FARMER AND STOCKBREEDER.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 138, 12 June 1926, Page 26

FARMER AND STOCKBREEDER.

BUTTERFAT PRODUCTION. AUCKLAND SUPREMACY. COWS UNDER TEST. In keeping with the rapid strides made by the dairying industry throughout the Auckland province, it is interesting to note that the leading junior two-year-old Jersey cow at present. under semi-official test in the Dominion is the Waikato-owned heifer Alfalfa Supremacy, belonging to Mr. A, A. Wagstaff of Waihou. To date Alfalfa Supremacy has produced 288.091b butterfat in 155 days, and, according fto latest advices, she is still going strong. Bred by Mr. F. J. Saxby, of Hamilton, this promising heifer was sired by the champion butterfat bull Waipiko Masterpiece, out of Twylish's Daisy, the first three-year-old Jersey to exceed 7001b fat in New Zealand. Thus 'Hike begets like." The third and fourth highest junior two-year-olds on the latest merit list issued by the New Zealand Jersey Association are Lady Buttercup and Alfalfa Mistress, both of which heifers are owned by Auckland breeders. Lady Buttercup belongs to Mr. J. Quinn, of Drury, and in 235 days she has produced over 3001b fat, starting her test at under the age of two years. Alfalfa MistTess was 1 year 301 days old when she commenced her test, and so far she has produced 310.851b fat in 173 days—an excellent return for her age. She is a half-sister to Alfalfa Supremacy, both heifers being sired by Waipiko Masterpiece, who, in turn, was sired by that historic butterfat bull, Eminent's Fontaine (imp.).

Yet another Auckland heifer is at present leading the whole Dominion in the senior two-year-old division, in Mr. A. E. Watkin's Prie Dieu, who has already broken the breed record for monthly production for her age, according to the latest returns. Prie Dieu has given 467.151b fat in 204 days, so she should take a lot of heading off. 'Also well up on the list of senior two-year-olds is Messrs. G. R. and H. Hutchinson's Vernon Cherry , Bloom.

o Bred by her owners at their valuable stud farm at Wharepapa (near HelensT_le), this has so far put up 340.29 fat in 192 days. Quite a number of three-year-olds are at present under test throughout New Zealand. The two top heifers for the month belong to Taranaki, but the next five cows on the list. are all members of Auckland Herds. As a matter of fact, four of them are owned by on© breeder, in Mr. A. E. Watkin, of Takanini, and they have averaged 3871b fat apiece in an average period of 175 days. This represents 21-slb butterfat a day for. their first simonths—pretty good going for three-year-old heifers..' Mention should also be < made of the fact that another Auckland cow, Llangollen Princess, has the honour of being the second highest four-year-old under test. Owned by Mr. J. T. Entwistle, of Cambridge, she has in 119 days given 257.651b fat. Auckland can also claim the credit of being the home of Fox's Freda, who is at present the leading mature cow in New Zealand. Her production to date is 314.801b fat in 127 days. Thus three out of the total of. five classes -under which pedigree Jerseys aTe grouped for the purpose of being semi-officially tested, are owned within the Auckland province, and the same remark applies to many of the Jerseys at present making substantial butterfat records. r TYPICAL WAIKATO HERD. i — — Waikato shelters many large herds Ol Milking Shorthorns, and of these none is more typical than that owned by Mr. John- Fisher of Pukerimu, Cambridge. Eighty-three pedigree cows, all bred on the place from the Pukerimu herd, and their production of butterfat is a sound endorsement of the breed's pronounced dairying qualities. Milked as a separate herd, 43 of the Pukerimu cows gave an average yield of 3101b butterfat in nine months, and their ranks included eleven and nine seeond-ealvers. Nothing but Darbalara blood has been used, in Mr.. Fisher's herd, and during the season just closed the whole herd of approximately 100 cowis averaged on occasions four gallons, of milk a day.. The herd sire, Pukerimu Gold Dust, is full of imported blood. His sire, Pukerimu Goldfinder, was by Banker of Darfcalara (imp.) out of Bertha 4th' (imp.), ■whilst-his dam was the imported cow Bessie 4th. Pukerimu Gold Dust was unbeaten as a yearling and two-year-old, and he has several championships to Jus credit. Pukerimu Ensign, Mr. Fisher s handsome two-year-old, is junior herd «re and: he is of pure Darbalara blood. Hia dam, Pukerimu Dolly 14th, is a fine deefl-bodied matron, which, took first prize and the championship at the last Facroa show.

(Specially Written for the " Auckland Star.")

GRASS HARROWING. AN ESSENTIAL OPERATION. WASTE ELIMINATED. Undoubtedly a great economic waste is taking place throughout Auckland —and other districts, too, for that matter —through failure to systematically use the grass harrows. This important operation is one that can be satisfactorily performed by any farmer's boy (or girl, for that matter) who can drive an ordinary farm horse. Once the implement is secured —and it lasts a lifetime—the only cost is the time occupied. The dairying industry''is developing to an extraordinary extent, and it is upon the heavily stocked dairy farms that grass harrowing becomes most essential, and most profitable. On sheep country the need is not so urgent, but on closely stocked cattle country regular grass harrowing is absolutely necessary if the best results are to be obtained. Many dairy farmers in a comparatively small way appear to shrink from the expense that the purchase of the harrows would involve, or it may be that they have not given the matter any serious consideration. Some of them spend more time in kicking the "packs" away, or in scattering them with some hand-wielded implement, than would pay interest on the cost of the tool over and over again. By even this primitive wav of distributing the dung they certainly do much good, although the benefits derived are not nearly so great or so varied as those which result from the speedier, easier and more economical method of harrow. ing. The finer the desiccation of the dung, the speedier will be its absorption by the feeding roots of the grass, and the»greater will be the general virtue imparted to the pasture. Twice a Year. All grass pastures that are grazed by dairy cattle should be harrowed at least twice a year. The most opportune dates for the operation will depend largely upon the season, and also to the

uses to which any particular paddock may have been put. Grass harrowing, like top-dressing, may profitably be done whenever the ground is ready for it. Pebruary is, perhaps, the most generally suitable month, because the work may be dohe when the pastures are at their shortest, and before the autumn growth begins in earnest. Similarly, advantage should be 'taken of another- half-yearly opportunity when the growth is almost stationary, just before the arrival of spring. Holding paddocks, and those places that are generally used as camping grounds, should he done more frequently. But there are thousands of acres of grass lands, in New Zealand—noticeably in Taranaki, just now—which ■ should be treated, even though the grass is lush. Hundreds of paddocks may be seen, each one dotted with hundreds of spots of rank growth.. To an unthinking owner this may appear to be an abundance of feed, whereas it may be that its rankness has merely made it unpalatable to the stock. It will have been noticed low. vigorously grass grows around each pack that has been dropped; it should also be observed that that growth is never eaten whilst other feed is obtainable. In that growth, too, much encouragement is given to fog, and other inferior grasses, whereas if the pack had been removed clovers would probably have flourished. When the. grass is abundant and the packs have been overgrown a good stout set of tine harrows, which will pierce the sward and get to the dung, should be employed. In. those circum-. stances the chain, and even the tripods, are next to useless. Of course, to secure ■ the very.) best results, it is desirable, before harrowing, that a paddock should have a final eating down, and then be shut up for such a period as will enable the droppings to partially dry. If the harrows are run over a lot of fresh dung a great deal of grass is unnecessarily smeared, and thereby rendered uneatable until such time as weathering and heavy rains cleanßp the grass and render it sweet again. On the other band, when a big proportion of the dnn<r has been so semi-baked that its has become <niite hard, the best time to harrow is just after a good rain, when the packs will be more submissive to the desiccating strokes of the tool employed.

The Best Implement. The flexible tripod is commonly regarded as the most efficient implement to use, but in the writer's opinion an- °", tlle , with teeth about three niches long, is a much more effective tool. The implement should be heavy enough to do its pulverising, work, the lines of teeth -should be sufficient to enable it to do its job as thoroughly as possible, its width-and length should be .determined -by the number of horses it is intended to em-

ploy. In paddocks where such grasses as brown top and lotus are showing long seed stalks and dry foliage, the ordinary chain harrows (and even the tripod) tend to press the grass in front of them and then slither over the pack. This is also the case where rank grass has overgrown the droppings of a year or two ago, or where the pack is deeply set in a protective surrounding of herbage. In these cases longer-toothed harrows are needed to enable the covering to be penetrated and the dung to be dislodged. So far as the purchase of grass harrows is concerned, since there is nothing to get out of order, there is no implement which lends itself so readily to community ownership. I know of several groups of neighbours who have purchased harrows in this way. This plan, of couTse, greatly reduces the cost to each individual, and, unlike communityowned hayrakes, etc., simultaneous demands for the immediate use of the implement are not so likely to occur. Grass harrowing is very much more effective than playing football or hockey with the packs, although those pastimes may be profitably pursued whenever one crosses a field on business other than grass harrowing. ' The Benefits Derived. It must be remembered that every time a pack is dropped a given area of ground is thrown out of commission. So far as grass production is concerned, if left undisturbed, with the sun-dried surface of the pack impervious to water, the smothered areas may remain idle for very long periods of time, while the grass immediately surrounding them, as already remarked, becomes so rank as to be avoided by cattle. When one considers the numerous packs that lie on heavily stocked paddocks; it will be realised that considerable areas _of ground which ought to be furnishing feed are not only non-productive, but are definitely destroying the uniformity of the pasture.

If harrowing did no more than shift the packs from their original resting places, it would pay to do the work, which, after all, can be done quickly, and does not involve hard or costly labour. But the harrows do more than that. Their strokes more or less pulverise the droppings, according to their state of friableness, and thereby hasten the dissolution of the dung; they loosen the surface to some extent, and tend to aerate the soil; they provide some sort of bed in the open spaces for available seed, and thereby, encourage a denser sole; they shift the ,klecaying vegetable matter, which, without aeration, develop they greatly help towards the eradication of existing moss, and establish conditions unsuitable to new moss growth; they clear the root surfaces; they loosen the leaf blades to allow the .top-dressings to penetrate and to welcome the first ensuing rains: they rescue from death the valuable lives of the grass plants which lie unburied beneath the packs. The uniform distribution of the pulverised dun_ acts as a top-dressing, and dcfin : telv reduces the cost of artificial fertilisers. •

For benefits such as these tbe grass harrows are not only worth while: they are indispensable if the pastures are to reach their highest point of profit.