FARM and DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 19 December 1925, Page 14

FARM and DAIRY

NOTES BY THE WAY. The conditions generally have not been so good as could be wished i<w the dairv fanner. After the extreme 1> vet and' cold spell in the ear/v spring when mild weather was required, theie was a spell of almost continuous wind, and this has harassed the his efforts to grow root crops. In many eases the crops did not strike, and some farms, * more exposed perhaps, where the young plants showed up, the -wind so blew them about that they came to nothing. .Where, no.vever good shelter was available, results a ere much better.

AH over the district ensilage-:-.' along has been the -occupation of the oaii> farmer in the intervals between milking and trying to get root crops to o'row. Many fine stacks or pits have been erected or put down and' silos filled. The experience iff last season Inis nparent'y borne fruit, and t; if me is seem to b e doing what Mr Deem so olten advocated, estimating what the} are likely to want and adding largely to that "quantity. There is no t.oubt that to have a bit in hand when the frevsh o-rasis: comes in the .spring is a wise plan, and an actual insurance fund, which pays handsome dividencs.

Farmers have been busy lately, and some stil' are, cutting pa idoccs that were shut up, or in getting a ran off the lucerne. The hitter appears m most eases to he fairly good. Lucerne is a crop that thrives well in all seasons, and owing to its deep rooting is not affected by drought. It always makes a green spot on the farm however ary and parched the pastures may be.

The weather is still somewhat cold, hut there has been less wind, and a moderately good rain on Friday morning was very welcome, and will do- a power of good. The rain earlier in the week will mean a great t-hiiia for the district.

Many Hawke’s Bay farmers appear to have been quite unreasonably depressed over the recent wool sales. Those who should be in a position to know assert that the fall is one of a temporary nature only, and better prospeets are ahead.

One thing the farmer has been often told is to properly sort and market Ms Wool. At this week’s Napier sale some of the fleece was in a shocking state, and really assisted in keeping the price down. The farmer was not to blame for all the visible faults, but lie was not altogether innocent of “slumming.”

The prices obtained at this week's wool sales in Napier were up to 3d lower than rates obtained at the corresponding sale last year.

The quality of the wool was not quite so good, and, generally speaking, farmers should be- well satisfied with the return for their labours.

Despite the drought conditions in Hawke’s Bay some very fine crops are to be seen on the farms situated on the flats.

In spite of the spell of dry weather, stock on the flats in Hawke’s Bay are in most cases in excellent condition. Advices from New South Wales report good rains in practically every dairying district, and further substantial rains have fallen in Queensland, where production is expected to increase rapidly; Weather condition in West Australian are favourable.

Speaking in October on the land question at Inverness, Mr Lloyd George said they did not want alien chiefs in the Highlands, and evoked loud laughter by asserting that they did not want a chief who could only wear a kilt in December with central heating. They wanted the Highland soil for men who could stand a Highland winter. That was the policy.

ANIMALS’ SEINiSB OH SMELL. ’ In one of hiis books of Nature Notes, Sir Herbert Maxwell relates an instance, of which he hacl experience in Sutheblaudshire, of how open-air creatures rely mainly for guidance upon the sense of smell, the sense which, of all others, civilisation has induced mankind to discard. He writes : In the case in point, a Cheviot lamb had fallen into the river and .could not get out hyt reason of a steep overhanging hank. A passing angler” rescued the shivering creature from its plight, and it staggered away, bleating piteously for its darn. It found her without much difficulty, and immediately applied to the natural source of that refreshment whereof it stood in sore need; but the mother sheep, snifFing disdainfully at the dripping little wretch, pushed it off, refusing to recognise it. The shepherd happening to come up at the moment, the .angler asked the cause of the da-m’« unnatural behaviour. “Oh,” said he, “the bit heastie’s .been in the watter, ye see, and the ewe camiia smell it. She’ll talc it bade as soon .as .it’s dry.”

And so it turned out. A few minutes in the keen March wind served to dry the short fleece ; the natural' odour returned; mother and child were reconciled at once, and celebrated the occasion with much tail-wriggling and eager pokes on the prodigal’s part and .patient hospitality on the part of the parent. 'Sheep can hear and see very well, yet neither the features nor voice of her off .spring enabled this Cheviot ewe to recognise it; it required the familiar smell to carry conviction. THE DAIRY COW. TREND TN ENGLAND. DEEP-MILKING CATTLE Enormous progress continues to be made in the development of the heavy yielding cow. and had the British Friesian cow done nothing else, she lias performed a great national work in proving to milk-producing farmers that the standard of average milk yields in ordinary commercial herds was too low. To date the super-yielding British Friosio.n cows contain the following remarkable yields: Six yields of over .3000 gallons of milk in the year, 64 yields of over 2000 gallons in the year, 18 yields of over 10001 b of butter. Only official milk and butter-fat production figures arc recognised in the compilation of the above list, and no milk yield is reckoned beyond the three hundred and sixty-fifth day of calving. What is even more remarkable (says the British Friesian Journal) is the fact so important to dairy farmers, that the more milk a cow yields the more profitablc she proves herself to her owner. This must be borne in mind in conjunction with the truth that 10 British

Friesian cows now have three separate yields of over 2000 gallons of milk to their credit, one of these marvels being well on tlie way to completing the performance for the fourth year in succession. No fewer than 40 British Friesian cows have twice: exceeded the 2000-gallon yield and as no other breed in the country has one of these double 2000-galloners, and as all but 1G of the 180 2000-gallon cows in this country are British Friosians, the merit of this breed need not further be extolled. It has been said that the herd average is of greater importance than the individual super yielder, and if this is so, British Friesians again claim supremacy, for the reports of milk recording societies show in very many cases that black and white pedigree herds provide the best average results. This is confirmed by the fact that the Silcock Cup National Dairy Herds Competition has been held annually, and has always been won by a British Friesian herd, the average production figure being higher each year, culminating in Mrs. Putnam’s Haydon herd average of 1513 gallons last year. The membership of the society has been well maintained, and is still above the 2000 mark, so that another year of satisfactory progress and all round sue-' cess is closing, to give place to 192 G, that will, it is confidently hoped, provide even more pleasing results to all lover and breeders of pedigree stock. SUBSIDISING AGRICULTURE IN ENGLAND. Some questions that may appropriately be asked in regard to the agitation for further subsidising of wheat-grow-ing in New Zealand were submitted by Mr. Edward Wood, the British Minister for Agriculture, in discussing, before a gathering of farmers, the Government’s policy on agricultural questions. Mr. Wood said there were two things to be kept in mind. One was that no good would be done to agriculture by allowing it to become a matter of party politics, and that no good would he done to it by anybody wh" did not face all the facts. While he did not suggest that all was well with British agriculture, he did deprecate the exaggerated habit of self-deprecia-tion into which some public men were disposed to fall when discussing agriculture. fl’lie broad question that statesmen, farmers and citizens had to ask themselves was whether it was de sirable or jutifiablo . that the State should take direct action with regard to farming of an uneconomic character by way of subsidy. Could the country b. convinced that there was nothing more to be done by farmers on the economic side of the business by improved methods and improved organisation? Was agriculture, as a whole, more severely hit than other big industries? Was it so severely hit in comparison with other big industries that they felt confident in inviting those industries to bear further, taxation to give to agriculture? If such proposals were laid before and accepted by Parliament were they sure that the country would continue to support them, or that it would refrain from attaching to them such conditions of control or interference as would, both from the point of view of the industry and the nation, outweigh the. advantages that the assistance would bring? These were very grave questions that any man—farmer, politician or citizen—had to face honestly before he had established a title to be heard. > N.Z. FRIESIAN ASSOCIATION. Dairy cows of the Friesian breed have been particularly successful during the present season in competitions open to all dairy breeds. At the Timaru A. and P. Show in October, 1925, Friesian cows were first and second n the open competition for the greatest production of butter-fat above the standard. At the Wairarapa P. and A. Show at Carterton in October a Fresian cow won the milk and butter-fat competition. At the Manawatu A. and P. Association’s Show at. Palmerston North in November a Fresian cow won the Alfa Laval Cup for the best dairy cow of any breed, and a Fresian heifer won the Osmond special for the best dairy heifer of any breed. At the Auckland A. and P. Show last week Friesian cows were first, second and third in each of the following competitions:—(a) Milk cow of any age, most butter-fat; (b) dairy cow of any ago, greatest weight of milk, minimum test 3.25 p.c.; (c) Lovell and Christ mas Challenge Cup, most butter-fat.

YOUR WORST ENEMY. (From the Live Stock Bulletin, of Sydney.) The .majority of dairymen throughout Australia, if asked what was their chief enemy, would reply in such terms as “the middleman,” “high costs of labour,” “droughts,” etc. Many would resent what would for them be the true statement, “Your chief enemy is in your own herd, in the scrub bull at its head, that is the most effectual means of making and keeping dairy farmers poor.” In other industries, operators generally understand that it is better to go out of the industry than to try to struggle on with the use of what is practi rally utterly obsolete machinery. Up-to-date business men say: “If Vie don’t scrap our machinery that is not up to date, we might as well scrap our business,” and dairy farmers should say the same. Scrub bull herds are the scrap heaps of the dairying industry that tend to make the industry impotent to meet the competition of the times, and the sooner it is recognised the sooner will (he dairy industry come into its own. JUDGING THE UDDER. IMPORTANT SIGNS. The quantity of milk which a cow produces presumably depends to a very large extent upon the number and activity of the epithelial cells within the tidder. The number of such eel's is limited by the size of the udder and the amount "of fatty tissue it contain-. The dairy cow, therefore, must have a large udder capacity, the bigger the better; but the size of the udder should not be due to any great amount of fat or flesh. There should be an elas ticity of the tissue, with a shrinkage of the udder when empty. The udder should have a considerable surface, >xtending far forward and well up behind. It should be well balanced and symmetrical in shape, indicating good development in all quarters. It should be spread considerably from side to side also, while the teats must be evenly and squarely placed. To make room for such «i capacious, well-developed udder the hind legs of the cow should

be wide apart, the thighs should be thin, and the flanks high-arched. The activity of the udder, of the amount of work performed in it, is shown to some extent by the quantity of blood that passes through it, which depends considqrably upon the capacity of the blood vessels which are connected therewith. It is important, therefore, that there should be a strong and full development of the arteries and veins of the udder and the abdomen. Th) milk veins should be large and' elastic, should extend well to the front, and should enter the abdomen through largo and numerous orifices, thus permitting a strong flow of blood through them with a minimum of resistance as it re turns to the heart. Besides these veins, there is a network of veins in the forequarters of the udder, and still others pass upward behind, which, when large, indicate considerable productive capacity. NEW ZEALAND PKODUCE. (Otago Daily Times Correspondent.) {< lf we view Wembley in connection with the products of the Dominion we must be convinced that the propaganda emanating from the display must be of great value. There is at the present time, no doubt largely due to Wembley, a wave of Empire enthusiasm passing over the Old Land. This is apparent in the number of organisations that are springing up for the purpose of further-

ing the interests of Empire food. In quiries are being constantly received from people asking where New Zealand products can be obtained, and one ’ forced to the conclusion that there is an urgent necessity at the present time for some organised system of prop iganda that will continue the work started by the Exhibition. The conditions are favourable and fully justify a sound scheme of publicity. When one realises the annual value of the trade with the United Kingdom in New Zealand products one cannot but think that a considerable sum of money could be devoted to keeping these products before the public with great ad vantage to our producers. This is a principle that is adopted with every commodity in the United Kingdom, and if the commercial interests are satisfied that good value is obtained for their outlay, surely the-same must apply to the trade of the Dominion. “New Zealand is in a. particularly favourable position so far as her pro duce is concerned because of the higu standard of quality that has been maintained —in fact, there can be no question that there are no products of a higher standard imported into the United Kingdom, and- in consequence the Dominion’s position is unparalleled.

“As an illustration of the scope of propaganda emanating from the Dominion with regard to dairy produce, it is interesting to note that during the 19U5 session 4f>,000 packages of New Zealapd

butter and 8000 packages of cheese were sold and despatched by post from our pavilion to places all over the British Isles. This must result in our produce being introduced into many homes it had not formerly' penetrated, and undoubtedly has increased the general demand for our butter and cheese. The display of meat has attracted great attention and received most favourable comment. In a similar manner our other edible products, such as fruit and honey, have obtained excellent publicity. Last year 9000 cases of New Zealand apples were sold over tnc counter in the pavilion in small lots or single apples. This year apples have been sold in all parts of the Exhibition, and consequently the demand in the New Zealand Pavilion has not been so great. Nevertheless, 1400 cases have been disposed of, and allowing that each buyer had taken away a half a pound, this would mean that over 100,000 people had sampled New Zealand apples.