain partially green, the spores of the blight fungus continue to live, and in the process of digging the tubers become covered with live spores, and if conditions are at all favourable, more or less rot results. Precautions should be taken after digging not to cover the potatoes with tops that have been blighted as they are liable to convey infection. All tops’should be removed before digging, and effectually destroyed. If it is intended to market the potatoes, the tops might be removed when the tubers are large enough or sufficiently matured, care being taken to remove same to some remote place and effectually destroy them. If any infected tubers are found, they also should be sorted out and destroyed without delay.

, FROZEN MEAT FOR GERMANY. A CONFERENCE. It is reported from London that a conference is to be h- d in Dresden to cons I dr- th ■ •••>*" > r f. ms q imp >ri Tb T onH ■ n ;• • ■ i 0 1 . ■ ?:• ” W ; 1 e world y • "him, of - t 'difficult market to ■/, by idoubledly the richest to secure as a new source of demand, and beside the Teuton consumer the Latin meat eater must always rank a bad second. The tidings from Dresden, therefore, arc highly interesting, as they show that the ferment set up by the Socialist agitation, the International Congresses, and other agencies, is activety at work, and is bearing fruit. “The source of the information as to this German conference also tells us that the promoters of the conference have the feeling that any shipments that may ultimately be called for as a result of this movement will be from the Argentine ; but note the' reason. This is because it is felt in Germany that Australian tariff policy has been hostile to Germany. This is retaliation with a vengeance; but the trade will have to see that these 'little corners are rubbed smooth.”

TICK FEVER,

A serious outbreak of tick fever has occurre' -1 in New- South Wales. MrC. T. Reakes, D.V.Sc. Director of the Live Stock and Meat Division, communicated at once over the matter with the Chief Inspector of Stock in Sydney, and has'now received a reply to the effect that the outbreak occurred in an extreme northern section of the State, and that prompt measures #/ere taken to deal effectively with it. From the communication it would appear (says the “ Florae Journal ”) that the precautions taken by the New South Wales Government are sufficient to warrant the New Zealand Government continuing the arrangement under which cattle arc admitted from that State, subject to a quarantine period of forty days.

NORTHERN BUTTER FOR THE SOUTH.

Fair-sized shipments of butter have been going to the South Island from this island lor some time, and it is stated that for a while ahead the southerners will require northern butter. The bad season in the other island has caused supplies to be short there this winter. One of the biggest factories in the South Island is reported to have had a tremendous falling off in its manufacture of butter.

“ RAD TIME TO GOME.”

A London writer states that the had time for butter has yet to come. A severe fall is likely. “No end of harm is done to colonial by the great amount of bad Australian knocking about the market,” he states. “ Much of it is disgraceful stuff, and practically quite unsaleable.”