FARMS AND FARMING

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 122, 5 March 1936, Page 8

FARMS AND FARMING

AIDING DISEASE PARASITES IN SHEEP. DANGERS OF OVERSTOCKING. CONTAMINATION OF PASTURES

The effects of overstocking are numerous and all add to making the sheep more susceptible to disease conditions, particularly worms. It is necessary to draw a distinction between overstocking and overcrowding. While overstocking it is found that the country is being made to carry-more stock than it can reasonably support ; there is insufficient food for the stock. In overcrowding, the country may be capable of supporting the stock, but the large number per acre means heavy accumulation of ineffective parasite larvae with consequent increased chance of stock becoming infested. In general, overstocking adds to worm troubles in two ways, states the "New Zealand Farmer." Firstly, the more stock per given acre, the greater the contamination of pastures with ineffective larvae and, therefore, the greater chance of worm infestations becoming established. Secondly, overstocking ultimately means that the animal is not receiving adequate feed of the right type, its nutrition and general bodily health and constitution suffer, and in consequence the animal is not able to resist the effects of parasitic worms.

Overstocking has been a- gradually cumulative process, and the rabbit especially in Australia has added very considerably to the hastening of the process towards "ft very critical stage. In tho last half-century at least, land has had to carry sheep in largo numbers ; each year a certain amount of wool, has been removed and a certain number of sheep have been sold. The wool and mutton have been formed from materials originally in the soil. These materials have been removed and no return has been made. Eventually a limit must be reached. The better types of grasses suffer, they are thinned out and even disappear, being replaced by less valuable types and weeds which are able to grow in the depleted soil. Winter grasses suffer particularly. "

In many instances the evils of overstocking are already present, the damage has been done. The only things for the future are very careful pasture management and stocking, rotation and spelling pastures and pasture improvement by means of top-dressing and sowing of grasses and clovers. In areas where the evil is not yet pronounced the progress can be checked by careful management again with rotation, spelling, etc. Rabbits must be controlled.

GENERAL NOTES. THE FEEDING OF HAY. JB TRUSSING WORTH WHILE? "The giving of hay in unlimited quantities to any class of stock is wasteful. Hay should be cut out of the rick in trusses and the overage weight of the trusses ascertained occasionally. One truss can be divided among so many cows 'or cattle according to the amount to he given at one time. Thus a truss weighing 541 b to 561 b will provide 111 b for each of five cows or 91b for six cows, or 71b for eight cows, states a writer in an exchange. "The weight of average good hay required for the maintenance of an average Shorthorn cow daily is 171 b to 181 b hence one truss of hay is sufficient 'for three cows daily. The control gained and the wastage, avoided by this method amply repay the cost of.trussing and it is easily carried out in practice. "Some years ago when I was advocating this practice in a lecture, a critic objected strongly that it was not worth while, but nevertheless agreed to give it trial. A few months later he wrote to mo that ho had found so much hay saved that ho was considering the trussing of straw also.'' Removing Lice from Pigs. Here are two methods of removing lice from pigs, given in "Pig Progress," the monthly news bulletin of the Pigs Marketing Board, Northern Ireland:—■ 1. A simple and effective method of ridding pigs of lice is by the use of used motor oil taken from the "sump" of a car or lorry, with a small quantity of paraffin oil added. The paraffin removes the lice, while the motor oil prevents irritation. Place the mixture in an ordinary oil can and apply a little at intervals along the neck and back of the pig; the oil will then spread itself over the pig's body. 2. Another simple and effective method of ridding pigs of lice is to dust a small, amount of tobacco powder (which can be purchased at any chemist) along the back of the pig and behind the ears. Oats and Chaff. On the present outlook both oats and chaff are likely to be cheap as the outside demand for them is practically nil. Under these conditions it is a question for growers to consider whether it would not pay better to convert it into mutton and lamb. Half a pound of oats per day fed to lambs on green feed will not only finish them quicker but thev will weigh out heavier. Selling

(By "The Tramp.")

lambs at the level sovereign will not admit of buying concentrates but when oats are selling at 2s or under per bushel on trucks then it would pay better to turn them into pork } mutton or lamb on the farm. This means extra labour and unfortunately 'the present generation of New Zealand farmers are had to move in any direction which involves adopting methods that means more labour. Position of Ryegrass. Ryegrass this season won't pay any profit while fescue is likely to return good figures. Some fescue growers make a mistake by threshing out of the stook which is all against a high germination test, and, if persisted in, will eventually kill the overseas demand for the seed. New Zealand brown top and fescue are being used extensively in Britain, also in America, for lawns, golf courses, and bowling greens, but merchants buy on a germination test and as a result of repeated failures of New Zealand seed they are looking for substitutes. As fodder plants neither fescue or brown top are worth growing hence the importance df retaining the market for seed and one way of doing this is to have the seed thoroughly ripe before harvesting. In our climate no grass or grain is ready for threshing out of the stook, both should be stacked and allowed to dry and harden before being threshed. The above remark applies with more force to wheat than to any other kind of grain or seed as wheat has been known to remain in perfect condition in the stack for several years. Excellent crops of wheat can be grown in different parts of this province but it is very important that it should be stacked for a period long enough to lower the moisture content. The importance of this may be gathered from the fact that this year one English firm of biscuit manufacturers who expect a shortage of milling wheat in June and July have arranged with several growers to hold their wheat in stack until that time. First class samples of milling oats can only be obtained in Southland after the grain has had ample time to dry and harden in the stack.

Success for the Ayrshires. .The breeders of Ayrshire cattle and their admirers have reason to feel elated over the success of the Ayrshire cows in the competitions at the recent Dairy Show in London. The show was the most successful in recent years, and drew a total of 45,000 visitors. The Ayrshire team of cows was awarded the Biedisloe challenge trophy for the best exhibit of good all-round dairy cows. The total points gained were: Ayrshires 1446, Dairy Shorthorns 1347, Red Polls 1151, and-British Friesians 1137. The well-developed bodies of the Ayrshires were evidences of fine constitutions, and .the udders . faultless. The Ayrshires had a further success when the six-year-old cow Thornhill Mermaid won the British Dairy Farmers' Association's supreme individual championship trophy. The run-ner-up was the six-year-old Dairy Shorthorn, Harescombo Margaret. Dairy Shorthorns had the largest entry and the Shorthorn breed is still the most popular. As a valuable all-round dairy cow, the Ayrshire is .climbing into favour in many parts of the world.

THE POULTRY INDUSTRY.

REDUCING THE FOOD BILL.

WHEAT, BRAN AND MEATMEAL,

For many years the poultry industry lias proved a great windfall to the flour millers, says G. E. Harney in "Poultry" (N.S.W.) How often we poultrymen have noted that as soon as the price of eggs increases, the millers put up the pric© of bran and pollard! When I think of it now and look back to the time when we paid £lO to £l2 per ton for pollard, I realise that the millers had an excellent estimate of our ability to pay, as well as of our lack of resourcefulness; and it appears to me that what has been, inflicted upon us was good enough for us, for the remedy was then available had we but had the brains to sec it. However, 1 suppose we were blinded by long custom! to sav nothing of the way experts always advocated pollard and bran as absolutely the best food, in fact, almost the only feed. , And when we look back along the years to our boyhood, and, how we used to go down to the mi 1 foi a bushel of pollard which™ got for for a few pence, we can. understand its general use. In those days we got really good pollard with no rubbish ground into it as is the case m many instances to-day, and if I :remembei rightly the price was from 5d to lOd pel- bushel. I would not. like to swear it but I believe I bought a single bushel for sd, somewhere about IHM or 1893-so it is little wonder that people accepted bran and pollard a the cheapest basis for fowl feed; and, indeed it must be confessed these products are very easily used and gne good results. When, however, these results are obtained by using a feed that has slowly and constantly advanced in price, so that we have become used to it, until at last it leaves, practically no margin of profit for the user, it nullifies .its usefulness. Daring the time when the price ot pollard and bran wont to £lO to £l2 per ton, many of us bought gristing mills and engines or motors and ground various grains, only to find that the cost of feeding was but little reduced, and often we found we were unduly fattening our layers; so that after a time, with the easing of prices we once

more drifted back to the old mash of bran and pollard, used either wet or dry, according to fancy, thus sealing our bondage to the millers more surely than ever. Many a poultryman reckons up things and wonders whether it is worth while to keep going, believing that he is mostly working for the miller: or, if he is catering for the chick business, he often drops quite a lot of money on the farm outlay that has to be made up out of the sale of dayolds.

An Awakening to Cheaper Methods. Last September, the writer had reached this stage when it was felt necessary to find a cheaper method of feeding or do as some others have done —sell the fowls and turn the incubator room into a public hatchery. Fortunately for me I met Mr A. Brady, of Dural, who advised the soaked-wheat and meat-meal method of feeding, claiming that he had used the method for four years with profit. After a visit to Mr Brady's farm, I adopted the method on my own farm, with a consequent great saving in feed cost. But the odour of the meat-meal and drums (the meat-meal was soaked with the wheat) was most objectionable. We have now found that it is just.as practicable, and very much cheaper and better to soak the wheat only, and add the meat-meal before feeding. This overcomes the "messiness" of soaking the meat-meal, the smell and the difficult washing of the drums and buckets etc. It is asserted by some that the 'meat-meal is absorbed by the wheat when both are soaking together but this is a fallacy as may be proved by cutting a grain of wheat in halt, when it will be seenthat it shows white and clean, whereas if the soup penetrated the wheat it should be brown. We put 751bs 0H kero. tins full) at wheat into each of two drums (soda or 40-gallon oil drums; cut down to suit, will serve), a handful of salt is dissolved in -li kero. tins of cold water and poured "on 'the.wheat in each drum and twelve hours water the wheat M stirred to ensure even soaking. When soaked 24 hours the wheat is ready.for use and is then put into a mixing trough.

The MernFng Mix. The ISOlbs of wheat has now swelled to nearly doiiblo the original amount, and 15lbs of meat-meal (being; 10 per cent of 150 lbs) is spread over the wheat. Linseed-meal 71bs, tobacco dust 2lbs, and bone-meal 21bs is also spread over and mixed in. Two buckets of greenfeed and one of bran is added and the whole mixed; if too moist, more bran is added, and the next lot of wheat soaked with less water. Bran can be used in place of greenfeed if desired. We have tried all greenstuff and no bran, and vice versa, but we consider the above mixture is the best. No pollard is used, except a doublehandful placed handy to clean the hands with, and also if the drums leak a sprinkle round the seams, each day, is effective. The feed is now ready for feeding to the fowls, and it is absolutely necessary to feed it in troughs, and also to provide sufficient feeding space to permit of all the fowls feeding at once. Wo have found that sin guttering makes very good troughs. If the fowls are over-fed, the feed left must be gathered up and taken away; m cool weather it will keep to the next meal but in hot weather it is best to find other stock that will eat it at once. The best wheat to use is gram of medium quality; milling quality wheat does not absorb enough water and has rather too much flour content, while very pinched wheat becomes little better than bran and water and does not satisfy the stock.

Measuring the Quantity. It is most convenient for those with larcve flocks to measure the wheat with the kerosene tin, weighing one tin full of each lot of wheat purchased so as to bo able to judge the weight of wheat approximately when fed by measure; a variation of a few pounds is immaterial when feeding flocks of 800 or over, but those with small flocks should weigh the wheat, as it is easy to ™*g or over-mix. It will be found that 4.81bs of wheat, plus slbs of *"*"£.-*£ feed 300 adult fowls for one day (two feeds) We have tried various amounts of the particular meat-meal we use but find that 10 per cent of meat-meal tote dry weight of wheat added to each mixed both morning and evening, •fbest. We found that 12 per cent meat-meal will.give more eggs than 10 per cent, and that 14 per cent is verv near the danger point. Foithe evening feed the same quantity of wheat is required as at morning, £rt-*teT bone-meal and linseed can he left out, using only meat-meal, bran and greenstuff. The Cost of Feeding. a s we are feeding over 2000 head of stock and our flocks-fluctuate somehat owing to culling, sales and growstock, it is hard to arrive, at he actual cost per 100 fowls, but I cite from a neighbour who has adopte this method of feeding. He finds t ha t 240 adult fowls complying a mixed flock of Australorps white Leghorns, can be fed for one day at the following cost:— 331bs wheat at 4s 3d a bushel 2 4 3-i-lbs meat-meal J 4 double handsful bran " J Lucerne dust 2 Bonemeal Total . J 3^ On these figures 100 adult fowls can bo fed for is per day. A. Brady to whom I referred to T>™^*^£ that 300 adult fowls can be fed for one days as follows:.ISlbs wheat at-4s 3d a bushel 3 6 51bs meat-meal Greenstuff only, added Total. '.J J_^ It will be seen that this estimate also closely approximates Is 4}d daily for each 100 fowls.