THE FARM.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 1208, 19 November 1919, Page 2

THE FARM.

Farmers wlio were fortunate enough ta have turnips for sale tlii? year aro reaping a harvest; Amongst sales made lately we understand that Mr Duncan M' Lenuau, Dunrobin (states the 'TapanuiCourier'), ha^.disposed of a 30-acro field of swedes at .£ls per acre. In Southland, farmers living near towns and who havo been soiling swedo turnips to residents keeping cows have been making up to £SO" per. acre; £l2 10s per aero for eating off is the highest price paid in the southern province, where tho winter .has proved exceedingly mild and in conscquenco feed has not been scarce.

A. feature"this season is the saerilicc of young calves which is going on, particularly in North Canterbury (says tho 'Sun')- Dairy factory suppliers arc the offenders in this respect. The young animals are killed.for the.skins, and the flesh boiled down for the pigs. The killing of calves of this description appears to be now a periodical event. In the following, prices arc high for young steers and heifers, and moro calves are therefore reared. But. unfortunately, as tho trend of the dairy factories now is to utilise skimmed milk moro and moro in by-products, the position this season is the more serious.

"Why do cows love aeroplanes, asks a writer in a London paper. Recently, near Staines, I saw a very big machine mako an enforced landitfff on a great stretch of grazing laud* near the Come. Instead of being frightened, the numerous cows in the field all started oil at a great pace to see this strange and wonderful visitor.* There was a race from all quarters of the field, and by the time the plane came to rest it was -urrounded by about a hundred curious cows. Small boys had to bo told oft to disperse them, and it was only by very skilful manoeuvring that none was converted by the propeller into beef. They even started to follow it as it rose and Hew away.

At a meeting recently held in South Otago for the purpose of establishing , a Herd-testing Association, a local | dairyman, Mr Dooley, who has been j testing his cows for some tima, gave I his hearers tho benefit of his exper- | ience. One of the conclusions forced upon Mr Dooley is very valuable to dairymen of the present day, who are doubtless at tho moment considering tho purchase of a bull lor use on their dairy herd this season. ' What shall : this bull be? Mr Dooley stated that he went in for a pedigree bull without a milking record, and found, to his . sorrow, that hi.? herd had deteriorated as far as its production of milk and buttcrfat was concerned. He was now convinced that every farmer must head I his milking herd with a purebred sire showing a milking record on beth the I sire ? s and dam ? s side-

Record prices wore realised for at the Cardiff Royal sale. A Large Whito old boar sold for 40 guineas, while young sows realised from 35 guineas to -12 guineas. Tho average for Middlo Whito piga -was £23 9s. fourteen Berkshires averaged £7S 7s C'd. llr Isinay sold two 101$ sows at 210 guineas and 200 guineas respectively, and received 100 guineas for a young boar. Older boars sold at 50 guineas. Tho demand for Large Blacks was excellent, and PS head averaged £52 ll's. Twenty-four 1919 boars averaged £OO 17s 7d. Top prices were 3SO guineas, 250 guinea*, 190 -guineas, and 100 guineas. Two 1917 sows made iiOO guineas eueb. Twcnly-thrco Gloucester Old Scots averaged nearly £9S 10s. The record price of iJOO guineas was paid for a 191S boar, Gilslako Major. A' 191$ sow realised -100 guineas.

Serious losses to farmers have been caused in the Northern Wairoa district by an apparently new discaso that lias made its appearance among tattle, re- | ports indicating-that somo farmers ; have had their stock reduced fully 50 | per cent, by deaths. A curious feature is that animals apparently in the | fittest condition sceut most easily to ! fall victims to this scourge. Death i usually follows soon after the first ini dieations of anything being wrong are : observed. The only noticeable iudiI cation is, in fact,, that the auimal. alter j sitting down, is unable again to rise, lowing to weakness in tuo hindquarters. I No .recoveries have been reported, and • ono farmer lost 33 cows, out of a herd I of 4f>, solely as a result of tho comi plaint. Every effort has been made jby tho farmers to Iraco tho cause of i tho disease, but without nny real sue- • cess. Bomo attribute it to tho eating I I of certain grass, but no evidence has ! yet beou adduced to prove this theory. DEHOENING CALVES. All dairy farmers who are not breedi ing pedigree stock, and hence not tied j down by showyard fuds, should make I a practico of dehorning all calves when they arc from two to five days old, by i means of tho caustic potash, writes • Primrose AL'Council, in the 'New Zea- ; land Farmer.» No valid excuse can bo I made for the encouraging of horns on domesticated. cattle, particularly tho dairy herd, and if dehorning were compulsory, as it should be, it would mean a.saving of many thousands of pounds ! annually. Dehorning the young calves | is a simple and almost painless oporai tion, and certainty much more humane : than dehorning mature cattle. fur- : thcr, if dehorning the calves were per- ; sistently carried out for a number of years it would no doubt lead to a naturally hornless breed. When cattle Jived in a wild state their Horns were : used for purposes of offence and defence, but, ire spite of domestication, tho horns arc entirely snpex-fluous and a source of much pecuniary joss. If "practical dairy farmers who keep herds of crossbred cow.s;find, dehormuoextremely beneficial (and tlioy certain ly do), will not those who k«ep pedigree stock find it cquallv so? As a muttor of fact, they will find it muck more so. as there is a-great deal ir.oro at stake. Tho average fartnef has become so accustomed to .homed cattle that a certain type of'ftorn on the dairy cow appeals to his eye, but, when judged from a purely practical standpoint, he knows "in his own" heart that horns on the dairy cow are notsexeus- ■ able by any stretch of l-wn'jSginntion. They Wiilnievertheless. exiakiif pjfligitee ! herds as long as " the.:breed/* rulojSgrvc | -points to them in tbo sHow t|n|; but it is pity, that sticb piattcrVfjinnof. ! be decided;by ordinary common sense Tho process of doh;orning.;caive s f lias QttAi been described,; but, for the bene- i

fit of the beginner, it may bo. pormis- ! sible to ropoat the description. A stick of caustic potash, -may be obtained from any chemist," and, when not in use, it should' be' kept in.-a dry place, in a tightly-corked or glass-stoppered bottle. The .operation requires two persons, one to Hold the head firmly, and the other to apply_thc caustic. It is just as well to clip the hair from the immediate neighbourhood of the horns in the first place, then moisten the end of the stick of potash with a littlo water,, and rub it firmly on the top of each horn for. about a quarter of a minute. After, an interval of about a minute the operation is repeated, and if tho work is cafefully done no vestige of a horn will ever appear. Care | must be taken that too much moisture jis not applied to the stick of caustic ! potash, or tho caustic may spread around tho horn and destroy the flesh. It may also cause serious, injuries to the eyes, but there is no danger whatever if tho operation is carried out i with ordinary care. A strip of brown I paper should be rolled round the end | of the stick to prevent injury to tho operator's hands.