FARM and DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 December 1924, Page 11

FARM and DAIRY

NOTES BY THE WAY. Mirny .sheep are reported lost by tlie cold snap last; week. Talking ot this incident, a' sheep fanner said tluvfc it sometimes happened., and had so to him, if. sheep were shorn and put out of a hot shed. 'They'seemed to'get a chill even if the weather was apt really cold. Christmas time is here,'though the actual- day of thb ifativity is past. Qne'woiiders naturally liow‘much time off the average dairy farmer is able to spare to celebrate the festival season, ‘•io get away for more than a day will Wo doubt ixi most oases be impossible. Tiie .hOrd has to be milked, and with •such a go.qd season they are milking better: than usual, even at this part of the flush time of the season, • This means that, although it brings, in a bit pi ore to the monthly cheque, the work is harder, and more' tying to the- farm and,' the. sh§d. If makes one realise What a. • boon the inaohine, properly handled and maintained,, is. to the farmer. ~

4 recenf visit to the Demonstration Eq.S?P.> n pj!£ M/anaia, ip for, the plhrnina .milking, ’’proved. most interesttrig; ana instructive—it. was very, early ,fof a "town, dwqller, but made brie' feel that the joy of early rising,'‘ as " joyous Harry Lauder sings, “Oh;! It’s nice to be up in the Morning,” though perhaps better without cows, to milk, and maybe some 'will agree with! Harry that’ ‘'‘lt’s better to lie ii; bed,” is not realised as widely as shbiiki 'he the case-l-ancl showed the rnilkihg shed- under as good conditions as could' possibly be. One migl[f say that such conditions arc imtpossilrie to many farmers, but' a .visit to , thp farm , might ' cbqvert many a dairy farmer to tlie. view that the expense, of putting down a cpiicrete yard and good shed/ and of-keeping them, in really good order are more than

.justified, would _ actually lessen work and improve rpilking conditions, that in fact it would ' be better for the workers, and her.cl. Thus the, ensuring of thorprighly hygenic surrpuwdings, and hl’ethodtS, weiild go fur lowg-lds' ■ng sonie of the: difficulties of which the.- dairy factory, managers cpipplbim / and sp; by improving,'the ' general quality of/ stjpply Woujdi.: ‘ to: ‘ counteract the reported tendency oi the general, qua-hty "to* 'recede"'“from" the pro.ud ppsibipn the Dominion dairy pro/!" duce ‘has,; attained, arid pei;haps 'best' of all. leadl to a considerable/ 1 ' material gain. If Such' improyeiiiehts could be made geiieralj.'the whole industry 'Would, be the' gainer.“ ‘ ‘ '" 1

. ‘ Many dairy farmers report the con r tinned appearance/' of- .of wHaieveri the” trouble 1 may f be, which causes, in the cows a failure to . get in, calf. One of two cases have 'come under .hdtice \vh.ere' the trouble is very serious. ‘ Where'it leads to'a.‘delay'of say, one or two months, in. calving the results are badenbugli, for the. farmer •loses the early part of the season'. The ■Government' experts ..are doing everything in their poiver to get- to the root .pf tlfe trouble, arid/ for their ’ungfudg:irig and continuous help the farmers are: more than grateful. But the prevalence of the trouble is aiidtlier plea ;for’ the need, of more and more research work.

,' The Maoris. Who control the three and a half acres of land in the neighbourhood of the Korn pa' (Taranaki) haye intimated, their. williiigiiess to hand over this' area to be kept for all. time as a public reserve. This iiiforination, said' Aly IL Skinner at a meeting of the • New Elymoutli. Tourist and/ Expansion League, was recently conveyed to him) the t\yo natives who now control the area having fold the latter that they wefe quite prepared to hand- over the land for ihe purpose indicated. ‘ The' Korn "pa, said' Mr Skinner, was unique in New Zealand, and a ' wonderful-• example of a particular type of Maori fortifications. 'Ehrmere/'in' the Oariiafu" district are expecting'' a/ recprcl harvest (states the, Nbi-fh Qtagp Times)/ 1 ' There are probably few who will sympathise with the Western Australian farmer who, when being congratulated.' linoii his prospects ..of- a-' record crop of wheat/ ' reinarfeed.: “The worst of these darn big crops is that they take so much / out* of * the ground!” / / The State of Wisconsin, U.S.A., claims the largest dairy ; cow in tlie world. Of course, she Is a. Friesian; She is AYiseprisiri' Fobes oth, and Weighs 2,240 pounds. She has a record of 863 ppimds of butter-fat in 305 days. " The Agricultural' Gazette of October 3rd says:- “Findlay Clara 2nd, the famous "British cb\v belonging to Mi\ George' Findlay, appears' to he on the : way to establishing further milking records. In 133 days she has given over 1000 gallons, and at the present rate bf daily yield she seems "likely to reach a production of fully. 300 gallons for the second year in succession.” At a sale of Friesian cattle in America about two year’s ago a "longbodied, tall, white heifer wits brought into the ring.' Slie Was not a beautiful type, and her markings were so bad that most buyers shunned her. Eventually she was purchased for £sl, which .was"far below the average of the sale. When she came under 'test 'it "became evident that those at the sale alio had scorned this heifer bn account of her plain appearance had missed a bargain. In twelve months she yielded 32,626 lb. milk, giving 1,004 lb. butter-fat. This story, which is told in a reliable American agricultural journal, serves to show that dairy ' cattle cannot be judged by appearance. There is something in testing, after all! “Woomera” in the Australasian says : The farmers’ heaven is literally a place where neither moth or dust doth corrupt. But as a'farming friend from Kerang pointed out to mo a- few days ago, you cannot possibly have it both ways. The same rain " that kills the caterpillar stimulates the rust. Truly, farming is a perpetual conflict, leaving its.politics out of consideration altogeth. er. Sometimes the little “ad.” leadsto a let of speculation in thought, word, and deed. Is this one just an urgent gardening item— an ‘“S.O.S” from the green peas—or does it forecast a great change in the food, forage and flavours of the people':—“Wanted, snail gatherers. Highest, price given.” That the Petane district can produce tlie best that can he raised in the Dominion is borne out by the fact, that a farmer in the valley has just received his tally from the freezing works (says , the Telegraph). He sent in 163 lambs, off the mothers, and the average freezing weight was 33.011 b, which is probably a record for Hawke’s Bay. if not the dominion. Lambs, are being purchased at lid per lb on the hooks, and the above lot ran out at about 35s per head.

CHRISTMAS. On the farm more than in the town folk suffer to greater or less degree by isolation (says an exchange). Contact with people, other than near neighbours. is generally infrequent. Therefore the call of Christmas should he greater to the country people than to the town pedole. No one can remain indifferent to the, old greeting, which is always fresh—“A Merry "Christmas

PERSONAL.' The late Mr. David Ivnight was a; pioneer settler of South Taranaki, heing noted for his pedigree Romney ■ flock. He took many prizes and 'acted as judge. at' several shows. Me wa ; s also a pioneer in dairying, for . : while living at Oeo he was one of the. directors of the Otakeh.6 Cooperative ’ Dairy Company,' the ' first ; factory in New Zealand to make and. > rekpprt cheese.’ They ’ afterwords sold' to 'the' Cfdwm Dairy' Co. ' The "other • directors ' were 'Messrs'.' A. C. Milhe ; (chairman), W. Bdrrie, G. Batxow and ; Richard Dingle. This is *a piece of ■ vdry ancieiif history "in the World of farming "in •Taranaki. The presentgeneration a very great deal''to , these stalwarts who ' laid"the fdiinda-i i tidns' so' truly .and well. CREAM GRADING. ‘ ! STRAIGRt"tALK’ 5 PROM. ■' TARANAKI: • (Dairyman.) t have no hesitation iii stating that. Creain should be' graded/ and' am fiirther inclined to think that the only way of making' it effective and beneficial from an industrial point, of view is to make it compulsory. We, as factory manhgers, are repeatedly urged tc I manufacture the very best, and this I can. only be done by giving ! us. a. 9 reasonably good raw material. Science • has certainly made great strides in the dairy industry, "as in eyerytliiiig else, Ph all the neutralising ancl: pasteurising in the world, will, hot make bad oream good- or dirty , milH clean. Th order-do- educate the- producer ■ and-em couyage him in supplying clean. milk aiid good crea'ip we ipjist give- credit wliej;e credit is dug, apd penalise the ma,n who offjehclg. As long as w® go on the same- for:’’good, bad, and iijdiffef.ent there: is iijttle' oi: uo induce- ' humt for. ijhpfoyemeiitf It is v my"firin .conviction that the' hundreds of pounds spent ip inspectors’ feh^' <Ip'hot'as' mh6h :gmid: as so" ikany shiilibgs' would' do/if ! taken off by iyay of"penalty ' for bad milk arid cream/ " :M ' ' >• •'

I believe grading should he compulsory. because;' to dp. any gpofl, it lriust pe a. .national scheme. Me tire- expoftlrig far 1 too much “second grade butter and cheese, ' and' I have rib;doubt that the first. year’s. ! • grading—lf doiie throughout the ‘Dominion—would reduce this quantity considerably. . Apart rronv this, there is far too muchrinhea lthy competition between" dairy factories—both ' co-operative 7 and. proprietary ,—and. if grading was adopted, on a voluntary system riiany. suppliers would go' to a. non-grading. factory father than . lid •penalised' for their carelessness and indifference, '' . ’ A GOOD STOIIY. Says “Alephistopheles”, iij the Dairyman, under 1 “The- 1 World, 1 the Flesh, Cow’’‘Years, ago I happened to. bp 11 1 and T had, qn.'opportunity of sdeing a bijll fight,’ hut" "foror otheri I’ didn’t go", arid I’ve never forgiven myself for riiissjrig such a golden oppoi;tu‘nitv. It niust-'W an exciting sport to'"watch. : Th'e ‘e]emenk’of; risk i’s'there all'tKp time, and hence the /fascination. / Just the ’other" day I heard a story about a - tore’adio.i* called Bronzo wiio got iilto difficulties iii the bull-ring./ He liad to take to his heels a-ncli/gb :fowliis~life; - The'hull >vas hot after him, and. poor Bronzo didn’t, know whai to. do. Suddenly' a brilliant idea strupk him. He’stopped; turned, faced the /bull, and made a npise like a, cow, and_ the bull kissed 'him! It’s a tip worth knonving,' a,ncl may prove desperately visef.ul, to ally pf /you fellows who may happen £o get iritp 'a, tight place with."a lively, bull. ' Not ago I was leading a male relation of Sylvia Bosch/’quietly along''a lonesome pad'dopk.. / Of, course ! had, th 3; protection of a ring in, his nose with'a stick attached, but in 'spite of these necessary precautions, while opening a gate he suddenly "jerked 'tlie stick /but of my hapd 'arid gave me such a : bjirif ori the ——— that I- went' flying up against the gate-post With very 1 considerable velocity, the same time one of his Horns had completly ruined beyond repair the iilterioi;' aspect of a' decent pair of trousers. I managed tri regain possession of the stick, arid by means of 'the ring, which' formed the connecting link between, the bull and mysell, I endeavoured, to convey to the bull mv kind regards, so. to. speak! \\htn I got. home I had to. explain the wrecked condition of niy lower, sartorial, outfit, and as riiy wife is nervous whevb spiders ar.e concerned I put up some" : cock-and-bull stepy about a barbedwire fence. This, little taught- me never to trust a bull, even, though He .may He' guaranteed quiet with cpws and childrei}. In a* geiiferal way, howeyef, the dairy industry; "and everything ‘ connected with ' it, is ' a 'quiet, peaceful, happy,' senri-religious affair, which lends* itself to : a prettv coiitinupus study of "the benefits to be derived from rising Jcrig ’before, it- is time to get up and wording long after men knocked off.” ” , •

Dairy cows form very strong habits, and if the dairyman make's use of this trait Much of the routine work becomes simplified and easier. Regularity hi. systematic operations is essential. Irregularities worry cows and' undoubtedly affect the milk yield-—milk production is largely a matter of nervous force., Ordinarily cows are milked twice a day at regnlarintervals, morni ug and evening. High-producing cows, however, should be . milked more frequently. Whatever the periods, the ’ milking should be done punctually and regularly, quietly and thoroughly, by intelli-' gent, capable, cleanly and. kind milkmen.- If possible, milkmen should always milk the shine cows; cows resent strange milkers. It is a good practice, supported by co\y psychology,.to let the milkman remove her calf and feed her a tempting! ration of bran mash—she will adopt him and yield /her milk to him willingly and liberally.—South African Journal of the Department of Agi’icnlture, A dairy farmer who is in a fairly large way at Newman states that-he has doubled his. butter-fat output within five years by improved pasture. In that period, he has spent some £BOO in improving his' land and "top-dressing and the increased yield _he considers leaves him a handsome profit. The increase this year over his first year’s production he estimates will he £6OO. Eketahuna Express. One makes no mistakes when feeding salt and minerals, such aslime 'arid phosphates in various forms tc. live Stock. The extent to which contagious abortion, sterility, tuberculosis'and other serious scourges are due to lack of minerals, is- not known, but it is generally believed among scientists and "experimenters that domestication and; soils depleted of essential minerals is a.cause contributing fo disease. ' Feeding'experiments with dairy cows in the north of England have shown that no amount of feed will make a bad milking cow a good milker; that a good milking cow will not give heir full quauj tity of milk unless, she receives suitable food'equal to her full capacity for