FARM AND STATION

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19482, 1 December 1928, Page 17

FARM AND STATION

EXCESS FREEZING WORKS. The North Island contains a number of freezing works which, figuratively, have not much more than turned a wheel. It is proverbial to be wise after the event, but making all allowance in thi3 respect it is astonishing in looking back, how far astray were the promoters of these concerns in calculating the freezing necessities of the industry, and also the uses of the land in which these "unwanted" enterprises were located. Passengers by the North Island main line are provided with a striking instance of this in the pile of buildings to be seen at Kakariki, near Martpn. These works have been closed •for some years, and at the beat, only worked—and that spasmodically—for a year or two since their erection 12 or 13 years ago. In addition to the contiguity and capacity of existing concerns, which should have guided directors, a great area of the surrounding country was devoted to dairying, and a freezing works could be expected to get little revenue from it. Naturally the blunder plunged the promoting company into a maelstrom of financial trouble, from which it is now Only shaking itself free. At Taihape, Whakatane, Hicks Bay, and eleswhere there are to be seen stacks of bricks as reminders of similar mistakes. The statement of the chairman of the Gisborne Farmers' Meat Company the other day tells the story of the Hicks Bay venture. "Tour directors" he said, "have been carrying a heavy mill stone in the shape of .the Hicks Bay works, since their inception. Year in and year out during the time these works were operating, it was one continual anxiety to obtain sufficient stock to make them pay even working expenses. . Instead of increasing, the supply gradually decreased, aAd to such an . extent as to make it impossible to continue working at a very heavy loss. Under these circumstances, it was decided to close the works three seasons'back. There being no improvement in the outlook, your directors, after exhaustive inquiries and full consideration, and seeing no .prospert of the district ever supplying sufficient fat stock to make works in that locality a'payable proposition, particjlarly so with the improved roads, and means transit and : communication 'with the gSE-£* to want \3on aid tie •-»«-««-" Sfc "eapaeity possible jo handle of -the works now existing * them. ... CURRENT TOPICS. ADDINGTON market* An evidence of the good fattening naalitv of pasture this year is pr ■ —a* » 4 *** of ** fat sheep comißg forward to Adtagto. The ordinary lat sheep P" M T> = ntl. o» Wodßesday, to all the entries, and Some of the fat lamb pens W to be utiUsed - T' I ally prices sapped back on rates J ruling for some time, particularly for heavy sheep. It was remarkable, indeed, the little "spread" there was between prices of heavy and light wethers. Big wethers came back by about 3s a head, and ewes of the I "tallowy" order- by nearer 4s. No doubt ; the number of sheep and lambs now ready has prompted the companies to commence operations earlier than usual .and the works will open on Tuesday. A fair quantity of mutton on -Wednesday must have been down near export rates, and with the lambs that we ready, nearly three weeks' work should be available for the factories before the holiday adjournment. This is not the usual experience, particularly as far as mutton is concerned. . . . .. There is no lack of optimism m the store sheep market. Forward wethers sold at what may be considered fancy prices, when compared with the values paid in the mutton section, and many buyers will Have to be content with a small margin for fattening. Dealers as well as farmers' lines shared m the firm prices. A consignment of Chatham Islands wethers met with a particularly Spirited sale. The change to mainland pastures and. climates is claimed to be responsible" for some mortality in the Island sheep, but they are so big framed and carry such a heavy fleece that this objection is more than balanced by fatteners for the butchers' trade. However, at 28s and 29s the . wethers appeared well sold. The local wethers at 2s or 3s less also seemed dear enough. In comparison with wethers ewes and lambs seemed cheap. '• However, most of the ewes offered were old and unfit for another year's service, and the lambs, though generally healthy looking and fairly .grown, were tineven, and the. percentages were not out of the way. Nothing very attractive was required to make 21s or 22s a head, and anything outstanding readily made another couple of shillings. Fat cattle represented an average entry for this time of the year, when the tendency is for the public to consume less beef. However, the demand showed no indication of this, as practically all classes sold fully as well as the preceding week. Quite a number of truck lots sold at an average from £l7 to £l9 a head, .in' some cases up to 20s a head more. These prices leave no room for complaint, as the cattle in all cases are grass fattened. Cows again formed the bulk of the entry, aqd judging by the number of small lots offered herds are being well combed to get cattle fit for the butcher. WELCOME SAIN. The rain, which fell practically i throughout the province on Tuesday j night, was welcomed by farmers, as i rape growth was commencing to feel the effects of the dry conditions, and wheat was also making little progress in localities subject to the nor'-westers. Round.about an inch,fell over most of the Plains, and it has done much to assist prospects, and has also hardened up the tone of the stock markets.

By "Straggler."

EARLY LAMB SEASON. The Stoke (Nelson) Freezing "Works commenced killing the new season's lambs on November 27th. This is the first occasion since the inception of the works that lambs have been killed in November, it being usually in January before a start was made. The quality of lamb is exceptionally fine and killing should continue steadily up to Christmas.

CATTLE SICKNESS. It has been understood for some time that the Agricultural Department had discovered the cause of cattle sickness in the bush and fern country of the North Island, and that the preventive or remedial measures undertaken have been quite satisfactory. However, a geological survey of the King Country is being undertaken by Mr H. T. Ferrar, M.A., F.G.S., and a party, under the auspices of the Scientific and Industrial Research Committee, of Wellington. Mr Ferrar was engaged in geological surveys in Egypt for 10 years, and accompanied Captain Scott's first Antarctic expedition in 1901-04, spending 2J years in the Antarctic. A start will be made to the westward of Te Kuiti, and the party will work towards Marakopa, and link up with the surveyed districts of Taranaki and Auckland. The work will extend'over three summers, and will include the area between the Waipa Valley to. the West Coast, and from Mangapehi to Otorohanga. According to Mr Ferrar's observations the chief cause of the trouble with stock 1 * in some parts of the district is due to certain areas being covered with a rhylitie ash of volcanic origin, this causing S lack of calcium, or boneforming qualities in the soil. The object of the survey is to combat the troible and cattle sickness to be found in' certain areas by first studying the economic mineral qualities of tlie soil, and then applying the remedies. Mr Wright, of the chemistry branch of the Agricultural Department, is working in conjunction with Mr Ferrar.. VOGUE OP THE HALFBRED. A feature of the sheep section of the Nelson A. and P. Show was an exhibition of high quality merino sheep forwarded by Richmond Brook station, Marlborough. The display included one stud ram, three flock rams, four special four-tooth stud ewes and three stud ewe hoggets. A Lincoln ram was also amongst the display. ; .This ram was Boyal reserve champion at the Sydney Royal • Sheep Show, and was secured by the present owner, as a sire for halfbred ram breeding. The merino sheep on exhibition were , all built up from South Australian Murray blood. The sheep were sent up by the breeder as a promise to the farmers from Nelson, who. visited Richmond Brook last autumn, and with the object of pointing out. what- could be done with fine wool sheep by careful breeding; ana also to try and bring home the fact to the Nelson sheep men that they are a long way behind with breeding, as far as wool is concerned. An idea is prevalent amongst most sheep men in Nelson that merino, and halfbreds cannot do well in that province, but it is claimed that in these 'cases the sheep have not been properly and conscientiously given a chance; where tried the success is obvious, says the Nelson paper. PUREBRED DAIRY COWS. C.O.R. LIST, JULY-OCTOBER. The list for the above quarter, com.pffifd by the Dairy Division, appears in the November issue of the "Journal of Agriculture." It comprises particulars of 155 records and includes a number of very good performances. Almost every class is headed by an outstanding yield, while some of the classes contain several records considerably above the average.

In the Jersey section the performance of Mr J. J. Goodwin's three-year-old Rexcourt Lady Magnet attracts attention. Her yield of 880.191b butterfat places her high among the leading producers of this class for ,the breed. The special feature of the current list is the record of Mr T. Sheriff's (South Canterbury) Pareora Echo Blossom. Her C.O.R. for 819.811b butterfat entitles her to the leadership of the senior two-year-old Friesians, a position which Mr John Donald's Netherland Princess IV. has held since the 1913-14 season, the second year of certificate-of-record testing in New Zealand.

Pareora Echo Blossom was bred by Mr A. S. Elworthy, of Holme Station, Timaru, one; of our oldest C.O.R. testing breeders, and gained her certificate in the ownership of Mr T. Sheriff, Clandeboye. The greater proportion of the pedigree of Pareora Echo Blossom is comprised of imported stock. Her sire is Rosevale Echo Burkeyje, : and her dam Pareora Cherry Blossom, who gained a C.O.R. for 4911b butter-fat at the age of 2 years 324 days. The paternal grandsire of Pareora Echo Blossom is Echo Sylvia Sir Griselda (imp.), who has to his credit ten C.O.R. daughters, eight with first-class'' and two with second-class certificates. The paternal. grandam of Pareora Echo Blossom is North and Sons' Rosevale Burkeyje Sylvia,' one of the many fine cows bred by these breeders. Rosevale Burkeyje Sylvia " has gained seven certificates of jecord, two on productions over 7001b butter-fat, three on productions over 6001b, and the remaining two on productions over 5001b. This cow is a daughter of Burkeyje Sylvia Posch, and therefore a granddaughter of Inka Sylvia Beets Posch, one of the outstanding sires of the breed. The maternal grandsire of Pareora Echo Blossom is Marquis Segis Colantha, sire of nine first-class and two second-class C.O.R. daughters, many good records being represented. The maternal grandam, Pareora Glommen, has a C.Q.8.,f0r 376.971b butted fat on a record commenced at 2 years 318 days. Marquis Segis Colantha was sired by King Segis Wild Rose Homestead, and Pareora Glommen by Cliffside Butter Laddie, who in turn is by Cliffside Laddie. Pareora Echo Blossom is thus a concentration of many well-known and proven strains, and represents a combination of Canadian, American, and Dutch blood lines.

MAMMITIS. PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. The following practical are commended by the Live Stock Division of the Department of Agriculture to the attention of dairy farmers:— Prevention. (1) Practice rigid cleanliness in all things. Pay particular attention to milking machines and teat-cups. (2) See that the machines are (a) running at the proper pressure and not too high, and (b) that they are not left, on too long. (3) All cows known or suspected to have anything wrong with the udder must be milked last by hand. (4) Never strip an affected quarter on to the ground —always into a receptacle containing disinfectant. (5) The early detection of mammitis cases is of the utmost importance, both from the preventive and curative points of vieW. This is best done by taking a strip or two of the fore milk from each quarter before putting the machines on. Take these strips into a bucket, the top of which is covered with fine wire gauze. Any small _ clotß in the fore milk are then immediately detected, and a cow whose milk contains them must .be regarded as a, case of mammitis and treated accordingly. Treatment. (1) Stripping: The most important feature of treatment is frequent stripping. This reduces the invading army of germs, and also removes the damaging substances which they produce; moreover, by keeping the affected quarter as empty of milk as possible, the germs will be deprived of much of their food-supply. Stripping should be done at frequent intervals—the oftener the better. Even if it could be done every two hours it would not be too often—in fact, it would be very advantageous. (2) Massage: This should be done thoroughly but gently, from above downwards towards the teat. Do it after stripping. Olive oil or some simple, harmless lubricant must be used to prevent chafing the skin when massaging. When this is done, again strip out the milk that massaging has brought into the milk-cisterh. (3) Fomentation: This is particularly helpful in acute cases in , the early stages. It is best done by applying a flannel wrung out in hot water, keeping the water hot throughput. Not less than .half an hour should be spent in doing this. Afterwards rub in some olive oil to ward, off the effects of cold after fomentation. Avoid turning the cow out if the weather is bad or there is no sheltered place to put her in. Foment thrice daily while the quarter is hot and swollen. 1 INTENSIVE FARMING. METHODS IN JAPAN. A striking impression of agriculture in Japan was given to a pressman by Mr C. T. Salmon, of Palmerston North, who, with other New; Zealand delegates, has just returned from the Rotary,-con-ference, held in the Far Eastern country. The land he had seen when travelling, he said, was magnificent and was cultivated to the limit to provide food for the teeming millions of Japan. The methods of land division were remarkable—there was practically not an acre that was not utilised, and one would see a crop in areas of less than half an acre, the most productive crop, of course, being rice. The land, was exceedingly rich, and there were consistent feeding and tilling operations going on to keep it so, while irrigation played no small part in its fertility—though the methods of getting the water on the soil were' primitive in the extreme, it being a common sight to see men and women carrying the water to places where it was required. His most vivid impression was the fact that the food problem was regarded with the utmost seriousness by the Japanese people, and the production from the land was really remarkable. There was not so much arable land in Jap in as there was in New Zealand, and yet the population there was almost 70 times that of the Dominion, he said, but it seemed to be the main idea of the peasantry of the • country to produce food in as . big quantities as possible, , and in this way they certainly succeeded, though their methods of agriculture were not as up-to-date as in New Zealand. A remarkable thing, for instance, was that no hoofed animals, were to be seen on tlje Japanese land, the preparation of soil being by the use of the old stick and plough.

LICE INFESTED SHEEP.

MORE STRINGENT PROSECUTIONS, In his annual report for 1927-28 the Director of the Live Stock Division, Mr J. Lyons, M.8.C.V.5., deals with this matter as follows: "During the past season there has been an increase in the number of sheep exposed for sale affected with lice. This was more particularly in the North Island, far too many prosecutions had to be taken. No doubt the dry season and the consequent shortage of water was to some extent accountable for tms. Still, it would appear that the dipping had been carried out in a more or less perfunctory manner, and was done more to comply with the Act than to rid the flocks o: these parasites. If the practice of exposing lousy sheep for sale is to be stopped—and it is my intention to see that this is done—more stringent measures will have to be taken. The ordinary prosecution does not seem sufficient to stop the practice. In future it is intended to stop the sale of all lice-infested sheep, to be followed by a prosecution, and in the case of second or subsequent offences a heavy penalty will be askea for.