FARMS AND FARMERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 December 1933, Page 3

FARMS AND FARMERS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(By

"Rouseabout” )

breeding not everything. GOOD FEEDING ESSENTIAL. Food and environment are two of the most important factors in the improvement of live stock —a phase of farming that is receiving increasing, recognition in New Zealand to-day. It is not intended to imply that a mongrel animal can be transformed into a prize-winner. It is not of the right type. Neither can a. purebred animal of poor conformation be made to show the pointy; of excellence found within the breed. But both of these animals may be improved out of recognition by good feeding and careful management. The reason that a purebred animal is superior to the crossbred or mongrel is that years of selection, care in feeding, and skilful management have developed a fixed type. Purebred cattle of the beef breeds and sheep of mutton type more readily put on flesh because these qualities have been bred into them for many generations. Similarly the dairy cattle breeds haVe been highly developed for their tendency to leanness of frame and high capacity for milk production. When a breeder founds his herd or flock upon pure stock he knows that the qualities and properties he desires are inherent in the animals he has acquired. From this very satisfactory starting point it is possible by care and selection t-.; impure steadily the quality of the progeny. Au orphan lamb taken from the flock and reared as a pet frequently develops superior conformation, becomes more robust, produces a better fleece, and grows to a greater weight than its fellows which have been raised under ordinary field conditions. It has possessed no advantages in breeding, therefore, its superiority must be due to the special care it has received .

Good breeders are also good feeders. A skilful studmaster will pick out the weaknesses or deficiencies in his stock, and by careful feeding will add or reduce flesh to mask defects in conformation. On the other hand, an inexperienced man may pay a high price for a champion bull, and by neglect in feeding or ignorance in management allow him to degenerate into, a non-descript-looking animal. Similarly a person with a good eye for conformation may purchase an animal . out of condition, and by careful feeding and management raise him to championship status. There are many potential champions which never rise above mediocrity, because they have lacked opportunity for development due to good feeding and reasonable care. It has been proved repeatedly that the milk yield of an average herd can be raised considerably simply by improved methods of feeding. Breed factors then impose a limit upon (production. But purebred cows from strains noted for high production will not yield up to a reasonable capacity unless they are well fed.

MANGELS VALUABLE. A substantial increase in the area of mangels annually grown in the Dominion would be profitable. When pollard costs £6 15s a ton, the mangel is worth 15s a ton; when pollard costs £4 10s a ton, th© mangel is worth 10s a ton in comparison with the pollard. Over wide areas efficient mangel raising will result generally in yields of 50 to 70 tons an acre; in the 1932-33 Farmers’ Field Competitions 54 crops averaged over 70 tons an acre, and in the four years ending with the 1931-32 season, 310 crops averaged approximately 57 tons an acre. The mangel is particularly dependable because it is subject to no. serious disease or pest, and because, given reasonably good treatment, it fares relatively well through a dry period, The variety Prize-winner Yellow Globe holds pride of place in popularity and in results it is markedly prominent in the prize lists' of the several competitions. Other varieties of known value are Red Intermediate, White Sugar, and Jersey Queen.- Current standard practice is to sow about 61b. of seed an acre in row's 26 to 28 inches apart at times high yields are associated with narrower rows —e.g., 20 to 22 inches apart, and with heavier seedings—last season an 81b. seeding resulted in a crop of over 100 tons to the acre, the roots, though not exceptionally large, being uniformly and closely spaced in the rows. Cold, wet conditions tend to cause loss or stunting of seedlings, and so sowing should not take place before warm soil conditions may be expected—over wide areas November sowing is suitable. Good treatment for the mang'el is specially necessary, and if the likelihood of giving the crop such treatment seems small, then an alternative, less exacting crop should be grown; but the mangel responds so profitably to good treatment that it should be grown if it is at all possible to meet its needs.

Preparatory cultivation should give a fine, firm seed bed, and to do this effectively and economically, should be in progress well ahead of seed sowing. One of the most important potential benefits from subsequent cultivation is the checking of the escape of moisture from the soil into the atmosphere in all ways except through the leaves of the crop. Moisture is freely lost from the soil by evaporation from its surface. This loss is reduced if the surface layer of soil is kept loose by making surface cultivation frequent and thorough enough. Soil moisture is also lost on account of the activity of weeds which cultivation controls. The importance of conserving for the use of the mangel as much as possible of the soil moisture may be gauged from the fact that the equivalent of 30 to 40 inches of rainfall passes through the leaves of an acre of a crop yielding 60 to 80 tons an acre.

The manurial needs of mangels vary with soil and climatic conditions, but field experience has shown that over wide areas good results may be expected from a dressing of scwt. to 6cwt. an acre of a mixture consisting of equal parts of superphosphate and blood and bone or three parts of superphosphate to two parts of blobd and bene. Further, although exact data which would justify a general conclusion are not available, it is widely believed that such ' a mixture could often well be supplemented with 2cwt.

to 3cwt. an acre of kainit or of agricultural salt; the former, which contains about 14 per cent, of potash as well as a considerable amount of salt, should be used when there is some evidence that the mangel crop would benefit from the potash as well as from the salt.

LIME THE FOUNDATION. NEEDS OF SOILS AND STOCK. The correct way for stock to get lime is in their food. Food comes from the soil; it grows out of the soil in the form of plants. The way to put lime in the food is to have it in tho soil, so plants can get it. Of outstanding importance to the agriculturist is the presence of an adequate supply of lime in the soil. Soils and ■ stock require lime if they are to function normally. Lime is used in the make-up of every article of primary produce, no matter from what source it comes. In the case of the products of our pastures the lime passes from the soil to the plant, and from the plant through the animal to the product of commerce. Orchard products draw their lime supplies from the tree, which in turn draws from the soil.

Under intensive dairying conditions the drain on the lime resources of the soil is tremendous, and evidence is not wanting to show that the replacement of lime has not been given due consideration. Animal diseases of various sorts, failures from fertilisers, poor pastures, and disappointing crops are some of the conditions that obtain where limo is not present in reasonable supply. The necessity for liberal liming as a foundation upon which to build good pastures, good crops, good stock and high production has been, and still is being, demonstrated year after year in this and other countries throughout the world. Th© movement of produce from the farm to th© factory; from the factory to the port, and from the port to the markets of the world is in reality the movement of plant foods, including lime, from the soil; and if production is to be maintained the question of replacement has to be faced.

Fortunately, New Zealand as a whole is well endowed with deposits of high-grade limestone, which, under modern methods of handling, is made available in large quantities, and in a form definitely suitable for use on the land.

Lime acts in a great variety of ways. It is the most versatile aid at the disposal of agriculturists. 1. Lime acts as a liberator of dormant plant food. 2. Lime stimulates bacterial action in the soil.

3. Lime combines with phosphates, especially superphosphate, and holds it available as plant food. 4. Lime improves the physical condition of soils, rendering stiff clay soils more porous and loose sandy soils more compact. 5. Lime raises the temperature of soils by as much as 10 degrees F. 6. Lime, by improving soil texture, makes for better drainage of soils. 7., Lime is required in the blood and bone of live stock. 8. Lime is required in the manufacture of milk. 9. Lime checks the spread of bacterial diseases and increases the resistance to disease of all kinds of animals.

10. Lime in the food of live stock prevents rickets, osteomalacia, and ether diseases of the bones. If live stock are suffering from lime deficiency, give them lime. If land is suffering from lime deficiency, give it lime—it will never be right until you do. WATER FOR PIGS. The need for water with all animals varies with the kind of food which is being fed and also with the weather. In hot weather I find all animals drink much more than they do normally, says an English writer. Personally, 1 always work on the basis that an animal needs 41b. of water for every lb. of dry matter consumed; thus a pig getting 51b. of meal a day needs two gallons of water. Believing that an excess of water over any lojig period results in flabby tissues, I do not believe in forcing pigs to consume more than they need by feeding very thin slop. This is an error of which many feeders are guilty. It always seems to me best to err on the side of too little water with the food and let the pigs themselves drink any additional water they want. HEREFORD IMPORTATION. The first Polled Hereford bull to be imported by a South Islandei’ arrived from Canada by the s.s. Waikawu last Thursday. The bull was imported by the New' Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company, Ltd., on behalf of Mr. A. S. Holms, of Waimahaka, Southland. Mr. Holms is a noted Horned Hereford breeder, and he hopes by the introduction of this polled bull to increase the value of the draught fatstock without decreasing the worth of his Hereford stud breed. The bull imported is a stud animal known as a double standard. This does not mean that both sire and dam were polled, but that, it is eligible for entry in both Horned Hereford and' Polled Hereford stud books. The bull is a wonderfully line example of the Hereford breed, being of great length, with good hams and a great top line. It is a very dark red in colour and has no white on the neck at all. Practically every stud in U.S.A, and Canada were gone through before an animal measuring to Mr. Holm’s specifications was found.