FARM and DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 22 August 1925, Page 13

FARM and DAIRY

NOTES BY THE WAY. A dairy farmer of wide experience ia a i >retit-y big way lias worked out. that the return of butter-fat per acre •is in J-fawera, 901b* and in Norman by 971bs, and that it takes on an average a- trifle over two acres' to keep a cow. The average return per cow in butter-fat he worked out at about 19b lbs and the pay-out, worked oil the average! for five years, was Is Cd.

It has been well .said there is nothing new under the sun. Anthrax hap caused great destruction amongst animats at various times in recent years, libs- ravages are recorded in the .Bible, ill Homer, Virgil and many other writers of ancient times, (and these affected both m<an and beast. It has also been recorded as very destructive along the banks of the Mississippi, the germs being s*aid to come down, in tho silt which collects along its hanks.

For bad, feet in cows use three ol carbolic to one of formalin and dissolve i.u twenty ,partis of water and rub well in the feet. Another remedy is one of bluesltone to three of lard a aid keep the feet well dressed. A good remedy for cows feet, with sand cracks and split, which have gone lame is Stockholm tar and fat or castor oil, or kerosene tar and turpentine rubbed in well. Cracking feet is said to run in I ami lies iu dairy ©took.

For red waiter, half a jkhiiul of table salt and tlie same quantity of treacle •in water is said lo be. very effective.

Cows are said to lie not over fond of peas, but men who tried them say corns milk well on that diet.

Field peas are excellent food, and pint into a isitack provide bedding and feed and keep them well fed and content.

In .some districts beans, acres .and acres, are grown for the pigs. They do well, also, Some fanners state, on wheat ,sheaves, but the farmers do not grow wheat here. Oats and vetches or peas and oats are said to be excellent for pigs. The vetches are sown first anil later the oats.

Pigs need good feed and good bedding! to get best results.

Breeding sows should be fed on dry meal and need more attention than at any other time of the year. Look after your pigs and they will thrive. But, said a man of experience the other day, it is “when farmers are hard nip and have to struggle arid make the best of every Line that pigs will do really well.

This year, it j.s said, there luns been in every dairying district a great daughter of calves, and it is anticipated that there will be a shortage next ve-ar. ■

Mowing the pastures if they get away and are .shaping towards seeding is a wonderful help to dairy cattle. There is more .substance and nourishment in the short grass. The lush grass will give ft ee-li but not milk.

An in-sit a,nee was quoted the other clay by an experienced fanner of cows on .heavy pasture getting sso full they were dropping. “Out the grais© and save the cows” was the very effective advice given, and it was good.

Maanniiitis, too,, may he caused by flush of feed and indigestion may cause udder troubles. But it is said, and very truly, that what disturbs tlie udder, affects tlie stomach. More ©alt is required! and a supply of rock salt will do the trick. Most farmers swear by it, and one siaid the other day on a farm with about fifty cowis he used half a ton -in one ©ea-son, the cows taking to it greedily. Block ©alt has iodine in it. and this is required in Taranaki. Potash is another constituent needed in the soil in most districts, and this could be given by top dressing with -a suitable manure.

Ergot, which used to be considered the direct cause of abortion,' has great vitality and comes at the bottom of the good grasses. Its presence emphasises the need of top dressing in order to force on tlie growth of these good grasses.

In ease of -an animal getting blown, say, on lucerne, a dose of baking soda, formalin up to two ounces, or -anything that will cub the gas, is wliat is required. 'Soapsuds sometimes will do the trick.

If inilk fever occurs, pinup up -and tie the teats for four to five hours. Massaging of the udder is also a help. A. good stimulant is u, dose of coffee with half <l. cup of methylated spirits. A ©aline injection is also, very useful. Warm waiter down her throat is a. valuable help. The effect of staggers) is very similar to milk lever.

j n moist eases of paralysis -it means that the bowels have ©topped, constipation being one great cause of tho trouble. It is essential t,a get these organs working as ©OOll as possible. A blister on the back is a valuable aid. A. powdei* proscribed by the late Major Neale, one of the cleverest veterinarians ever in this district, is considered, by many one of the best reined,i es*.

A nolliof remedy against inn.mmiti* is an .anti septic, f-onsi.s'it-ino; -nt raw linseed oil .ami formalin, ail mince twice a. day l'or two days. This will fro through the whole KV&tein and gobs into the udder in three hours.

Half a. pound ol vaseline into , the uterus is also good. It- will have to he forced in but- gently so as not to injure the passage.

A retained afterbirth is a sign often of tooi much dry feed and a call for natural green feed. Dry hay by itself is not good.

The gospel of shifting dairy stock frequently iis preached by the moist enlightened and experienced farmers. Small paddocks can be better looked after and will give this frequent change that ife so necessary to health and strength. This combined with top dressing will produce conditions that will keep cowis in top condition and so ishut the door to much of the disease encountered by farmers. If will also help much to counter the danger of slipping.

Touching on the question of pigs. Mr. Ford .said recently, pleurisy had been very prevalent all over the North Island, and it was due largely to the had conditions of rearing the • young pigs. They needed careful treatment and should not he allowed to roam about at will.

The discoverer of the air treatment for milk fever in cows was the late l)r. Schmidt, of Holding, Denmark, who died eighteen months ago. The treatment was announced by him in 1897. and has been instrumental in saving untold numbers of valuable cattle the world over. NOXIOUS WEEPS. DISCUSSED AT LOWGABTH. STRINGENT ACTION NECESSARY. The increase in noxious weeds was stressed by members ait. the anunal meeting of the Lowgarth factory .last week. Jt was brought up by Mr Frydiay, who said that their p rev alienee Wais telling against the milch cow, and urged that .stringent,steps to check the pest were absoltitely necessary. M<? referred specially to ragwort, but the chairman. isti id that in, his op inion Ga li-fornia-n thistle was a far greater menace. Other members said that many . seat-ions were known where apparently hut little attempt was -being made to Check the evil, and tihe feeling was that farmers whose land wn>s suffering from the presence of the weed on adjoining lands should report the matter Another .supplier said tlie time was rapidly corning when it would be ,a real menace. '‘Ploughing,” said one farmer, “will kill the ragwort if done at the p-ro-per time, but not the Californian thistle.” All present agreed that the matter should be dealt with much more strongly, and that farmers should unite for their own protection. COWS AND SALT. Of late years, much more attention has been drwan to the importance ol mineral salts in the ration than was formerly the ease. Previously it had been thought that the requirements ill animals in this respect were so small that they were properly met Dy any normal system of feeding. But it has now been shown that certain classes of stock —particularly young animals and dairy cows- —frequently no not make satisfactory progress owing to deficiencies in the mineral content of a ration. Calcium ©alts and phosphates appear to be tlie two minerals which -are most generally lacking in rations that are commonly fed. COWS AiNP MINERALS. Dairy cows in milk should have their rations carefully balanced with respect to minerals:: For ex,ample, legume hay for calcium, and wheat 'bran, wheat middlings, soy beans, linseed oil meal, or cottonseed meal for phosphorus. Tlie value of fresh green pasture in furnishing ia vitamin -to .aid in the maximum assimilation of calcium sliouid also be mentioned. Under such favourable conditions it is still a question whether calcium supplement© are necessary for maximum production. As a measure of safety, -the 11 so of calcium supplements to the extent of 8 to 4 per cent, of the grain nation, niiay be justifiable ; however, the mineral deficiencies of poor forage cannot be entirely corrected by mineral supplements alone. Free aocests to salt should, of course, he allowed. FEEDING DAIRY COWS. The importance of .succulent feeds in the ration of dairy cows is such that many crops n:oib grown primarily for - the purpose may enter into the ration. Cabbage amid potatoes, though not grown for dairy feeds, are often fed ito dairy cows a.s a means of •supply-, ing su'coullence and disposing economically of unmarketable products. In order to determine (1) whether feeding cabbage or potatoes affects the flavour and odour of milk; (2) how they in,ay be fed and the milk hand led so ,«h to minimise isueh effect, if objectionable, on the quality of produot. the Bureau of Dairying conducted trials 0111 the experiment farm at Be It.svillo, Md. Tho results of these trials are reported in U.S. Department. of Agriculture Bulletin No. 1297. Where 14.3 lb or 241 b of cabbage were consumed one hour before milking, very decided objectionable flavours and odaur,s_were produced in the milk. Where 2olb of cabbage were consumed immediately after "mil-king, the bad flavours and odours were reduced to scarcely a noticeable factor when compared with milk produced from normal hay and grain ration. ■Similar trials were conducted, using potatoes as the succulent feed. While noticeable abnormal flavours- and odours were produced fawn feeding the potatoes one hour before milking, these were of much less degree than as produced by ihe cabbage.

A.CUD' SOILS. HINTS FOiU- TILRATMENT. Acid soils differ widely in their '“lime requirements,'’ that is the aitmrinmb per acre of lime necessary to restore them to neutrality. Wtoait mio-hh eon.sititn.te a sulheieht dressing on'one field would be hopeless on another. The question dan be settled only in the laboratory, and -a couple of comparatively simple analytical opera-

hi on in may easily yield information ol groat practical value. It is usual to determine the calcium carbonate present as such in a sample of soil. It this figure is small, or if carbonates bo absent or present in merely negligible amount's, then a “lime requirement’ determination will be made..

The result of the latter operation is expressed in hundredweights of quicklime per acre' necessary to bring the soil exactly to a condition of neutrality. This figure will give all the information required in order to decide upon the most suitable dressing of lime to be applied. An estimation of the total amount of lime in the soil is of little value; much of this lime is present as calcium sulphate, calcium 1 inmate, and other forms in which it is not available for the neutralisation of soil acidity. HEALTHY COWS. FREE TESTING BY STATIC. •MILK FOR HOSPITALS. SYDNEY, Aug. 1. The Department o-f Agriculture has decided to. undertake the testing of herds belonging to milk .suppliers or owners of pedigreed herds who i oluntanily ask to have their herds declared tubercle-free. .Preference will he given to the owners ol herds who .supply milt direct lor the use of children m hospitals. In order to encourage this line ol action, the work will, for a .start bo carried out lice ol ciosi, hut such action should not he taken a.s an indiicat.ioil that the department will continue to do the work on that basis. Government .supervision, however, will be provided m any event. In all cases the names and addresses and a certified statement indicating tlmf the herds are tubercle-free would bo published .in the Agricultural Gazette monhtly. The fact that such a certified ,statement was in existence, the department says, should be of considerable value to the owners of tubercle-free herds. If an owner prefers to employ his own veterinary surgeon, the same certified statement would he published as though the work was done by a. Government veterinary surgeon, providing the. veterinary sur‘'•eon; was approved by fho chief veterinary surgeon and the sumo conditions were accepted. RUSSIAN GRAIN Gil OP. REGENT SOVIET ESTIMATES. Recent Russian advices have been to the effect that Russia will appear as a large exporter of wheat this .season. The reports are from official Soviet .sources, however, says the Melbourne Argus, and may be accepted for what they are worth, especially as Russia is anxious to establish trade credits. Recently the Soviet juithoritie,s announced that aholit >"5,01)0,00'. tons of wheat would be available lor export for 1925-20, but a»s this quantity represents approximately 155.01M),000 bushels, presumably the announcement referred to grain of all descriptions. According to the economical adviser to tlie central union of Soviet Russia Co-operative Societies, the 1 RussoOritish Grain Company will ship wheat to Great Britain valued at £5,000,01 ■ this cereal year. This would represent, based on wheat at 5s a bushel, for example, 20,000,000 bushels, but apparently a much, larger quantity is expected to he shipped to Europe. Conditions that have obtained in Russian wheat growing areas this season. have been irregular, and in some districts continued dry weather caused much dainiiago to the crops. - It was not until early in June that the drought broke in the middle and lower Volga and other parts. Reports were that the crops derived much benefit from the downpours, but in some districts tlie rain came too. late to save the situation. Broadly, leading London .grain iirfce.re.sts are not impressed with the contention that Russia will appear .as an important factor in the world’s wheat markets this .season, despite Russian advice that generally a larger yield of grain is expected t.o be garnered this harvest.

SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 1 DAIRY CUTTLE; FEEDING. (By Prof. W. B. Nevens, Department of Dairy Husbandry, University of Illinois.) (Extracts from a paper read at Fourth Annual Veterinary Conference at .Illinois in July.)

Dairy cows show abnormalities due to improper mineral nutrition, such as failure to breed readily after intensive Lactation : cows calving at a'very early age fail to attain normal size; after unusually heavy lactation, cows not infrequently are unable to maintain the same rate of production during subsequent lactation; tests of maximum production may result in greatly delayed or permanent loss of reproductive capacity. Milk secretion causes a heavy draft on the mineral supply of tlie cow, and it has been discovered by .research that an 1150 pound eoHv yielding about. 301 bs of milk daily lost during" a 1101 b metabolism period 25 grains of lime daily, or s.sLbs of lime in all—estimated at .about 25 per cent, of the. entire lime content of.her body. Interesting experiments conducted at Ohio isllnnv that during 'liberal milk production and using ordinary rations of hay, isiihigo and grain, losses occurred of dalciuin. and magnesium in all cases and of phosphorus' in filteeu out of eighteen. Changing the hay from timothy to clover resulted in reducing the losses. Other experiments of a like nature showed that cows normally lost calcium during heavy lactation and are able to store cadesuin during non-lactatiion, with at ' leftist a>n equal rate, The research chemist who conducted the experiments said further that lie believed the loss of calcium from the- body is an. important factor in the “functional derangement” of the milk cow.

Another investigator has demonstrated that rations low in lime content lare improved by the addition of mineral Supplements, hut that even so, maximum production as compared with production secured with rations containing legumes cannot be expected. All cattle need common salt, and should be given free access .to it. The chief mineral deficiency in ordinary rations, when such deficiency occurs, is likely to he lack-of sufficient lime, and second to lime phosphorus. Legumes are undoubtedly the. best source of lime for dairy cattle, and when fed in liberal amounts probably supply sufficient minerals for moderate milk production. It may be desirable, however, to supplement legume roughages for cows producing large amounts of milk.

Steamed 'bone-meal, ground limestone, rock phosphate,, wood ashes are most suitable for supplying this lack of dailcinm or phosphorus, and they can lie put in boxes' for the cattle to get. them or added to the concentrate mixture at the rate of 2.5 to 31'bai per 100 lbs of concentrates..

IMPROVING THE HERD. GALF-BREEDINiG THE KEY. REARING OF THE \ r O'UNG STOCY A good dairy herd cannot be built up without careful .attention on the part of the dairymen to rearing of healthy, typical dairy calves. That is the considered opinion of a practical dairy farmer .in the To A.wannitu district, who has consistently improved Inis herd as evidenced by the returins from butter-fat. He .says that when the weaker members of a herd must be replaced it is imperative for the improvement of the licrd that good calves must be available for the purpose. In tlie first place, the productive character of the calves will depend upon the mating which has been practiced. Recent sales show that too many of the best-bred calves have been ruthlessly sacrificed. This d oes not obtain only in the Te Awamutu district, but throughout all the dairying districts. Scrub bulls cannot well beget record-breaking producers.,-although Sometimes seemingly first-class breed-

ing animals will produce very ordinary if not scrubby offspring. A dairy farmer must pay attention to the question of breeding the right class of stock for the improvement of his herd. The ancestry will have an important bearing upon the constitution, type and relative value of the calves in the herd. The responsibility of tlie dairyman toward his dairy calves; has not ended < when he makes sure of their breeding. The ultimate care of the calves will have much to do with their success in the dairy. It ishould be and is tlie aim of every good dairy farmer to possess large. well-developed milking strains, instead of a preponderance. <rf Sickly, undersized, stunted animals, ( if the sheds and perns are, strictly sanitary, roomy and healthy, the problem of raising the calf to a useful maturity is made easy. _ , - ; It is not difficult to raise strong, healthy calves if a proportion of the Whole milk dan be fed for. any portion bf the early feeding period. It is because whole milk, and sucking the dam, are oiiDsidered too expensive that skim-milk and subtsitute foods are retorted to. Under the latter condition the risks and: difficulties are always increased and relatively more attention must be paid to the work, in hand iii order to succeed. The more valuable tlie stock is considered, the more attention should be paid to the rearing of tlie calves, especially during the early weeks of their lives'. Feeding should he regular and in good quantities, not underfeeding or overfeeding. The milk should be sweet and warm, a,ml the other feed Which, may he placed before the young, animals .after they have been taught - to eat should be.muscle and bone pro--duciug, an d : free from nmistdness and mould. . Small, clean graiss paddocks .should, be available, the more the better, for this affords opportunity for changing the calves from paddock regularly and thus .allows the used paddock to freshen up. There is nothing more objectionable or likely to cause failure than stale paddocks or pens. The calves should, of course, be protected against oold rain or bad wea-. ther generally, and also against excessive heat in sununer. If they are kept growing and not _ fattened, and are clean .and healthy it may reasonably be expected that nature will respond bv the production of mature animals which will add appreciably to the productive value of the herd. —Herald.