HOW DAIRYING FARES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 46, 3 December 1938, Page 9

HOW DAIRYING FARES.

BUTTERFAT AVERAGES LIFTED. SURFACE SOWN PASTURES. Effects of irrigation on dairy farming were seen at a property a few miles from Mr Bissett’s holding. This was the farm of Mr J. Muir, who spent a whole day with the farmers, acting as guide over a large area of the district. Cows which on normal pastures had given an average return of 210 pounds of butterfat were lifted to an average of 340 pounds after being placed on this farm, the irrigated area of which

is 90 s acres. On it Mr Muir runs 50 cows for the three spring months of the year, and 45 thereafter, 100 sheep and six horses. * , / Most of the farm is very steep, and before the races were run through it, edging round the tops of the hills, it was a very bare place, with scab weed taking charge of a great deal of the surface, while grass was conspicuous by its absence. When Mr Muir took it over the paddocks were surface sown, the seed being harrowed in, and the, result was a very sure strike. He carries out a certain amount of top-dressing,' but the extent of this is not very great. The marked change between the tops of the paddocks and the portions below the races was the subject of much comment among the farmers, who found it difficult to realise that the whole area was the same before the water went on. The farm is rated at 12s 6d an acre over the 90 acres that are irrigable and there aro no other charges. One of Mr

Muir’s Jersey cows returned 660 pounds of butterfat in 257 days. This, of course was not an ordinary cow, but lie believes in picking his animals for sound constitution whenever he buys and he brings his bulls from the North Island. Jerseys thrive in that area, if they are bred there, otherwise there is some difficulty. The cows are not covered in winter, though there are at times many severe frosts, reaching in the last winter to the vicinity of 45 degrees. Rabbits are plentiful in the locality, and the good land is hounded by rabbitfencing, though this does not always stop the pest from getting in. Mainly this occurs when the level of the races drops below the bottom of the rabbit fencing, and they creep under. A feature of this farm was the absence of mud. Though the season was the wettest for many years, the yards were in excellent order, and there appeared to be a complete absence of soakage from the irrigation • channels, which run directly above the farm buildings. Another thing that struck the was the amazing manner in which so much land could be covered with water with 'so little work of levelling. Very little of the surface seemed to be missed by the water. It was in a district very near this place that the party stopped to inspect a large paddock where sheep seemed to be thriving under conditions that Ashburton County farmers would not dream of subjecting sheep to. The whole place, was red with sorrel. At fairly wide intervals there were plants of cat’s eye, hawk’s bit and dandelion; most of the ground, however, was completely bare. Pointing to the green plants, a. local resident declared “that a mouthful of this is worth a belly full of grass to the sheep.” The contented appearance of the sheep and the lambs, which wore lying about chewing their cud, seemed to hear this out.

Further references to irrigation in Central Otago will bo made in articles that will appear during the coining week.