DAIRYING IN WEST AUSIRALIA.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 98, 18 January 1908, Page 3

DAIRYING IN WEST AUSIRALIA.

MR. A KINSELLA GIVES.SOME- ADVICE. '••Mr.'J A. Kinsella;- recently Dairy missioner for Now Zealand, and now Chief 'Dairy Expert to Western,' Australia, has been ■giving some "encouraging,' adrice 'to .his.-new people. The 'Western Australia Journal oi Agriculture " thus reports a lecture he g.no at Wanneroo:— ' , r f "In the course of his address Mr. ivin:sella described the climate 9f t this -Stato.™ ■ boinc excellent, for .the '.keeping >. of milk; and 'cream, and said' that this was an important •factor in'tbo dairying -industry.• .The posi,tion was different, in North'-America, where ,the summer nights were-extremely hot, frequently, accompanied by thunder and ligntningj ;.and',' conducive;, to the .' souring. of -milk, and cream. '.- Another great, advantage, the dairyman had here was the cheapness.of land as compared with New South Wales-.and New Zealand, 1 where best dairying locations fetched as much as £45 and £60. per acre. . - Excellent Home Market. ' " Then, again, this State offered. the best home,market'in the'world for the clniry products of butter and cheese. The time had arrived in Western Australia when it was realised that, if properly conducted, the- calling of the dairyman was capable of being made extremely profitable. *lt has - now becomo'to tlje question with farmers as to how they can 'do.' things so as to get.tho best attainable results from this lino of work as a business'.' Dairying elsewhere had been demonstrated v conclusively to be' one of the most remunerative- branches of; agriculture.' In Great Britain tho production of milk ! ranked a good second to the production of -meat. - . "The dairying industry had developed so enormously during comparatively the last few .years in tho. States of Victoria, .New. South ' Wales, and New Zealand that- the small settler had been lifted out'of tho mire. The question in. this Stato had ljeen often asked of late: Can we dairy at- a-profit? Tho. affirmative answer was to be, found in. the size and extent of tho excellent , cereal crops grown over such an enormous area'as the south-western division - of. tho'State... The Foundation of tho Herd. -' ; "But the first essential ..consisted-- of laying the foundation of the herd from one of the best milking strains, breeding up, and' selecting and culling by means of tho Babcock test. .. . He instanced the.folly and t-lio Unprofitable results that followed on the reton-, tion.'of duffer' cows, in the herd—a not uncommon feature to ho observed in |everal herds throughput the State. There was no best breed of dairy cow. 1 There were firstclass milkers in all' the best milking strains; He described the relative'produciiig'powers of som'o of tho best--dair.v--breeds — Jerseys, Guernseys, milking shorthorns, Ayrshire's, and Holsteins. yThe'great'.aim should be to feed liberally-and care for the dairy cows; if best'.results'were to. be attained. Abundance, of fresh water : and'access' to salt 'were important; and as-to .the latter a-few-lumps: of rock-salt .should .be .placed hero and there amongst, the pastured Maize,. lucerne, millet, or any;'other" forager, crop which. prodiicefl ."a large:'yield 'waV the-most profitable' rnilK-pro-ducer.' .' i Ensilage;/. , -"- v - ' ' • : : ;v- - 'oecome' ; in ; this State one.o the : main- factors in the 'establishment/', a dairying. . The Dairy Expert dealt at ,'leiigtl .with, the preparation, of, crops,' cutting ahc storing in 'silos,'.'and described- the construe tion ; :ar' 'various Jypes of silos/.' including th< pit silo,'.stavo silo, the making of stack ensilage,'and. the round-frame "silo. Stress was laid on the-importance of.cutting-or 'chaffing the green stuff for curing into ensilage in .thi silos,' when'ma'dt into stacks. Particulars' We'rb"also given. as't( .tho cost of making ensilage under different conditions! When properly..conduct eel' in .a Igocd silo-the .cost was 1 ' 3s.' to :4s. per ton. Thofeeding. value of maize or lucerne was Bd. to 10d. per 1001b. .-, A good ration for producing J milk would bo,' for a 10001b. row 3-511):; of ensilage, plus 51b; of hay and 31b. pi bran. . The two latter items furnished tlif .protein, not contained in the. ensilage. With ■20 or 25' first-class cows n 100-fon silo-would very rapidly pay for itself. He explained what artesian, wells and irrigation had: done both for the Transvaal and for many States .-in- Nortlv America, and- recommended tlroii adoption by the .farmers of this State. Here, too, a system, .of,.underground drainage carried out in the cold-soil flats'would result, ii iriimenso benefit; ...i. Competition witli,the Eastern States .. ".He was' often met with the objection that enmpetition with-the Eastern States' was out of the question. ' -His view was that; there was' no question 1 - of competition, with' those States.' , The, all-important question '.was ; '■Could .farmers . here'-carry : . on dairying at profit ''unde'r, present 'Or even ' under lover prices .-ruling-tor -' And the iinswei was: If, they- nfajie a-good article—which thej IcouldHtKey. could always-, find' a'-ready./sale fqr i€;'';Snd •at 'profitable'prices. ■ It-might as well ho argued. that Victoria and New 'South not dairy ''because they'could not'epmpetb'-with Denmark. The'latter couri : try ; realised'-' iii '.the • London market" 10s. to 125,--per- Wt. : more 'for' her-'butter: than the Australian 'article-fetched.. Yet Victoria and New- South Wales found ready sale for their two and' a half millions sterling worth ;oi butter,-at pHces'which handsomely .paid: their flairymei),- .'.and that- after , paying heavy steamer freights, commissions, and insurance. | In Western' Australia,- however, ■■ they bad/an ever-ready .-market'- at their doors for :up. to £400,000.; worth. v of dairy. , produce annually. There.;was' fhat volume of trade, to overtake [ befdre't'hoyV-woiild.liavo' to compete yrit-h' the sister States'Of 'the Commonwealth' in- the 'world's 'markets.' Tho Milking Machine. ' •".Tiiomilking njanhine had practically solved tho la hour question '1:1' conncct'iori with dairying.- : Scores; of milking machines were now inuso in. the 'Eastern.States and New Zealand;' where some-live years ago thoohildlabour question was becoming a serious problem.. He described... the installation' and working of the.machines, and' emphasisedtho advantages ..of co-operation among dairymen for the handling and marketing of their produce. Great- credit was due to private''enterprise for..'tho investment. of largo sums of money in the establishment of dairying in the East' "and in. New Zealand in. its initial stages, .and. doubtless 'manufacturers, in this Stato would receive fair treatment and eiioqurageriient in-their attempt to buildup-so important and-profitable 'a branch of agriculture. His duty, hofrover, was to supply dairymen with ali the information.at his disposal and hclp c tlioin establish, control, and run .their own businesses if they so desired. The care and treatment of-milk and cream on the farm were described, and the causes of butter not'' keeping'; practical hints being givcii as to how to overcome the diflicultv, and tho gospel of cleanliness being strongly impressed. . When. dangerous bacteria found their way into the milk from some unclean source,' or •in process of manufacture, no amount of preservatives would make the butter of good quality. At the. same time, one-half per cent., of horacic acid would prevent butter from getting stronger in flavour." At tho conclusion of his address Mr. Kinsella answered questions. THE BEST FOOD FOB PIGS. SOME GOOD ADVICE: .The "Canadian Dairyman," Til a recent number, commends to tho notice of its readers a pig. dietary drawn up by tho "New Zealand Dairyman." Tho paper says:—. The question of what we shall do with tlx pie;, is.now a serious one with most farmers. In" many cases he is being ruthlessly,slaughtered. Karmers, and dairymen particularly should consider carefully before taking thi: step. Just on this matin- of hog raising as related to dairying, and the advantagr the dairv farmer has over his brother ii this matter, the "New Zraland Dairyman. 1 in its current- issue, presents the case in thi tolJowme intelligent manner; .

"When .it, comes to pig-raising Hie dairy farmer is easily in front- of his brother in other departments of the farming, business, because. he lias one. o{ the most valuable pig loofjs in the world as a by-product. The trouble is, that he does not know the value of it and, too often, will not. learn. Ho wants the I Government experiment station to try something in the pig-feeding business, mid then, well, as often as not lie won't 1 profit; by what tbe.v have done. . The first thing tiiat, hiis to be remembered when. mill; is .forming part of tlm fend is, that if you give a pig two gallons of skim-milk a day you are. wasting one gallon. The second thing you have to remember, is' that you .can't- have economic pork production if tile pig does, not get a, certain amount of starchy foods each day. 'Tiie third thing you have to remember vis. that- if you feed meal by - itself, you 'are wasting- half the meal. ■ The fourth thing-is that.'what'is the cheapest and best pork, producer in the-world has been already found out, and that you don't-want-to be trying to find this out- at your own expense'. And-nere it; is:— . y. . "One gallon of. skim-milk. ■ "Three pounds of' potatoes. " ; ; "Four pounds of barley meal a pig a day., "On this, pigs from 80 to 120 pounds weight will put on. 1-5 pounds of pork a week, which,' at 4d. a pound, is ss. a pig.' . '-"And then out- this table out and put itsomewhere, so that the person who feeds the pigs-niay have it always before him. - :. "The rallies of the diifereut feeds are shown by points. . v ' • Points. 1. Barley meafl, skimmed milk ; and potatoes; .... ; •••" : ,1000 2. .-Barley moal and milk ... 003 3. Maize meal a)id milk ... ... 87.7 4. Maize nieal and beau-meal'... ... 590 5.' Barley meal ... , , ••• 510 | B. Maize meal and pea meal-.... 48!) r.'Maize meal ... ... 484 3.'.Barley meal and braiv .' ... 499 ). Maizo riioal and bran ---.V' ••• . /"Arid lastly, remember that-it cost £250 t.oVget, this information." ' COOD FLAX CROWTIrI. i An ..object lesson in the benefits of cultivation, applied to flax (writes our Carterton' sorrcspomleiit); can bo seen'on the farm of \lr. ! A.. Moody, : at : Waihekeke. Less than iivo .years ago Mr. Moody transplanted a lumber, of small flax roots to a picco' of prepared -ground. : When . planted the leaves ivefe barely' three feet high, and about a lozea in a bunch. To-day.'they aro 8 to 12 ieet : high, and fast covering the placo in ivhic-h ,\they, were planted. .wool prices fallinc. ; The fair of the wool prices continues. At $9.- AVcilihgto'n',- sales yesterday - the bales iffered. were less by 1800 than those offered iii;-,t!ie' .January salo. of -last, year, hut this iirc.umstancc did not -retard t-li-c fall.' The Fall. is- calculated to have- been 1 }d.' per lb. lecrease oil the best wools, ,Jd. on medium, lndijd.'to.ld., on inferior. ; OUR DIARY. WOOL SALES. Wellington.— Feb.' 21. 1 3, Feb. 4. Auckland.-rFeb. 18. • Timaru. —Jan.' 30,: Feb. 27. " , N - Napier.—-Feb.' 19.' [risborne.-r-Feb. 20.' : Inyereargill.—Jan.. 27. Feb. 11.,y Dunediri—Jan. ;23, Feb. 14, March 5. lu V,: ■ . SHOWS. - •' -: ■ ' Jan. v 2o,<26—.Wairoa. -' Feb:' r 4,.'o.— Feilding. . .! Fob'.'. 18, 10.—Masterton. , Feb.'26.—Woodyille.' , ' SHEEP-DIP AS AN IMPROVER OF THE CROWING FLEECE. OPINION OF AN .XEMIN'ENT NEW . ZEALAND; SHEEP-BREEDEK. (.-.lt-is a fact which no one. can gainsay that the value of,an- opinion . on; any -subject depends. entirely on, the source from which il emanates.. The positio nto which Mr. Short, of Parornngi; etc., has won for .ffimself 'in tlio i slieep-brecding'world' at once commends his opinions on all matters relating to the pastoral industry to the careful' consideration of the flock-owners of this Dominion. 'Like every man who has achicved'dislinction in any, line of business, lie is always ready , to seize "iipon the lastest and most up-to-dale scientific discoveries to promote the advancement of. his calling; hence his experience of the use of Quibell'S Patent Powder Dip on hid valuable Hocks is at' once instructive and Inter-'esting-to wool-growers generally. Writing-.to Messrs. Qnibell Bros.'. New Zealand representative uncler'date ]6th December, 15U7, Mr. Shortfstates as follows, viz.:—. • have pleasure in enclosing- my managers Eromised report on the efficacy of QiiibeHV »ip (Ppwder),- as used oil my flock during the past-season, and I am pleased and grutificd at the knowledge that the .dip has turned out so. satisfactorily. '.'"The condition-of'tho wool is certainly an improvement iipon' even last year's highly 'satisfactory-clip in that respect, and it is very .certain' that, the sheep are,: a; my manager says, .clean on the, skin and almost absolutely free 'from' ticks."-v..Mr..Sh6rt-:s'c.\-perieuce of the use of QiiibeH'i; Dip -agrees entirely with, those of the world's most' distinguished sheep-owners in this and other lands','nlore especially as to the improvement'in the condition of the wool which )oljows in the use of this'valuablo specific—a fea-.tiire'-oniwhich t-li'ey all, as if by one consent, go out.of their-way to comment upon.' 0826