TAMAHERE FARMERS' CLUB.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1849, 13 May 1884, Page 2

TAMAHERE FARMERS' CLUB.

The ordinary monthly meeting of the club was held, on Friday night at Camp's Hotel, Tamahere. The principal business for discussion was the small bird question, and in order to a thorough examination of the subject, the club made the meeting an oppn one, and invited by advertibement in these columns the attendance of the .settlers generally. The members present were Messrs J. J. Barugh (president, in the chair), W. A. Graham, A. T. F. Wheeler, Rhodes, James Kunciinan, G. Way, R. Barugh, T. N. Allright, T. S. Runcim.in, E. D. Dalej 7 , S. S. Graham, Camp, and the hou. secretary, Mr A. B. Wheeler. A number of settlers, not member* of the club, availed themselves of the invitation to be present.

THE SMALL BIIID NUISANCE. The Secretary 1 cad a letter from the Waikato County Council, replying to the club's letter asking foi assistance in the destruction of sparrows. The council intimated its willingness to a special rate for the pin pose, provided the club could give some idea as to the amount lequired. A letter was aNo icid fioin the Hamilton Road Boatd, to thi» effect that that body did not bee its way to legally devote any of its revenue for the object in view, and referring the club to the Wai pa Council. The Secretary also read a communication from Mr W. A. Graham, chairman of the provisional direotois of the Noith New Zealand Cooperative Allocation, recommending that the piesent meeting be held, and intimating that in all probability the co-operative association might see its way to render assistance to the fanners in the matter of the small birds. Tho Secretary said he had tiiat day leceived a letter from Mr A. Main, Htiutapu, on the subject, which he read. Mr Mam explained that he was unable to be piesent, but wished the meeting to have his views on the matter brought before it In refeience to the alleged depredations of the sparrow, he admitted that they did destroy some of the wheat aiound the edges of the field, but on the whole the damage was small. He regarded the loss in tho light of a very small premium paid to insure the crop against the lavages of insects, and pointed out that there weie several varieties of insects and grubs most destructive to grain crops, which had their natural enemy in the spanow and other small birds. In this country the conditions of climate were extremely favourable to the propogation of insect and grub life, and it was on insects and grubs that sparrows chiefly fed. Mr Rhodes remarked that Mr Main bad omitted to take note of the damage done by the sparrows just after seed time, when the ciops were just above the ground. The Chan man attributed most of the destruction wrought at seed time to the larks. The sky-lark subsisted on the young green shoots. It grazed just a sheep. Mr W. A. Graham said, from what he had beeu able to gather, the majority of the farmers had come to the conclusion that the sparrows were getting too numerous. That matter he looked upon as settled. What they were now met to consider was the proper method of destruction, whether they were to poison the birds or reduce their numbers by other means. There was a feeling growing up in the district adverse to poisoning, for the reason that they ran the risk of destroying friend and foe alike, Sportsmen were altogether opposed to the use of poison. They all knew that the pheasants had greatly diminished in number, and it had been said that many of them were poisoned. He had heard it stated that the poisoned grain sold to the farmers was so carefully prepared that, while it would kill sparrows it would not take effect on pheasants. He doubted this ; but at any rate there were d many other birds susceptible to the effects * of the poison which none would like to see destroyed. He had had a conversation with a person in Hamilton who had followed the occupation of a bird-catcher in the old country, and this man informed him that the sparrows might be decimated without the aid of poison. These bird»^ went in colonies, and at certain seasons; sofjfij the year they could be caught with com* siparative ease. By employing such means as these, none but those birds which had destructive proclivities need be killed. The cost would be about Jd per head. The Chairman understood that the person referred would want a little help in procuring nets, but was willing to pay for them eventually. Mr Graham said this was clearly a case in which the co-operative association could help, by getting the necessary nets, &c, from England at first cost. A half -penny a head might seem a high price to pay, and for some time no doubt the bird catcher would make a good thing out of it ; but it must be remembered that he would have to continue operations after the sparrows ceased to be numerous. He understood that the method to be adopted was that of stretching nets across the paddock*. Mr Parr (Cambridge), explained how larks were caught by means of ground nets , The Chairman, speaking in reference to Mr Main's letter, said he inspected * crop , of 20m on that gentleman's farm last year, "^ and he was bound to say, that there aprJfl peared to have been very little damage]^ done by the sparrows. The birds* hadLjtfgflp tainly taken a little near the edges. , jaD^E! Mr W! A. Graham said , his experlelHEP* was similar to Mr Main's. 'In former yean the caterpillars had done great damage to the crops. ' .''>•■ 1 " ■ MrE. Beere said he had* never known,' caterpillars to hurt wheat during the ten yeaii that h& had grown that cer6al{i M* ' \i was simply no use trying to. grow wheat jft ! - * small pJHtdopks while tbes hadth'e j p^n-pw|.:<;, |The birds feel on,ihe gniin for ja. longcipim©, *while the, ,c^terpi^r^ t w.£u^4in^'tou^jjt,- 5

t£ b»«utowb. It was true that the caterpillar m ,did a large amount of damage to oats. P'* - Mr Baruglf:. t*H, and caterpillars will £ eat barley. m Captain Runciman said ho had known jpl the caterpillar/* to make a clean sweep of W everything that came in their way. He J; would not like to say positively that the ? diminution in the number of caterpillars hf was due to the sparrows, but it was certain 'that the farmers did not differ now from \\ t the ravages of the latter as they used to. ■>' Many yWrs ago, in the days of the war, he &r had seen the road near Martyns farm, -' Ramarama, literally covered with caterpillars, which the wheels of tho waggons. 9 had turned into mud ; and at Mangare he - v . had seen cartloads of the grub in tho '- ditches. They had never been so bad {', since that time Regarding the means to be adopted for thinning the sparrows, he j! believed tliat poisoned grain would affect I"- the pheasants; and on this point he had U another remark to make. Ho thought, % considering the scarcity of game, the clnb | /ought to nrgo tho Government to at once \ bring the shooting season to a close, and ' prohibit the destruction of pheasants foi a year or two. Returning to the sparrow Question, he was quite willing to let pooplo lay poison on their own pioperties, but he • • would not go in for poisoning wholesale. The larks did more damage that the sparrows, inasmuch as they pulled up tho green corn. , The Chairman, in justice to the sparrows, .said that while he was looking at a young crop of wheat on Mr Coates f.irm he saw them eating caterpillars. • Mr W. A. Graham said he knew trom actual observation tliat the sparrows did eat 'the caterpillars. Mr Parr said he was a neighbour of Mr Beere, and thought his wheat also had suffered from spairmvt., but when he came to cut it he was gratified to find that very little damage had been done. Only some of the ripest grain had been taken. Mr .Tames Forrest considered the sparrows had proved themselv es go'id fi lends to the farmeis ; but they could have tor) much of a good thing, and it was necessary to check; them m Rome. way. Ho did not think it would be so easy to net the birds, in this country as it was in England. At Home the birds weio caught in the i\y growing on the trees, but ho failed to see »how they weie to be got at in the blue gums and other high trees in New Zea- • land. He believed that every farmer could poison on his own account as many of the small birds as was ncces&aiy. He had proved this on his own faim. The piocess of catching the bnd» at Ul a head would be a vciy expensive one. In lefeienco to the caterpillars, ho believed their diminution to be largely due to some disease ; the result was not due to tho spanows. He had seen numbers of the grille sluivelled up as though they had pei lshed fioni some disease. Every fanner should lay a little poison for tho spairows. He did not believe any of those pi esent had ever seen a poisoned pheasant. Mr Parr said the plan adopted in the part of England he came from was to gi\ c boys so much a head for spairows' heads, , and so much foi the eggs. It would be better to adopt this plan than to entiust - the work to pne man. i A gentleman pi esent gave it as his opinion that a piofessional biid-catchei would simply " farm " the spanows with a view to making a peimanent living out of the job. After some further discussion, thechaii man tooktho sense of the meeting on thequestion, " Is it necessaiy to i educe the numbers of the small birds," which was unanimously answered in the affii inative. The meeting then proceeded to discuss the question of the means to be employed m the destruction of the biuß Several of tho« present uiged the necessity for exercising care, as many biids of value, and not easily acclimatised, would be certain to suffer if any iudi*crimate system of des- * traction were enteied on. Mr W. A. Graham thought the young pheasants would certainly fall victims to the poison, but the Chairman pointed out that the proper time to distribute the poisoned grain * was in the autumn and early winter when ft- there \\ ere no young pheasants about. He til attributed the scaicity of pheasants to the Hfeuteb spring weather of the past two or three years. Mr A. B. Wheeler lennuked that tho hawks, which had greatly increased of late, were also to blame for the decrease of pheasants. Mr Forrest, with a view to bring the • question to an issue, moved. "That the - farmers of this district poison spairows to their hearts content and advise their neighbours to do the same." This 'was secouded by Captain Runciman. Mr W. A. Graham said the club had no power to stop the funnels laying poison. But it had been suggested that they should ask the County Councils to a«sisfc in the poisoning, and that he decidedly objected to, He desired to see the county rate applied in another way. Mr Fonest: Much as I dislike the sparrows, I dislike a county rate more. ' Mr Camp objected to the motion being passed, on the giound that the club ought •« not to sanction poisoning in any shape or r i form, having at a previous meeting decided '', against' it. Mr W. A. Graham had no objection to 1 Mr Forrest poisoning the buds, but the motion, if passed, would have them just "as they were." Of course, tho discussion would do good, but if this were the only passed the result of the meeting ■might be summed up as follows : — The though agreeing that the sparrow is a nuisance, are so divided on the question of how best to get rid of the pest that they have decided to let things icmain as tiiey are. He thought perhaps a voluntary system might be adopted, each faimeis a. contributing to a fund. They might start a y .shilling subscription. ■ii gentleman in the room said the voluntary system had been tiied in the Jf Qouth Island and had pro\od unvvoikable. It was. found that the willing horsua were [ allowed to do all the work. i Mr W, A. Giaham admitted the force of the objection. Concerning the poWi>mng. he felt sure that the settlers generally were , agajnstit. Mr Forest repoatod his objection to be rated, and after some further discussion, in order to test thequestion tho following words added to Mr Fonest motion: , — " but that it is not advisable to strike a , county rate for tho purpo.se of destroying . the birds. » Mr Rhodes said the club by passing such m a motion would only bo burkingthcquestion. 1 The matter resolved itself into thi.s :If the birds were a, nuisance they must be destroyed . by concerted action, if they weie not a ■ nuisance no action, on the part of the club was necessary. No fairer means for raising the money required could bo divisod than that of a county rate. Sooner or lafctoi' they would have to tackle thequestion, and they might as well begin at once. Mr Forrest understood that the club had already v oted £5 for the purpono of destroying the bird:*. Let them experiment with that sum, giving, s-ay 3d a dozen for sparhead*. Let thorn do this before they Supplied for a county rate. C Mr Parr thought this course would f simply involve a waste of time. He thought { they must be prepared to pay a county rate, ir or keep the birds. Mr W. A. Graham moved as an amend* - raent, " That a reward be offered for the fipjtifewtruction of small birds and hawks S&filfiOTvvise than by poison, and that the (Kidatottty councils be requested to strike a ' rate for carrying out this object. " This was seconded by Mr Rhodes, and on 1 being put to the meeting was carried by a /large majority over the original motion, the respective numbers of votes being 12 and 3. | It was .resolved to suggest to the Waif kato County Council that 3d per do?en be s offered for the heads of small birds. THE KBOZEN MEAT TRADE. ' At the request of Capt. Runciman, the ' Secretary read the following letter on this '-, subject from Mr Joseph Banks. The letter had been read at a former meeting of the (' club, at which Capt. Runciman was notpre- ; sent, and sipce then business had prevented V his attending the meetings ;-~ 'i New Zealand Fhozen Meat and Stoh. I . age Company, Limited. A 125. Queen-street, Auckland, I 4th February, 1884. \, The Secretary Farmers' Club, Tamahere. — |j Dear Sir, — I am directed by our Chairman f^ to reply to your letter re the Frozen Meat MiTtade^l. The failure of the Mataura's liyijargo.-^My opinion on this point is that it mwas ovring to the very hot weather prevailWmig at the time the vessel was loading, or mjmmgh the air trunks having become ■Hnwl with snow, the engineer neglecting HpSßSte them as of ten as necessary on the WftpiHuaxe home, and the circulation of the i Btcdid air being thus impeded the meat Kn»turaflf went bad.' Although the oaptain Haisured me that every care was tak^, I mmaab state, that I did got like 'the look Qf KffitT machinery or the manner of thq W^Ah^FWmeliivWanif "tfie"Mataura in W§ffi n doixi- 72. 7 '2. -The best cla«s of mutton for the crbss with a Shropshire ; B^w*il f i^ i otin / ercla«'s"thftt'bnngs so high HsSMi tn the* English markets. The, beat

beef is out of the question, unless we can export the prime cuts, and get at least 9d a pound for them in the wholesale market. 3rd. When in England I took a deal of trouble to find out now New Zealand frozen meat was liked, and also to get the opinion of gentlemen who had a good chance of knowing what the future prospects of the venture would be. I was assured on all sides that the success was certain. All we had to do was to ship nothing home but meat of good quality, and as soon as the prejudice was once moved from the minds of the people, our mutton must command attention, and the diffeience in price between the best English and New Zealand would not then exceed l J ;d to 2d per lb. The trade in England will require careful management for some time to come. The | Australian mutton has done a deal of harm to this industry, and until they are more particular as to what they send home, it will efFect the whole trade. But my opinion is they will lu\e to cease shipping, as the prices they get will never pay, and the quality of Australian mutton is so very inferior to ours, and the same applies to the River Plate meat. During the month of Septemberlast, when our mutton was worth from Od to 7d per lb, I saw best Australian and River Plate sold for <Hd to od. This is just a fair average of what I know Australian mutton to be. ] may mention that at this time best Scotch was worth 10d, and English !)\d. lam sure if the Mataura's caigo had been landed in good condition the sale would have been satisfactory, and so far as quality was concerned I did not hear a, complaint. Without the slightest feeling of piejudice I coiiMder ours quite equal to the best English or Scotch mutton. The question of electing the machinery purchased from the wreck of the s.s. Tiiumph cannot be enteitained, as it would cause an expenditure of a great deal of money that would be wasted, fioni the fact that whatever i* done can only be of a temporary nature until we have our permanent woiks in hand ; but you may rely on one point, namely, that wo shall push on with all possible '•peed. Tuibting this explanation will be .satisfactory to your club, I have the honoui to lein.un your obedient servant,

JosKi'H Banks, Manager. Captain Runcmian was ])loased with the lettei to .some extent, because correspondence had appealed, the appaiont object of which was to throw dust in the ejes of the faimeis In the published lottei-H nothing li.id been said in lefeionce to the piopcr biccd of blioep for e\poit. As it was, Mr Banks save th"in no inhumation about Limb, though there was lamb on boaid the Mataurn, and though it was known tli.it tliis class of meat was sought after in the London maikct. Neither were they told anything about \eiil, though the Mataura also caiiied a consignment of that. He looked upon the whole .iff.m as being most unsatisfactoiy. Mr Banks h.id boon sent home at the expense of the shaieholdois of the company, and they were entitled to .something nioie than he had been nt toghe. Some discussion followed on the question of the propnety of publishing the letter. Mi Camp objected on the ground that the club had ahead y decided that it should not be published. The minute-book ■« a& thereupon consulted, but no such lesolution as tliat refened to by Mi Camp could be found. Captain Runcnnan theiefoic moved that the letter be handed to The Waikato Tunes, with a lequest that it be publihhed for the benefit of Waikato settlci>. He considered that it was a letter everybody should see. The motion was seconded by Mr W. A. (iiaham, and earned, Mr Camp only dissenting.

SEIXINH CVTi'Li:, ETC., U\ HE VI, WnrfiHT. Captain Runciman said the inipcutance of the .subject must be his excuse for bringing forwai d the question of selling cattle by leal weight at such a late hour. He was not foolish enough to suppose that the change would met ease the \alue of meat, but it would juiL pi ices on a more satisfactory basi-, and bieedeis and cfrazieis would be in a position to know what they were doing. The puces they were now getting weie bimply iniquitous. Some time ago, they would remember, a petition signed by 300 settleis had been presented to the auctioneer-*, asking them to .sell by real weight, and Mr A. Buckland had i ephed, stating tliat he would ask Mr Banks to make enquiries into the matter while in America. Mr Buckland had piocuied a weighing machine, and had again written to the club. The Secictary read the letter, which was to the effect thai though the machine had arrived ho did not feel justified in going to the fuither expense of electing it, as it would involve too much tiouble, and a revolution in the present system of selling stock. In Atnouca cattle wcuj not sold by auction, but by pnv.ite contract. By and bye this might bo done m Now Zealand, but the time was not yet lipe for it. Capt. Kuncinitin Niid, with all due defeience to Mr Buckland, cattle weie sold by auction in Amenca. While in Chicago he had .seen 8000 or 10,000 head of cattle sold by auction, and as each lot was knocked down the weight wa« dealaied fiom the scales, The boasts were simply diivcn along a lane, and the sale was conducted with the gieatest expedition. He saw steers and Lit cattle sold in this way. Mr W. A. Graham had seen the same thing done in Chicago in 1871. Capt. Runciman was awaro of the fact that the butoheis WGra oppohed to the change, because he believed that at the piesent time fat beasts weie habitually estimated to weigh about oOlbs or lOOlba less than they leally did. He had seen good cow r beef sold at 10s, and the best ox boef at Yh the lOOlbs. Only tho other day he saw a pen of splendid bullocks, weighing on an a\erage seven humed pounds, sold for £> 10-. each. Of course, they must attiibute this to the Mipply being greater than the demand, and they would have to cast about for other markets. Meantime, they wanted to be put on a better footing. People often bought stores, and, after feeding them up on turnips, gut less for them ab beef. The Cheese Factory Company had got the thin end of the wedge in with their pig^, w hich were bought and sold solely by weight. People in Auckland who paid sd, (id and. 7d a p/mnd for their meat would hardly believe that the farmei.s got so little. Coiwideiing the laige number of people who h<id signed the petition, he did not think the auctioneers ought to treat tho matter so lightly. He would suggest that the club should ask. tho principal settlers in tho dhtv'iQt to guarantee their custom Lo the auctioneer who should first sell by real weight. In answer to a question by Mr Forrest, Capt. Runciman said pigs fed at the Waikato Cheese Factory had gained in woi#ht as much as 211) per day ; ]\t> did not think any of them had gainud less than lib. Considerabledi.scussion, chiefly of a conversational natuie, followed in reference to the sale of cattle by real weight, all present agreeing that the time had arrived when the sybtem ought to be adopted, Finally it wan losolvcd to write to auctioneers informing them that at the expiration of three months the olub would tako steps to carry out the suggestion made by Capt. Runciman.

VOTES OF THANKS. Mr W. A. Graham baid, before separating, they had a duty to perform. The farmers of Waikato in general owed a deop debt of gratitude to The Waikato Times for its able and unwearying advocacy of h eir claims and interebts. The Times ad, indeed, been their only advocate, for the Auckland papers apparently did not think it woith their while to advance the agricultural interests at all. He would move " That the thanks of this club be accorded. The. Waikato Times for its persistent efforts to advance the interest s of the farming community, and its able advocacy of the same." Oapt. Runciman, in seconding the motion, said he cordially agreed with all that had fallen from Mr Graham. He was glad of the opportunity to add his testimony to the straightforward and independent course pursued by The Waikato Times on all questions which, ftffecfced. them in their capacity as farmers, The motion was < carried unanimously, and the usual compliment^having been paid to the ohair, the meeting terminated,

Mr Walter Chitty, Hamilton East, has fo.sale a double-furrow plough) horses, harness, and a light tip dray. Mr J. S. Buckland will hold his next Cambridge Cattle Sale on Thursday, the 22nd May. On Saturday, the 24th inst., he will sell at Cambridge, Cortland waggon pair horses and harness, draught horses, backs, and harness horses. Messrs Stewart, Dawson and Co's agent will be at Cambridge, to-day, with a complete assortment of the watches manufactured hy tha.t celebrated firm. The businos* oi the Au,cljlancl Savings Bank, will be transacted in the new premises, Queenstreet, Auckland from the SKh inst. Metsrs Cpwley, Tanuhere, cautain persons against trespassing on their lane in pursuit of Messrs S. Cochrane and Son, will sell at their Land, Mart, Queen 'Street, Auckland, on Wed-, nesday the 21s$ , inst., at noon, by order of thefßegistrarof f Registrarof the Supreme Court, allttment No. ffi%gsX^ °^ ] ** y in *< ™ m ;