FARM AND STATION

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20983, 11 October 1933, Page 14

FARM AND STATION

USE OF HARVESTERTHRESHER SUCCESS, ON FARM OF LORD BLEDISLOE SIGNIFICANCE TO CANTERBURY FARMERS A report of the result of use of the eombined harvester-thresher on the farm of Lord Bledisloe, GovernorGeneral of New Zealand, at Teffont Magna, Wiltshire, by which corn harvesting was completely mechanised, enabling the crop to be cut in the morning, threshed and dried, and delivered to the market in the evening, is the subject of an interesting article published in the "Western Gazette," Bristol, in the last week of August. The work was done by Messrs Crouch and Sons, tenants of Lord Bledisloe's :farm. As it was successful in South ■Wiltshire, with a rainfall of approximately 28 inches a year, it is suggested that it should be equally, if not more, successful in Canterbury. In October last year Lord Bledisloe made reference to the use of the har-vester-thresher on his farm when he gave his lecture, "A Conspectus of Recent Agricultural Research," at the Cawthron Institute, Nelson. He was not able, at that time, to express an opinion whether the machine would be successful or not. Nearly 400 of the 1200 acres on Lord Bledisloe's farm grew corn this year, and seven men have cut, threshed, hauled, and dried at the rate of 100 acres a week without making a stook or a rick, the report in the "Western Gazette" states. This is a third of the time taken for the same process under the ordinary system of harvesting afnd threshing. It will be seen at once what a revolution this promises in English corngrowing—a revolution 'as far-reaching as the system of machine milking. There are only about 20 farms in the country .which so far have adopted the system. Lord Bledisloe's farm is the only one in Wiltshire. There is one in Dorset and there are three or four in Hants; but the drying plant at Teffont differs from them all, because of an important invention in the drying apparatus which Messrs Crouch have themselves made.

Description of Machine. The combined harvester-thresher, which cuts the corn and threshes it on the field all in one operation, has been in use in America and Canada for many years. The amount of constant sunshine makes the use of the machine practical in those countries, but in England it would be of little advantage without an efficient system of drying the grain. The harvesterthresher, which is a single unit, is drawn by a tractor and worked by three men. After the corn is cut it is fed automatically into the thresher, which is driven by an independent engine. The grain falls into sacks, and the straw falls to the ground at the rear of the machine. The straw is of no use for thatching, but it is good for litter and for feeding. A supreme advantage of the harvester-thresher is that it makes harvesting almost independent of weather, because so long as it is dry overhead nothing need interfere with the operation. Dry Apparatus. The time the corn takes to dry in the dryer depends on its moisture content, which is governed by the season. It takes from 20 minutes to 50 minutes to dry, but Messrs Crouch, the tenants on Lord Bledisloe's fax-m, have introduced a device of their own invention into the drying apparatus which enables the drying process to be regulated to a nicety. Mr R. Fisher Crouch was asked whether germination was affected in any way by mechanical drying. His reply was most emphatic that he had proved that the germination of see"d corn was not injured in the slightest. On the contrary the elimination of the weather element from corn production was an advantage, because it was now possible to allow corn to stand until it was perfectly ripe. Their own corn crop this year, he said, had been unexcelled. Seventy-five per cent, of their wheat was grown from their own seed, which was artificially dried last year," also 100 per cent, of their oats and 50 per cent, of their barley. The whole of their barley, which was artificially dried last year, by a more laborious method, went into a Wilt-

■By/■'■""Straggler."

LINCOLN ■ COLLEGE BOARD OF GOVERNORS ■ MEETING The monthly meeting of the board of governors of Canterbury Agricultural College, Lincoln, was held yesterday, when there were present Dr. H. G. Denham (chairman), Hon. D. Buddo, M.L.C., Messrs H. S. S. Kyle, M.P., J. O. Rennie, W. A. Banks, H. A. Knight, J. Deans, N..M. Orbell, and Professor R E. Alexander (director). Farm Report. The farm report stated that the weather during September had been fine and dry—ideal for lambing, but far too dry for grass and cereal crops which were now showing the effects of the dry winter and spring. Grass was making good growth at present, and red clover was showing up well. Stock were in good condition and the dairy cows were milking exceptionally well. ' • • ' ■ > Field 17 had been sown in barley and red clover. Field 16A had been sown in partridge peas and C 23 cocksfoot for seed production. The cocksfoot seed was sown in 21 inch drills and the intermediate drills were sown in barley for a cover crop." In field 7 seven acres of mangels had been sown. In these a trial of seed treated with different strengths of sulphuric acid had been made to determine the value of mangel seed treatment. Three acres of vetches for seed had been sown in field 7. The remainder of the field was to be sown in potatoes. In field 14 a trial of the value of feeding-off wheat with sheep was being made to determine the difference between fed-off and unfed portions in the same field. In conjunction with that trial an experiment was being carried out to determine the value of harrowing wheat in the spring. All cereal crops had been spring harrowed during the month. Fields 2 for turnips, 1(a) for rape and 38 for linseed had been well worked and were in good condition for sowing. Three point eight tons of linseed from seven acres in field seven had been dressed and shipped to England. A new fence had been erected in field six to protect the water-race. Ditching and gorse-cutting were in progress, but gorse-cutting was handicapped by labour shortage. The report was adopted.

LAMBING - AVERAGES GOOD RETURNS AT LINCOLN COLLEGE The lambing averages of Canterbury Agricultural College for the 1933 season, as submitted to the meeting of the board of governors yesterday, were as follows: Ewes to Ewes Breed. ram. dead. Lambs % Border Leicester 72 2 83 115.2 English Leicester 138 7 142 103.0 Romney ..70 0 84 120.0 Corriedale ..48 1 46 96.0 Shropshire ..24 0 27 112.5 Southdown ..113 3 115 102.0 Crossbred „ 63 4 63 100.0 Total ..528 17 560 106.0 Total '■> purebred 465 13 497 107.0

shire brewery, and there was not a single complaint about it. Production Costs Cut. Asked why he had adopted mechan-1 isation, Mr Crouch said his firm -had done it simply and solely to cut down production costs in order to meet the fall in the market price of cereals; and they had made a considerable saving. "I do not look upon it so much," Mr Crouch further remarked, "as a laboursaving scheme. It gives us as the chief advantage the means of harvesting crops at the correct time, and so speeding up' the preparation for the next crops. Besides that the labour which will be saved by the machinery can be absorbed in developments and extensions of other branches of farming and cultivation, such as live stock and market gardening, which can be run alongside of corn-growing."

CATERPILLAR PLAGUE MUCH DAMAGE IN MIDCANTERBURY REPORT BY MR R. M'GILLIVRAY A survey of the damage being done in Mid-Canterbury by hosts of caterpillars was given to a representative of "The Press" by Mr R. McGillivray, Fields Superintendent for the Department of Agriculture in Christchurch, who has just returned from an inspection of the affected areas. The object of his visit was to ascertain what practical methods could be adopted to destroy or control the invaders. Mr McGillivray said that there was no doubt about the damage that was being done in some parts of the district by the caterpillars. It was evident that the infestation was fairly widespread, as reports from places as far apart as Montalto and Lauriston stated that the pest was present. The heaviest infestation was probably about the Pendarves-Seafield district, and again about Fairton. Mr McGillivray added that Monday, the day of his visit, was not a good day to see the pest at its worst, as a cool southerly wind was blowing all the morning, and in these circumstances the caterpillars were rather slow in movement. Thousands were to be seen taking shelter. As the afternoon advanced, however, and the sun shone, there was great activity about Fairton, and the caterpillars were falling into the main water-race to Fairfield in thousands and being in most cases drowned. A few apparently reached the other side of the race, and all those that managed to cross reached a land of plenty. On the caterpillar-infested side vegetation was very closely eaten, while across the race there was quite good feed.

Devouring: Wheat. On Mr T. Lemon's farm at Fairton about six acres of wheat had been completely destroyed, and the caterpillars were still at work. The land had been well rolled, but Mr Lemon now proposed to harrow the crop, as the caterpillars did not travel well on a loose soil covering. On Mr Lemon's farm caterpillars of all sizes were present, and one could stand and see them devouring the wheat plants. At Pendarves, under the guidance of Mr A. P. Bruce, a visit was paid to the infected areas, and there was plenty of evidence of damage. On Mr W. Beattie's farm about four acres of wheat had been destroyed in about three days. This wheat had now been heavily rolled, and very few caterpillars were to be seen, and unless a new "brood" came along this crop should now be safe.

New Broods Appearing. The grass in the infested fields was devom-ed right down to the soil level, and the amount of excreta left on the pastures by the pest was very great indeed. The ploughing of heavy furrows, the digging of pits, etc., had resulted in great destruction, but in some districts it appeared to be a case of additional forces coming to the funerals of their mates. Various means of control had been suggested, including spraying the fields with petrol and burning off the vegetation. A number of brown top paddocks had already been burned, and this seemed to have given satisfactory results, as few caterpillars seemed to have escaped the fire. Farmers point out, however, that they do not want to burn their fields at the present time. Mr McGillivray said the most promising means of destruction he could think of was the use of the chain drum grass seed stripper. He believed this implement could account for practically all the caterpillars present on a pasture, and when suitable weather was experienced thio method of control should be tried out. Source of Infestation. Mr McGillivray stated that it appeared to him that the source of infection was old rough brown top pastures and perhaps overgrown gorse fences. He stated that many of the caterpillars seemed to have reached the stage of "full fed," and these would not give further trouble, but in places fresh broods appeared to be coming along. He stated that specimens had been sent to the entomologist to the Department of Agriculture, and his report would be available shortly. Some sparrows were to be seen about the

WHEAT. V. SHEEP COST OP'IMPORTED FLOUR The following interesting evidence on the cost of supplying the flour and fowl wheat needs of the. Dominion, should entire dependence be placed on outside sources of supply, was presented to the Tariff Commisison on Monday by Mr R. K. Ireland, who also compared the production from sheep with that from wheat:— 132.000 tons Aust. flour £7 2s 6d a ton, £1 10s frt., 10s profit, £9 2s 6d .. 1,204,500 60,000 tons bran and poll. £4 10s a ton, £1 10s frt., 10s profit, £6 JOs .. 390,000 1,500,000 bus. fowl wheat 3s 3d per bus., lOd frt., 3d . profit, 4s 4d .. .. 323,000 1,919,500 To grow lamb and wool on wheat lands—3oo,ooo acres; H ewes an acre, 100 per cent, lambs, 81b wool at 6d a lb:— £ 450,000 lambs at, say 18s .. 405,000 450,000 ewes, at 81b wool, at Od .. .. 90,000 The New Zealand public pays for the protection of the wheat industry approximately Jd a 21b loaf, amountinT to £2 15s a ton: £363.000. In comparing New Zealand bread prices with Australian prices, freight, etc- must be added; also, without New Zealand mills' competition, Australian ; flour prices to New Zealand would probably rise to the same as Australi ian local quotations. In Australia in 1932 the Commonwealth Government subsidised the ; wheat grower to the extent of i £3,385.000, or 10s 4.4 d per capita. In 1933 the Commonwealth subsidy ' is £2,000,000, plus £300,000 provided ' by New South Wales by the flour ■ levy, amounting to 7s OJcl per capita. : In New Zealand, as already stated, l the public pays £363,000, equal to i 4s 9.4 d per capita. By giving up wheat growing we , would certainly benefit Australia, and to a lesser extent Canada and the United States of America, but the r amount available to buy., manufac- [ tured goods from Great Britain would j be considerably reduced. i " • EMPIRE MARKETING ; BOARD i ! PROTEST AGAINST ITS WINDING

Sir Thomas Clement and other members of the various marketing and trade committees of the Empire Marketing Board, in a joint letter to "The Times" recently, stated:— "We wish to record our strong opinion that there is no reason for disbanding us merely because the Dominions are not prepared to change, the Empire Marketing Board into a joint imperial body. "The work of our voluntary committees costs this country next to nothing, and if we are able to help the home and the colonial producer to extend his holding of the United Kingdom market, it seems a strange time and a strange decision to say we are not to go on. So strongly does this anomalous position strike us that we feel the matter calls for something more than a regretful shrug of the shoulders

"Someone has Blundered." j "Someone has blundered, and there is plainly still need to bring home to those in official authority the waste which will ensue by abruptly discontinuing these committees, at any rate of the Empire Marketing Board. "We speak with some knowledge of trade conditions when we say that foreign competitors are preparing a counter-attack to regain the market which the 'Buy British' cry has taken from them. "The disappearance of the Empire Marketing Board is a stroke of luck for these foreign competitors of ours—and they will reappear in our markets more formidable than ever. The Government must continue or re-establish these committees.' The signatories add that they are forming an association, "The Friends of Empire Marketing," to which they invite the adhesion of all traders in order to see that this field of imperial effort is not neglected.

KILLING OF EWE LAMBS EFFECT IN UNITED STATES Last autumn there was considerable speculation as to how many ewe lambs would be kept over for breeding use, states the "National Wool Grower" of last month. It was known that ewe lambs had been marketed heavily for several years and the general run of range flocks were far above the usual ages. It was claimed by many persons who should know that a larger number of 1932 ewe lambs would be kept over. The banks and loan companies, it was argued, would see the necessity of allowing sheep men to keep their flocks ct good ages as it was only by ensuring production of full lamb 'crops that the debts possibly could be worked out. From some sections it was reported that this wise policy was being followed, but now it is found that the number of ewe lambs held over last fall was less by 700,000 head, or 10 per cent., than the number kept from the 1931 crop. These figures are for the United States as a whole. They are calculated from the official records of slaughter of sheep and lambs. Because it is impossible to know the number of slaughter lambs coming from individual states, it is impossible to calculate separately the numbers of ewe lambs kept in the west, or to figure out the numbers of ewes of various ages except for the United States as a whole. The showing for the whole country quite fairly indicates the conditions in the range states, unless this area is higher than the national average on its ewe ages and somewhat lower on the proportion of ewe lambs kept in recent years.

FOOT-AND-MOUTH ' ■■ .DISEASE ANOTHER OUTBREAK IN ENGLAND COMPENSATION FIGURES FOR YEAR LOWER The Ministry of Agriculture in Great Britain confirmed an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on two farms in Micheldever, near Winchester, at the end of August. An order was put in force prohibiting the movement except by license of all cattle, sheep, and pigs, within approximately 15 miles of the infected premises. The area subject to the restriction lay almost entirely in the county of Hampshire, but one parish in the county of Wiltshire, Chute Forest, was included in the infected area. The f movement of animals out of the above area was prohibited, and no animals could be moved through the area by road. Figures For Compensation. A considerable reduction of the number of outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease during 1932, as com* pared with the previous year, is recorded in the annual report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture on the proceedings under the Diseases of Animals Act. The number last year j was 25, the lowest recorded in any year since 1918, with the exception of 1930, when only eight outbreaks occurred. The animals slaughtered last year in connexion with the outbreaks were 629 cattle, 1603 sheep, 416 pigs, and one deer, while the compensation paid totalled £16,521 6s. The number of cattle slaughtered by local authorities under the Tuberculosa Order of 1925 was 19,027, the highest in any year since the order came into, force. The amount paid in compensation was £68,814 13s Bd.

THE WORLD'S WHEAT

INTERESTING FIGURES

The magnitude of the lask of placing the wheat trade on a more remunerative basis is illustrated by the balancesheet of the world's wheat surplus. President Roosevelt's scheme to raise values has been aided by nature in the United States and Canada, there being a United States crop deficiency estimated at 20,000,000 quarters in reaspect of this year's harvest, while Canada has only new wheat to export against 42,000,000 quarters a year ago, but this is completely overbalanced by the enormous carry over of old wheat in the United Stales and Canada and the good European harvest. The preliminary estimate of the world's surplus and the requirements of importing countries are given as 130,000,000 quarters and 64,000,000 quarters. The balance of the United States wheat position shows this season's wheat ve officially estimated at only 500,0p0,000 bushels, and with home consumption 660,000,000 bushels, the carry over will have to contribute 160,000,000 bushels to the domestic bread basket. Canada by following America's example • m pegging prices recalls the mistaken action of the wheat pools three years ago, when they held prices some 10s and 12s a quarter above worlds levels and accumulated stocks that -are-still a burden on the market. It is very problematical whether the wo-ya acreage reduction scheme under ciscussion will prove a success owing to the contending interests, and. the wheat outlook therefore appears decidedly bearish. Of the grand total surplus of 130,000,000 quarters, Canada's contribution to that. surplus is 17,000,000 quarters, Australia 17,000,000 quarters, Argentine 19,000,000 quarters, plus a carry over of 86,000;000 quarters at the end of the previous year.