GENERAL NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 264, 20 August 1936, Page 8

GENERAL NOTES.

A VARIETY OF TOPICS.

IMPR OVEMENT DEMANDED. A suggestion has been made that the Meat Board should do something to bring about an improvement in the dressing of New Zealand meat. If export opinion is correct, then wo are very much behind the Argentine in tins respect, states the “Exporter.” It is in the dressing of beef and mutton that the improvement, apparently, is considered necessary. But the biggest reform needed is in the type of carcase from show porker competitions which are sent to the Smithfield market for judging, and there exhibited. Some of these exhibits of show porker carcases have been just about as bad an advertisement as New Zealand could have. In one such exhibit last year, the six or eight carcases exhibited at Smith field and duly photographed, ranged in weight from 471 b to 1031 b, one or two of the carcases being less than half the weight of the others. Where uniformity is such an important market consideration, one can well imagine the very bad impression this exhibit made. The trouble would be rectified if the show societies stipulated that porkers in such classes must dress out at 601 b to 801 b. Then there would be some chance that the line would be fairly uniform, and when hung up at Smithfield, would do New Zealand credit. Worms in Pigs. Just prior to weaning every pig in the litter should be treated for worms. Some authorities declare that 19 out of every 20 pigs are affected with worms to some degree, and although I would not say that the percentage is as high I do know that worms are present intestines or the lungs of! the majority of pigs, states a conti ibutox in an exchange. The most common worm Avhicli affects tlie pig is the round worm. This is taken into the pig s. system as microscopic eggs which hatch out in the stomach and intestines. They then bore through into the blood vessels and arc carried up into the lungs where they cause the typical cough of the wormy pig, known as “husk.” They are coughed up and re-swallowed, and settle down in the intestines.

The following is a remedy which I have found most effective: Oil of clienopodium I4OZ, chloroform loz, oil of anise loz. castor oil to make one quart. This can he made up at any! of the chemists at a cost of about 9s and is sufficient for about 50 pigs. It is wise to dose the pigs, if already weaned, first thing in the morning. Each pig is given just under loz., administered with a. syringe. It is as well lo use a gag to keep the mouth open a small piece of wood will do—and administer the dose in small quantities, otherwise the pig may choke. In the case of weaners or bigger pigs, do not feed them until the evening. The pigs should be turned on to good grass the following day or be fed plenty of greens. Keeping up the Fat Content. The State demands a fat content in milk of 3 per cent. A producer whose milk falls below this standard is liable to prosecution under the Food and Drugs Act. During the winter months, farmers seldom experience any diffi-

culty in maintaining the standard. But the trouble arises in the spring and early summer. In April, May and June, the fat content of all normal milk is considerably reduced, states the “Farmer and Stockbreeder.” A cow may produce milk in December with an average of 4 per cent, fat; in April, however, the content may have fallen as low as 2$ per cent. Seasonal variations of this nature cannot be ignored, although certain breeds give no trouble at all and; Jerseys and Guernseys average around 5 per cent, fat throughout the year. There are a number of precautions which may be taken by producers whose herds normally yield rather “watery” milk. Experience has shown me that w'hen sixteen hours or more are allowed to elapse between the two milkings, the fat content is apt to fall dangerously! low. Milking in the early afternoon in order to get finished in time is a practice fraught with risk. Five a.m. and 5 p.m. seems to he about tlie best times—counsel of perfection, perhaps, but a fact nevertheless. Careful stripping-out plays an important part in maintaining the fat content, especially after a long interval. It is not unusual to find 10 per cent, of fat in the strippings. The kind and quality of the food docs not influence the fat percentage of milk so much as one would imagine. It has been stated on good authority that: “Under all ordinary circumstances, the percentage of fat cannot be materially altered for any long period by the particular kind of food the cow receives.” It is of little use, therefore, to attempt to raise the fat content by changing or increasing the diet.

The health and general condition of a cow affects the quality of her milk. Those producers who have difficulty an maintaining the fat standard should see that the cows are in good condition before they calve down. The milk produced shortly after calving is generally richer than that yielded during the “drying off” but if the cow has a good reserve at the beginning the changes will be less noticeable.

When none of these things effects sufficient improvement, the next step is either to weed out individual cows giving milk of low fat content or to introduce two or three Channel Islanders.

Women on the Land, All over the world, more than ever before, women are taking a real practical interest in farming and especially in breeding livestock. An English farming paper has for more than a year published a weekly page describing the work of women farmers. A well-known Southland station owner now located in Australia is running a stud flock of Corriedales in partnership with) his daughter, who does most of the shepherding and) is fast developing into a good judge of quality in that particular breed. In the judging competitions in Britain held in connection with young farmers’ clubs it is not uncommon to find girls under twenty well up in the prize list and more than once they havo scored the highest individual points. Some few months ago Miss Joan Harrison, a young lady from Australia, visited; New Zealand for the purpose of buying Southdowns and she has been giving her experiences in a Sydney paper. She criticises some of the New Zealand-bred sheep and there is . no doubt reason for the criticism, but it is interesting to have her opinion on some of the Southdowns imported. She says: “I saw many imported rams. One is sorry to say that some rams sent out by English breeders are no credit to them or to the breed. I was shown one ram imported! at a high cost which would scarcely make a good fat lamb sire.” Miss Harrison purchased 107 ewes which were put to rams of her selection before being shipped and she visited 34 studs to finally make the selection from four. It' is fairly safe to predict that the young lady who can be trusted to make such purchases will go far as a breeder. Irrigation. With unemployed millions of ablebodied men in Britain and millions of acres of fertile land still in its primitive state in the Australia and New Zealand, it should surely come within the limits of British statesmanship to devise means for the cultivation of the latter by their unemployed millions and thus permanently end the payment of the dole. The Dominion Governments have their own unemployed to provide for, therefore cannot be expected to assist immigration apart from making grants of land, but the Imperial Government which can spend 500 millions on armaments might spend ten millions on peopling waste territory. Of the millions collected for the Unemployment Fund in New Zealand, 80 per cent, left no State asset. A Peculiarity, Ono peculiarity about New Zealand farming which strikes the British resident arriving here is that only a. few scattered farms have distinctive names. They are referred to as Browns, Smiths, or Cy Whittaker’s place, without any title to distinguish them from other farms in the same locality. The other extreme to this is usual in Scotland by naming the man after bis farm so that owners of farms or stations here would be known not by their surnames with the courtesy title, but as .“Blackmount,” “Linton,” or “Redcliffe,” as the case might be. In many ways it is of great advantage for a farm to have a name, and this fact was impressed on me when I noticed a new owner in the Dacre district who has named his holding “Carrjckfcrgus,” which set me wondering how many of his neighbours would know where such a place is. I hare been there and can remember that this pretty little town on the Antrim coast has two distinctive features for a place of its size—a salt mine and a castle. lam not sufficiently! versed in Ulster history as to say who built the castle, but so far as I can remember, it has been the scene of some grim tragedies.