FARM AND STATION

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22892, 13 December 1939, Page 10

FARM AND STATION

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NOTES BY THE WAY

LINCOLN COLLEGE

BOARD OF GOVERNORS MEET CONDITION OF CROPS The monthly meeting of the Board of Governors of Canterbury Agricultural College was attended b> , Professor H. G. Denham, Dr. if . W. s Hilgendorf, Messrs T. H. McCombs, M.P., M. Williams, M.P., N. M. Orbell, J. R. D. Johns, G. F. Wright. C. T. 1 Aschman, L. 8.. Scott (Old Boys associate member), I. L. M. Coop (Farmers’ Union associate member), and the director (Professor E. R. Hud- ] S °Apologies for absence were received ] from Messrs W. O. Rennie (chairman), ] and H. S. S. Kyle, M.P. In the absence of Mr Rennie, Professor Denham was 1 voted to the chair. Director’s Report The director’s report for the month . stated that the first really, effective ■ rain since August was experienced on ■ November 22 and 23, when nearly two inches fell. This broke the serious dry spell and had altered the prospects for the season. The oat crops would be light as they were too far advanced to receive the maximum benefit from the ram. This also applied to barley and to some of the wheat. The remaining crops should be reasonably satisfactory but would not be heavy. One paddock of oats sown on recently acquired land was so heavily infested with wild oats that the crop was cut green and made into silage. Root and forage crops were making good growth although weeds were troublesome. The weather conditions had been such that fat-hen and other weeds were more than usually aggressive. Small-seed crops would be light and owing to the dry spring it would not be possible to shut up for seed production as great an area as had been planned. However, some returns should be forthcoming from ryegrass, cocksfoot and wild white clover. After the rain, opportunity had been taken to sow another paddock of lucerne (20 acres) and an area of 22 L acres of Government stock wild white : clover seed had also been established . for the production of mother seed. : The pastures improved considerably • after the rain but another good fall "was 1 needed. At Ashley Dene the sub- ' terranean' pastures had not yet re- ’ covered from the bad autumn. ! In spite of the season being a diffi--1 cult one 'some reserves had been established for next winter. At the College there were 100 to 120 tons of silage in stack and-40 tons of hay had been made. The luderne should also yield subsequent cuts. At Ashley Dene some 70 tons of hay had been made and more was cut at the present time. Shearing had Been completed and the total yield of ■ wool for the season was 66 bales, of which seven bales ■ consisted of lambs’ wool shorn last January. : General The director reported that the work ! on the’ new dairy was proceeding satisfactorily, and the contractors had comnjenced the construction of the accommodation for short course students. No word had yet been received as to when work would commence on the farm staff houses, s It was stated that to reduce the cost : of the staff houses, the Department • had ■ proposed to substitute wooden i piles for concrete foundations. To this 1 the College had strongly objected, and - had made suggestions to help in a re--1 duction of cost by the painting of the i buildings under the direction of a 1 competent tradesman. No further • advice on the matter . had been JTGCGIVGCI. 3 The report of the Returning Officer I stated that Dr. Hilgendorf, Professor , Denham, and Messrs N. M. Orbell, C. 3 T. Aschman, and H. S. S. Kyle, M.P., . had been re-appointed,members of the . Board of Governors for a period of . three years as from January 1, 1940. I Complimentary : In welcoming Mr Coop as an ) associate member of the Board, re- - presenting the Farmers’ Union, the 1 chairman said that with his practical t knowledge of farming Mr Coop would : be of great assistance to the Board in 1 planning its farm work. In reply Mr [ Coop said that the Union had been • anxious to be brought into closer con- : tact with the work of the College, and ‘ he thought the association of the two : organisations would be helpful to ; both. ; Professor Denham referred to the I notable success of one of their stu- . dents—H. E. Garrett —in winning a ! Rhodes scholarship. Mr Garrett had , an excellent reputation at the College, j was a keen student arid had a ready • appreciation of the advantage of an academic education. A motion expressing congratulations was adopted. The work of the staff for the year 1 formed the subject of appreciative reference by several speakers, who mentioned that the members had entered whole-heartedly into the extra i duties attached to field days at the College or demonstrations at the shows. A resolution of appreciation was adopted, to be forwarded to the ■ staff. Complimentary reference was also made to the accuracy and fullness of “The Press” reports of the Board’s meetings and to the publicity given during the year to . the work of the College.

MORE LAMBS The speediest and most effective method by which the Dominion can increase production has formed the subject of discussion on this page at different times. It was suggested that the quickest results could be obtained through an increase in the sheep flocks, although in the process there would have to be a small temporary reduction in the weight of frozen meat. It ! is obvious that an increase vn dairy ; herds must be too slow to go far to- ■ wards recovering the decline of the last ‘ two years, although individual produc- • tion could be increased by improved • pastures, which again is dependent on ! most of the country’s dairying land receiving more top-dressing. i However, more top-dressing and the : replacing of old pastures would secure probably equal results with sheep, i The added advantage with sheep is ; that flocks could be increased sub- ( stantially within a year. The wool clip would tend to improve in weight from the better pastures, and, much more important, weights of lambs could be increased, and to a smaller extent those of mutton. The reten- ; tion of more old ewes for another sea- : son is undoubtedly the soundest pro- ; position. The problem of the old ewe disappeared with the declaration of 1 war. British policy, according to a speech of the Minister for Agriculture, Sir Reginald Dorman-Smith, late in October, is to be directed somewhat along these lines. “Since no substantial increase in numbers of fat cattle can be expected within the next two or three years (he said), the best means of achieving our end quickly is by an expansion of the sheep population, bearing in mind that sheep need not consume any appreciable quantity of imported feeding stuffs. I would, therefore, ask farmers to increase their flocks by retaining old ewes and ewe lambs for breeding this winter. ’ ' “Prices will be raised, when the Minister for Food takes full control, to an initial figure of HJd per lb dressed carcase weight for fat sheep to the end of December, and so as to give an average over the year of Is per lb, a figure which should also make it worth while to bring lambs to mutton weight and thus increase the weight of meat an animal.” The Minister went on to state that with regard to live stock, farmers would be guaranteed a market for cattle, sheep, C and pigs. To maintain or increase the production of cattle arid sheep it: would be necessary to increase the productivity of both good grassland and particularly the poor grassland, as well as to grow arable crops to take the place of imported feeding stuffs. ~ . The high price for mutton mentioned by the Minister suggests that mutton and lamb are the products which Dominion - farmers should aim at increasing, not only because they present the least difficulty and would secure the speediest results, but because it seems 1 that they are in the most urgent neeo in England—that is. if the value is to form a guide. Farmers, therefore, who propose sending their old ewes to the market should keep the best of them for further mating, as the farmers in England are being officially advised to do. The advice to bring i lambs to mutton weight should be intriguing to New Zealand farmers, particularly those who believe in the oldfashioned type of 45 or 501b lamb. HEAVIER LAMB WEIGHTS [ The nominal difference in the price f of heavy and light lambs under the . meat acquisition scheme raises speculation as to the effect it may have on [ the type of ram that will be used on ) many New Zealand farms. The use of the Southdown ram has dominated t the position practically throughout the * Dominion because of the demand in the United Kingdom for light lambs, t The small difference in the acquisik tion price (.13d per lb) between 36 s and under and 37’s-42’s is negligible, and in addition the English grower has been officially advised to raise his lambs to mutton weights. With this demand to cater for it is not improbable that a proportion of lamb fattened will use bigger rams next season, such as ■ the English and Border Leicester. In a good season for feed , the change would probably be fpund profitable, but the bigger lamb takes longer to fatten, and in an adi verse season might fatten little until 1 roots are available. Another point is that shipping disabilities may necessitate evenly distributed killing, and 1 the Southdown lamb would keep the works supplied earlier .than any other breed. Anything like a general change over to heavy rams may be improbable, particularly iri the North Island, where the Romney is the only other breed used to much extent, but the use of the English Leicester in Canterbury and the Border in Southland and Otago may increase. Once the cult of the heavy lamb becomes established in England it may be. some time before the light lamb regains its popularity. The length of the war would rule that matter. AUSTRALIAN WHEAT PRICE The war between the Federal Government and Australian wheatgrowers over the price of wheat has been advanced apparently to near the final stage.’The maximum price to be paid has been fixed. Because of the uncertainty of shipping and the marketing prospects the Government at this stage is not prepared to guarantee the industry a return of more than approximately 3s for bagged wheat and 2s lOd for bulk wheat, f.0.b., for the coming harvest. This is from 9d to Is a bushel less than many meetings of growers demanded. Financial arrangements are being made by the Government to provide these prices. Announcing the Ministry’s plans to the House of Representatives, thfe Prime Minister said that the Commonwealth Government had guaranteed a loan, which would exceed £20,000,000, from the Commonwealth Bank to the Australian Wheat Board to finance the - harvest. The basis of the advance would be a payment to the growers of 2s 9d a bushel for bagged wheat and 2s 7d for bulk wheat on rail at shipping ports. These advances were equivalent to approximately 3s for bagged wheat and 2s lOd . for bulk wheat, f.o.b. ports. The growers would ' receive their first advances .of Is 9d a bushel for bagged wheat and Is 7d a bushel for bulk wheat, less freight from siding to port, when the wheat was delivered to the Wheat Board. The balance of Is a bushel would be paid during April. The Commonwealth Bank loan to ; finance the harvest would be repaid ■ by the 'Wheat Board from proceeds of . realisations and proceeds of the Federal flour tax, together with a special ■ subsidy of up to £2,000,000 already 4 promised by the Government. 4 The Prime Minister said that uncer- - tainty about the remunerative disposal | of the harvest might well involve the Government, to a much greater extent 5 than the sums it had promised. Con- c siderable difficulty would be experi- i enced in the disposal. It might be p necessary for the Commonwealth Gov- s ernment to carry financial "responsibil- a ity for unsold stocks for a consider- r able periods "-^Jj

DAIRY PRODUCE DECLINE

FIGURES FOR RECENT YEARS REDUCTION IN HERDS Figures produced’by a speaker at the recent dairy conference in Wellington show in detail the serious extent of the drop in dairy production in the last two years. They are as follows:

Decrease over two years, 7315 tons. “Valuing butter at last year’s realisation, approximately 114s per cwt, the decrease equals £3,461,000,” said Mr Blyde, the compiler of the figures. “If we take into account the decline in cheese since the peak year, when 106,000 tons were produced, a decrease of 22,000 tons is apparent, and this at 69s per cwt equals a sum of £1,518,000. Pig Production “The decline that has taken place in the production of pig meats was last year 100,000 carcases. If we value these at an average of, say, £2 5s a carcase, this equals £225,000. _ These three totals equal a decline in our London credits of £5,204,000. “The weather is, we must admit, one factor causing this decline, but the weather is not responsible for the fact that during the last three years or so our dairy herds are depleted to the extent of 100,000 cows, and also for the fact that we have 4000 fewer dairy farmers. “The reasons, apart from the weather, are, to my, mind, the following:— “(1) That the return from dairy farming has not been sufficient to induce farmers to increase their dairying activities—it has not even been sufficient to induce or enable them to continue their previous output . “(2) That labour difficulties are more real than is generally supposed, and have "been a real cause in the decline.”

. ' / FARMERS’ YISIT

“OPEN DAY” AT LINCOLN ‘ COLLEGE ! The Board of Governors of Canterbury Agricultural College, at its monthly meeting yesterday, resolved to , hold an “open day” at the college next Tuesday, December 19. The suggestion was made by the director, who said that there were many supporters of the institution who had not had an opportunity recently of inspecting the farm because of the reduction in the number of visits by organised bodies. Previous gatherings of the kind had been very popular. He thought that if a- sort of picnic gathering was held it would give friends and relatives of the students and others interested in their activities a chance of seeing the work of the farm at the most suitable season of the year. Mr Coop said that members of the Young Farmers’Clubs had decided not to make their usual visit of inspection this year, as when the decision was arrived at the petrol restrictions were in force. Members agreed with the proposal. * The inspection of the farm will be commenced at 10.30 on Tuesday morning. Hot water for lunch will be provided by the college, and the inspection of the farm continued in the afternoon. The college will go into recess on December "23 and resume on January 3.

Butter Year. Tons. Tons. 1935-36 .. 166,135 1936-37 .. 175,360 Inc. 9,225 1937-38 .. 162,911 Dec. 12,449 1938-39 .. 145,000 Dec. 17,911 Decrease lor last two years. 30,360 tons. Cheese Year. Toils. Tons. 1935-36 .. 88,499 1936-37 .. 91,315 Inc. 2,816 1937-38 .. 88,467 Dec. 2,848 1938-39 .. 84,000 Dec. 4,467