LAND, STOCK & CROPS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLI, Issue 9393, 15 December 1920, Page 2

LAND, STOCK & CROPS.

(By "The Tramp,")

The Danes at one time objected to roots for cows because they considered that the food, might increase the yield of milk but would not give as big a proportion of fat. They considered that turnips were too watery and cold for cows. The idea was clearly proved by the experiments to be fallacious. The ' milk from the various groups of cows fed on different kinds of foods, some with and some without roots was found to be practically alike, not only as regards fat, but also as regards the other constituents. The result of giving an addition of roots to milch cows was summarised as follows: No. difference in the composition of richness of milk; a larger yield of milk and larger from mangels, than turnips; a larger increase in the weight of the cows, and agan larger from mangels than turnips.

The following comparison was made between the. production of foodstuffs when growing corn and when growing roots: With, a crop^of 38 bushels of barley to the acre, "one acre will produce 42,5001b. of swedes, with, say, 12 per cent, of solids, or 5,1071b. of solids. These were the average yieldu in Denmark during the years" 1909-13. 'JL'h'us by growing barley the farmer produced 19001b. of foodstuffs 'per acre; by growing swedes he produced 5,1001b. of equally good foodstuff, or more, than 2& times as much.' This consideration induced the farmers to extend the acreage' under roots, and it. is contended that beyond any doubt it was the large root crops-.which enabled Denmark to pull through r the difficult times during the war. ""'

Purchase^ at the recent English Shorthorn sales included several for the Prince of.Wales's ranch in Alberta, Canada. The ranch, which extends to 7000 acres, has been promptly designated by the Canadians the "E.P." ranch, , the initial letters of "Edward, Prince," and was formerly part of the Bedingfield property. It lies among the foothills of the. Rocky Mountains, about so miles south-west ,qi Calgary, and quite near the village of Pekisko. The agricultural correspondent of the "Times" states that the soil is a rich alluvial loam, and the grasses it carries are luxuriant and provide good feeding for stock in summer and winter. The climate is severe, but cattle and horses can be out-wintered with safety and advantage.

There is as yet no arable land on the "tiA*." ranch,' but it is contemplated with the vie\v of adapting it the better to the requirements of the . improved classes of cattle and sheep which it is proposed to introduce. "With the same object suitable buildings and fences are to be erected in due course. The ranch is to be stocked with cattle, horses and sheep. The stock to be sent out from England will comprise Shorthorn cattle, thoroughbred horses, Dartmoor ponies, Dartmoor-Arab crosses, and Shropshire and' Kerry Hill (Wales) sheep. Shorthorn cattle breeding will be a principal enterprise, and the ranch is capable of carrying about 700 head .of cattle in addition to other stock. The intention is that in due course the ranch should be the home of a herd of purebred Shorthorns of the beefing type, and should be or outstanding importance to the industry of stock breeding in Western Canada.

Mr G. M. Tolburt, writing from Chicago to a New Zealand paper, throws some interesting light upon the production of "all wool" clothing in America, and Incidentally explains how the Americans are managing to clothe themselves on a minimum of virgin wool. Prior to the war the American public had no idea of the shortage of

virgin wool. "What kept the public in the dark;" Mr Tolhurst explains, "was the ever increasing number of retailers who sold only 'all wool' to the v public implying virgin- wool. Had the public known that; rags—shoddy-— can be put through a carbonising probess that eliminates all fibres except the wool, so that it actually is! 'all wool' and had the public known that 80 per cent, of the raw,material used in the manufacture of 'all wool' woollen clothing is shoddy, and had the public also known that shoddy is reworked over and over again, even as many as six times, the public would have understood how it has been, and is possible, for even the 'very cheap clothiers to sell 'all wool' clothing, notwithstanding the scarcity of virgin wool. The public did not ask the question: 'Does the fabric contain shoddy?'—though shoddy is more harmful in a fabric than cotton. The Government, however, when it set about clothing the' military forces, .did what the public did not do—insist on knowing in every instance/ when the Vibrio contained shoddy, and so confronted men with the fact that the v, oriel's production 1 of virgin wool was, and is, entirely inadequate to meet ex-i.-rtinp- demands." One of the effects or the unfair competition with wool des-r-nbed by Mr Tolhurst has 1 been to reduce the number of sheep in America since 1903 from 63,954,870 to 49,863,----nf)O and to divert the tariff protection intended for the American ■ farmers into the pockets.of the shoddy manufacturers.

T-,-tp>v, the high-priest of Bolshevism,' has stated frankly that "free labour can only exist in a capitalistic State," while Mn lansbury, who visited Moscow .on behalf of the -■"orlcpvs of '-Great Britain calmly foreshadows martial law for the workshop as "the . indispensible condition of progress. /'Discipline —iron, rigid discipline of, the_ workers by the workers will compel every man from 18 tr>. 60 years to do his bit. Ca'canny will be' treason to the Commonwealth. None will be allowed food who has not worked for it; the slacker will be a deserter and treated as such. This is the inspiring message of Bolshevism to the working men of the world-—to democracy in. old and \ new countries alike (comments the "Pastoral Review"). It is not a very 1 inviting prospect to workers under, say, Aus-r.i-ali-A'n conditions, and shows'" that Bolshevism does not mean the« "loafer's paradise" that, so many anticipated. Rather it is a^ hideous thing,; and for British workmen, at any rate, it has proved too much. . Tho*most extreme of them were invited to join the Third international Conference at* Moscow, but they voted against any such commitment by 4.72 to 206. There are ways of improving the conditions of the •worker other than by armed revolution and Bolshevism, if the above laws governing labour under Bolshevik rule can be regarded as "improvement." All that is wanted to ensure improved world-wide conditions and a rapid acceleration, of the progress of humanity and civilisation is a better understanding and greater tolerance between the parties representing the two essentials of labour and capital. There is not sufficient endeavour to see "the other man's" point of view. More of it would go a long way towards drying away with the obvious strike weapon, for in the breast of every man there is a "spirit of sweet reasonableness," although in many dases tho way, to reach it takes a great deal I cf finding.