FARMS AND FARMERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 April 1932, Page 8

FARMS AND FARMERS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(By

“Rouseabout”)

PASTURE CULTIVATION A strong argunient in favour of severe cultivation of deteriorated or outrun pastures in which bent and other matt grasses have got the upperhand is the ability of perennial ryegrass to withstand treading and consolidation (says an exchange). It is pointed out that this grass has Comparatively thick roots which penetrate directly downward, while the leaves and sheaths are flat, and therefore, offer a flat surface to crushing action, while the seat of origin of new leaves and shoots is situated well below tlie surface of the earth. On the other hand, the grass species most easily injured by excessive consolidation and bruising are for the most part surface rooters. It naturally follows that an implement which will tear into the sward does much more damage to the matted rooting grasses than it does to ryegrass and similar meadow grasses, thereby giving the good grasses and clovers room to grow. An authority quotes one example of an area which was so severely disced that it was “worked into a morass of mud and matter material —it was then rolled. Within a period of four months the whole character of the herbage had changed. Bient had been reduced from about 35 per cent, to 9 per cent,, and wild white clover, smooth-stalked meadow grass and perennial ryegrass, formerly present in traces, were contributing in telling amount to the herbage. One of the main causes in the predominance of inferior grasses is undergrazing. A paddock which is evenly grazed is much less liable to- run out because sffffsliinfe and moisture can reach the bbtter grasses. On the other hand, ill a paddock which is understocked the stock eat down the good grasses, leaving the inferior ones to riin wild, with the result that these become tufty and unpalatable so that nothing will eat them. Stock are actually starving in the midst of seeming plenty and the better grasses are choked out. Another great factor in deteriorating pastures is lack of fertility, and it is a well-known fact that as soon as the standard of fertility is lowered ryegrass will soon disappear. It is also a fact that by increasing fertility the inferior grasses tend to disappear, beqaffse although they may not actually die, their palatability is increased and the stock eat them. There are pastures in' many parts of Southland today which appeared to be completely run out a few years ago, but which have been brought to a high carrying capacity by drastic harrowing and moderate top-dressing. Many farmers prefer to break up old pasture and after taking a rotation of crops off it to resow it, but it has always to be remembered that the cost of sowing it down amounts to approximately 30/per acre and that would go a longway in harrowing and top-dressing.

Sterility in stock Contending that the excessive, use of medicines are among the causes which cause sterility in stock, Mr. E. G. Buttner writing in the Farmers’ ‘Advocate, expresses the opinion that impotence and sterility are due to lack of vitamins in the staple food of tlie animal. There also appears to be every reason for believing that all other vitamins contribute their share towards vitality and fruitfulness. In cases where the vitamins, especially E, are poorly represented in the staple food, a diet rather concentrated in nature, especially rich in protein, or poor in potassium, lime sodium and magnesium, is often all that is required to render a beast unfit for reproductive purposes. It is worth remembering, however, that whatever else may be wrong, vitamin E is the necessary factor in the animal’s staple diet whose presence is essential to ensure normal reproduction. The richest sources of vitamin E are contained by lettuce leaves and ped seedlings. In addition, the germ of wheat contains large quantities of this essential constituent, while maize germ is comparatively poor. Cotton seed and linseed cake, especially the latter, are unimportant as sources of vitamin E.

CARE OF THE HORSE When a horse is put to work after a spell, especially 1 after grazing on green feed, the shoulders will not scald so easily if they are washed with a solution of salt and water as soon as possible after the day’s work is finished. If in tlie morning before harnessing care is taken to see that the collar is clean, a good deal of subsequent trouble may be avoided. In addition to the attentiori given to the cleanliness of the collar, the shoulders of the horse should be well brushed to remove any dirt or matter likely to cause rubbing and irritation. This, combined with the washing down of the shoulders, to remove the stain caused by. the day’s work, will do much toward the prevention of shoulder troubles.

GOOD CITY MILK A most desirable reform yet to be effected in the city milk trade is the sale of milk according to its butterfat content. At present the public has to pay the same price for milk whether it contains the minimum but-ter-fat requirement or double that requirement, whether it is little better than skim milk or whether it is a rich creamy milk. The State of Ontario in Canada has set the example by enforcing by law the payment of higher prices for milk according to its degree of richness in fat. Even now the custom is still common among Canadian cheese factories of purchasing milk by the gallon, and it has encouraged the use of low-testing strains of dairy cattle; indeed, the tendency )to breed for milk alone has become so general that some drastic action was necessary to secure a better class of milk for city consumption. Hence the passing of a law making it compulsory to pay for milk according to its butter-fat content, the increase in price ceasing at about 5 per cent. Now tlie Empire Marketing Board has suggested, if the British milk trade is amendable, the adoption of the system of purchasing milk according to its butter-fat content.

GRASS GRUB Is there lying to hand without , expense or much trouble a way of nullifying the destructiveness of the grass grub and the brown beetle that comes from that grub? Information now available in Dunedin seems to warrant such a hope. Mr. G. A. Donaldson, a Leith Valleynurseryman, has successfully experimented by introducing a black beetle to feed on the grubs, on the advice of Mr. H. Bennett, well-known horticulturally, for his native plant collection. Mr. Bennett states that he procured from the neighbourhood of Mount Cargill, a number of black betties that are found in the bush under stones—“clocks” is their folk name —and, set them free amongst his plants with the result that the area operated upon was entirely freed from the ravages of grass grubs which had previously played havoc. Mr. Bennett suggested that it would be worth while for Government experts to pursue the subject in . the meantime. He is perfectly satisfied that the black beetle usually trodden underfoot when seen is the natural parasite of the grass grub that ruins lawns and injuries nurseries, and he thinks it would be wise to enlist its aid, it being prima facie established that it is a native and therefore not under suspicion of possessing undesirable or unknown powers.

TAINTS IN MILK Foods that are inclined to taint milk and those that are strong smelling should be fed immediately after milking, so as to prevent the taint of odour being imparted to the milk. Silage at times has a strong odour, but when manufactured under good conditions and from good material will not affect the flavour of milk if ordinary care be taken. The dairy herd at Roseworthy Agricultural College is fed from ensilage from five to six months of the year, always at milking time, and only during the first few days when silage feeding commences does it impair the quality of the milk, and then to a very slight extent. INFLUENCE OF CALF-MARKING

It should be unnecessary to empha.sise the enormous value to the individual and to the industry of the marked calf. The establishment of this system has done more to place the industry on a stable basis than has any other movement. It has converted the purchase of dairy stock from a lottery into a sound business proposition. In order to secure marked calves the dairy farmer must have a pedigree bull, a fact which has been a remarkable boon to the breeder of pedigree cattle, while it has achieved by voluntary action what other countries are doing by legal restrictive measures —the elimination of the scrub bull. Not only this, but the desirability of the marked calf has induced many thousands of farmers to milk more thoroughly and to milk their cows longer in order that the calves of these may be qualified. This better milking and longer lactation period has meant an increase in butterfat returns which has more than paid for the cost of testing. Marked calves, because they aTe regarded as stock that will be definitely profitable, are better fed and better managed than ordinary calves and this improved reading and feeding is the best insurance we can have against disease and poor production.

But the greater interest in dairy stock, which has resulted from the marked calf system, has also followed in the train'of herd-testing in general. Apart from the family finding the business interesting instead of the drudgery when the cows were milked in the dark, share milkers and even assistants have ~had their interest aroused and now milk the cows better, handle them more carefully and keep a keener look-out for the first symptoms of disease. And all this essential care and encouragement to better and more profitable work would be weakened if the testing system were weakened; if, instead of everyone on the farm being keyed up to better Work every month the incentive 1 only came a few times a year. We heard it declared the other day by a man employing sharemilkers that he- would willing pay for fortnightly visits of the testing officer, as this would tend to keep the milking and the work in general more up to concert pitch.

BACTERIA ON THE FARM Farming with bacteria, through the inoculation of the soil, is now a practical achievement made possible by extensive 1 investigation and experiment by the plant research station at Palmerston North. This has been brought about by the distribution of lucerne inoculum, a nodule-forming organism, which has been developed by the station during the past four years. For three seasons the station has been supplying farmers with a culture which enables them to establish lucerne in places where the plant could not previously be grown. This scientific method of dealing with plant life and the soil has been so successful already this year that cultures for 30,0001 b of seed have been supplied to farmers. This exceeds the amount for the whole of any previous year.

INTEREST IN DAIRYING To further interest in dairy cattle breeding in the United States, certain specialists have conducted “breeding schools” in many States. The breeding school was developed by the bureau and first introduced at the national dairy show in 1930. In these schools the “herediscope” -was used as a means of explaining to laymen in a simple and understandable form, the laws of heredity governing milk and butter-fat production, and to show how a dairy herd can be improved by applying this knowledge in their breeding programme. The breedingschool is proving to be interesting, popular and effective, specially among practical farmers and breeders, and the method is rapidly being adopted by the State extension services. Another extension project which pro-1 mises results of great value is the one on milk quality improvement. Work of this character is being done both with boy farmers and adult farmers.