FRARMING NOTES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 5, 1 May 1939, Page 7

FRARMING NOTES

* GENERAL NOTES

WHY BUTTER?' Why do we butter our bread? Not • only for taste and the food value of the butter, scientists have discovered, but because the fat enables the valuable calcium in the bread to be more readily 'assimilated calcium, of eolrse, being particularly valuable for the of the teeth. 2pHEVIQT SHEEP IMPORTS Some Cheviot sheep are being" imported from Canada into the North Island, and from photos of these "they are the type bred in Caithness and Sutherlandshire, larger in body perhaps, but nothing like so neat ••and meaty in carcase as the Cheviots bred on the Borders in their original habitat. Some splendid specimens of these were imported to Southland 40 odd years ago by Messrs Helder and Awdry, of Redcliffs, and the winning Cheviots of to-day do not t show any marked improvement on "these importations, which produced *$»en, as the breed does now, perfect types of mutton carcases not sur- - passed even by Southdowns or "any other British breed. APPLES FOR PIGS Windfalls and other reject apples from his orchard are used by Mr E. J. Hiekmott, Canterbury, in con. »junction with meat meal, . poilard . and barley meal, as a food for his pigs. The apples are cooked, and a : small quantity of molasses is add- • e?T to them. Up to 201b of apples a day was the maximum quantity for pigs weighing 80.1001b live .weight. DANGERS OF PLANT FUNGI -Most plant diseases (distinct from "TOose caused by parasites) are the result of the activities of soil fungi, their ability to attack crops depends very largely upon soil condi. -lions. Fungi appear to survive longer in light soils than in heavy ones, and are favoured by: alka-line soil conditions. Thus fungus disease of • one sort or another is encouraged rather than suppressed •by over.liai-. ing light soils. ,From the manuring standpoint, plants growing in soil of Tow fertility are generally weake: more subject to blights and similar disease than those which have n plentiful supply of plant food .Sjitfhich enables them to put out new roots in place of those dcstro3'od by the fungus. QUALITY OF LAMBS Despite New Zealand's wide climatic range, the almost exclusive of the ilomney.Southdown cross for fat lamb purposes gives the Dojninion a uniformity of type and quality that is not obtained in Australia. Thai is the opinion of Mr C. J. Daley, one of Neve South Wales' district sheep and wool instruetois, who has just returned from an extensive tour of New Zealand, made - tor investigate tlie more recent dc- . of breed type 3 - in the Dominion, and to purchase s'tucl sheep for various breeders in his (lis. Irict (Wagga). FARMING IN KENYA The annual report of the Keny:i Veterinary Department states thai 124 head of purebred cattle and 21S • were imported to the colony 1937. Of the latter, 174 were merinos.. Exports of wool amounted .to 13,898 centals, valued at £52,033 compared with 13, 026 centals, valuer at £44.174, in • the previous year, The wool sold in London at up t( £7%d per lb, the average price foi 3feece wool being lGd. MOTRO INJURIES TO STOCK The Rotorua County Councilwant: ••to put a stop to the number * o motor accidents which result in /injur 3 To stock being driven along th roads. At a recent meeting jLf thi council A motion was adopted*.- That when a motorist collided with stock his car should be detained until i had been examined by the authori ti<fe and certified as fit to proceed. Mr S. B .Murray said that in man; incases motorists claimed that thoi brakes had not acled, causing the! to run into stock. Cars on v\hi2. the brakes did not act should not b on the roads. The mot on is to b forwarded to the Commissioner c Transport.

HAMILTON STOCK SALE sr The Fanners' Co-operative Auction, coring Company Limited report: —- Sheep: At the Frankton sale a full yarding of all classes of fat sheep came forward but comprised mostly of unfinished sheep. Prime heavy wethers were firm in values but no improvement was shown for unlin- j ished wethers. An increased number of fat ewes was yarded and in this section also the quality was only fair and sold accordingly. A small yarding of fat and forward lambs sold at late rates. Little interest was shown in a small offering of store sheep. Cattle: A smaller yarding of cattle than last week with no prime ox beef penned. In the cow and heif Bisection' the entry comprised a fair proportion of finished. Polled Angus cows and heifers for which competition was steady with values remaining firm on rccent quotations. Vealerg were penned in average numbers and values were unchanged. Boner cows also met with a ready sale with prices remaining at late rates. Pigs: l An average yarding of fat pigs, pricey remaining steady through out, while a large entry of store and weaners sold' at values on a par with last sale. QUOTATIONS. Sheep: Heavy prime wethers 22s 3d to 24s 9d, prime light and medium wethers 19s 6d to 21s, hogget mutton 10s 6d to 19s, fat ewes 12s 6d to 16s, killable 8g to 10s 6d, fat woolly lambs 14s 6d to 225, shorn 12s 3d to ; 15s 6d, forward conditioned lambs 8s fid to 10s 3d. | Cattle: Heavy prime P.A. heifers £7 13s to £Bs, lighter £7 3s to £7 10s, | fat Hereford and Shorthorn cows £6 to £6 lis, lighter £5 2s 6d to £5 13s, • heavy second quality cows £4 5s to £4 16s, light Jersey heifers £4 2s to iU Bs, best runners £2 15s to £3 ss, smaller 37s to £2 10s, rough calves Vis 6d to 255, heavy boners £3 6s to £4 7s, lighter £3 to £3 2s, potter bulls to £7 10s. Pigs: Heavy baconers £3 10s to i' 3 15s, medium £3 3s to £3 Bs, light £2 18s to £3 2s, heavy porkers £2 12s to £2 16s, medium £2 2s to £2 10s, light ! 35s to £2, large stores 22s to 26s 6d, medium 17s to 10s, good slips 10s to 16s, best weaners 6s to 8s 6d, others 2s to ss. WORLD S BIGGEST OX TWELVE FEET OF BEEF At Chelmsford Market, England, four brothers named Bolton bougiit > a huge Irish Shorthorn steer and, ; with an eye to making him into a money-making zoological specimen, \ fattened him to the limit. Standing 18 hands high, lift round and 12ft from muzzle to tail set-,) • ting, this ox is now claimed to be the biggd-'t in the world, and the heaviest steer shown in England for . 140 years. When the ox was weigh- - ed it turned the scales at 28cwt Iqr ~ 3'b, 30 people estimating the correct } weight. In five days, at the Snrthfield Show, this beast netted £300 odd for its owners and the Smiih-i field Club. IMPORT RESTRICTION a EFFECT • Notification was received last week ® by a Wellington chemist from a f well-known English firm which man a c factures patent mcdicine, that in 11 view of the serious curtailment of its business in New Zealand as a re. ri suit of the import restrictions it has • decided to withdraw its permanent ° representative in the Dominion and ,r will have to find other means of distributing to the trade the diminished quantity of its products allowed into the country. ;s >r TO CONTROL IMPORTS y Establishment of an independent ie T mnor ts Board,to orevent home pricek- being smashed by overseas supplies was advocated by Mr George Dallis. k, chairman of the Labour Party, at it Aberdeen. The Labour Party, more i- than any other party, he said, could •" unite the interests of consumers and ty producers. lie was glad to see the ir farmers had borrowed the Labour Hi p:r tv's of guaranteed nrice- nn 'b der the style "price insurance.'' Mr Dallis declared that his party were out for maximum - production from oi the land. To secure this they must cut out fluctuations of prices.