FARM and DAIRY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 7 August 1926, Page 14

FARM and DAIRY

NOTES BY THE WAY. So far flip (approach' of spring has been marked by many and great advantages to the dairy ‘farmer. The season has been favourable, in marked contrast to the early part of the year. The somewhat dry spell experienced hag been succeeded) by a mild spell, during which excellent rain supplies fell, which must' have* been very gratifying to 1 those who depend on the land for their subsistence; and, in fact, to tbe whole community, for all depend primarily on the produce of the soil. Xf it, is copious, all are flourishing; if it fails, all inre very quickly affected.

So it is good for everyone to see that, at the time of writing, the weather is still mild, and prospects of further rain are still good. It will promote actively the growth of the pastures, the natural food for stock of all kinds, and' put them in good heart and condition for the coming season. ■ The first step in raising healthy calves is to have healthy cows. This can only be secured by feeding well and liberally, but not to excess, giving' plenty of exercise, and, psing com-mon-sense treatment generally. A man who sees no more in. a purebred cow than the quantity of milk lie can extract from her udder is not a breeder at nil—he is only ,a. milkman. There are still farmers who think that a cow which has been through an exhausting season, and is carrying a calf, can be. turned out and, look out for herself until she comes into profit again. It (pays to give her a rug, too, these frosty nights. Increased production is the slogan of the. hour, and a very good one, too, but there is little doubt much, more attention might be paid to the other side of the picture—the producing costs. If factories can introduce time and labour-saving improvements; if the farmers themselves can be instructed how to effect savings on their farms, land specially to supply an everimproving primary article by instruction,. education, precept and example, and by showing them that such an article will secure them a. direct advantage; then costs must come down, and consequently net returns will bo increased. There is great scope, land no doubt the board will take this as a very important part of its work. The Southland Herd-testing Association puts forward the claim that their best cow this season has put up a better performance than the best cow in the large Waikato Association did last year, and that they are now the seeond largest testing association in New Zealand.

Although the total production output of dairying in South Africa, is scheduled as twenty-five millions sterlind, the amount exported is infinitesimal comparatively to Xew Zealand and Australia, on account of the huge population to be supplied. Milk recording has undoubtedly come to, stay, and still there is the continued blundering of dairy farmers, believing all the time, that they know the good cows from the ‘'passenger” cows. Why not join the everincreasing army of farmers who are milk-recording, and be certain. Writing of the South Taranaki Winter Show, the N.Z. Dairyman pays a nice tribute, not only to the .show and its executive, which, says the writer, was an unqualified success, but also to the co-ordinating “Empire Week’ based on the slogan “British, Goods for British People.” Curiously enougli, the writer uses the term “Dominion Winter Show,” 'by which the show at il-lawent. was always known until a year or two since, when the term “South Taranaki” was adopted, from the name of the company which organised'! the show. Root-growing competitions, of which one hears a great deal .nowadays, are rcaiiv a pretty old established institution', and were over a century ago written up by the, country papers as in the present day, for one reads in the immortal Pickwick Papers the following description o,f a famous inn, before Which was,the figure of a huge white steed': “The Great White Horse is famous in the neighbourhood in the same degree as a prize ox, or country paper-chronicled turnip, or unweildy pig—for its enormous size.’.’ This wonderful book ,gives throughout many striking references to customs aud types of that day. Chou moellier, good fodder as it undoubtedly lias proved by consistent trial, should not be fed' to- cows in milk when decayed leaves are on the stems, as they are: said to taint the milk. As soon, however, as these dead leaves are cleared, the fodder is as good as ever. Cereals such as oats barley, ryecorn, etc.., provide ■ good supplement-

ary feed. Short, green oats, particularly, and oats mixed with' a legume or skinless barley, provide excellent winter and c-arly spring grazing for milking cows 'before the grass comes away. Maize provides good, feed for cows, especially for jmtting the herd into a good condition to face the winter. GOLF.

THE FACTORY SURROUNDINGS.

BEAUTIFYING EFFORTS

In. Southland! a, “Beautifying Competition ’ ’ lias been .inaugurated, for trophies given by a, well-known trading firm. It is a good move, and could well- be followed by other districts and perhaps spread also to farms. One feature, however, tlnat lias taken hold in several parts' of Taranaki, and that bids fair to spread every year, is tree-planting, not for its beautifying alone, but for its ultimately practical value. Sevenal factories have nice plantations, including some thousands of trees growing well, and in which the directors and manager take a keen personal interest. These will be, before many years are over, and provided fillc- trees are given reasonable attention, a thing of beauty and a joy for ever. And they will pay dividends, too.

IS A BULL TOO OLD AT 10 YEARS?

A U.S.A. OPINION

Mr G'eo. P. Grant, of the Agricultural College, Texas, U.S.A., writes as follows to the English Red Poll Journal: “I thoroughly agree with the thought advanced that much, harm has been done, not only in the States-, but in England as well, by disposing of sires before they are old enough to determine their ~ relative prepotency. Most of the best Red Poll herds in the United States and Canada, carry the blood of Jean Du Luth cattle, and in building this herd I was very careful that nothing but tried sires be used in its development. The hull Proctor Knott 12092, A.lt., a. son of Imp. Corporal, made his greatest impress on the lted Poll breed between the a.ge of 13 and 18 years. The bull Teddy’s Best 17603, A.R., was at least _ 10 years old when I introduced him into the Jean Du Luth herd, and the bull Paul 20994 was also an old sire when I purchased him. If these hulls had not been kept to a ripe old age their merits would not have been known, and their blood would not have been so thoroughly disseminated through the United States and Canada. “While inspecting the English herds last summer, I was disappointed in not finding older hulls in service in England, and suggested to some of my friends over there that the greatest improvement of the breed would come through the use of tried .sires whose merit had been demonstrated in the first, second, and even the third generations. Let us give more consideration to the old proven sire, and we will make more rapid progress in the breeding of ideal milk and beef animals.”

ANCIENT CEREALS

GRAIN IN ENGLAND BEFORE THE

ROMANS

Those interested in .historical matters in general .and especially in the history of agriculture, will welcome the news of the discovery by Professor Sir Rowland Biffen, of Cambridge, of some very well-preserved specimens of cereals grown in England before the Romans came (writes the Cambridge correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor). The Me a re lake, dwellings in Somerset, gave up something over a quart- of cereal seeds, while from the recently excavated site at Fifield Bavant, in. Wiltshire, nearly a bushel was obtained in excellent condition. The wheats obviously resemble those grown to-day. With these' age-old common bread wheats were also found specimens which, on careful examination, proved to be wheats of the emmer group, a species in which the paired kernels are .held tightly in the chaff, and cannot* be threshed dean. These enimer wheats are known to have been grown on the Continent of Europe in late neolithic times, and they have been found in abundance in some of tbe oldest Egyptian tombs. At the present time the cultivation, of ernmer is not important in many parts of the world, though a fair amount is grown in Abyssinia, some ini Europe, and a little in the dry plains of the United State?. At the lake dwelling site a small number of barley grains were found with the wheat. These prehistoric 'barley grains were evidently of the thick-set, dense-eared form of six-row barley, quite distinct from

the common two-row barleys now widely grown in England. The Meare material also yielded a few grains of oats, and from the Eifield Bar'ant excavationsl some almost perfect specimens of this cereal were obtained. In fact, these grains are in a state of preservation which is little less than marvellous, even the strongly developed, beards, or awns, remain on .some of them. Professor .Biffen is not certain as to the proper classification of these oats, hut thinks it likely that they belong to the species now commonly grown in England. No specimens of rye, the “poor man’s grain,” have so far come to light. The only other crop of which remains hare so far been found, said Professor Biffen, is the bean. This leguminous crop lias been found in fair abundance in the lake dwelling sites of both Glastonbury and Meare. From the latter place a halfpint of material was obtained for study. These beans resemble' the species to which the horse-bean, grown to-day, belongs. Mixed with the crop seeds wore the seeds of some weeds, especially some of the brome grasses; charlock! one of the mustards; also fragments of poppy-heads.

INTEREST ON DAIRY SHARES. DISCUSSION IN WAIKATO. The question of the payment of interest on (shares held by what- are known as “dry” shareholders has been a bone of contention in the Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Company for many years, says the Waikato Times. At the 2dtli annual meeting on Saturday hast, tlie matter was raised again, when a motion was moved, “that 5 per cent, interest be paid on capital to all shareholders, irrespective of whether they are “dry” or “wet.” Several speakers favoured the payment of the interest, while an amendment was tabled favouring interest of 5 per cent, to the “wet” shareholders only. Mr. F. Lye, in opposing the payment of interest on capital, said he favoured, instead, the creation of a redemption value of 10s per share. Thus would a. value be created for these shares. If a fund of £7OO were, for instance, set aside for the purpose of redeeming dry shares they could redeem 1400 shares, and if the company reissued these it would make 50 per cent, profit. If a new supplier wanted shares he would know that he had either to pay the seller at least 10s, or, if he went to the company, he would be charged the full £l. The company should redeem all shares immediately they became dry, or else pay the dry shareholders a certain interest for the use of their money. Mr. Anderson said the non-supplying shares were not worth anything like their face value, and. the placing of a fictitious value on them by the company would not make them really any more valuable. The company would, he thought, undoubtedly have to go into the question of writing down the balance-sheet, and putting it into proper accountancy form. A ballot was taken on the matter, and resulted in 199 voting for the motion and 128 against. THE BUTTER-FAT PAY-OUT. A fine sense of humour combine/l with .philosophy is shown by a .correspondent of the Dairyman, in concluding a contribution on the question of pay-out', and 1 whether a change is necessary or,, indeed, desirable. He says: “Then neitlierjnilk lias the pull over the other as far as his test is concerned. Therefore, until some other more accurate and as practical a method of finding the actual value of milk for cheese-making is found, we have, for the present, all we; need for practical purposes in the Babcock test. What is most needed until that happy time eventuates is a little faith on the part, of the supplier, mixed with sweet reasonableness taken three times a month. ’ ’ A FAULT IN N.Z. CHEESE. Writing to friends in Otago, a factory manager who was recently appointed to the Dominion Dairy Produce Department in London, remarks on the fact that a lot of New Zealand cheese is too “open.” Inter alia;, he says: “This is a fault, I may say, which is more or less in evidence in practically all Dominion-made cheese exported to Britain. The ‘Trade’ growl a bit about it; indeed, I have known some dealers to l return New Zealand purchases on that account. Really, this is a fault your, dairy factories must- strive to. overcome. “Thei English and Scottish, ‘cheese products are turned out very close in texture. .Makers keep them .in the presses for three days. You should try an experiment accordingly. Take out, say, half of the lot after the usual preparation for pressing, and keep the balance in for .three days; then get the grader to mark off the respective lots at the grading store, and to advise us at this end by what, steamer the lots will arrive at London docks, and the cypher used.. “I think that the chaps must be in too big a hurry, and dressing the stuff too soon. Result: Overlapping bandages, and) cracked lips, on arrival at this end. You should hear the remarks of the merchants! 'Canadian cheese is always neatly finished; and so is English and Scottish. “The severe knocking about which occurs at this end between warehouses and retailers may also tend towards ‘loosening-up’ the cheese.” ON THE FARMS. A striking contrast is afforded on going from one district- to another to see the variety in the surroundings of the farms. .Some —and this is very noticeable in some localities where tree-growing gardens seem the rule, not the exception—arei occupied by farmers who have held on to tlieir farms, in spite of tempting offers to buy, and who have made a practice of planting every year. The result is plainly visible. * The homestead surroundings and the waste parts—and what farm, even the best, has not many such are covered with a fine growth of pines, macroearpas, eucalyptus, and other trees. j

Generally speaking, the old generation! of farmers, the original settlers of Taranaki, where there was tittle bush', was «. generation of planters; the later was often one of bushfellers, but the present, generation is being urged and intluneed to be one of planters. It isi hoped 1 that this will continue, and be. fostered in every way. It may be urged that, so many dairy farmers are leaseholders, and consequently have little or no inducement to plant. This is very true, and it is up to the landlords, who should realise such planting is for their advantage and' profit, to offer inducements to lessees to plant trees, and also, if necessary, to assist them: by taking such work into consideration in their leases, and by providing trees. Such work must be to their ultimate benefit.

A GOOD MOVE. It is good to see that an Association of Dairy Breed Societies has (been formed! in Palmerston North, comprising all five dairy breeds, with equal representation. This semes \yise and opportune, for, while each breed, has no doubt points l in its own favour, it can hardily be denied that the general interest covers 1 them all. Experts seem to be coming to the conclusion that the high and the low-testing milks have each a. part in making the host cheese; therefore, it seems good that all should! pull together.

CLIPPING DAIRY COWS

GOLD RESULTS IN ‘U.S.A.*

“What has been the departmental experience in relation to the clipping of dairy cows?” ran an inquiry received bv the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. The correspondent remarked that in the United States, the practice of clipping the udders and flanks was general, and the consensus of opinion there seemed to be that the operation induced a greater flow of milk of better quality, the result of the comfort the animals enjoyed from the liair being kept short on the parts mentioned. “Clipping,” stated the Herdmaster of the Department in reply, “will neither increase the flow nor the quality of the milk; tliis is a. matter entirely under the nervous control of the cow. AVitli all the experiences that have been carried out throughout the world, the scientist has not discovered any method of materially increasing butter-fat in milk. The main factors in increasing the milk-flow are better breeding and feeding, and kinder _ handling. Of course, where a cow has a- long growth of hair on the udder, and this is allowed- to become matted, the cow becomes somewhat irritated at milking time if the milker is* inclined to be rough, and from this cause, no doubt, a few cows may retain their milk. The departmental practice has been to clip the udders of any cows that have excessive hair growth, but this has been done solely with a view to- cleanliness. At the same time, it must he said of this practice that it coarsens the hair, which has to he continually clipped. It is also a- disadvantage when the flies are bad, as the hair is a protection against the fly pest. Better results are obtained by rugging the cows to keep the hair short and fine, and washing the udders with clean water. Then, with careful milking, and. judicious feeding, a. far greater flow of milk is obtained than by clipping. No doubt in some types of cow which have long hair, and which are milked by persons who are not as careful as- they should be in washing and keeping the udders clean, or where the cows have access to muddy dams or streams, clipping would have its advantages.