DAIRYING IN THE MANAWATU.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 893, 12 August 1910, Page 8

DAIRYING IN THE MANAWATU.

COW-TESTING AND GENERAL' ■- PKOGKESS. ;;. '1 ■ don't want to say that tho Manai . fatu throughout:its lengtli and breadth ' . .is 'all rich, dairying land," said a 'Longburn farmer to, a Dominion representa-; [tiye,. "but- we have in our district much land;which is splendid for dairying, purposes. It is a pretty mixed district as . to:its soil, but a gooa deal of the-X.s.d. ii" '. ' which, is annually extracted must go to the credit; ot-dairy "farming. , ' ' - , ':V ; 'Tt is not-so.very.long ago-since. dairy--1 ing. was 1 quite' 'a crudely conducted in-' . dustry in the district, and somo of the . metho'ds of ; the past might bo smiled ' i at by tho farmers,of to-day. l Of course, to some extent those. inethods of the'early; days wero inevitable.lt is-so . much ' . easier^for. im ,to adppt improved sb'les i"'..i now;.than it "was for our forerunners, that: I fear some of the younger farmers take more .credit', to,-, themselves than' . they ' . would., if: they*' looked at things in ' that light. - V ■'.■ . ."Nevertheless,-' creditable improvements. ' have been made.': .'Some :of . them have' come gradually, and perhaps not quickly i• enough to suit a certain section, but even, i.'-r-if, our farmers are. a little behind in .one : . ..or two ways: people must remember that. , the dairy farmers of!this country' are.a. r- : v icompaxatively young community. ;' When r,'. r . ;ono looks back thirty years,' and less, one iraes:«rai'''Pal)nerstoii'.North > now one. of : ; '.'the 'half-dozen .'biggest centres "in New . Zealand,' surrounded' by standing bush.. . Has-Denmark progressed as this district : has, and at.the same rate? I don't think ;' . any. portion/of the population of the Dominion.has'moved,in.'line.with the farvi point of ; progressiveness.- ; . i.' ;. :, "I. ; 'was out through the district '■ the jother.day and it .was a real treat to,me. :... Ito. see .how somo of the farm's have been ;.i : -improved 'since, I saw them some .yearn ; ago. /-.The' improvements .in the mil'kingb.v.: isheds'are,among the most important and iv >(most, necessary alterations I noticed, and, , -of course; I include in that > the ' yards, : .' ifitands,.' and7all; things adjacent to, the •sheds. . ' . : |.. \rpm very interestedjin the movement to forward the' objects ': of the .recently-jformed-'cow-testing, association ' in the' [ ■ fMan'awatu. , The results of such an assoicwtioii.'a»lßtoe'to' 1 be watched as keenly, r,':. .I as '. for. .you would be. surprised' . :.. 'the. number, of different Opinions on the; ;' ; subject . which , dairy .farmers/hold." • .. The association'.which the farmer spoke i' : . ' |Of is .'called the Manawatu ;Oow-testine As- ;: ..; jTOciati.on.;'. ,It was-started by Mr. Dorr, ■ iqf Whakaronga,:Palmerston; North.. '

• Twelve "Commandments." :In , a"! booklet Vpublished latelyit: was 6et out that a progressive dairyman is one who—.' \ r , ■. c-. f;.t : (1) Sells ofij -his non-breeding,; non-pro-ducing coivs ill the herd. '.(2) ,Gets to . know : if' ho can improve .upon uny. individual co». " , '..; (3)',;Joins. ; a ctiw-testing association. ; K ' : (4); Keep's J every .cow's ''quantity .arid ;; .Quality by 'him;,for future reference. - ' ' . (5) .Knows" wliat 'each cow's profit '..is i weekly, monthly, and yearly. .■ ■ (6) -Knows if his cows are being milked •. idir.:. ; ; . v) Knows if. they are giving their full (quantity, and if not, why -not.: ' . , .'(8) . Knows if he is supplying more'milk . I than his neighbour. : . :.(9)r:lnsists that every'cow brought into •his shed shall be guaranteed to come up ■ Ito a certain standard of production. (10) " Plans ' his : feeding, operations' . : months .in advance., " i :.., 1 . (11) Compares with his ;■ neighbours, to V .Bee '.whose ,ar.o!\'the;j'most profitable. '. ' . ... :■■•'; (32) ..Commences'te-.. make;inore : ;'mohey •, fby joining 'an association;'.. • . . f'Advice To Dairymen. • , j The Manawatu Association'' has.Jhad/sey-f '' jcral 'communicationafr.omfarmers.'ibucli- • ling.'on/relevant, and!} interesting'; matters.* ;; | In' the 'fbllowin'g/ • some, extracts from' let- - ..:'ters: and; replies thereto aro given':— OrWj haye been'in.-this . couhfry years, riowl^^'.'The'latter 'part of.. . Vfthe time I have devoted-to dairying, and '. althougfi I am milking' 19 cowb- I. hnd it: .;;; i'a .hard - job to make ends' meet."' J He Sd« I mitted that ho had purchased his, cows • at sales and. wherever;he could pick' them^ ■ up, and also, that' be had a few, oJd,,coiYS. , amongst them, ;and some not giying-much I ,' '. milk, and that he- ffad'jiever troubled, . 'about the test. He' added ■. /'I am paying.* .355. ; per, acre for my land;"— I The reply of ; thel "On the face' of this .man's, remalrks 'he-must ber'.milkihg cows that, are only returning him. £Z> to jEG •per cow, arid possibly :some are returning ; ieveri: less 'than this.; It-takes 2J- acres ■to keep a cow.: on his land, which means • that he.must make X4;i7s. 6d. net profit!! ,from each , cow before he 1 6ees -anything •for himself. .Incidental . expenses' would • ;.. increase , this to,' say;, ,£6 ss. per coy,. 1 : .'This; means ,'on .the' cows.only returriirig I'him i 5, be is . actually throwing away fJBI ss. on every cow of this typo he is '• so ..'what .'few.'good cows he is (milking, he ; being' .'robbed ' of," their ;profits by what we ; have'already termed 'Tobbers'.". ' - - , ■ ..: .Another letter, rani! "I know I have'a (few. cows'that-are not Tvorth their.'tucker, ibut.l cannot get better. >If I do buy a cow, .she ,is,|as, a!, rule,'worse: than the ■ i ono I, sold;..so. I,am .'further ..off ; than, •ever."—The' : replied: "Have ..-your.'cows.fested and their. ■out.,. In the<.p]ace>'of two* .unprofitable ; cows replace byj ono, profitable cowl.that' :.! {has; been'bought on her ' merits, either' through the association or otherwise, and she'alone will return more than' the two ■v: others;;,; apart from . which more grazing :'. will bo left for' the remaining cows." ."I know a few of. my cows'are poor : v i milkers,- but if they only return me .CI . ■ or X5--per cow per year it all helps to. .'. - make-up," said, anther man.—The' com-': ;munication ho received from the association was in agreement with the first one - , given above. . ...,'> "I:cannot afford (ran another letter) .to lay out . 'any more money on cows, as my expenses have been so heavy already,' —We-'do not wish him to incur further ; . expense;, (say the association) but wish' to draW' his attention, to the fact that he could, sell two fat cows, and with the proceeds buy a. profitable cow."