BRITISH FARMING

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 11

BRITISH FARMING

FALLING PRICE OF MUTTON GOVERNMENT ACTION DESIRED A New Zealand correspondent, now touring the United Kingdom, has been closely observing farming conditions and writes under date July 6 to “The Press” as follows: The continued decline in mutton and lamb prices is causing concern and discussions are in progress between the Government and representatives of the principal countries from which mutton is imported. The problem was the subject of Questions in the House of Commons, when the Minister for ■Agriculture (Mr Morrison! was asked for an indication of the progress in deliberations, and answered that he was not able to say what action the Government might be able to take. However, official consultations about mutton prices had taken place with representatives of the Home producers. The Minister supplied figures which showed that in the 13 weeks up to June 22 a total of 126,000 more fat and store sheep had been offered at representative markets in England, Wales, and Scotland than in the corresponding markets over the same period in 1937. He agreed with a speaker who pointed out that the prolonged drought had been largely responsible for the increase. A marked feature of the drop in wholesale prices is that it has not been accompanied by a corresponding decrease in retail prices for mutton and lamb. Trend of Farm Practice Deplored “To me it is deplorable to think that we have to acknowledge that the only successful way to farm nowadays is to give up the plough and go in extensively for grassland farming,” said Mr W. C. Langley, a former president of the National Sheepbreeders’ Association, speaking at the thirty-seventh International Conference of Sheepbreeders at Cardiff. “It means we are saying that we cannot afford to keep labour, and I am disturbed at the thought of England not being in readiness for the next war. Apart from keeping the land ready for the production of foodstuffs we all know that country mpn make the best soldiers and sailors —police, too, for that matter —and so we must keep the country under cultivation if we are to be ready for war.” A resolution, to be forwarded to the Government, deploring the tendency toward grassland farming, which, it was contended, would have the tendency of driving the rural population into the towns, was carried unanimously. It was agreed to ask the Government to urgently consider the question of bringing as much land as possible into cultivation. Fresh-Sprouted Fodder Tcct trials to establish the feeding value of sprouted maize as a substitute for swedes in fattening cattle are being carried out in several centres throughout the British Isles. The West of Scotland Agricultural College reports conspicuous success with tests recently made, and commercial firms are now providing equipment for the raising of indoor crops. Good germinating maize was grown in trays in a nutrient solution for 10 days, by which time it had developed a compact mass of succulent fodder. Cattle fed with this maize product in place of the normal ration of swedes did extraordinarily well, according to a college report. The stock fed by the normal procedure put on 1631 b increase in a week, while those fed on the maize product in substitution for swedes improved by an average of 201 b in the same period. The experiments are claimed to have proved economically practicable. Prospects for Grass-drying Increased practical experience, together with scientific investigation, is quickly leading to the accumulation of many interesting facts concerning the drying of young grass. So many directions in which improvements may materialise have now been revealed that undoubtedly the practice of grassdrying has a future in this country. However, it is linked up almost inevitably with the question of whether a relatively cheap machine can be produced and provided. More knowledge

Is being accumulated about wilting, and it is becoming substantially clear that this method, enabling considerably greater output from the drier, may be employed without much adverse effect on the quality of the product. At Cambridge University and elsewhere new methods of preserving grass as ensilage are being studied, and it is probable that conservation of fodder by that means, enabling farmers to adequately deal with flush growth, will go hand-in-hand with future development in grass-drying.

Members of the touring party of young Canterbury farmers had an eventful trip between Wairoa and Napier yesterday week. One of the chief troubles encountered was getting the big bus over some of the temporary bridges, which were not built to accommodate such a large vehicle. Some of them were too narrow to permit the passage of the bus, and in these cases the young fanners removed the sides so that their conveyance could cross.

A Jersey herd of 100 cows and hetfers was sold in the Bay of Plenty district last week at an average ol £lO 10s a head. The best July-August calvers —were £ls to £ll These prices shew a substantial drop on those ruling some years ago for a class herd.