AGRICULTURAL ITEMS,

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1319, 11 December 1880, Page 3

AGRICULTURAL ITEMS,

Intercolonial. One gentleman informed us recently (says the Tapamd Courier) that, having a suspicion that some oats he was about to sow might contain obnoxious seeds, he took the precaution to put the whole lot through the fanners — a thing he had never done before. The result was that from twenty bags of oats lie obtained half an American bucketful of sorrel seed and other weeds. This would be sufficient to cover about fifty acres, and easily accounts for the red patches often seen in a field of corn Farmers would do well to attend to this matter. In its issue of Nov. 16, the New Zea~ land Times calls attention to the first establishment of the cheese making industry at Featherston, in -the Wairarapa district, by Messrs G-ilpen and Pardon. These gentlemen have erected premises comprising a large cheese-making room and store-room j have put together a substantial "plant," and are meeting with hearty co-operation from the farmers. The plant consists of a large hot water boiler and furnace, connected with the curding trough, as improvised curd-cutter, and three presses, besides a variety of minor paraphernalia. The trough is of two hundred and fifty gallons capacity, and was built by Mr Kingdon, of Masterton. • >A proper curd-cutter has been ordered, and is daily expected from England. The presses are of large size, and capable of imparting a pressure of nearly a ton. Messrs Gilpen and Pardon commenced cheese-making only about a fortnight ago, and already have over a ton of cheese in the store-room. They are using up, two hundred and fifty gallons of milk per deim, and can turn out 12 cwt of cheese per week. The excellent example they are setting promises to be highly contagious, as it is said that other people are devoting some attention to preparing butter for exprtation by salting itin casks and tinning it as powdered butter. They purpose shipping, as a first instalment, a score or so of kegs of salt butter by the St. Leonards for the English market. Respecting the weather and crops in South Australia, the Observer says :— The weather during the past week has been warm, and no rain has fallen. Good reports reach us as to the state of the crops, although in many parts red rust has made its appearance. The weather in Tasmania, though in 1 some parts cold and wet, has, generally , speaking, been of a seasonable character. Crop reports in New South Wales are of a most encouraging nature. < The young plants look well, and so far rust has not ' made its appearance. The dairy farmers of New South Wales (says the Sydney Mail) are still struggling to establish a central butter market and a company to export surplus, produce, but the stockowners are remarkably slow in promoting the despatch of cargoes of frozen meat. According to the Adelaide Observer, Mr John Pemberthy, farmer, of Port Vincent, has lost a cow under somewhat curious 1 circumstance. He says : — " I had a cow in milk and in excellent condition, but three days ago she showed symptoms of illness, but not such as to cause alarm. This morning, however, we found her dead, and on opening her, discovered the following articles in her stomach :—25: — 25 pieces of bone varying in size from 2in to 3in in length, and from half an inch to lin in thickness ; about 3lb of lead, chewed just as small as gunshot; two iron buckles and one copper rivet. One of thete buckles and th« rivet are known to have been swallowed two years ago, they having been attached to a loather strap. In addition to these things several small pieces of tin were found, one of which was nearly 2in square. I am under the impression that the lead has been recently eaten, and that it was the immediate cauae of the animal's death by poisoning.'' Harvesting has already commenced in Victoria, and on the whole the crops are said to promise well, though wheat has suffered severely from rust. The Farmers' Co-operative Company (gays the Adelaide Observer) has received several returns from its shareholders with information an to the probable yield for the coming harvest. From an analysis of these returns it would appear that the farmers in the Far North are not very sanguine. Eight bushels per acre is about the highest figure pet down for the Quorn district. From Gordon the accounts are very desponding. In the South-east the area under wheat held by shareholders in the Company is not very large, but the prospects appear good, as much as fifteen bushels being estimated all round. From Kangaroo Island good accounts are received from the small area under cultivation. The shareholders from districts adjacent to the River Murray also expect a good crop, and it is believed that the area around Sedan will this year figure for a large contingent to the supply of breadstuffa. In the neighbourhood of Terowie and at Mount Bryan the yield will most likely be considerably below the average, as grasshoppers have played great havoc. On the whole the complaints of the red rust are not numerous or general. About nine buehels per acre would seem to be the average yield expected by the shareholders. We are informed that up to the present time about 300,000 bushels have been promised to the Company for disposal on behalf of shareholders, and it is calculated that at an average of nine bushels the shareholders will represent a total of about a million and a quarter bushels for the coming season.