FATTENING LAMBS.

Clutha Leader, Volume XLI, Issue 2, 14 July 1914, Page 3

FATTENING LAMBS.

GRASS, RAPE AND TURNIPS. FARMERS' EXPERIENCES. At a meeting of the Waikaka Valley branch of the New Zealand 1 . Farmers' Union on Monday night Mr Geo. Morrison gave an address on fattening lambs. He said that the digger plough was much better than the plain* plough for turning over the soil, as the .funrow Vas left in. a more pulverised condition, took less work in the spring, andl was more easily cleared of weeds. The soil could not receive too much work. In his opinion, the most Profitable feed for lambs was grass, rape, and turnips, ai' sown ,ini the same paddock. He had tried rane alone, but the lambs fell away the first week after weaning, and they were subject to scour, which also caused them to lose condition. When put< on grass after weaning, however, they did not fall anvay, but continued to improve.. In the second week they commenced to eat the rape, and in the third week to cut the turnir.s. He h?d tried weaning all the lambs at the same time, but it proved unprofitable, as a number were too young to. leave their dams, and they did not do well. The feed was also soiled-without anv advantage being received. If a farmer had, say, 300 lambs to fatten he should wean only 200, and put them in a paddock of from 15 to 25 acres of mixe<t feed. They must have plenty of room in order to fatten qui<tkly, and the quicker they fattened the "more profit there was. In three weeks a big percentage of the lambs could be got away after feedinj on the grass; and rape, and just when they were beginning to break the turnips. Those remaining should then be left to feed on the turnips. The other lambs should not b* weaned for a month or -six weeks longer as they would be too small to be profitably fattened. It took three timcs_ the feed to fatten a small lamb that had been taken too early from its dam. Some farmers after weaning their lambs put them on to a break of turnips right aiway, but they were not able to fatten Kaif their lam-bs after wasting much turnips. By such a method they did little more than, keep their lambs growing. Fattening lambs proluaKy could only be done by not wasting too much feed. (Applause.)

Only One Manure. In answer to Questions, Mr Morrison said he used only one kind of manure, turnip manure, for the mixed feeds he had recommended. The turnip and rape seeds were mixed (jib turnips and lib rape per acre) and! sown, -with the spoon-feed drill. He 'had never sown oats with the mixture, but had once sown rye, which was not profitable, owing to it coming to maturity before the other forage crops were ready, He had tried an acre of silver beet this year, and the lambs did well on it, hut it was a poor crop owing to the exceptionally heavy rainfalls that occurred in the (locality last summer. He thought that if one got the right kind of silver beet and if it were sown in good soil in a good season it would 'be profitable to grow. His experience with the .beet this season, however, was that soft turnips would have been worth three times as much for fattening lambs. Variety of Feed Needed.

Mr >S. White .recommended oats instead .of rape, as the latter did not do well ini unfavorable seasons. Mr- E. Cumming sadd he had tried oats for fattening and they were absolutely useless. The lambs got plenty to eat. but that was all they got.

Mr G. P. Johnston said he thought that the,kind of feed and the management recommended by Mr Morrison were as nearly correct as possible. Sheep needed a great variety of feed. Turnips alone v:eve perhaps the best natural! food for the full-grown sheep, but lambs needed grass and rape in addition. Rust had attacked the grars in some places this season, and 1 it was consequently less nutritious. In his opinion, the best turnip for sowing with grass for lambs was the Imperial Green Globe. It grew quicker than others,, and stood well out of the ground. He also recommended mustard, although somepeoule said that it did not fatten lanilbs. He had once put calves in a paddock containing mustard and they ate tlfe' mustard and put on condition very rapidly: Mustard had one drawback; it grew much more rapidly than the other plants, and should on that Account to sown Quite' .a 'fortnight later. He thought that Mr Morrison hit the mark when he recommended nutting the lambs on a good run, and he agreed with him that it was not a good rdan to wean all the lambs 1 at once. A paddock of 20 acres or 'more in area should be divided into three parts with netting. The .forward lambs should toe put in No. 1 division for a week, and the process continued with the other divisions. It would be found ».t the end of the three weeks that the lambs fMinistimed omly the grassland rape, thus saving the turnips, giving them more time to and hastening the process by eating down the. other kinds of feed. It would .wobably t>6 found' at the end of the three weeks that the rape was ready for eating a-tjain on the first division or the paddock. It was a great mistake to small lambs except in cases where thpv were not setting sufficient milk. It sometimes happened that a twin lamb ■was sucking a Mind teat, and of course it Would be better away from the dnm i and also any larabs which from any I cause were not sucking, ;ae they would thrive much better on. succulent feed than the feed in the paddocks in which the ewes were running. He believed in fri-owing as many knids of feed for lambs as could be successfully rrown. He had wit mixM the rape and turnips, as they could not he sown in that , ra v in some description* of drills, but he had mixed the rape with the manure and sown the fin-nips through every coulter of the drill. In A Wet Season.

Mr J. E. White said ibat in .a wet reason he had found that lambs did not do "well on rape or soft turnips, and he got them 01 to hard turnips as soon as possible.. which had suoerior fattening properties. The Imperial Green Globe was a'frurnin of good onality, but. ns had been said, .it grew hifh out of the ground, and that was a disndvantaw. Pr it was too easily knocked out. and sheep could "ot Wt turbos tbit had lost their hold of the soil. He had lamibs that were fed on green oats and rap» this season, but thev did no food ■until.-they were put on hard turnips. In a wet season turn ins should be sown thinly, as otherwise tbe "rass suffered Jn sitch (»■ sen son only four spouts of should be used for sowing tur•ains-... . Mr J. Fowden, inn., s»id tha,t m the Qamaru district silver beet did-ve?v well, but it' did not grow satisfactorily

here oil account of the wet climate, and it was better to sow soft turnips. Another Farmer's Methods. Mr E. Bowmar, of Gore, who was present, was invited to give his experience. 'Mr Bowmar said that when he had heard that Mr Morrison was going to give his experiences in regard to fattening lambs he thought he would venttire to come up, and he was very glad that he had come. He had tried silver beet, but the climate appeared to be against it here, and it was not so profitable as turnips. It was eaten greedily when it was young, but if kept too long it was not relished, as it be- ' came tcugh and a good deal of the sweetness was lost. His experience coincided with Mr Morrison's regarding the merits of grass, rape and turnips. He sowed 4oz or ooz of turnips and lib of rape per acre with the grass. He let the turnips run down eight coulters and the rape down seven of the drill. In fattening lambs it always paid to waste feed—that was to say, to give the lambs a big area to feed on. During the previous four seasons he had been able to fatten every lamb put on feed, and this season he bad only 22 left, which he expected to fatten also. He had never found it more difficult to fatten lambs in June than in the early i part of the year. Mr Bowmar gave the | meeting the results of experiments with manures on turnips carried out on his farm under tho'supervision oh the Agricultural Department, which were very interesting. He had been using guano and superphosphate, which he mixed himself, and he was very well pleased with results. This mixture was cheaper than some other manures.—(Applause.)

Oats In Ear. Mr R. Nichol said he \v:is doubtful if the right kind cf silver beet had been fcr'ed ;n Southland. Mr J. Mc-Phail said that on the whole turn ps and grass was the best mixture one could grow for fattening lambs. A very successful farmer at Edendale sowed turnips and rape and oats, Due he did not put the lambs on the oats till they were well out in ear,-as he held that the full value of this cereal was not obtained until this stage cf growth had been reached. He had fastened lambs very successfully -one season on oats that were pretty fully shot. One of the drawbacks to successful fattening of hinrbs in Southland was insufficient sunshine. LairAs should always have access to a paddock of o ! d pasture alongside the paddock of succulent feed, as they fattened much more quickly in that case, He moved a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Morrison and Mr Bowmar for their very 'ntcresting addresses.

The motion was carried by acclamation.