PRIZE STOCK ON DRY LAND Paparua Prison Farm

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29058, 21 November 1959, Page 8

PRIZE STOCK ON DRY LAND Paparua Prison Farm

The 1550-acre farm of the Paparua Prison which lies a few miles west of Christchurch must rank among the driest and most uninviting country in Canterbury—it has often been described as a desert—but in the last two or three years sheep, pigs and cattle off the farm have earned distinction in the show ring in Canterbury.

At Christchurch last week the team of Tamworth and Berkshire pigs from the farm won five championship ribbons, including, the supreme honour, three cups and 35 place tickets. Milking Shorthorns from the prison farm also won the reserve bull championship, a juntor championship with a yearling heifer and two second prize tickets.

At country shows this season at Leeston, -Rangiora and Amberley the prison’s flock sheep have on each occasion gained most points and last year at the Courtenay show they earned most points for flock sheep for the third time in succession. For the most part the prison farm is on the old bed of the Waimakariri, with no more than a light covering of soil over shingle. When there is rain the growth response is rapid but when it becomes dry—and the farm often seems to be in an area that misses rain when all around is benefitting—the country dries out as quickly. Making Hay In the spring every possible bale of lucerne and meadow hay is saved. Usually from 10.000 to 17,000 bales are made in this period and this is used in the height of the summer when the country is burnt up. Last summer 98 bales were being fed out a day.

Happily on this country nearly every paddock is watered by a county water race and shade is almost as important for stock health. It is the aim of the farm manager, Mr George Barwell, to have every fence line planted in the next two or three years. The Forest Service is assisting in this project. Macrocarpas are favoured as they are resistant to drought and provide a useful low shelter. Prevention of flying dust which mars fleeces is regarded as an important matter oh the farm. Before sowing down this light country into new pasture a rotation of breaking up out of old grass into turnips and lupins and then into rape and lupins is followed. For sheep feed the mixture used is 21b of subterranean clover, 81b of cocksfoot, 21b of white clover, 11b of crested dogstail, 201 b of ryegrass (sometimes 51b of short rotation and 151 b of perennial) and occasionally 41b of .cowgrass. For cattle the sowing is varied to include 81b of lucerne, 81b of cocksfoot, 101 b of ryegrass, 41b of cowgrass and lib of subterranean clover. In dry weathet it has been found that sheep eat lucerne right out to the roots and in the first season it has disappeared. In all cases when sowing down a bushel of Russet oats is included in the mixture.

Top dressing One of the main aims of topdressing is to stimulate spring and autumn growth. The autumn growth together with supplementary fodder crops is’expected to carry the stock through the winter with a minimum hay requirement A ton of lime is spread to the acre about every five years and lewt of superphosphate about every two or three years. Now the equivalent of 51b of copper sulphate is spread with the super to counter a copper deficiency which has been noted in sheep and pigs and confirmed by the Wallaceville Animal Research Station.

In the last nine years the sheep flock has been almost doubled from 1200 ewes and 180 ewe lambs to 1600 ewes and 800 dry sheep and the aim is to increase the ewe flock to about 2000. Mr Barwell has drawn on a number of studs in building up his Corriedale flock. His aim is to have

big-framed, long-bodied sheep well-proportioned in the hindquarters with a clean bold head, producing. a wool of 56’s count with a long staple, plenty of crimp, free from kemp, and in addition giving a high percentage of lambs. The basis of this programme is sheep of strong constitution with a big frame and to that end Mr Barwell personally drafts out sheep lacking in size and constitution. Only on this sort of sheep is it possible to put the weight of fleece that he has m mind, he considers. The average fleece weight now is 111 b or better and his aim is a sheep with 13 or 141 b of wool. The clip from the farm averaged between 47d and 48d a lb at the first sale this season.

As in other branches of farming activity at Paparua only limited funds are available, and in his breeding programme Mr Barwell has preferred to spend the money on buying an occasional top class ram and breeding his own rams so that he can keep a closer control over the progress of the programme.

While the expansion of the flock has been going on some ewes not up to the ideal standard have had to be retained and these have been mated for fat lamb production with English Leicester or Ryeland rams.

Last month 252 lambs born about the end of July or beginning of August mainly by the English Leicesters were drafted at an average of 34.041 b. Mr Barwell favours the Leicester to the Down, ram on this drought susceptible country as its lamb will stand up to a feed check better and still keep growing. It will get thin under sucn conditions but when the feed position improves again it will put on condition and if need be ewe lambs can be carried over for sale to farmers who may wish to use them for fat lamb raising. Drenching Apart from topdressing with copperisea super, ewe lambs are drenched at 20-day intervals from weaning to mating with copper sulphate to counter copper deficiency.. About 100 lambs died last season from white muscle disease but this season when lambs showing signs of the trouble were treated with selenium they all recovered. Last season lambs treated with selenium gave ap extra 31b of weight over controls in a 2fmonth trial period. The farm’s Milking Shorthorn stud was started in 1951 with three heifers of the Ward strain from Blenheim and a bull from Mr George Goodwin, of Rangiora. The aim is to have an average production of more than 4501 b of fat and with artificial insemination Mr Barwell believes that a level of 500 to 5501 b of tat may be attainable.

This week semen from the leading sire of all breeds in England, Histon Dairy Premier, has been used on the farm and at least six cows will receive this material this season.

The herd now comprises about 25 milking cbws and 25 dry stock. The cows are milked by hand to supply the prison with surplus cream going to the factory. At the most recent test the average was 4 per cent, of butterfat and individual tests have been up to 7.2 per cent, and some of the cows are giving 66 to 701 b of butterfat a month. Pig Breeding Mr Barwell has also ventured into the pig breeding field starting a Berkshire stud with three sows from Mr Duncan Petrie in 1950 and a Tamworth stud with two sows from Mr George Manship, of Hari Hari, and a boar from the North Island Belmont

stud of A. H. Revell and Son in 1953-54.

At the recent Christchurch show an English breeder described the Paparua Tamworth sows as the equal of anything in England and the prison’s Berkshires as being superior to English pigs in their suitability for the bacon and poik tcade. In his pig breeding programme Mr Barwell has been aiming at producing a pig most suitable for the trade. His ideal is a pig with light head and shoulder, plenty of length and deep sides with heavy hams down to the hocks. He is also looking for prolificacy and dislikes keeping a sow that is not of a litter of 12 or more. He also favours a pig with at least 14 to 16 evenly spaced teats and in the -Tamworths he believes that there has been some room for improvement in teating. His ambition is that he may be able to add another stud to the prison’s piggeries—a Landrace. To meet the requirements of the prison and also sustain stock a quite extensive and diverse programme of cropping is undertaken. To supply other prisons as well as Paparua 40 acres of potatoes are grown and where there

is a surplus these are transferred to other Government institutions or if need be are fed to the pigs rather than interfere with potato markets. Potatoes have either to be planted early to catch the spring rains or late to benefit from the autumn rains. As a result the main planting is made about the end of November so that potatoes are forming about February in time for the autumn rains. This ground is subsequently sown in wheat for the poultry lihit and then into mangolds and fodder beet before returning to grass and oats. Silver Beet An interesting crop is an area of 14 or 15 acres of silver beet. This is an insurance against failure of the rape. It has been successfully used for weaning ewe lambs on to and it can also be used for flushing ewes as it comes away again in the autumn, and for giving ewes a green bight before lambing in the spring. A point in its favour is that it. is more resistant to drought than rape and stock seem to like it. However, 40 acres of lupins and rape are still sown for lamb fattening and flushing the ewes and

40 acres of turnips and lupins for winter feeding of the ewe lambs. Lupins and russet oats are grown for seed requirements with some of the oats also being used for chaff or held in reserve for winter feeding. Twenty acres of barley, 10 acres of fodder beet, and a few partridge peas are grown for pig feed and seven acres of mangolds for cattle feed. A few swedes are grown for human consumption as well as for the cattle in thjs winter. The success of the stock breeding programme as indicated by a demand for pigs and cattle from all parts of the South Island was gratifying to .the institution, said the superintendent, Mr E. G. Buckley. It meant that inmates .with an inclination to agricultural and farm work had an opportunity for training in methods and techniques that were •of a high standard.