FARMS AND FARMERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 June 1930, Page 7

FARMS AND FARMERS

ITEMS PE INTEREST;

IBy

"Rouseabout”)

BUILDING UP THE LAND.

A COW TO THE ACRE.

It is tho aim of many Hawke’s Bay dairyfarmers to build up their laud until it is rich enough to carry a cow to the acre. A Napier “Telegraph” writer heard the other day of a dairyfarmer near Tokomaru in. the Manawatu, who has gone even better. He has a farm of 61J acres and is carrying seventy milking cows and twentysix sheep with the assistance of ten acres of root crop. This past season his butter-fat returns total 17,5001 b or 2841 b pei’ acre. Furthermore, £2OO was taken for calves, pigs, etc. During the last few years the owner has wintered sixty cows on the property without any outside grazing. The farm is subdivided into eight-acre paddocks, and the cows are changed every second day from paddock to paddock. This once more demonstrates what can ho produced from fertile land under the management of a keen and practical farmer.

“I was talking to a well-known Hawke’s Bay authority on dairying the other day, who expressed the opinion (that with tho increase of subdivision and the cutting up of our farming lands, the time is coming when the best of our Hawke’s Bay dairy herds, with those of other dairying centres of the Dominion, will be housed at night, the same as is done in Great Britain and other older countries” (states tho farming writer of the Napier “Telegraph”). “Such a course has certainly much to commend it, particularly to the small dairy farmer, for the produce of the farm can then be used far more economically and the manure produced by the housed cows will not only considerably lower the annual fertiliser bill, but will add immensely to the weight and feeding value of the root crops grown for winter feed. At the present time too little use is made of the cattle droppings in the paddocks of our dairy farms, the harrows being used all too infrequently by farmers. For the owner of, say, ten to twenty cows, running on a limited area, tho suggestion seems to mo to be an excellent one as it would enable the farmer to get th© very best out of his land. A cheap lean-to could be constructed for the purpsoe, and there is little doubt that it would ultimately fully repay him for his trouble.

‘‘BREAKING” BACKS IN PIGS. LACK OF MINERALS. A common condition among brood sows with their litters is known as “breaking down in tho back” or “down in the back.” This, a well-known authority is brought about by the lack of sufficient minerals in the sow’s ration and the. heavy drain upon her by her nursing pigs, In some cases, he says the trouble will bo noticed before the sow farrows, but this is only where the ration has been unusually deficient in bone building materials, The first symptom is usually difficulty in walking. The sow has a stiff, stilted gait, and may show some lameness. Many breeders and owners consider Ulis a form of rheumatism and are likely to let it pass by without giving it much attention. The difficulty in walking gradually increases, and there may be some impairment of the appetite. As the condition progresses the sow has trouble in getting upon her feet; she will rest at short intervals while walking, and when standing will shift tho weight from one hind leg to the other.

The difficulty of getting upon her feet increases, until in a short time the sow is no longer able to stand upon her hind feet. Even though in this condition sows, in many cases, do not show much change in appetite. When signs of the ailment are mainfested the sow should be given a ration in minerals. Lucerne or clover hay can be fed in small amounts. No corn for a month before farrowing should bo fed.

SHIPPING FREIGHT CONTRACT. Tho No wZealand Producers Board Thu New Zealand Producers Board Board, who have been negotiating with the shipping companies in Loudon in connection with shipping freight rates on frozen meat and dairy produce, have now accepted a new contract at a reduction of a further 2i per cent, which brings the new rates down to 15 per cent, off the rates obtaining in respect to both meat and dairy produce for the 192425 season. The period of the contract is three years, and the 21 per c£nt. reduction now obtained represents a further saving to the meat producers of tho Dominion of approximately £50,000 per season, and to the dairy producers of approximately £55,000 per season: Tho new contract takes effect on September 1, 1930. Tho new freight rates for dairy produce and frozen meat will therefore be as follow, being 15 per cent off the 1924-25 rates:—Butter (per box) 4/-, cheese (per lb) 7-Bd, mutton (per lb) 1 3-32 d, lamb (per lb) 19-32 d, beef (per lb) 7-Bd, pork (per lb) 7-Bd, veal (per lb) 7-Bd, frozen sundries (per lb) : hl, mutton and lamb pieces ( per lb)

I 1-8(1. All the above rates are less 15 per cent.

BUTTER PRICES,

FOREIGN COMPETITION.

An interesting and important survey (of the butter marketing position was (’made recently by Mr W. 11. Kent, New iZoaland representative of Andrew Clement and Sons Ltd., of Loudon. /Ho referred to the growing competition facing New Zealand butter in the London market and stressed the danger of alienating the goodwill of British traders by any attempts at pricefixing or control.

During January and February of this year, imports into the United Kingdom amounted to 1,166,732cwt5, against 1,084,952cwts last year, much of the increase coming from Northern European countries, as will be seen from the following comparative tables for these two months: —

Tho figures show particularly large increases in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. An alarming feature in connection with this year’s marketing is the fact that 4600 tons more of foreign butters were imported into Britain from. September to April, than in the same period last year, whereas New Zealand deliveries, from September to April, were 3800 tons less, which, evidently proves that consumption of foreign butter has increased at our expense. Outside of Canada, the United Kingdom is the only free market there is in the world to absorb the surplus.

Tho absorption by England of the increased exports of butter from foreign countries totalling 15,000 tons was the direct result of the full appreciation by those countries of tho fact that only by keeping a strong pressure on their selling, and by reducing their prices to a figure in consonance with the difficult economic situation could they hope to clear their supplies. Denmark and other countries realised that any attempt to hold up prices would be fatal to their interests.

In view of the heavy importations from all countries into England, it is obvious that it is incumbent on Nev; Zealand producers to hold their buyers and strengthen that goodwill which has been created for our products over the last 2 years, and to see that nothing is done to antagonise those buyers by suggestions of controlling market prices, withholding stocks, or dictating unpalatable terms. It would be well to remember, however, said Mr Kent, how our old-estab-lished competitors, after years and years of experience, market their products. The Danes realise the importance of not giving any group of sellers too much to handle. There are in Denmark eleven co-operative export associations who handle approximately one-third ' of the butter exported. Another third of the butter exported is bought in Denmark direct from individual factories by English houses who have their agents and purchasing depots in Denmark. The remaining third of the butter is bought by Danish butter merchants, who supply the Home trade and export the surplus to foreign countries. Producers of this country have been asked to believe that the federation i of the creameries, or what is known as the Copenhagen Butter Committee, actually fixes selling prices, but such is not the case. Selling prices are left entirely in the hands of individual fac; tories or groups of factories. The functions of the committee are to promote matters of common interest, such as legislation affecting the industry, and the study of problems affecting marketing. The committee, which is composed of one-half producers and the other half private merchants, merely indicates the price which should bo obtainable for the week’s product, and also indicates what payout could be made, to the suppliers. Tho Danes do not hesitate to sell to the blenders, realising that they are a valuable outlet, because blended butter is so popular with the English housewife owing to its freshness, and being easily spread is most economical. It is unfortunate that certain New Zealand interests through interference have offended this valuable outlet, throwing the blender into tho hands of our foreign competitors. Considering that New Zealand is responsible for barely 20 per cent of tho total importations of butter into Great Britain, any suggestion that 60 per cent of that 20 per cent (that is, roughly 12 per cent) could possibly be an important factor in controlling the market prices must be considered ridiculously absurd, said Mr Kent. It would mean that the control of 38,400 tons ■would definitely fix the price for the whole 320,000 Lons. To show how absurd this proposal is, we only need to think back to the control period when tho whole of the New Zealand butter was held up for prices that the trade refused to pay, resulting in a total collapse, with disastrous results to tho New Zealand producers, in the acceptance of prices far below those that would have been possible had each shipment met tho market for that day. If the quantity of butter made m England is included the quota supplied by New Zealand is reduced to 17 per cent of what is actually consumed in Great Britain. 1 Denmark’s percentage is 28.5. Experience of control during 1926-27 has at-least taught us one lesson, viz., that tho general body of British buyers strongly resents anything approaching dictation or interference. Any attempt, therefore of a big or little pool or control will only succeed in bitterly antagonising the large body of trades in Great Britain.

Experiments in fighting frosts on the Pacific Coast of America carried out by citrus growers on a co-opera-tive basis might yet find acceptance in New Zealand conditions. The orchardists tight fronts like a great army, with a central co-operative headquarters where weather reports are received constantly and where maps of 350,000 heaters or smudgepots are spread, on'. for plotting the

defensive. As reports reveal the advance of cold weather, this headquarters telephones to tile threatened districts to "light tip” and frost is defeated before it arrives. Mineral oils arc already playing an important part in successful fruit culture in New Zealand. They form the basis of the best known orchard sprays in the Dominion for all types of aphis, scale and black smtu.

1980. 1929. Irish Free State 10,5'13 8,255 Union of S. Africa .. 14,609 — Denmark 328,526 323,600 Finland 40,921 32,423 Soviet Union (Russia) 5,113 4,404 Sweden 54,792 39,467 Estonia .» 14,621 2,893 Latvia 9,888 3,017 Poland 5,878 1,032 Lithuania 569 10