NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXII, Issue 22, 21 February 1927, Page 3

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

GENERAL NOTES. Most farm lands in Now Zealand need lime, mainly because the .first improvement its application effects is to neutralise the acidity of the. soil. Blunt roots derive immediate benefit and bacteria in the' soil thrive and increase and their action develops the supply of soluble’ plant foods. Investigations prove that very large dressings of lime are not necessary. Repeated dressings of small quantities produce better results upon the crops.

A pig of unusual proportions was among a truckload consigned from Hawcra recently to the Ngahauranga meat works. A female of the Tamworth breed, the animal balanced the scale at 6251bs—a respectable weight even for a fat bullock.

Dairy produce to the total value of £143,098 was sent from Wanganui to the London market during- the month of January. The butter shipments were worth £80,844, while the cheese shipment was valued at £62,254. On present values the butter and cheese held in. store at Castlecliff is worth £150,382.

Large mobs of store ewes arc now being brought up in the district, in anticipation of shipment to Addington (states the ”Gisborne Times”).- Ono dealer has purchashed several thousand ewes for forward delivery shipment this month.

Two haystacks were destroyed by fire in Ngarara during last week, the cause of which was sweating, resulting from the hay being stacked before it was properly dry.—To Aroha News.”

A plant known as fathem has obtained a considerable hold upon many districts of North Otago. Practical farmers state that the only way to eradicate it is to'plough ..it in or dig it in before it comes to seed.

The first consignment of 2500 ewes for Canterbury was made from Napier last week

The pay-out for the majority of dairy companies in South Taranaki on February 20 will (the Star says) be in the vicinity of 1/3, most of • the directors having decided upon that figure. The following is a list of payouts that will be made: Hawera 1/3, Kaupokonui 1/3, Ararata 1/3, Mells 1/3, Meremcro 1/2, Pihama 1/2, Large clearances of ewes arc being made throughout the West Coast districts of the ' North Island, and farmers on the look-out for breeding ewes arc busy securing their requirements, ' in view of the next lambing season. In his annual report on forestry, Mr Malcolm Fraser, the Government Statistician, |sta/teS that the following were the numbers of trees planted during the period: Pinus radiata insignia, 970,000; eculyptus cngenoidcs, 7700; eucalyptus salgina, 700; eucalyptus pilularia, 700; total, 979,100. One of the reason given for the low prices offered , for Romneys at the ram fair at Hastings was that too many amateurs had entered the ranks of breeders, with the result that, owing to their inexperience, rams were submitted at the fair which should never have been penned at all, because of their inferior quality. The well-bred rams all brought satisfactory prices. Says Captain Pearse, of tlic c< Pastoralists’ Review”:— l ‘T am delighted to observe the manner in which top-dross-ing is being resorted to in the South Island. There lies the future of New Zealand’s pastoral industry—in making two blades of grass grow where one grew before. The results achieved in that direction since my last visit have been most remarkable.

A Canterbury farmer states . that some of the Southern farmers who are making-such a noise about wheatdumping deserve but little consideration. He recalls the time during the Great War when high rates were, ruling for beef and mutton, and a lot of the so-called patriotic farmers dropped wheat-’growing and went for the- big stakes, As. a matter of fact, a Minister of the Crown had to pay a special visit to a certain locality and beg the farmers to grow wheat, felling them, at the same time, the very critical position the Empire was in.

There was a little friction at the Imlay works the other day (says the “Wanganui Herald”) over the killing of ram lambs.' One butcher, who wanted two for one for killing ram lambs, was told to go to the office for his envelope. However, later in the day the trouble was ironed out, and work went on as usual. It is an easy matter for farmers, by exercising a little care, to remove this instead of some of them sending ram’ lambs to the works in dozens.

The D.O A. (Mr J. S. S. Medley), | during a bankruptcy meeting at Stratford the other day, mentioned that recently he had a pleasant duty to perform. A Stratford, man who -had gone bankrupt about 16 years ago had moved to another - part of the country/ and had prospered, and had forwarded | to Mr Medley sufficient money to pay > in full the creditors concerned in his bankruptcy.