FARMS AND FARMERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 December 1930, Page 10

FARMS AND FARMERS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(By

“Rouseabout”)

HAYMAKING IN DECEMBER.

Primarily because of the prevalence of unfavourable Weather at the propei haymaking period, much of the hay saved each year is of inferior quality, due either to waiting till favourable weather is experienced and thereby allowing the herbage to become far too mature and woody, or to mpwing at the proper stage and being forced to save the hay under unfavourable conditions. In these facts lies part of the strong case for ensilage over wide areas. Late mowing is objectionable not merely because it makes the production of inferior stemmy hay a certainty, but also because it brings about greater weakening and opening-up of the sward, and militates against a really satisfactory aftermath which may prove valuable as a source or succulent highly nutritious feed during the latter part of the summer says the New Zealand Agricultural JournAs so many advantages attach to the cutting of the hay crop at the proper stage of growth it behoves one to consider carefully all measures which will enable this to be done and at the same time the herbage to be saved in good condition. Cocking ot the hay is one of the measures which Should be considered more than it seems to be. Over much of the Dominion it is doubtful if a heavy crop of hay can be well saved without cocking, and with average crops, after making due allowance for the extra labour that cocking at times involves, it could with advantage be adopted on occasions when it i’s not practised. Cocking is to be looked upon as the ideal method of obtaining the best possible quality hay when the weather is not altogether reliable, and although ideal methods are not always the best from the economic aspect they generally should not be departed from without sufficient reason. C. eking proves particularly valuable in the saving of good lucerne and clover hay.

efficient fowl feeding.

No definite amount, of food can be specified for daily supply to any giyen number of laying fowls. The only safe course is to feed them according to their appetite. The rule of weight “ measure cannot be fixed, because the birds do not eat the same a” 10 ™ 11 of food each day or at each meal. Their appetites vary according to the season of the year and whether they are in a laying condition. as egg-production increases the bird will demand a greater food-supply, because it is impossible to get something from nothing. There are many different rations that will produce good egg-yields. The great essential is to see that the food is of good quality, palatable to the birds, and fed in sub ficient quantities. Not only should sound and palatable grain material be provided, but in addition some form of animal food should be included in the ration. Instinct in the laying bird demands an adequate supply of animal food, and if deprived of this she will not produce to her maximum capacity. When boiled meat is not obtainable a reliable brand of meat-meal makes a good substitute. This material may be supplied in the morning mas a the rate of, say 8 per cent, of the aggregate weight of the mixture when dry. In addition the meal may be fed in a separate receptacle and lett for the birds to pick at whenever they choose says the New Zealand Agriculture Journal. When skim-milk is available this may take the place of meat and meat substitutes, as there is nothing better for promoting egg-production. Indeed it. is good for Stock of all ages, except perhaps in the case of the growing pullet, when, as with any forcing diet, too much milk is apt to promote egglaying at too early an age before the bird attains proper body development. This usually results in a weedy specimen of the breed and a producer ot small eggs. Where it is found that a pullet is showing evidence of prematurity the milk should be used sparingly or, better still, eliminated from the ration. Particularly should the birds not be compelled in hot weather to drink a large quantity of milk merely for the purpose of quenching their thirst, or ovarian troubles and the production of weak-shelled and shell-less eggs are apt to result. Where milk is provided in large quantities the risk of these troub-es making their appearance will be minimized if watei is provided in a separate receptacle. A good method of using skim-milk is to let it sour and coagulate, which may be hastened by the inclusion of a small quantity of pollard. After the whey has been poured off it is a good plan to place the curd in lightly woven sack and allow it to drain well before feeding to the birds.

dairy cattle factors. Studies and observations by W. W. Yapp on approximately 500 animals produced i nan American herd, established by crossing Holsteins and Guernseys indicated that milk yield percentage of butterfat, protein, and ash in the milk, and conformation were hereditary characters controlled bv a considerable number of factors 10 being suggested for milk yield. The percentage of lactose in the milk (says an exchange) was similar for the two breeds. The size of the animals was in part hereditary and in part environmental. There was evidence that the open or protruding shoulder was an inherited character controlled by the operation of one or two factors, variability in this characteristic was, however, influenced by the type of stanchions used. Skin colour and colour of the secretions were hereditary but were difficulty to study on account of the high correlation with the amount of green feed consumed. No positive correlation was found between .colour or skin pigment and colour of milk-fat in dairy cattle. The colour of the skin pigment of the heavy-pro-ducing cows was greatly depleted when they did not receive enough green feed. Calves of highly pigmented breeds did not show the same amount of pigmentation as older animals until fed green feed.

DAIRYING IN UNITED STATES.

The dairy industry of America has reached a point where production has overtaken consumption. ! In 1929 tue number of producing dairy cows was increased approximately 3 per cent, over 1928, while ordinarily an increase of 1 per cent, would have been sumci ent to take care of the increase in consumption, according to Mr Sam H. Greene, California Dairy Council, who outlines the following programme for the continuing steady stablised progress of the dairy industry:—(1) A permanent nation-wide campaign of education; (2) Elimination of low-producing and diseased cows from the dairy herds of the nation; G») breed cows only to purebred bulls that are the offspring of cows of known high producing ability; (4) raise only heifer calves from high-producing cows; (5) feed dairy cows a mixed ration, and feed it according to production. _ . , The growing use of dry skimmed milk and dry buttermilk in animal feeding stuffs was one of the most important brought to the attention of the fifth annual meeting of the American Dry Milk Institute held recently in Chicago. Mr Washington Platt, chairman of the Institute’s research committee and a member of the laboratory staff of the Borden Company, stated that the sales of powdered skimmed milk for animal feeding during 1929 had increased by 65 per cent. He gave the credit for this increase to research work, which had demonstrated the value of milk in feeding, and said that ’the various experimental stations were now confirming what the Institute had discovered regarding the use of dry skimmed milk in poultry and calf rations. The organisation is now engaged in enlisting the co-operation of extension workers in educating the farmer and poultryman in the advantages of dry skimmed milk. This is the object of a very interesting and successful piece of work carried out. during recent weeks. Over 600 county agents have been supplied with material to be used in various forms of publicity. A series of six news articles has been furnished them, and plans are under way to supply them with packets of dry milk for distribution to their present and potential customers. It is expected that the work will be productive of very noticeable results, and materially assist in promoting a further use of this product.

BONE FERTILISERS. Considerable merit attaches to the use of bones as a fertilising agent. There are quite a number of products on the market that consist of bones in some form or another, but in many instances little use is found for them by the horticulturist, although they are probably the most valuable of mild-acting fertilisers, and the plant food they provide is more lasting in the soil than that of the so-called artificial fertilisers. Bones themselves in the raw state are totally unsuitable, except where they have been submitted to comparatively fine grinding and are converted into what is known as bonemeal. Bones in this state should contain a substantial amount of organic matter and nitrogen, which is generally reckoned as ammonia. The major portion of bonemeal is phosphate of lime, and this, when applied to the soil and dug in, is gradually but surely converted into a soluble form, which the plant can assimilate. For outside the bonemeal is usually applied at the rate of from 4 oz. to Boz. per square yard. It can be used with or without animal refuse, and being of a mild —one might almost say harmless —nature it can be mixed safely with most other fertilisers. It is valuable as a dressing for lawns, can be applied as a top-dressing to herbaceous and rose borders, while it is a valuable addition to potting soils for plants that are gross feeders. A large potful to a barrowload of soil Will not be too much.

PROFITABLE DAIRYING.

An American authority has come to the conclusion that dairy cows arg dry “too much of the time.”.He says that a tabulation of more than 10,000 yearly individual cow records from dairy herd improvement associations showed that on an average those cows remained in the herd 4.7 years from the time they reached production age. ' Similar studies of records by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics o£ the United States Department of Agriculture, and by C. W. Larson, gave 4.43 and 4.85 years respectively Figures from these and other sources indicate that on an average dairy cows remain in the herd less than five years from the time they reach production age. If that is true, the average dairy cow has already lived about one-third of her life before she directly pays a single dollar for her stable room and board. • In other words, she lives two and a-half years out of seven and a-half before she produces any milk. If, during her five productive years, she is dry three months in every twelve, she is dry - one and a-quarter years of the five. Two and one-half years plus one and a-quarter years of non-pro-duction, exactly one-half of the entire lifetime of the cow. If our dairy cows freshened once a year on an average, which at present they do not, and if each were a consistent, high producer, their productive lifetime in the herd might be ten years instead of five, and their income over cost of feed during all the years would be several times what it is now. A low-producing dairy cow, if she yields a profit at all, may not yield one until she is six or seven years old, and she may cease to be profitable while still comparatively young.

A high-producing dairy cow begins to yield a profit at the age of two or three years. When she is six or seven years of age her profits are very high, and she may continue to yield a profit until very late in life. The lifetime records of a low-pro-ducing cow may be likened to the daily course of the winter’s sun, which rises late, remains low, lasts only a little while, then disappears. The lifetime record of a high-produc-ing cow may be likened to the daily course of the summer’s sun, which rises early, climbs to a great height, remains long, descends slowly, and seems reluctant to disappear. i