THE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 78, 3 April 1926, Page 24

THE LAND.

SEASONS OF SCARCITY. DANGER POINTS IN THE FARMING CALENDAR. PROVIDING FOR THE SPRING. (Written Specially for the Auckland " Star." ) No one familiar with the farming of the Auckland Province can fail to 'be ■truck with the fact that there are two seasons of feed scarcity, two danger points in the farming calendar. One occurs after mid-summer, the other in the early spring: and the latter is the more critical of the two because it affects the ewe-flock as well as the dairy herd. It generally happens that one is too optimistic as regards the spring, and the hoped for "early-flush" is long deferred. This means a severe blow to the season's revenue, for it is essential that both lambs and dairy cows should be given a good start. Naturally, the farmer who is in possession of a liberal supply of hay is "on a good wicket," more especially if he has. a good stock of mangels or ensilage to back it up. But as,tKte past season has been a difficult one, not many will be in such a fortunate position. Now is the time to remedy the deficiency, while the ground is still warm and workable. Thanks to our genial climate. We ha\*e a comparatively wide range of crops that will make more or less steady growth right through the winter, and provide good feed several weeks 'before the pastures make a start. By making use of them, the stock may be carried through a difficult period on a moderate allowance of conserved Jodder. The Green Cereals. Three cereal crops are available, oats, barley and ryercorn. Wheat is also useful, but its rate of growth is rather slow.

Dad: Wot yer waitin' for? Chum: Th' cows, sir, and they don't seem to be able to-make up their minds whose turn it is to get done fir it.

Green oats are a prime favourite. They are easily grown and are relished hy the stock. In the Auckland Province, Algerians are most commonly grown on account of- rust, Australian seed being particularly resistant. Oats may be sown any time in s_pril or May, but if the soil is at all cold or damp, the earlier the better. From two to three bushels per acre are required;, thin sowing is false economy where green feed is concerned. Oats have the advantage in that they can 'be used subsequently for hay or chaff. Barley is another valuable crop, but is less hardy than oats and is not suitable for cold, wet soils. Neither can it be used for hay, though in districts where a threshing-drum can be readily obtained, a crop of barley makes quite a useful source of revenue. Cape barley is the hardiest variety and stands the winter well. Black, skinless, or Russian barley is now very popular, but requires a warm, dry situation. It grows with great rapidity, and should therefore be sown Tather late if it is not to 'become rank before the winter. Stock do very well on barley, though they are not so fond of it as they are of oats. Barley should be sown rather shallow than oats, at about one and aquarter inches depth; two bushels per acre are usually sufficient. Ryecorn is not yet widely appreciated in the Auckland Province, but is valuable in that it is. the hardiest of all cereals, and seldom stops growth through the winter. By reason of its great tillering power and creeping habits (it is not a twitch, however), it covers the "round well, and provides a considerable amount of very early feed. It must, however, be fed off while young, as it soon 'becomes bitter and the stems arc tough and wiry. Two bushels per acre is ample seeding, the seed being small; it should also be sown fairly shallow. It is not particularly advisable to make up mixtures of these cereals, as their rate of growth varies, and one variety may thus be fit for feed long before" the other. Some fanners mix Cape barley and Algerian oats, but on the whole, mixtures a-re- to be avoided.. An excellent plan is to have three paddocks or sections cut off by temporary fencing. In" the first rye-corn is sown, to he used first; say in August. In the second, black barley, to follow the rvecorn. In the third, oats, to be fed hW because they will remain palatable for a longer period than either barley or rye-corn. By the time the oats are finished, the rye-corn will be making food second growth, and it will generally _ found that all three cereals will atand for a second feeding.

Italian Rye-grass and Clover. Those who farm warm, dry soils, not subject to severe frost, can still sow a temporary mixture of rye-grass and clover during April. This will not give such early feed as the green cereals, but should 'be ahead of the permanent pasture. Italian rye-grass is invaluable for such cases, and Western Wolths is even better, provided that good moist land can be obtained. The addition of a little cow-grass or red clover is a big help, but late sowings are a trifle risky, and in any case the clover is not prominent in the early feed, though it comes along well during the summer. A mixture of 351b Italian rye-grass and 51b red clover is a good one; it is Well worth while having such a mixture down for at least a year. Some farmers mix oats with Italian rye-grass with quite good results. The | oats, however, if at all thick or vigorous, are liable to hinder development of the rye-grass. Still, if there is any difficulty about obtaining a good seedbed, the addition of, say, a bushel of oats, is advantageous, as they will help to fill up any gaps where the rye-grass has not struck. Oats and rye-grass are best drilled separately, as the rye-grass must not be sown too deep; iin is ample. Crimson clover also has possibilities. It is a winter-growing plant, but requires a firm, dry seed-bed, and. will not stand a great deal of wet. It is not always certain, but is worth a trial. Those who have not grown it before should mix 251b Italian rye-grass, Sib crimson clover, and 21b cow-grass. Crimson clover serves best as a catch-crop. It makes inferior hay, owing to its hairiness, and seldom lasts more than one year. The seed is comparatively cheap. A point not to be overlooked is that all these crops require a good supply of quick-acting manure. From 2 to three hundredweight per acre of super or basic super (according to the supply of lime in the soil) is necessary. Phosphates are never lost from the soil by leaching, consequently any not used by the crop will remain for next season. On really

poor soils, such, as the gum-lands, it will probably pay to use an ammonia mixture or to add l-4cwt of sulphate of ammonia to the super. This will give the crop a good staTt before the trying .weather sets in. . The enterprising farmer who sets the plough going now will reap the benefit next season. This last season saw too many men ill-prepared for the vagaries of the spring. THE DAIRY COW AND HER FEEDING. It is known that feeding, however correct it may be, cannot make productive the cow that is naturally of low milk capacity, and the converse is equally true. The cow of the highest breeding cannot continue to produce milk to her full capacity unless she is correctly fed. Whatever the truth may be, it would be a useful trial to test the extent to which milk production, is influenced by correct feeding on the one hand, and 'by breeding and selection on the other. It should not be difficult to bring this question of correct feeding to the attention of owners of dairy cattle. They have very certainly, through the medium of the system of herd testing, become able to select animals of higher productive capacity for their breeding stock, but it is very much to be questioned if they have generally recognised the very patent fact that if they breed animals of the greater capacity they must be fed in accordance with that greater result. It would appear that this simple, reasonable fact is entirely overlooked. j There is the proof of this. Quite early in the dairy season that is now passed, some weeks were without rain. With the falling grass came the falling milkflow. There was no provision for those ; animals that had been so carefully selected and bred for a greater production. There are already many dairy cows of great milking power; but are they correctly fed? It may be probably said, "3 r es, those that are under the semiofficial test." and they are to provide the sale* advertisement to the herd to which they 'belong. The general and highly-specialised cow of the usual herd takes her chance with the poorest. They still depend, one as the other, on the grass of a few months of the springtime and early summer. They are but poorly fed for the greater part of the year. They rustle with the cull cow for a bare existence. It may well be questioned, why breed or keep the better cow? They are not more liberally or more correctly fed than the others. It should be remembered' that the oows

of high milk-producing capacity of the specialised dairy 'breeds are the outcome of years of the most skilful selection, of careful management, and of correct feeding. The cattle of this class and of these breeds would never have come into being but for the feeding. The cow of early maturing and great output of milk demands as careful provision as the elaborated machinery of the modern manufactory. The compari.son may not be complete or entirely exact; but the steam engine and the cow are not altogether dissimilar. They are specialised, each in its own way, they provide power, they do this on correctly supplied fuel, for the one, and on correct food for the other. An insufficient or unsuitable supply of fuel or food, lessens the power of the engine and the production of the cow. A more striking illustration may be that of the motor car and the cow. They are the intimates of the family and the farm. The car does not run unless it Up supplied with the correct fuel. It must 'be of a certain class and in correct proportion. If this does not receive attention the car cannot give its maximum power. It has no reserve. It stops. The cow, up to a certain point, closely resembles the car. The difference is that the cow has a certain reserve. She draws on the flesh of her body -when her food is insufficient, and that is the condition of the cattle of many of our dairy herds. At the end of the season the cow is a wreck. POTATO CULTIVATION. In tests carried out at the Canadian experiment stations and reported upon in official publications Of the Canadian Department of Agriculture, it has been found that the system of sprouting potato seed before planting not only re° suited in an earlier croo, but a much heavier yield to the acre. It was also found that sound marketable tubers cut into pieces, so as to have at least three eyes to the set, gave the highest yield, as well as the greatest percentage of marketable potatoes. The" second highest yielding seed was the whole mediumsized potatoes. The constant use of small tubers for sets undoubtedly causes varieties to "run out" and is a practice that should generally be avoided. The

tests to determine the best distance apart to plant potatoes show that highest yields have been obtained from planting four to five inches deep in rows three feet apart, spacing the seed twelve to fourteen inches apart in the row. The only advantage gained by planting in hills was a decrease in the amount of manual labour necessary to keep the fields clean. Comparative yields from potatoes grown inside windbreaks with those grown under field conditions have shown the value of protection from the winds, and the influence of the additional moisture secured from the snow collected during the winter. The Canadian potato expert points out that in saving potatoes for seed it is desirable to select them in s the field from hills having the largest number of marketable tubers, as there is then a tendency to fix this desirable quality. It also permits the elimination of hills showing evidence of disease. THE TEMPERATURE OF MILK FOR CALVES. A very important precaution that must be taken in rearing calves is to have the milk warm and sweet when fed. Nature furnishes milk to the calf in this condition, which must be carefully imitated. Nothing will more quickly upset the digestion of the calf than feeding warm milk at one feed and cold at another. For the first few weeks the calf is especially sensitive to the temperature of its feed. After the calf is three or four months old it may take cooler milk, but in this case the milk should be cool all the time. Best results are obtained with warm milk, however, at all ages. The temperature of milk when it comes from the cow is about 100 deg. F. If separated immediately it can be fed without warming, and will be about 90 deg. F. However, in the cooler season, it is necessary to warm it artificially. Swedes grow more slowly than white or yellow, and require usually about two or three months longer than the latter to reach maturity, so that this must be taken into consideration when arranging the 6cheme of cropping, so as to have them come in at the proper time.