FARM and DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 6 December 1924, Page 11

FARM and DAIRY

NOTES BY THE WAY

A farmer with, long exeprience in pedigree cattle raising ventured the opinion to a Star representative that Red Polls were the breed for New Zealand and that they were bound to be used by breeders largely in the futifre. They are great milkers when bred along right lines. A report recently statea that: —Good prices for Red Polls were realised at the sale of the State-owned herd, Weraroa, (N.Z.). A young bull, Dominion Optician, by Force Majeure, dam Opticia, sold f0r125 guineas. (,>ptieia has a record of 6051 b. fat in 12 months, at eight years bid. The Rockhampton Morning Bulletin directs attention to the price realised at Brisbane sale’s for. Bilbah Dowps wool. Altogether 430 Bales were sold from this pfppefty, which is owned by Messrs. T. Denari arid Sons, arid averaged £46 IQs. a bale, or 34|d. a pound. From Garfield, out. in the so-called desert country owned by the same firm,52 bales greasy wool averaged £43' 15s. a bale, or 321 d a. lb. The nettle.is put to a useful purpose in parts of Europe by being converted into various fabrics. In Dresden a thread from it has been produced so fine and silky that a length of 60 miles only weighs 40qz. Mr. IV. M. Singleton, director of the dairy Division Department of Agriculture, has stated that 21 per cent., or at the outside 22 per cent., is the greatest overrun that can be obtained consistent with honest work. A larger overrun than that indicates that advantage is being, taken of the farmer.

When discussing the suggestion of the Auroa branch of the Farmers Union for the grading, in bacon pigs, a ,member said that in a very successful concern on the north coast of New South Wales, pigs were graded first, second and third. The companies paid out on first, second, and third if required, less cost of curing. Five calves, the pick of the season, licked up some paint scrapings in a paddock at Taurauga and died. It is strange how it is always the. very best animals that do these foolish things. The same fate befel a valuable cow, not a mere cow, but a valuable one. It is but another illustration of the old Latin tag: “De iaortuis nihil nisi bonmri.” The saying has even greater force when applied by the owner to. the dog killed by a motor-car. He was a... useless brute prior to his death, a poor thing Scarcely 'worth his keep, bjui the niagic touch of a motor has made of big lifeless carcase a thing of great price. It used to- be said that the woman always pays, but now it is the motorist.

He who . plants a tree plants future profit. What will the farmer, at any rate , the sheep farmer, find to be pessimistic about noW (says' a southern paper)? Wool is up to a level which makes the fancy; rates of the requisition days , seem commonplace. The buyers instead of .blenching and withdrawing come back repeatedly asking for more, at the same price or higher. Even if the prices just realised are too; good to last, j there seems a fair chance of their en- 1 : during long enough to give the mortgage ii nasty shake, and enable the ; family to have an airing in a car of ■ some make or other. Here of course is the let out. Once the car begins to run, the Supreme badness of the roads will be so much more easily realised, so that is one possible grumble. Then, suppose the mortgage is paid , off ;■ it has been one of the family go long that home won’t seem like home without it. Oh, yes, the most plutocratic sheep man who ever tailed a lamb will find’ ’> something to riiufriirif about. If everything else fails, he can reflect sadly ori the difference there should have been in his cheque if only he hadn’t fattened and sold so many lambs last season. ; There are indications of tbe realisation ; having come home to some already; so all is not lost. They will be able to be as happily miserable as ever if only they give their minds to the job. SHEEP AND FARMING. Sheep play a very important part in British farming, and in most districts some of the crops included in the rotation are consumed by sheep on the field in which they are grown. For reasons, which need not be entered into here, sheep, more than any other kind of stock, benefit by change of ground; furthermore, on certain kinds of soils the folding of sheep; restores the fertility in a- way which hardly any other kind of treatment can do. v By having suitable rotations the various fields of the farm are folded in turn, and thus the sheep, continually get fresh ground, and at the same- time the productivity of all the arable fields on the farm is maintained. LIME AND FERTILITY. The lowa Experiment Station undertook a series of elaborate experiments on the bacteriological effects of liming. The practical lessons to be learned from these researches on liming are that the application of lime to soils in quantities ranging from half a ton to three tons an acre will render, more available the plant foods in the soils and fertilisers, thereby improving crop conditions ; that an application of lime is practically equivalent to the direct use of the essential fertilisers.of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, since lime forms soluble compounds of these plant foods and thereby increases crop yields; and that, when experience teaches the farmer that his soils need liming, he can confidently make use of lime up to three tons an acre without danger of injuring bis land or lowering the yields of the crops.

DAIRYING IN THE ARGENTINE

(New Zealand Dairyman.)

In the course of an instructive article on this subject the correspondent of the Argentine Dairy Association, says: “Leaving the question of crops and turning to the actual conditions of dairy matters in the Argentine, the position is at present rather obscure. Over and above the general tendency, on the part of those who in former years raised beef cattle, to turn towards dairying in view of its steady returns, a new factor has arisen to turn attention more especially to butter. I refer to the poor state of the cheese market, as far as the Argentine exports of this produce are concerned. Up to now the amount of cheese made by the Argentine did not matter to Xew Zealand dairymen, as the Argentine cheese went to markets we did not touch; but in view of the poor state of these markets, the cheese factories in the Argentine are largely turning their attention to cream separating, and this cream is being passed on to the butter factories. The two factors mentioned would mean a distinct increase in but-

ter shipments this season, if it were not that, just as in the South Island here, there has been a general shortage of rain iri the chief dairying districts of the Argentine this season. This shortage of rain has caused the Argentine pastures to come* on later than usual, and in consequence their shipments are down compared with the same time last year, but I do not anticipate this shortage will last long. Ariy Australian faririer will state that neither New Zealand nor the Argentine knows what a drought means, and there is a good deal of troth iri the criticism, arid I give it as my candid opinion that unless the Argentine Climate changes very radically it will n<?f Ik? long before their Butter export? catqh up the Shortage, and With Australia al?o producing; well, thete shqfrid be riq lack of butter offering fhi? seaspn.” OTAGO’ SHO-W. Says the Otago. Daily Times: Welcome to our coiintry cousins! They come down to the Show, arid if we were not purblind, and if they were riot modest, we should recognise that without them there would be no Show, no backbone in the community, indeed nb Dunedin. It is to be hoped that our.visitors, hospitably entertained and gaily engaged,. will have what is colloquially styled a good time. They deserves it, and if some of them have .done pretty well out of wool, and expect to do still bettor, good luck to them. The country kinship is a verv healthy sentiment, arid it is the town's .rathfer than the ruralities that lose by neglect of the connection

NEW ENGLISH FOREST

TREES FOR POSTERITY

A start has been made with the planting of a great new forest in East Anglia.. Fourteen thousand acres have already been planted near Thetford, in Norfolk, and the Forestry Commissioners have, just bought 6000 more acres. The _ forest may eventually Occupy anything no to eighty or a hundred thousand acres.

Already there are 15 million trees, from seedlings to four-year-old sapling's including pine, fir, poplar, larch, beech; • life pines, sown in ritirsery beds stay there for two years; then after a year in .another bed, they are planted out in their permanent positions. It will be forty or fifty vears before they are ready for timber. ' Only land unfit for .agriculture is , used for this purpose. ’Hie good land • I \? etw l ? e h 1S to small holders who, .With their children, become skilled Iqresters as well. One small holding to every 200! acres of forest is the ideal bandar work is going on all over the qonntry—m beauty spots like DolgeTly, y-Cped, and Tiritem,. among the sand lulls near Fort Talbot, and on the Yorkshire moors. In fact, afforestation has really at last begun iri Fn° ; - gland.

AGIUGULTU HAL COLLEGE

INTERiEISTING ADDRESS

• course of an address at Hastmgs to members of the Fanners Union o nc tv C'ommei'CG, Professor G. v' said;they v. anted: to start a first class agricultural college ip the country', in the North Island, and thus to> lay the fouridatioiis of a large agncultufal institution, whichm the course of time, would be entirely of Victoria College, with which, it would be connected noriiinally rather than actually. He had heard people talk glibly of agricultural colleges and of research .studies, but they aid not realise the size these institutions would have to be if they were to be of any value. Then the college must have a reasonably-sized staff of teachers, each specially equipped to instruct m his line, so that even at the beginning the college would require a staff, which cost riioney, as well as buildings and equipment. It could therefore be seen that a. lot of money would be required even for a small start Regarding research work, they bad little idea of the money it entailed, and if they were not prepared to meet that expense it would be better to leave it alone, because they would be sick of it in five years and the remi Its would be slow in coming. Regarding the college courses, there would be the “degree course” for turning out men for teaching and research work or as ; ,specialists ; the diploma course would be suited to men who. intended to take up farming for themselves, and the short courses \yould be for special instraction in dairying, .agriculture, managership of butter factories, etc. In order to carry on this they must have a; good staff of specialist instructors if the work was to be carried on adequately. Regarding terms, the proposal he considered the soundest was to run terms of seven fnontbs, as in the university, to give technical and scientific insti uction and practical instruction in the more difficult farm operations, but pot on the simple every-day work carried out on farms generally. In the summer these men would be expected to get out oil to farms and w6rk at the ordinary routine, where they would get far more practical work than thev could get 611 a college farm.

DAIRY PRODUCE

INSURANCE OF A MILLION

Insurance, amounting to a million pounds, has. now been e flee ted over all daily .produce shipped from New Zealand up to 31st August,. 1925. On be- . half of the New Zealand Underwriters’ Association, the Commercial Union has issued an open policy to the Dairy Control Board for £620.C00, and Lioyd-V of London, has issued one for £175 000; each shipment will be divided in ’that proportion between the underwriters up to the sum of _ £BOO,OOO. In the event of £BOO,OOO being insufficient, the Commercial Union, on behalf of the New Zealand Underwriters’ Association, has undertaken to issue a further policy un Ito £200,000. This will make a total ( cover of £1,000,000 on dairy produce on each ship. Important matters of : detail have bean finally arranged, it is understood, to the general satisfaction of parties concerned. The rates are 7s per cent on butter and Rs Gd per cent, on cheese in and from factory against all usual risks, to Groat Britain, east ; coast of North America, and European parts between Bordeaux and Hamburg. .SELECTING SIRES AND COWS. IMPORTANCE OF RECORDS. (Y\ aikato Times.) Tt is 'generally believed that like tends to produce like. Consequently, when selecting a herd sire ,or cows to put in the herd, a good 'deal of attention is paid to the records of the immediate ancestors. There are some

who lay a great deal of stress upon ! this, and rightly so; but, on the other 1 hand, they should not forget that bi'eed, type, and character should be taken into consideration. Some go to extremes on type, pedigree, or performance, and as a result build up a herd lacking in uniformity, or else rhey may have a magnificent looking herd, hut one which does not pay its way. It is advisable to use judgment when selecting the animals in order that one may secure an animal of good type, with a choice pedigree, backed by good performance. Many are not good judges, and in this case they would profit by getting advice from someone who has

had experience. Some are good judges from a conformation standpoint, but are a failure in selecting animals from a production standpoint. Experience has shown that the best bred animals may produce inferior offspring, but, on -the other ‘ hand, there' is less likelihood_ of failure where there is good breeding than with nondescript breeding. , Mr; J: W. Gowan, of the University of Maine, who has made a study of the Jersey and Holstein breeds, claims that the performance records offer a much better means of choosing dairy cattle lor milk yields than does type or pedigree. Speaking before the World’s Hairy Congress, Mr. Gowan said : “The milk yield of the dam predicts the probable milk yield of her daughters quite accurately. Thus, the average milk yield of daughters coming from rlams of 12,C001b milk yield was 16, 1061 b, and those coming from dams of 26.0001 b milk yield was 23,2791 b. The milk yields of the daughters increase as the milk yields of the dams increase. A similar relation exists for the'butterfat percentage contained in the milk; the dam’s record lias a good deal of value in predicting the butter-fat percentage of the daughters. A cow. also indicates the milk yield of her fullsister quite accurately. ,

In fact, a- full-sister’s record is as good for predicting the milk yield of a cow as the record of the dain of that cow. The same is true for. the butter-fat percentage, a cow's butterfat percentage having a correlation with her full sister’s butter-fat percentage equal to the correlation between the butter-fat percentage of daughter and dam. In a similar way the . great disadvantage of not having a record', of the; sire may in part he obviated by a record of. the full sister since the relation between the butterfat percentage of full-sisters is as.great as it would be between the butter-fat percentage of sire and daughter, were it possible to measure directly the butter-fat test of the sire.

Dairymen are more and more:;realising the importance of they long-term test. Purchasers are asking for records, and are willing to pay a premium for animals that leave a High milk and butter-fat record. Many dairymen are actually losing out .in their sales by not having kept milk records. . Even in the farm, sales a grade cow will go up considerably in price if the owner can state accurately the quantity of milk and butter-fat produced in a given time. Not: only is the cow herself worth more, but the chances are that her progeny will also be good producers. Sometimes there will be an outcrop of bad’ blood, and a good cow will throw an inferior calf, but tins is no argument'against the fact that there is an inheritance of milk production as well as of type.

AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

POSITION OF ’ LINOCLN COLLEGE,

The. Minister of Agriculture (the Hon W. Nosworthy) has acknowledged receipt of; a letter from the North Canterbury - exebutive of the Farmers’

Union urging that an increased grant be made in connection with plantbreeding work at Lincoln College, in co-operation with the Department. The Minister states:—“The matter has been carefully gone into and I would have been prepared to give a definite reply regarding it but for the fact that the Government is at present considering the whole question of agricultural instruction and allied activities, including plant-breeding. This involves a question directly affecting Lincoln College, and as it is hoped that this may be discussed 'with the Board of Governors and the Director of the College at an early date, it is thought that the matter of the plantbreeding subsidy can be more satisfactorily dealt ;wjth at tli© same time. When the letter was before the executive the president (Mr. J. D. Hall) said that Dr. Reakes had informed the Dominion executive that arrangements were being made for a conference at the college at which it was hoped to arrange for a commission to go into the question of the amount to be voted for research" work.

DOWN ON THE FARM

MUSIC HAS CHARMS

There comes a story from Arkansas that a dairyman has been able to extract more milk from his cows by the simple device of serenading them with jazz, music. Dances are held in the barn, and besides affording enjoyment for the dairyman’s guests-it fills his milk pails in the morning. That “music has charms” is a trite saying that has been proved from the time that Jubal, became the father of those “that play on the harp and the organ.” Music has been defined by some as a “series of pleasant sounds,” but the idea of what is really “pleasant” in the way of sounds widely differs among the people of various nations, and there is no reason to doubt that taste .in music as widely differs among* animals. The great thing seems to be to gauge their tastes in this respect. Horses will prick up their ears and .prance when a brass band plays, but dogs will howl as if in mortal agony at the same kind of music. It is therefore interesting to ‘ note that the cow loves jazz and generously responds.

, There u/as once a poultry, farmer in Ontario who discovered this same fondness of animals for certain kinds of music. After considerable research he, found that his hens were particularly fond of bagpipe music, so having learned that instrument in his youth he thought he would try its effects in the chicken coop. The results were beyond his' wildest expectations, and the .egg basket- was filled to overflowing every day. It was far better and cheaper than- keeping the" lights burning all night as some of liis neighbours had done with the notion of the hens work overtime.

The psychological effect of music in various directions is well worthy of scientific research, if only to ascertain its value as an adjustment to farm production.—Dearborn Independent.

THE FRIEND OF MAN

REMARKABLE FACULTIES OF THE PIG.

Perhaps the first pig attained immortality merely by -foster-mothering Jupiter, but his descendants have achieved a usefulness that would stagger an ancient Roman to-day. How many people know that the leaf lard of a pig plays an important part in* the manufacture of perfumes? Or that prussiate of potash is made from pigs blood ? Or stearine oil and candles from their refuse offal"?

Then it is not so very long ago that the Orcadians made ropes of extraordinary toughness from the bristles of their long-haired breed of swine, in order to suspend themselves over cliffs in search of sea-fowls’ eggs. Bristles, indeed, are one of the most important of all porcine by-pro-ducts, not only for -brush-making, but also for leather work, particularly shoe-making, this variety commanding the highest price of all. Before the war the best supplies came from Siberia, and in all, Russia exported bristles to the value of a million sterling a year “PIN-PRICKS.” Few people know the difference between real pigskin and imitations. Real pig leather has the “pin-pricks” arranged in series of threes, thus: : :, in one of these “pin-pricks” there is a small hair, whilst the other two are just vacant holes. Imitation pigskin is much shorter, and owing to the mechanical process of making artificial “pin-pricks” the surface is crinkly, instead of perfectly smooth and hard. The ancients had a great idea of the pig as a table delicacy. Pliny describes how they fed the intended victim on dried figs and drenched to repletion in honeyed wine in order to produce a monsrotus-sized liver. Poreus Trojanus was a pig roasted whole minus entrails, stuffed with larks, thrushes and oysters, and bathed in wine. A royal dish! It is the greatest popular fallacy to charge the pig with stupidity, for he is naturally one of the most astute animals living, and this is the more remarkable when one considers how frequently his world in bounded by his sty and adorned only by his trough. IN HARNESS. Years ago a St. Albans farmer trained a team of four pigs to- go in harness. That was a real feat of procine intelligence, for the pig has no centuries of past breeding for the job, as the horse or donkey; though it is recorded that an ass and a hog were once seen in Minorca, yoked together in the plough. Considering its fettered life the homing instinct of a pig is a wonderful thing. Some months ago, a small pigling sold in Reading market escaped from its new purchaser’s farm and returned' to its former owner, a distance of over two miles. . Previous to this joyous adventure it had never left - its sty since it was horn !

But one of the most extraordinary instances of intelligence is that of a young gilt (an unmated sow), which Fas successfully broken in to the | un - ■_ The owner, a keeper in the Forest, soon proved his retrievei* to have , a better nose than any dog and equally as much enthusiasm, bhe.would stand and point partridges and rabbits -with the best of them, and even retrieve birds that had run.